In a few years, Hungary was classified into two categories, before 2015 we were still classified among strong democracies.

The latest Freedom House report, described at 444.hu, paints a devastating picture of Hungary. According to the analysis, in 2019, we went from semi-solid democracies to hybrid regimes.

By definition, they hold elections in hybrid regimes, but fragile democratic institutions and pose fundamental challenges to political and civil liberties.

Freedom House’s analysis examined to what extent the principles of democracy prevail in the post-Soviet region and the Eastern Bloc countries.

The report classifies Hungary with part of the Balkans (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Albania, northern Macedonia) and Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.

Freedom House has defined 5 categories, we are right in the middle. Ahead of us are the solid (Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania); semi-solid democracies (Poland, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria) and, to a lesser extent, semi-solid or fully solid authoritarian states (Russia and former Soviet states).

In the last report, Hungary was already evaluated as a semi-solid democracy, and before 2015 we were among the solids.

The final democracy score is given by the average of seven different metrics. Hungary’s final score was 3.96 points (out of 4 it could be considered a semi-solid democracy, which means we just fell), as much as Serbia.

With regard to Hungary, the report states that in 2019, the government consolidated its control over the spheres of education and the arts. According to Freedom House, although the opposition has won major elections in local elections, the government’s propaganda network and access to administrative means on a political basis is a huge burden on ideologically divided parties.

The report already made a statement for 2020: Hungary has moved one step beyond democracies with this year’s empowerment law.


The coronavirus is the greatest crisis of our time, in which it is literally vital to discover it from an authentic source. At HVG, we are committed to this mission even in this situation: we provide accurate, objective and independent information to our readers.

Support our work to bring you up-to-date information even in difficult circumstances.

The coronavirus is the greatest crisis of our time, in which it is literally vital to discover it from an authentic source. At HVG, we are committed to this mission even in this situation: we provide accurate, objective and independent information to our readers.

Support our work to bring you up-to-date information even in difficult circumstances.


Richárd Tóth
House

There will also be group coronavirus diseases, the prime minister said.