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 1989
Just prior to the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, Freedom House ranked Poland, Hungary, and Yugoslavia Partly Free, as a result of limited political openings and an increased permissiveness of criticism. The rest of the communist world, however—marked by rigged elections, terror tactics, the repression of democratic opposition groups, and the destruction of a free press and institutions like religion and free trade unions—was designated Not Free.
1999
By 1999, Freedom House findings pointed to the beginnings of a two-tiered post-communist world. The countries of Central Europe, the Baltic states, and increasingly the Balkans had embraced democracy or were moving in a democratic direction. At the same time, the non-Baltic countries of the FSU were showing signs of stagnation and even regression. Thus, all of the Baltic and Central European countries were designated as Free, and most Balkan countries, which had only recently emerged from years of bloody conflict, were Partly Free. Meanwhile, 5 of the 12 non-Baltic FSU countries were designated Not Free, and none were ranked as Free.
2009
By 2009, the gap between the countries of the CEE and Baltic regions on the one hand and the non-Baltic FSU on the other has continued to grow. In 2008, 12 of the 16 CEE/Baltic countries were designated as Free, while four—Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro—were designated as Partly Free. In contrast, one non-Baltic FSU country, Ukraine, was designated as Free, four were ranked as Partly Free, and seven were designated as Not Free.
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