Washington - June 29, 2010 -

In a sign of broad, cross-regional pressures on democratic development, countries throughout the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe suffered declines in their democratic institutions, according to Nations in Transit 2010, a new study released today by Freedom House.

Nations in Transit 2010 is the 14th edition of Freedom House’s comprehensive, comparative study of democratic development in 29 countries from Central Europe to Eurasia. The overarching conclusion is that 2009 was a year of broad, cross-regional pressures on democratic developments: scores declined for 14 of the 29 countries. Six new EU member states, a number of which confronted rising nationalism, experienced declines, while one experienced gains. In the non-Baltic former Soviet Union, the ratings for six countries eroded, and one improved. And, in the Balkans, three countries improved and two saw their scores regress. The downward trends in national democratic governance, judicial framework and independence, electoral process and corruption noted in previous editions remained a concern in 2009. Most worrying, however, is the increased number of rating declines for independent media: 10 countries regressed in media independence in 2009, half of those in new EU member states

The full country reports from the 2010 edition of Nations in Transit are now available online. To download the reports in PDF format please continue here.
 

Freedom House’s Annual Survey Nations in Transit (NIT) tracks democratic developments and setbacks of 29 countries in the former Communist states of Europe and Eurasia. The 2010 report - covering events of 2009 - observes a continuing worrying regional trend with more than half of the countries backsliding in democratic reforms, or continuing on a dangerous trajectory towards authoritarian governance. Declines in the independent media were most numerous in 2009, including declines in five new EU member states. Furthermore, with the grave situation for defenders of human rights and democracy growing worse in 2009, Nations in Transit findings show that over the past decade, Russia  has undergone the largest decline of any country in the study.

Speech by Freedom House Europe Director Dr. Vladimir Shkolnikov at the Second Budapest Human Rights Forum in Budapest, June 25-26, 2009 - (Watch the video of the speech)

There are many reasons to welcome the European Union’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) Initiative. It puts much needed focus on countries that have a good reason to believe that they have been ignored or have been caught in ping-pong of what these days is called “geopolitics”. The appearance of neglect of the European part of the former Soviet Union is understandable.  The EU has been busy with the Balkan wars and their aftermath, with its still ongoing enlargement process, and with its own Constitutional issues.

On June 30, Freedom House launched the 2009 edition of Nations in Transit in Prague in a joint event with Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

The launch, hosted and co-organized by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, was moderated by RFL-RE President, Jeremy Gedmin, and featured presentations from Freedom House Europe Director Vladimir Shkolnikov, Senior Correspondent Bruce Pannier, Transitions Online Director Jeremy Drucker, and NIT Editor Lisa Mootz.

Read the NIT 2009 Press Release here. 

Freedom House’s Annual Survey Nations in Transit (NIT) tracks democratic developments and setbacks of 29 countries in the former Communist states of Europe and Eurasia. The 2009 report - covering events of 2008 - observes a worrying regional trend with more than half of the countries backsliding in democratic reforms, or continuing on a dangerous trajectory towards authoritarian governance. Being released shortly before the US-Russian Summit, Nations in Transit serves as a reminder to keep democracy issues high on the agenda in the West’s relations with Russia and its neighbors.