Global Integrity, a non-profit organization tracking governance and corruption trends around the world, has removed Serbia from its list of countries with high levels of corruption.

Recent amendments to a law on financing political parties stipulate mandatory disclosure of donations to candidates in elections, which allows the public a better insight into financing for individuals and parties, Global said in its 2009 report.

However, Serbia was still awarded a weak grade.

"Some ineffective anti-corruption safeguards and mechanisms stubbornly persist in Serbia," the report said.

"The most noticeable decline in the country since Global Integrity's last assessment of Serbia has been in the area of rule of law, where there have been significant delays in the enforcement of court decisions brought about by a bloated court management system and uneven workloads of courts and judges."

Appointments to law enforcement agencies continue to be highly politicized, although there are some nascent regulatory reform efforts underway, it added.

The survevy by Global Integrity (www.globalintegrity.org) combines journalistic reporting with more than 300 quantitative indicators for each country assessing the existence, effectiveness, and public access to key accountability and transparency mechanisms.

Balkans.com Business News