Freedom House’s annual report says Armenia is ‘partly free’: What is the situation in the region?

Freedom House has published an annual report “Freedom in the World 2025”, composed of numerical ratings and supporting descriptive texts for 195 countries and 13 territories. External analysts assess 208 countries and territories, using a combination of on-the-ground research, consultations with local contacts, and information from news articles, nongovernmental organizations, governments, and a variety of other sources. Expert advisers and regional specialists then vet the analysts’ conclusions.

For each country and territory, the Freedom in the World report analyzes the electoral process, political pluralism and participation, the functioning of the government, freedom of expression and of belief, associational and organizational rights, the rule of law, and personal autonomy and individual rights.

According to this year’s report, political rights and civil liberties have deteriorated in 60 countries, while only 34 have seen improvements. It was noted that with each passing year of the global decline in freedom, it becomes increasingly urgent for democracies to work together to halt and reverse the deterioration. Events during this period have repeatedly shown that the harmful consequences of authoritarian repression and mismanagement regularly extend beyond national borders. As authoritarianism fuels the spread of instability, armed conflict, terrorism, mass displacement, and corruption worldwide, it is the protection of democratic rights and the rule of law that ultimately ensures freedom, security, and prosperity. Democracies, as a matter of their survival, must demonstrate basic solidarity and prevent the direct conquest of other free societies by authoritarian forces. The maximum score in the ranking is 100, which is the sum of the results obtained in the subcategories of “Political Rights” and “Civil Liberties.” Countries are classified as “free,” “partly free,” and “not free” based on their scores. Armenia is classified as “partly free” with a score of 54. In the “Political Rights” subcategory, it received 23 points out of a maximum of 40, and in “Civil Liberties,” it scored 31 out of a maximum of 60. Among neighboring countries, Turkey is classified as “not free” with a score of 33. Iran and Azerbaijan are also ranked in this category, with scores of 11 and 7, respectively. While the aforementioned four countries maintained their scores from the previous year, Georgia has lost ground. Instead of last year’s score of 58, the country now has 55 points and is considered “partly free.”