For the first time in the history of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, over half of the world’s countries now fall into the “difficult” or “very serious” categories for press freedom. In 25 years, the average score of all 180 countries and territories included in the ranking has never been so low, according to the RSF report. Among its neighbors, Serbia is the lowest-ranked, sitting in 104th place – a drop of eight spots compared to the previous report – and falls into the category of countries where the situation is “difficult.”
The report assesses that, with the exception of Kosovo (84th out of 180 countries and territories in the Index, +15 places since 2025), which saw an improvement despite remaining one of the lowest-ranking countries in Europe, press freedom in the Western Balkans is generally getting worse.
“Although Albania (83rd, -3), Bosnia and Herzegovina (90th, -4) and Serbia (104th, -8) aspire to join the European Union (EU), all three countries are hostile to journalism and vulnerable to propaganda,” RSF points out.
Moldova (31st) is still the only country in Eastern Europe that falls into the “satisfactory” category for press freedom.
Among other countries in the region, Slovenia is the highest-ranked (36th place) and is classified as “satisfactory,” as is Montenegro, which occupies 41st place.
Ranked 45th and 53rd respectively, North Macedonia and Croatia are both classified as having a “problematic” press freedom environment.
Source: N1
The report can be found here.
