First Edition of Freedom Barometer Western Balkans

FNF presented its first edition of Freedom Barometer Western Balkans in Sarajevo/Bosnia-Hercegovina, Zagreb/Croatia and Belgrade/Serbia to media and interested public.

Manfred Richter attending the premiere in SarajevoFNF’s Freedom Barometer measures the extent of Freedom in the fields of Rule of Law, Economic Freedom and Political Freedom. The Freedom Barometer already celebrates its fifth anniversary in South East and East Asia where the methodology was developed: experts use renowned indices such as Economic Freedom of the World (Frazer), Freedom in the World (Freedomhouse), Corruption Perception Index (Transparency International) and the Human Rights Risk Atlas (Maplecroft). The facts and figures of these indices are displayed in a unique way and enriched with additional secondary sources. Thus the reader gets a quick overview about progress or failure in the three fields mentioned of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Montenegro and Albania.

Dragan Popovic, Serbian Policy Center and FB authorsApart from public presentations, this pilot project for CESE uses social media to spread the news. In less than two weeks Freedom Barometer’s facebook page counted more than 1000 users. Webpage users may choose between a brief commentary to each country and profound information in the news section. Comparisons among countries concerning Human Rights situation or intra trade triggers the attention of the user to go more into detail. In this respect Freedom Barometer’s facebook page offers additional infographics and continuously updated information. The projected pilot period is three years.