If regional and global leaders want to withstand authoritarian aggression, they must show the same determination as Ukrainians.
Moscow's success in the war with Ukraine would mean that for the first time since the Cold War, an authoritarian regime has been overthrown by an authoritarian regime. This is the main thesis of the report of the Nations in Transit project, published by the human rights organization Freedom House, according to Voice of America.
“Autocrats are attacking the liberal international order, and sloppy” people's deputies “are choosing corrupt and anti-liberal forms of government, the paramount role of democracy … is beginning to give way to violence and abuse of power,” the report said. that Vladimir Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine is an existential threat not only to Ukraine's sovereignty but also to the liberal international order.
“Putin's war is the most recent and gloomy manifestation of his (Putin's) robbery and malicious influence on neighboring states. When free societies resisted his efforts to distort their media and corrupt their politicians, Putin threatened or used real military force, as was the case in Georgia in 2008 or Ukraine in 2014 .. As chairs under authoritarian rulers faltered over demands for change from their peoples, Putin supported their regimes and increased their dependence on Moscow, as was the case in Belarus and most recently in Kazakhstan, the report said. > “
” However, – they emphasize, – in the current conflict [in Ukraine] the rates were even higher. If the Kremlin manages to conquer a sovereign, democratic Ukraine, it will be the first time in the region since the Cold War that an authoritarian state overthrew a freely elected national government.
“Even if these [Kremlin] efforts fail, they have already destabilized the entire region, potentially stimulating the growing anti-democratic transformation taking place in Europe and Eurasia,” the report said. Europe and Eurasia are increasingly moving in two different vectors: into the abyss of total autocracy or into the gray area of ”hybrid” rule, where democratic, at first glance, structures cover up anti-democratic policies, “the authors of the document state.
They note that Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia and five Central Asian countries continue to fall to the bottom of the Freedom House rankings as despots who have long since come to power eradicate dissent and strengthen their positions amid perceived threats from outside and internal “enemies”.
Today, there are 11 such hybrid regimes in the region, although in 2004 there were only four. Only six countries can be described as consolidated democracies: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia, although these six have suffered devastating anti-liberalism and corruption in recent years, the report said. , which hides the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has already shaken Democrats around the world. But a significant and stable counter-force is needed to return the whole region to a positive trajectory. If regional and global leaders want to withstand authoritarian aggression, they must show the same determination that Ukrainians have shown, Freedom House experts say.
At the same time, they emphasize, no country in the region has become as bright as Russia, an example of the deadly consequences of the coming to power of a man accustomed to solving any problem by brute force. And they conclude that in his 22 years at the top of Russia's power, Putin has systematically undermined institutions designed to control arbitrary arbitrariness, eventually transforming the 2000 hybrid regime into the 2022 authoritarian regime.
The countries in which the political situation is covered in the report traditionally include all post-Soviet states and Central and Eastern European countries that were part of the Soviet sphere of influence before the collapse of the Soviet Union and, in particular, the Warsaw Pact.
emphasizes the decline of democratic trends in the region for the 18th year in a row.
Read also: The Economist: Ukraine's victory depends on what the world will be like
Freedom House is a non-governmental organization headquartered in Washington, DC. Founded in 1941. Known for research on the state of political and civil liberties. Freedom House's research focuses on monitoring democratic change in the world, supporting democracy, and protecting democracy and human rights around the world.
Funded by donations from governments, organizations, and individuals. Freedom House's supervisory board includes prominent business and trade union leaders, prominent journalists and scholars, as well as former diplomats and statesmen.
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