January 31 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria marginally improved its ranking in Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), while Hungary took its place as the EU’s lowest-ranked member, the organisation said on Tuesday.
Bulgaria ranked 72nd among 180 countries around the world included in the survey, achieving a score of 43 points out of a maximum 100, up a point on its score from the preceding year, Transparency International said in its annual survey.
Bulgaria’s slight improvement was mirrored by its northern neighbour Romania, which also gained a point on the previous year and ranked 63rd with a CPI score of 46. Hungary ranked 77th with a score of 42, recording a 9-point decline since 2015 as evidence mounted against its political elites and their misuse of state and EU funds.
Transparency International said that Bulgaria’s political corruption prevented free and fair parliamentary elections, while the latest round of legislative amendments pushed through at the end of 2022 further increased the likelihood of electoral manipulation. The Council of Europe highlighted weaknesses in the judiciary and placed the country under special supervision.
“As a matter of urgency, to safeguard public funds, the government should put in place a robust system for evaluating and managing governance and corruption risks when awarding companies with public funds through contracts, concessions or state support,” the organisation said, adding that a new Bulgarian government must prioritise the implementation of the 2021-2027 anti-corruption strategy.
Elsewhere in Southeast Europe (SEE), Croatia and Moldova improved their score by the largest margin, scoring 50 and 39 points, respectively, after a 3-point gain on the previous year. Croatia and Moldova ranked 57th and 91st overall.
Despite a one-point drop from its score in 2021, Slovenia was perceived as the least corrupt country in Southeast Europe (SEE) and ranked 41st overall, maintaining its standing from the previous year.
Among SEE countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked the lowest, scoring 34 points and taking the 110th spot.
Serbia lost two points from 2021, reaching its lowest performance in a decade and ranking 101st overall. In its 2021 survey, Transparency International said that Serbia was no longer considered a democracy but a hybrid regime and its government had become notorious for heavily influencing the media, harassing independent critics, and holding unfair elections.
Continuing its upward trajectory, Kosovo edged up by two points, achieving its best-ever score in a decade and ranking 84th overall.
Albania and North Macedonia each gained a point from 2021, ranking 101st and 85th, respectively.
In a broader context, Western Europe and the EU scored 66 points and once again constituted the top-scoring region in the CPI, despite frozen progress across most countries for more than a decade.
The CPI uses a scale from 0 to 100, in which 100 is very clean and 0 is highly corrupt.
Details about the scores of the SEE countries follow:
|
Transparency Intl CPI 2022 (score - rank) |
Transparency Intl CPI 2021 (score - rank) |
Albania |
36 - 101st |
35 - 110th |
Bulgaria |
43 - 72nd |
42 - 78th |
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
34 - 110th |
35 - 110th |
Croatia |
50 - 57th |
47 - 63rd |
Kosovo |
41 - 84th |
39 - 87th |
Moldova |
39 - 91st |
36 - 105th |
Montenegro |
45 - 65th |
46 - 64th |
N. Macedonia |
40 - 85th |
39 - 87th |
Romania |
46 - 63rd |
45 - 66th |
Serbia |
36 - 101st |
38 - 96th |
Slovenia |
56 - 41st |
57 - 41st |
Source: Transparency International