Types of democracy

The annual Athens Democracy Forum has developed into a fixed point from which we can evaluate the health of democracy globally. Among other things, this year's meeting highlighted the need for democracy to be seen to be delivering goods to the public, and for its institutions to inspire trust and participation.

With emerging democracies backsliding into authoritarianism and those once considered established falling prey to populism, the need to assess the evolving state of democracy has never felt more urgent.

AGERPRES special correspondent, Irinela Visan, reports: Minister of Foreign Affairs Ramona Manescu stated on Thursday, in the context of Romania taking over the Presidency of the Community of Democracies (CoD), that our country will promote youth participation in the decision-making process, as well as an active involvement of the private sector in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

But since Orban's ruling Fidesz party returned to power in 2010, it has become the must-attend event for right-wing Hungarian intelligentsia loyal to Fidesz.

It was a speech in 2014 that made the biggest waves internationally as Orban set out a vision for an "illiberal state" that became a template for nationalist-populists everywhere.

According to him, what we have today in Europe hardly has anything to do with civil democracy that was introduced after the World War II.

Yanis Varoufakis, the leader of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25) and former finance minister, urged Greeks to vote in the general elections on Sunday, saying it is the only way to defend democracy.

Romania's President Klaus Iohannis welcomes the adoption by the Venice Commission of "Parameters on the relationship between the parliamentary majority and the opposition in a democracy: a checklist," according to a press statement released by the Presidential Administration.

The prospect that the first party may not garner an absolute parliamentary majority has preoccupied pundits and analysts for weeks, with most focusing on the possibility of a coalition government between New Democracy and the centre-left Movement for Change.

Democracy is on a knife edge in Central and Southeast Europe as authoritarian alternatives enter the mainstream and populists erode vital checks and balances on power — not least free media.

BIRN launched its latest project, Reporting Democracy, on Friday in Budapest with a conference that heard about the rise of populism in Central and Eastern Europe, the role of the media and about activism.