Continued failures by Hungarian authorities to fully investigate allegations of corruption involving high level officials remains a “serious concern”, a report by the European Commission has said.
Right-wing nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban has long been criticised for undermining the rule of law, targeting civil society and eroding the rights of vulnerable minorities during his 14 years in power in the central European country.
In a report published on Wednesday the commission said concerns had been raised about nepotism and clientelism in the upper echelons of the country’s administration. The lack of progress made tackling corruption perpetrated by senior officials was a “serious concern” for the European Union.
Some 360 people had been convicted of corruption-related crimes in Hungary last year, the commission said. “However, most cases target low to mid-tier officials while leaving out the top-level officials of the country’s public administration, and convictions in high-level corruption cases continue to be rare,” the report said.
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The commission, the executive arm of the EU, has in recent years published an annual report tracking anti-corruption measures and the rule of law in the 27 member states. Its assessment of Hungary concluded there were serious shortcomings due to pressure being put on judges, journalists and civil society organisations in the country.
Independent media faced “seemingly co-ordinated” smear campaigns, while NGOs operated under laws that “hampered” their ability to work, it said. The commission also said concerns “persist” about the lack of any judicial oversight of the use of “secret surveillance” that was not connected to any criminal investigation.
An inquiry by the EU’s anti-fraud agency had uncovered a “corruption ring” involving EU funds that had led to more than 50 people being brought before the courts on bribery charges, the report said.
One senior EU official, speaking on condition that he was not named, said Hungary had made little progress in the last year. “The reality is not very encouraging,” he said. All elements of the justice system needed to be working well to successfully prosecute high ranking figures for corruption. “Our conclusion at the moment is there is no part of that train that is working to full capacity,” the senior official said.
Speaking at a press conference in Brussels, EU commissioner for justice Didier Reynders said rule of law shortcomings in Hungary posed a “real systemic issue” for the commission. Some €20 billion in EU funding earmarked for Hungary is currently being withheld, due to concerns about the erosion of the rule of law.
Relations between Budapest and other European leaders remain tense following Mr Orban’s decision to visit Moscow on a “peace mission” to discuss the Russian war with Ukraine, which was viewed as an effort to undercut the EU’s position.
The commission’s rule-of-law report also strongly criticised backsliding in Slovakia, where the nationalist government dissolved a special prosecutor’s office. The transfer of prosecutors to other teams was messy and had risked affecting ongoing cases and the overall efficiency of the system, the report said.
There was a “relatively high” perception of corruption existing in the Slovakian public sector, according to experts and business figures, it added. Criminal law reforms in the country raised “serious concerns” about Slovakia’s legal framework for fighting corruption, the commission said.
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