Populist and illiberal governments now dominate much of Central and Eastern European politics. Can liberal democracy survive?

Several Central and South-Eastern European countries have shifted towards populist and illiberal governments. Democratic backsliding, increasing authoritarianism and political interference in the judiciary are evident even in some European Union member states. Freedom House rank Hungary, Moldova, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Albania as only ‘partially free’.

Despite this, there may be cause for optimism. Throughout 2020 citizens across the region from Hungary to Bulgaria have taken to the streets in their thousands to protest and demand democratic political change. Is democracy failing or reviving in Central and Eastern Europe? This event will assess the differing cases across the region and explore both the current state of democracy and what direction the region might take in the future.

Radu Albu-Comănescu is a Lecturer at the Faculty of European Studies of the Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, and member of the European Research Institute of the same institution. He has a PhD in History.

Slobodan Markovich is a Full Professor and Head of the Centre for British Studies at the University of Belgrade. His current research focuses on the application of the theory of the unconscious to the analysis of contemporary political relations and on writing on the history of European pessimism. He obtained his BA in History at the University of Belgrade, MPhil in Historical Studies at the University of Cambridge, and PhD in Political Anthropology at the University of Belgrade.

Arkadiusz Nyzio is Assistant Professor at the Department of National Security of the Jagiellonian University. He is Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Poliarchia. Arkadiusz specializes in contemporary history and political institutions.

Spyros Economides is Associate Professor in International Relations and European Politics at The London School of Economics and Political Science and Deputy Director of the Hellenic Observatory.

Event hashtags: #RatiuDialogues

LSE IDEAS (@lseideas) is LSE's foreign policy think tank. We connect academic knowledge of diplomacy and strategy with the people who use it.