BELGRADE - The road to democracy is difficult and challenging, and if the rule of law is to be fully established in Serbia, the sources of corruption need to be reduced and the judiciary put in order, said the participants of the conference on Freedom Barometer 2014.

The study has measured the degree of freedom in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Greece and Montenegro based on several criteria.

The Freedom Barometer shows that the degree of freedom in all these countries needs to be raised, and that the road to democracy is a difficult one, said Charles du Vinage, Project Director for the Western Balkans, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.

Countries across Europe are also frequently faced with dangerous nationalists who think that their countries are superior, he said.

The idea of freedom is often misinterpreted in the Western Balkans, and frequently the ideas that actually inhibit freedom are the popular ones, said Aleksandar Stevanovic, director of NGO 'Market Solution'.

"Freedom is an often misused notion here,” he said, stressing that institutions of the system in Serbia must be changed in order for the fight against corruption to succeed.

Stevanovic also pointed to the issue of different interpretations of contracts by contracting parties in Serbia, adding that the resolution to such disputes, if sought in court, takes a very long time.

"Independent judiciary is crucial for the fight against corruption. If we do not put the judiciary in order and reduce the sources of corruption, I am afraid that the rule of law will not be established," said Stevanovic.

According to the Freedom Barometer, the index of press freedom in Serbia is 6.3 out of 10, or higher by 0.3 compared to Croatia (index 6), In Albania it stands at 5.10, in BiH at 5, in Montenegro at 6.10 and in Greece at 5.4.

The index of free and fair election is 8.21 in Serbia and 7.14 in Montenegro, while in Croatia and Greece it is considerably higher (9.64). On the other hand, the index is significantly lower in BiH (6.43) and stands at 7.50 in Albania.

The Freedom Barometer also measures the protection of human rights, corruption, and independence of the judiciary, as well as the degree of economic freedom, including freedom to trade internationally and size of government.