Europe's strongmen leaders want to use the coronavirus pandemic to tighten their grip while touting their prowess in overcoming crises, but their authority risks being badly undermined if the outbreak is mishandled.
From Turkey to Russia and other ex-Soviet states such as Belarus, the coronavirus has proved an unexpected test for systems already facing economic difficulties and, in some cases, international isolation.
Activists fear the pandemic is being exploited by some leaders as a pretext to further erode civil liberties by cracking down on the right to assemble and squeezing digital freedoms.
Read the full article and more in Agence France-Presse.
Author
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Andrea Kendall-Taylor
Senior Fellow and Director, Transatlantic Security Program
Andrea Kendall-Taylor is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Transatlantic Security Program at CNAS. She works on national security challenges facing the United States and Eur...
