The world is experiencing wholescale democratic backsliding. According to a recent V-Dem report, the average global citizen now lives under a level of democracy last seen in 1978.
In 2025, there were 92 autocracies and just 87 democracies, while only 7% of the world’s population lived in liberal democracies. More tellingly, it was the 11th consecutive year in which more countries experienced democratic decline than progress.
For Europe, this is not simply a global trend to watch. It strikes at the foundations of the European project itself. The EU was born from the ashes of war around a commitment to peace and liberal democracy: openness, equality, freedom and the rule of law. Yet between 2020 and 2025, Europe recorded 77 democratic declines against just 42 advances.
More than one-third of those declines occurred in Europe’s East, where democracies face additional pressure from Russian political interference, disinformation and digital influence campaigns designed to erode trust in democratic institutions.
But democratic decline is not inevitable. While Slovakia has experienced the third steepest decline in rule of law, Poland and Latvia have moved in the opposite direction since 2023. The contrast shows that institutions can erode, but they can also be defended. The question is whether Europe has the political will to do so.
With EU enlargement back on the table, strengthening democracy across Europe is more important than ever. Orbán’s Hungary showed how democratic backsliding can undermine the Union’s democratic cohesion. With a new Prime Minister in office, there is renewed hope that Hungary can now strengthen its democratic foundations.
Europe must therefore be prepared to defend and enforce its democratic standards to safeguard the strength and unity of the European project.
No democracy is immune. Even the United States, historically one of liberal democracy’s most powerful symbols, is experiencing a pace of democratic deterioration unprecedented in modern history. Established democracies cannot assume their institutions are permanently secure.
Democratic resilience must therefore be treated as a pillar of European security and defence. War has returned to Europe, geopolitical competition is intensifying and disinformation is increasingly weaponised. From the European Democracy Shield to the Digital Services Act and AI Act, Europe must defend democracy both offline and online.
On International Democracy Day, liberals should be unapologetic: liberal democracy is not simply a system of government. It is the fabric that allows Europe to remain free, open and united.
Democracy is ours to defend. Stopping the rot is up to us.