Skopje, 16 November 2021 (MIA) – North Macedonia has scored 40 out of 100 at the index measuring vulnerability towards foreign malign influence in eight Central European and Western Balkan countries, developed by the Euro-Atlantic Council of North Macedonia in cooperation with Slovakia’s GLOBSEC, and supported by the U.S. Department of State. On a 1-100 scale (most resilient to most vulnerable), the Vulnerability Index assesses Bulgaria (42), Czech Republic (29), Hungary (44), Montenegro (44), North Macedonia (40), Romania (29), Serbia (55) and Slovakia (32) in five key dimensions – public attitudes, political landscape, public administration, information landscape and civic and academic space – with a focus on influence from Russia and China. “North Macedonia can be classified as the most resilient of the Western Balkan countries examined by the Index. Its society, however, finds itself polarized into antagonistic political camps and remains vulnerable,” reads the Index. In the Public Attitudes section, North Macedonia’s score is 49, noting that the country’s “enthusiastic support for EU and NATO membership may be dampened by the drawn-out EU accession process.” Regarding the Political landscape, the score is 25, saying it is, “torn between strong Euro-Atlantic orientation and a profitable relationship with China.” On public administration, the country’s score is 42 and reads that the country’s public administration “has several shortcomings, including limited progress on key reforms and a high level of politicization.” With regards to the Information Landscape, the country has scored 45 and says, “though still in the lower ranks of the World Press Freedom Index, media freedom has been steadily improving since 2016.” Finally, in the area of Civic and Academic Space, the country’s score is 40, explaining that “besides ethnic and religious divisions, the political polarization of North Macedonia’s society is a source of concern.” The Vulnerability Index is based on public opinion polls conducted on a representative sample of 1000+ respondents per country, surveys with at least 20 experts per country, desk research conducted by analysts in each country, Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, World Press Freedom Index and the Civil Society Organization Sustainability Index.