The decline of democracy in the world: on which side will our Europe decide to stand?
14 May 2024
Eighteen years in a row. So far, it would date the decline of democracy in the world, according to the latest reports by Freedom House and the V-Dem Institute, two authorities on the subject. It seems abstract, an icy statistic. It is not. In each of the 52 countries where political rights and civil liberties have declined in the past year alone there have been executions, torture, falsified elections, war crimes or rape. A crisis that has affected Western countries as well, while in the Near East - in the post-Soviet area - there is a part of Europe that is fighting for its and our freedom. Are we still sure that we are the pulsing heart of Europe? Are we sure that we are the center of the world? Reality tells us otherwise. That our Europe – just another dot on the world map – is dying or being reborn in Tbilisi and Kyiv.
