Democratic indicators in Ukraine have fallen for the first time since 2014 – Freedom House

On Wednesday 11 April, the international non-governmental organization Freedom House presented a report entitled “Countries in the transition period 2018. Addressing non-liberalism”.

The report states that democratic indicators in Ukraine have fallen for the first time since 2014, reports Voice of America.

In 2018, the decline in the indicators of democratic processes was recorded throughout the history of 23 years of research in transition countries. The level of democracy development in 2018 fell in 19 out of 29 countries, which was analyzed in the report.

For the second consecutive year, the authors of the report state that there are more established authoritarian regimes among these countries than consolidated democracies.

As for Ukraine, the authors of the report stress that for the first time since 2014 the decline in the indicators of democratic processes has been recorded. The current democratic evaluation of Ukraine is 4,64 points (where 1 point is an indicator of stable democracy, and 6-7 is a well-established authoritarian regime).

The report states that Ukrainian politicians use a sense of patriotism to attack non-governmental organizations and journalists, accusing them of undermining military efforts.

As a result, the level of media independence in the country, according to the organization, has fallen to its lowest level since 2014.

Director of the project “Countries in transition”, Nate Shenkan stressed that although the decentralization reforms in Ukraine continue, other key priorities, including measures to fight corruption, are stalled. The window of opportunity for Ukraine has shrunk.

“By accusing non-governmental organizations and journalists of anti-nationalism, politicians are trying to exclude legitimate voices from public debate simply because they criticize the government,” said Shenkan.

At the same time, President Freedom House Michael Abramovitz stressed that what is happening in Central and Eastern Europe can not be separated from what is happening in Europe as a whole.

The report, titled Nations in Transit, is published every year since 1995. The report covers 29 post-communist countries of the former Soviet Union, Central-Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

Recall that corruption in Ukraine has intensified since the time of Euromaidan. This is demonstrated by the results of a survey conducted by the International Republican Institute, led by US Senator John McCain.

As reported by “Country”, the survey showed that the Ukrainians save on the kitchen most needed and spent cooking at home.

Information taken from: https://strana.ua/news/134951-v-ukraine-snizilsja-uroven-demokratii-s-2014-hoda.html