In response to domestic pressure for democratic change, authoritarian regimes throughout Eurasia cracked down on civil society and political opposition leaders in 2012, according to the newly released edition of Nations in Transit, Freedom House’s annual analysis of democratic development from Central Europe to Central Asia. Although the Balkans has largely been democratized it has not completely escaped these developments. In Kosovo a new law was passed which allowed the central bank to convert nonprofit microfinance institutions into private businesses without preserving a previous requirement that such dissolved entities’ assets be redistributed to other nonprofit groups. Although the law has since been declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, Freedom House was also concerned about private universities which faced discrimination in the accreditation process for having staff members who opposed government policies. In other parts of the Balkans corruption seems to persist despite pressure from the EU and other international lending agencies. According to the report political interests and personal connections between government and business regularly influence public tender and privatization procedures across the region. Judicial institutions are also overburdened and subject to political interference. And journalists face political pressure, intimidation, and attacks. On the other hand, civil society is performing relatively well within the region with an overall score of 2.5, which reflects that of consolidated democracies. To view the full report and other related documents please visit Freedom House’s website. BCSDN has also prepared a short analysis on the report which can be downloaded here.