Freedom House, an NGO promoting civil liberties and freedoms around the world, has rated Romania's press 'partly free' in its most recent report. Although overall the country comes out mid table, it is at the bottom of the EU pile.

Romania ranks 86th out of 197 countries, alongside the Dominican Republic, with a rating score of 41, where 0 = most free and 100 = least free . Countries are rated in three categories:  free, partly free and not free. At the top of the table were Norway, Sweden and Finland, tying for first place with rating scores of 10. Not far behind came Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark. At the other end of the spectrum was North Korea, ranked 197th with a score of 97 out of a worst possible 100. China, Cuba and Burma were also among the worst for press freedom.

Looking regionally, Romania is again around the middle, but it is the worst EU state for press freedom, according to Freedom House. Neighboring new EU member states, such as Bulgaria, are ahead, and despite press freedom being more restricted in Hungary recently, it still came out better than Romania.

The Central and Eastern Europe region's scores declined over the last year overall. “In 2011, the regional average score underwent significant decline, with negative movement in all three thematic ( legal, political and economic ) categories,” reads the Freedom House report.

Freedom House was founded in 1941 and aims to support freedom around the world through its studies, advocacy and assistance for democratic activists.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Sxchu)