Introducing the Eastern Grouping

Despite their late transition to democracy and open markets and the significant socio-economic dislocations endured in the process, countries of the Eastern grouping mostly managed the initial wave of the pandemic well. In many cases, however, subsequent waves proved much harder to handle as rudimentary welfare regimes or populist leaders made sheltering households from the economic impact of the pandemic a priority. This fuelled premature reopening’s and inadequate restrictions in some countries. Comprising Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia and Estonia, several states of the Eastern grouping escaped further democratic backsliding thanks to politicization which served to keep executive aggrandizement in check. Yet, many of the countries still suffer from low trust in authorities reflected in modest vaccination rates.