Freedom House, a Washington-based non-governmental organization, has published an annual report assessing the state of democracy from Central Europe to Central Asia.
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Georgia, along with Hungary and Serbia, was included in the group of hybrid regimes moving towards autocracy. Such regimes are characterized by “dominant-power politics,” where the opposition or civil society has some space to function, although the ruling political power can prevent any change in the country's leadership. The ability of the opposition or civil society to influence government policy is limited.
In addition, the report notes that Georgia, Serbia, and Hungary are becoming semi-consolidated authoritarian regimes: “Key institutions, from the media to the courts, have gone beyond the level of politicization expected under classical definitions of hybrid regimes and are now effectively captured by ruling parties and abused for partisan or personal gain.”
“These regimes may appear on the surface to simply ignore dissent, but in practice they are likely to repress critics with more covert tactics, such as smearing, intimidation, and surveillance,” It is written in the report and mentioned that this is what Serbian civil society, independent media, and the opposition movement Serbia Against Violence faced during 2023.
In other cases, laws are passed to openly intimidate and restrict civil society groups. For example, Hungary recently passed the Sovereignty Protection Act, which would allow a state institution to monitor the election-related activities of non-governmental organizations.
“When domestic and international resistance is strong enough, this subcategory of hybrid regimes can be forced to make concessions on particular issues, as when Georgia’s government withdrew a Russian-style “foreign agents” law following an international outcry and mass protests in March 2023.
What separates autocratizing hybrids from Semi-Consolidated Authoritarian Regimes is a minimal but real margin of respect for freedom of assembly, and the fact that the state rarely uses physical violence to crush dissent,” Freedom House writes.
The report identifies Ukraine, Moldova, and Kosovo as hybrid regimes on the path to democracy. It highlights Ukraine's significant progress in establishing judicial and anti-corruption institutions and investigating corruption over the past year, while Georgia's indicators remained unchanged.
