Freedom House Report 2020: Georgia has 61 out of 100 Points

In Freedom House's 2020 report, 'Freedom in the World,' Georgia is still among the "partly free" countries. In the survey conducted by the organization, Georgia scored 61 out of 100 points.

Last year, the country had 63 points in the same report.

Freedom House’s 'Freedom in the World 2020' report, which relied on 150 analysts and advisers looking at 210 countries and territories, rated 43% of countries as “free.”

The report found the share of free countries had declined by 3% in the last decade.

In its annual report released on March 4, the Washington-based human rights watchdog also said that twice as many countries suffered setbacks relating to political rights and civil liberties in 2019 than those making gains, marking what it called the “14th consecutive year of deterioration in global freedom.”

“Democracy is under assault around the globe, and the effects are evident not just in authoritarian states like China, Russia, and Iran, but also in countries with a long track record of upholding basic rights and freedoms,” the report said.

However, the report cited some hopeful indications in the region and within the former Soviet sphere.

It said that “despite the grim picture overall, some positive signs were evident in several of the region’s "partly free" environments.”

"Newly elected leaders who came to office as reform candidates - including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine — “took initial steps to uproot the kleptocratic forces that have long stymied their countries’ democratic aspirations,” reads the report.

The official website of the organization says that Georgia has 75 out of 100 points in the Internet Freedom component. The website notes that a report on Georgia will be available soon.

As for Georgia's neighboring countries, Armenia, which has 53 points, is also among the "partly free" countries, while Azerbaijan is among the "not free" countries with 10 points. Turkey is also among the "not free" countries with 32 points given by the Freedom House report authors.

Russia is on the list of "not free" countries with 20 points.

There are 49 countries on the list of "not free" countries in total, with Turkmenistan and Tajikistan ranked among the 10 worst.

The Freedom House report revealed that the most free countries are Finland, Sweden and Norway.

By Ana Dumbadze 

Photo source: The Washington Times (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)