The annual Nations in Transit 2014 report shows how governments have changed in the countries of central and eastern Europe that were once part of the USSR

Eastern Europe has suffered a sharp democratic decline in the last year, according to a new report by Freedom House.

Since 1995, the US-based non-governmental organisation has been producing Nations in Transit report series has monitored democratic development from central Europe to central Asia, focusing on countries that are undergoing significant reform or turmoil.

Covering 29 countries, this year’s report provides comparative ratings and in-depth analysis of local and national democratic governance in the post-communist world.

The report opens with the assertion that:

Throughout 2013, governments across the former Soviet space worked to shut off the remaining oxygen supply to their democratic institutions

As in every year for the past 10 years the average democracy score for the region declined in 2013, with 16 countries suffering downgrades, five improving, and eight not registering an overall score change.

The democracy ratings are based on a scale of one to seven, with one representing the highest level of democratic progress and seven the lowest. The 2014 ratings reflect the period from 1 January to 31 December 2013

Though Russia no longer exerts direct control over eastern European countries as part of the USSR, it is the largest country in the region and is a central player in many key political disputes such as control over natural gas supplies and the ongoing situation in Ukraine.

Corruption increased in eight of the 29 countries surveyed, with five of those being European Union members. With 10 EU member states included in the report, a striking half of them have worsened in the corruption stakes in the past year.

In a sliver of light among the gloom, the report noted strong responses from civil society to the region’s declining adherence civil society. But in the longer term the Balkans is still the only region of the area studied which shows improvements in civil society over the last decade.



This is the 18th year that Freedom House, an internationally recognised independent NGO, has compiled the report on post-communist democratic governance. The organisation also produces influential annual reports Freedom in the World and Freedom of the Press – based in part on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Nations in Transit report keeps indicators consistent each year, so as to allow comparisons from year to year. You can find the 2014 scores by category in the table below. Scroll the bar to see all the indicators. Alternatively, you can access the data over time in the downloadable spreadsheet.

Download the data

• DATA: download the full spreadsheet



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