Despite the progress in the electoral process and independent media ratings, Macedonia has retained its transitional or hybrid regime status, meaning its democratic institutions are fragile and challenges regarding political rights and civil liberties persist, according to Freedom House’s latest ‘Nations in Transit’ report.
The report notes that democracy has declined across the region, and as stated in the report, there are fewer democracies today than at any point since the annual report was launched in 1995 – out of a total of 29 countries, 10 at the time were considered democracies, 10 hybrid regimes and 9 authoritarian regimes.
And now, 25 years later, 6 countries are considered democracies (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia), 4 – semi-consolidated democracies (Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia), 10 are considered hybrid regimes (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo), one country is considered a semi-consolidated authoritarian regime (Armenia) and 8 countries are considered consolidated authoritarian regimes (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan).
