Washington, 26 February 2025 (MIA) - North Macedonia has retained its status as a “partly free” country in the latest Freedom in the World 2025 report published by Freedom House on Wednesday.

Like in the 2024 report, the country has been given a freedom score of 67 out of a possible 100. Freedom House ranks countries on the basis of two criteria – political rights and civil liberties. North Macedonia’s political rights scored 28 out of 40, while the country’s civil liberties scored 39 out of 60.

“The country continues to struggle with corruption, and while the media and civil society participate in vigorous public discourse, journalists and activists face pressure and intimidation,” states the report on North Macedonia.  

The best ranked country in the region is Slovenia, with a score of 96. Greece (85), Croatia (82) and Bulgaria (77) were the other three countries in the region assessed as “free” by Freedom House. Montenegro (69), Albania (68), Kosovo (60), Serbia (56), and Bosnia and Herzegovina (52) are “partly free”.

In the report, Freedom House notes a decline in global freedom in 2024, but also significant gains in South Asia. 
Two countries – Senegal and Bhutan – moved from being “partly free” to “free”.

Bhutan was the sole South Asian country classified as “free” in the report, but other countries in the region, such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, recorded significant gains.

According to Freedom House, the largest one-year gain was recorded in Indian Kashmir where “peaceful and competitive legislative elections were conducted after a long delay, and a partially elected local government was installed for the first time since the territory’s 2019 reorganization”. 

Four countries in the latest report dropped from being “partly free” to “not free” – Kuwait, Niger, Tanzania and Thailand.

The highest ranked country in the report is Finland with a score of 100, followed by New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden with 99 each.

Freedom House was established in the United States in 1941 with bipartisan support. It receives most of its funding from the US Government, but it is independently administered.

Photo: Freedom House