Corruption Perception Index Ranks Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania Last in EU in Coping with the Problem

Bulgaria is last in the EU, along with Hungary and Romania, in terms of coping with corruption. This statement was made by Transparency International - Bulgaria at Thursday's BTA-hosted news conference presenting the results of the international Corruption Perceptions Index 2020.

The study, published every year since 1995, contains analyses, assessments and perceptions of the level of corruption according  to business representatives, local and foreign analysts in the respective countries. It is based on independent research.

According to Transparency International, Bulgaria's position in the Index means that it has done the worst job in the EU in fighting corruption. With an index of 44, Bulgaria, together with Hungary and Romania, is at the bottom in the European Union. It is also 69th in the world rankings.

The researchers said the index was drawn up in the context of the COVID-19 crisis that highlighted the problem of overlooking social systems and resulted in limited accountability of institutions and obstruction of civil control.

Globally, two-thirds of the countries have a score below 50, which means a systemic problem with corruption, showing insignificant or next to no progress in handling corruption, Kalin Slavov said.

In the EU, the most serious negative tendency is observed in Hungary, whose score fell from 55 in 2012 to 44 in 2020. The EU average score is 64. Denmark is the top-scoring country, followed by Finland, Sweden and Switzerland.

In Slavov's words, some studies already point to an "authoritarian tinge in the manner of state governance, which regrettably keeps us at such low levels of dealing with corruption". He added that this was happening against the backdrop of countries like Estonia, the Czech Republic and Greece, which have improved their scores.

Vanya Nousheva commented that in the countries with a higher level of corruption, the ruling elites tend to curtail civil rights and disregard the democratic standards of governance. Violations of human rights under the pretext of dealing with the  epidemic crisis cannot be passed over in silence, she said.

Bulgaria has been last in dealing with corruption for about 20 years, Ognyan Minchev added. This could probably be due to the fact that it has not reformed its institutions.

The study ends with recommendations that could help limit corruption. The general guidelines are four: stronger public supervision of the institutions, transparent and concrete procedures for public procurement and funding, protection of democracy and promotion of civil participation, and full-fledged  access to information.