Reporting Democracy Identifies 7 Trends among COVID’s Lingering Effects

Illustration: BIRN

"While Long COVID symptoms in people include extreme tiredness, shortness of breath, chest pain and problems with memory, symptoms for countries in this region include assaults on transparency and media freedom, infectious disregard for the rule of law, ideological entrenchment and polarisation, and problems with memory," says the report titled "COVID's Lingering Effects".

Marking the second year of the Reporting Democracy initiative, the report highlights the key "signals to watch" and "what to expect in 2021" as the political, economic and social consequences of the coronavirus crisis continue to unfold.

The report seeks to examine the political and social implications of the pandemic that have exacerbated pre-existing trends, like assaults on media freedom and erosion of the rule of law, which were covered in the inaugural edition of the Trends Report. It also identifies new ones, including the vaccine dimension to disinformation, the return of rising poverty in the region, and the destruction of the cultural economy and government partiality over financial aid provided to it.

"The European Commission called the pandemic a 'real-life stress test' for our legal and constitutional systems - and in many regards they are failing. The Trends Report is part of our effort to unleash the power of independent journalism to explore the issues, trends and events that are shaping the future of democracy in Central and Southeast Europe," Reporting Democracy Editor Nicholas Watson said.

The Trends Report is fed by the regular coverage of the most important developments in the region provided by the Reporting Democracy correspondents, grants for in-depth features and investigations available to local journalists, and expert...