Turkey is the EU candidate country whose democratic standards have deteriorated the most in recent years.

Omissions

• No specific time range is defined for 'recent years', making comparative measurement impossible.
• No specific democracy index or measurement methodology is cited — different indices (Freedom House, V-Dem, EIU Democracy Index) measure different aspects of democratic quality and may yield different decline rankings.
• The claim does not account for democratic decline in other EU candidate countries such as Georgia (particularly after the 2024 'foreign agents' law and contested elections) or Serbia (under prolonged Vučić governance), both of which have been flagged by international monitors for serious democratic backsliding.
• Two independent sources or one primary source specifically comparing the magnitude of democratic decline across all EU candidate countries could not be found within the search limits.

Sources

• PrimaryFreedom House — Freedom in the World 2026The report states that global freedom declined for the 20th consecutive year in 2025, with 54 countries experiencing deterioration in political rights and civil liberties. However, the search result does not include specific comparative data on the magnitude of decline for Turkey relative to other EU candidate countries.
• SecondaryEuropean Democrats (EDP)The article states that Turkey is an EU candidate country and a member of the Council of Europe, and that 'Turkey's democratic backsliding must have consequences.' It confirms democratic backsliding in Turkey but provides no comparative ranking against other EU candidate countries.
• SecondaryOC MediaThe article notes that Turkey had lower Freedom House scores in 1999 when granted candidate status (score of 7) than Georgia in 2022 (score of 9), indicating Turkey's democratic deficits predate its candidate status. It provides comparison between Georgia and other candidate countries but does not rank Turkey as the most deteriorated.