“A growing number of leaders around the world have dropped even the pretense of playing by the rules of democracy. … They are openly attacking democratic institutions & attempting to do away with any remaining checks on their power”
- new @FH_NIT report
freedomhouse.org/report/nations…
- new @FH_NIT report
freedomhouse.org/report/nations…
“In the region stretching from Central Europe to Central Asia, this shift has accelerated assaults on judicial independence, threats against civil society and the media, the manipulation of electoral frameworks, and the hollowing out of parliaments...”
“Antidemocratic leaders in the region continue to pay lip service to the skeletal, majoritarian element of democracy—claiming they act according to the will of the people—but they do so only to justify their concentration of power & escalating violations of rights...”
“…stunning democratic breakdown in the 29 countries covered by ‘Nations in Transit’.
There are fewer democracies in the region today than at any point since the annual report was launched in 1995.”
There are fewer democracies in the region today than at any point since the annual report was launched in 1995.”
“The erosion has left citizens especially vulnerable to further rights abuses and power grabs associated with the coronavirus pandemic.”
“In Poland, the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party has been waging a war against the judiciary in an attempt to convert it into a pliant political tool.”
“Hungary’s decline has been the most precipitous ever tracked in Nations in Transit; it was one of the three democratic frontrunners as of 2005, but in 2020 it became the first country to descend by two regime categories and leave the group of democracies entirely.”
“Neither Poland nor Hungary has faced (EU) repercussions for damaging the rule of law at home, and Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party has even remained a member of the mainstream @epp…”
"A motley crew of far-right, violent extremist groups have also been making their voices heard in countries as diverse as the Baltic states, Poland, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Georgia, and Armenia."
"While the groups and their xenophobic messages are not necessarily new, they have demonstrated a new level of cross-border cooperation and enjoyed increasing support from American and Western European counterparts."
"...a distinct lack of leadership on democratic governance from traditional champions like the US & nations of Western Europe."
"In fact, some politicians and parties on both sides of the Atlantic have taken cues from the illiberal populists of the Nations in Transit region, enabling and aggravating the broader democratic deterioration."
"Nations in Transit has long documented Russia’s aggressive foreign policy, aimed at destabilizing the transatlantic alliance and reestablishing what it considers its 'sphere of influence.' But in recent years, China’s Xi Jinping has been no less active…"
"While China’s international engagement is often less directly confrontational than Russia’s, it nevertheless has an insidious effect on the development and functioning of democratic institutions in the region spanning from Central Europe to Central Asia."
