ABTTF President: “Reports by the European Commission and the European Parliament also highlight this serious erosion of democracy and the rule of law in our country. One of the most glaring examples of the politicisation of judicial decisions and the institutional violation of the rule of law in our country is undoubtedly the failure to execute three judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) concerning the Turkish associations in Western Thrace for the past 18 years”.
According to the Democracy Report 2026, Greece has fallen three places in the latest Global Democracy Index, dropping to 52nd out of 179 countries, whilst ranking 24th among the European Union (EU) Member States, placing it among the lowest ranked.
The report highlights persistent shortcomings in parliamentary and judicial oversight in Greece, as well as institutional constraints on the oversight of the executive. Although the report notes that Greece performs relatively better in areas related to elections and ranks 43rd globally, it indicated that the institutional framework remains unstable. It further notes that these weaknesses affect the overall resilience of democracy in the country and raise questions regarding the effectiveness of safeguards designed to prevent the concentration of excessive power.
The report notes that Greece ranks 75th in the liberal dimension, which encompasses elements such as the rule of law, the protection of individual rights and institutional accountability, and records that the country does not fully meet the standard of a liberal democracy due to structural deficiencies in the mechanisms limiting executive power.
Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem), which has produced the largest global dataset on democracy for 202 countries and regions since 1789, measures over 600 different aspects of democracy with the participation of more than 4,200 academics and experts.
“This report, which highlights that one cannot speak of a liberal democracy in our country, Greece, once again lays bare the stark contrast between the government’s empty rhetoric and the reality on the ground in a country that claims at every opportunity to be the cradle of democracy. Our country has been facing a profound democratic crisis in recent years. The vast majority of citizens do not trust the judiciary, the national parliament or the government. The rule of law is being systematically violated through a succession of legal scandals for which the government bears primary responsibility. Reports by the European Commission and the European Parliament also highlight this serious erosion of democracy and the rule of law in our country. One of the most glaring examples of the politicisation of judicial decisions and the institutional violation of the rule of law in our country is undoubtedly the failure to execute three judgments of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the Turkish associations in Western Thrace for the past 18 years’’, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
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