election legislation and an inefficient system for complaints and appeals. Lack of adequate mechanisms to ensure a balanced and equal media coverage is another problem. Although, it should be noted that the situation considerably improved in Armenia, where 2012 saw unprecedented plurality in media coverage of the elections. The National Committee for TV and Radio monitored extensively what was broadcasted to ensure a balanced and equal media coverage. None of the EaP countries has an effective system preventing vote-buying, although all of them have legislation prohibiting this action. Georgia is the only state that provides both direct and indirect public funding for political parties. Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and Armenia provide only indirect public funding and its extent varies depending on the country. As far as electoral competitiveness is concerned, Ukraine and Moldova maintained their leading positions, although the difference between the share of the vote held by the strongest party and the strongest oppositional party increased in the case of Ukraine. In Georgia and Armenia competitiveness between parties also increased, as the difference between the number of seats held by the leading party and the main opposition party decreased in the 2012 elections. Nevertheless, one should note that the ruling party in Armenia in 2012 received more seats than in the previous election in 2008, while the second biggest party in terms of number of seats cannot be considered truly oppositional.
Media Freedom, Association and Assembly Rights The countries’ scores in this part of the Index mostly rely on the assessments of independent international institutions such as Freedom House, Bertelsmann Transformation Index and Reporters without Borders.
The situation of media freedom is uneven. Moldova remains the best performer, although according to Reporters without Borders the media situation in the country deteriorated. Georgia comes second. Both Freedom House and Reporters without Borders highlight improvements in Georgia. Armenia comes third. While Freedom House praises Armenia’s progress, Reporters without Borders point to certain deterioration. Local experts in Armenia state that the situation rather improved, mostly due to unprecedented plurality in the media coverage of elections and essential improvements in court practice on defamation. Ukraine follows Armenia. Here while Freedom House shows deterioration, Reporters without Borders point to certain improvements. Azerbaijan and Belarus continue to pay the least respect to this aspect of democracy, although Reporters without Borders highlight certain improvements in both countries. Where association and assembly rights are concerned, we see a somewhat different pattern. Moldova still is in the lead, but it is followed closely by Ukraine and Georgia and further away by Armenia. Azerbaijan and Belarus are again far behind. Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Belarus show decline compared to last year’s Index, while Armenia shows improvement. No changes are recorded in the case of Moldova and Georgia.
Human Rights including Equal Opportunities and Non-Discrimination This category of the Index looks at civil liberties and adoption of international standards in the field of human rights. It also includes the very detailed and elaborate subcategory Equal Opportunities and Non-Discrimination. Civil liberties are most severely violated in Belarus and most protected in Moldova and Ukraine. Belarus is notorious for being the only country in Europe that retains the death penalty and for its lack of international cooperation on the
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