“It is for your own good!” says Romania’s hybrid regime

Who better foreshadows Romania’s plummet in the democracy index than General Rog, head of the cyber division of the Romanian intelligence services, openly boasting of his executive overreach in 2023?

(français | limba română)

As the publication of The Economist's new Democracy Index approaches, announced for April 8, 2026, we are republishing our article from May 30, 2025 on Romania's democratic backsliding.