‘Democratic Recession’ Deepens in Central, Southeast Europe: Report
Source: Balkan Insight
Europe’s democratic recession deepened in 2024, with Hungary again the weakest link and the governments of Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia all guilty of taking steps to dismantle the rule of law in nearly all aspects, according to the latest report from the Civil Liberties Union for Europe.
The “Liberties Rule of Law Report 2025”, a collaboration of 43 human rights organisations from 21 EU countries coordinated by Liberties, assessed how well governments respected the rule of law by documenting their efforts across six thematic areas: justice, corruption, media freedom, checks and balances, civic space, and human rights.
As a “shadow report” to the European Commission’s own annual audit on the rule of law in the bloc, the Liberties report noted a pattern of entrenchment that is spreading across the region, “with a general deterioration in the respect for the rule of law and an overt disregard in several member states.”
This is the NGO’s sixth annual report and “all fundamental aspects of the rule of law have faced increasingly severe problems in the past few years,” noted Viktor Kazai, senior rule of law expert at Liberties, adding that the EU’s attempts to reverse the decline had been “disappointingly limited”.
In Hungary, already the worst rule-of-law performer for many years, was labelled the “weakest link” in the report as further significant regression was detected across the board, including renewed campaigns by Viktor Orban’s self-styled “illiberal regime” against judicial independence, civil society organisations, public participation and media freedom.
Of particular worry, says the report, are the list of “dismantlers” – Italy, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia, whose governments are taking deliberate steps to undermine the rule of law.
However, there was some good news. Despite significant challenges, Liberties saw some positive trends in certain countries like Poland and Czechia. “In Poland, the new government has attempted to restore judicial independence and media pluralism, while Estonia and the Czech Republic have developed in multiple dimensions of the rule of law, showing the signs of genuine and systemic efforts of improvement,” it said.
Poland, it said, represents a “cautionary tale”. The new government has attempted to restore judicial independence and media pluralism since it took power in late 2023 but without major progress, illustrating that addressing the compromised independence of institutions is an extremely challenging and fragile endeavour.
Looking at the six thematic areas, in the justice sphere the report highlights how several EU member states – including Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia – are grappling with political manipulation in the judicial appointment and removal processes as well as the operation of judicial self-governing bodies. Political attacks against judges, most notably in Romania and Slovakia, and the non-execution of court judgments in Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary, continue to be deeply concerning trends.
Many countries, like Bulgaria, Croatia and Czechia, struggle to regulate conflicts of interest and lobby transparency, resulting in inadequate oversight. Serious problems with tackling high-level corruption due to institutional weaknesses and a lack of accountability were reported in Croatia and Czechia.
In media freedom, continued threats to the independence and functioning of public service media were reported in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Media ownership remains opaque and levels of market pluralism are low in many countries, especially Croatia, Hungary and Romania.
Looking at checks and balances, the report observed in almost all examined member states an overuse of fast-track legislative procedures, a lack of adequate public consultation, and the normalisation of governance by executive decrees. The Czech Republic and Italy still lack national human rights institutions, while independent authorities in countries like Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia struggle with political interference, resource shortages and limited influence on government actions.
The civic space is shrinking for activists and NGOs as member state governments direct an increasing number of attacks against civil society and human rights defenders. Only two days ago, Hungary’s prime minister vowed to crack down on a “shadow army” of political opponents, journalists, judges and activists, who he accused of working for foreign powers.
Several countries – including Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia – have also introduced Russia-style laws that focus on “foreign agents”, “foreign interest representation services” and lobbying restrictions. Hungary’s notorious Sovereignty Law led to the launching of several investigations into NGOs and investigative journalists.
In terms of human rights, the report noted systemic violation of the rights of vulnerable groups. The governments of Croatia, Greece and Slovenia have adopted stricter migration policies, resulting in the restriction of rights of migrants and asylum seekers. NGOs across Europe, particularly in Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, have reported a rise in discrimination and hate speech toward ethnic and sexual minorities.
“As far-right populism rises and democracy backslides in the US, Europe’s rule of law crisis deepens. Growing far-right influence threatens EU unity, while Russia’s war in Ukraine and rapidly transforming transatlantic ties test the bloc’s resilience,” said Balazs Denes, executive director of Liberties. “To safeguard the EU and the rules-based world, the European Commission must strengthen the rule of law enforcement – linking it directly to Article 7, budgetary conditionality, and infringement proceedings.”
The original article: belongs to Balkan Insight .
