Hungary was ahead of the Czech Republic (57th), Slovakia (61st) and Romania (69th), but behind Poland (38th).

József Péter Martin, managing director of TI’s office in Hungary, said people who are committed to the government head state institutions that are supposed to monitor the power of the government, eliminating checks and balances and creating a high degree of corruption risk. He added that lawmaking often serves the interest of political powers at the moment rather than the public good.

He said rules on releasing data on expenditure of public monies had been tightened and called the measure “a step backward”.

Martin said Hungarians were starting to grow insensitive to corruption, adding that 70% would not contact authorities if they knew of corruption because they have no trust in the authorities or are afraid of the consequences.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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