SELDI's Regional Anti-Corruption Report highlights that a disrupted anticorruption agenda in the Western Balkans has been one of the casualties of the geopolitical storm stirred up by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Domestic kleptocratic elites are actively seeking to stall EU-mandated reforms by forging alliances with Beijing and Moscow. As a result, progress in reducing corruption in public services has been uneven, with rates of involvement in petty bribery ranging from 10% in Montenegro to 40% in Albania. A more pressing concern lies in the substantial levels of political corruption, which continue to sustain entrenched networks of state capture.

While regulatory activism persists, there is a risk of enacting flawed legislation, including under the EU-flag procedures. Anticorruption strategies are either missing or constitute box-ticking lists with no impact indicators. Furthermore, the return on investment on EU assistance has been less than expected, as an overly technical approach has failed to foster political transformation. Thus, ramping up support through the New Growth Plan while leaving state capture intact becomes counterproductive. To mitigate these risks, it is essential to integrate anti-state capture safeguards into the design of EU assistance programs.