Transparency International: rule of law in Hungary almost completely dismantled
According to Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index, Hungary is perceived by economic and civil actors as the most corrupt state in the European Union.
Corruption in Hungary
The Hungarian office of Transparency International (TI) has also received the benchmarking report, which examines corruption in the European Union. To get the full picture, civil society and business actors alike share their views.
Hungary is the most corrupt country in the European Union according to TI’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index. This is the result of a decade of work, corruption has become part of the system, József Péter Martin, TI’s executive director in Hungary, told Népszava.
Corruption is also a serious problem in Romania, Greece, Bulgaria and Italy. But in Hungary, the organisation says, it is more serious because the country has such a centralised and top-down pattern of corruption.
According to the head of the organisation, the Hungarian state is captive, which means that the majority of state institutions do not operate autonomously. Most of the leaders have been replaced and the institutions no longer primarily represent the public good.
Hungarians know, but they don’t care
The expert points out that there is also huge pressure from the government in the courts. Corruption is not a by-product of the system, but part of it. The most important element of that unscrupulous system is public procurement, where corruption is found in a significant part of the system, writes index.hu.
The director said that according to the Eurobarometer 2022 survey, 91 percent of Hungarians are aware of the serious issue of corruption. However, their tolerance index remains unchanged.
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Source: index.hu, Népszava