It's pedantic but there are a fair few stable and free democracies around the world as 'free as France. Namibia, South Korea, Japan, East Timor, etc.
Just wanted to point out while definitely far more common in the West, its not the only place you can find democracy and press freedom
Something to do with it generally but this was off the back of internationals so half of them will have played a lot of football, travelled for a full day and are jet lagged