Authoritarians in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia abused the COVID-19 pandemic to further erode democratic standards, but even traditionally strong democracies saw undemocratic flashes.

Democracy and the rule of law have regressed across a large number of European countries in 2020, according to a new, wide-ranging report involving 14 national members across the EU of the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties).

Authoritarians in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia abused the pandemic to continue eroding democratic standards, but traditionally strong democracies also disappoint.