You're reading: Freedom House: Ukraine improves democracy ranking, but remains ‘partly free’

Ukraine has grown more democratic in the past year, with the country earning a score of 3.39 out of 7 in the Nations in Transit 2020 report by Freedom House, a U.S. nonprofit that conducts research and advocacy for democracy.

However, the improvements are only marginal compared 2018 and 2019, when it earned a score of 3.36 for two consecutive years. Overall, the country’s democracy level still remains below average among twenty-nine post-socialist countries in Europe and Eurasia.

Сountries receiving a score between 3.01 and 4 have fragile democratic institutions, depend on foreign funding and have widespread corruption problems, according to Freedom House.

The Nations in Transit report evaluated the level of democracy in January–December 2019 on a scale from 1 to 7, with 1 representing the lowest and 7 the highest level of democracy. The report assessed democratic development by judging countries’ national and local governance, electoral processes, civil society, independent media, levels of corruption and judicial independence.

During 2019, Ukraine improved its ranking in the national democratic governance category – from 2.25 to 2.50 – due to the election of President Volodymyr Zelensky and the peaceful transfer of power from ex-President Petro Poroshenko, the report said.

Armenia and Ukraine are the two countries with the largest two-year improvement ever recorded by Nations in Transit.

However, for Ukraine, the new results are hardly a record. The country had its highest democracy level when Viktor Yushchenko held the office of president. In 2007, the country scored a record 3.79, but showed no further improvements after the election of Viktor Yanukovych. During his tenure, its score dropped to 3.39. It reached its nadir — 3.04 — in 2014, before the EuroMaidan Revolution drove Yanukovych from power.

In 2019, Freedom House’s Freedom in the World Index ranked Ukraine as “partly free.” In that rating, the country earned 60 points out of 100. This score decreased because of the increasing number of attacks on activists and journalists and growing hostility toward minorities in Ukraine, Freedom House said.

Challenges remain

Despite the minor improvements in national governance, other democracy indicators in Ukraine remain low.

The Nations in Transition report states that Ukraine is facing significant challenges with structural reforms and its COVID-19 response in 2020. The “dizzying speed” of lawmaking by the new government also raises many concerns.

According to Freedom House, President Zelensky’s supermajority in parliament – his party Servant of the People holds 254 of 424 seats – ignores both parliamentary procedures and proposals from opposition lawmakers. Observers identified procedural violations in two-thirds of the bills passed by the party in August–November 2019.

The Nations in Transit report said that major transformations in Ukrainian society were driven by public demands for better governance.

The United States and European governments support Ukraine on its path to democracy. To bolster the country’s progress, democratic partners should back initiatives to prevent hate-motivated violence against vulnerable communities in Ukraine, the report stated.

European democracy in decline

According to Nations in Transit, the number of democracies in Europe and Eurasia has reached its lowest mark in the 25-year history of the report.

Only 10 out of 29 surveyed countries were rated as democracies. Among them, Estonia, Slovenia, Latvia and the Czech Republic have the highest levels of democratic progress. Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are at the bottom of the ranking.

Freedom House warns that countries should be ready for more challenges in the future: “COVID-19 creates an inflection point that could accelerate downward trends or reinvigorate democracy.”