Buying influence: Money and elections in the Balkans

25 June 2013

This report highlights the strengths and weaknesses of current election campaign financing legislation and its implementation in four countries – Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia (FYR) and Serbia. It also examines some aspects of annual political party financing in Albania. In addition, the report details promising practices in the region and makes recommendations for reform. The report covers eight dimensions of election campaign financing which are crucial for ensuring transparency and reducing the risk of corruption and abuse of resources during election campaigns. These dimensions are: reporting to the oversight agency; depth of reporting; reliability of reporting; public disclosure; prevention; sanctions; state oversight, and public oversight.