Not sure if you're just talking about defenders here Synco, but unfortunately i don't think passing standards had risen everywhere though, i'd argue they've actually declined over the last 10-15 years in some of the non-elite national teams. Especially for eastern european teams that used to produce a good amount of technically proficient midfielders like Russia, Romania, Serbia, Czechia, Slovakia, Bulgaria. Most of the time up until sometime in the '00s those teams used to be very neat and tidy in passing technique and in buildup/overall team passing setups even if they didn't have the depth/quality i other areas throughout the entire side to avoid often playing on the counter against the bigger teams, but when i watch any play now it's rare they show much invention in team passing or are even technically able to string 5-10 passes together with any regularity.
Croatia have avoided it after looking like they were going the same way during the early-mid 00s and Hungary seem to be finally improving again recently, especially technically, yet overall it's not a good time to follow football in the region if you value good technical football.
