ZAGREB, February 6, 2019 – Croatia is a free country but democracy in Croatia is deteriorating, according to the latest Freedom House report, which says that the state of democracy around the world has declined for the 13th year.
According to the US NGO which researches and supports democracy, freedom and human rights in the world, the highest freedom score in the Freedom in the World 2019 report was given to Norway, Sweden and Finland (100 out of 100 points), followed by the Netherlands and Canada (both 99), Australia and Ireland (both 98).
The NGO measures 25 indicators such as political rights, civil liberties, political pluralism, freedom of belief, and individual rights.
The report says the least free country in the world is Syria and, in Europe, Belarus and Russia.
The report shows that last year 44.1% of countries were free, 30.3% were partly free and 25.6% were not free.
Croatia’s score is 85 out of 100 points, but it deteriorated, putting it alongside the US (86), Greece and Latvia (both 87), and Mongolia (85).
As for Croatia’s neighbours, Slovenia was given free status (94 out of 100 points), while Hungary (70), Serbia (67), Montenegro (65), and Bosnia and Herzegovina (53) are partly free.
“In 2018, Freedom in the World recorded the 13th consecutive year of decline in global freedom. The reversal has spanned a variety of countries in every region, from long-standing democracies like the United States to consolidated authoritarian regimes like China and Russia. The overall losses are still shallow compared with the gains of the late 20th century, but the pattern is consistent and ominous. Democracy is in retreat,” the report says.
More news on the human rights in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.
