Hungary No Longer a Democracy

Hungary is no longer a democracy.  So says Freedom House, a non-governmental organization based in the United States that monitors governments around the world.  If true, Hungary has become the first country within the European Union to abandon its democratic institutions in favor of another form of government.  The title given to this new form of government is "Transitional / Hybrid Regime."  Poland is clearly on the same route, according to Freedom House which put together this graphic to help visualize the transition:

Hungary is led by Prime Minister Victor Orbán who rose to power in 2010, just five years after the central European nation was heralded as a model in the post-Soviet era.  The new report also cites the erosion of democratic institutions, not only in Poland, but the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia and Montenegro.

The report says, "Prime Minister Victor Orbán's government in Hungry has ... dropped any pretense of respecting democratic institutions," becoming "the first country to descend by two regime categories and leave the group of democracies entirely."