April 4 (SeeNews) - The increased influence of violent extremist and intolerant groups on the public discourse, as well as populist rhetoric in politics, has resulted in decline of democracy values in Bulgaria, independent watchdog organisation Freedom House said.
"In [...] Bulgaria, the ongoing refugee crisis reawakened illiberal groups and spurred a sharp rise in hate speech and radical mobilization," Freedom House said in its latest report Nations in Transit 2017, published on Monday.
The dominant centre-right GERB party harnessed populist rhetoric, cooperating with the extremist Patriotic Front in government and banning the full-face veil, the US-based non-governmental organisation said.
"Violent extremist and radical elements exist in every society, but they are usually relegated to the fringes in consolidated democracies. The danger in this part of Europe is that such groups—and the normalization of their extremism—will have a harmful influence on the framing of public discourse and eventually on public policy," the organisation noted.
In Bulgaria, like in other countries in the region, mainstream politicians are sending rhetorical signals to the extremist fringe to establish their bona fides with a dedicated subculture that scorns liberal democracy, it went on to say. "Radicals have successfully pushed other actors to render complex issues in black and white, treating any type of caution or compromise as a betrayal. While truly extremist groups are typically only one part of a diverse civic ecosystem, their growing symbiotic relationships with prominent politicians represent a major threat to democratic norms, which prize rational dialogue and reject violence and persecution of minorities," Freedom House added.
Details from the Nations in Transit report follow, as the ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 representing the highest level of democratic progress and 7 the lowest:
| Bulgaria |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
| National Democratic Governance |
3.75 |
3.50 |
3.75 |
| Electoral Process |
2.25 |
2.25 |
2.25 |
| Civil Society |
2.25 |
2.25 |
2.50 |
| Independent Media |
4.00 |
4.00 |
4.25 |
| Local Democratic Governance |
3.00 |
3.00 |
3.00 |
| Judicial Framework and Independence |
3.50 |
3.50 |
3.50 |
| Corruption |
4.25 |
4.25 |
4.25 |
| Democracy Score |
3.29 |
3.25 |
3.29 |
Source: Freedom House
In the SEE region, Bulgaria is ranked second by democracy score after Slovenia.