Transparency International ranks Hungary as most corrupt EU state
February 2nd, 2023Opinions diverge on the annual Corruption Perceptions Index. Transparency International ranked Hungary as the most corrupt country in the European Union in its latest analysis.
Magyar Nemzet’s Ottó Gajdics questions the objectivity of the ranking. The pro-government commentator calls Transparency International one of the most important NGOs of the ‘Soros network’ with an explicit agenda to weaken the Hungarian government. The pro-government commentator writes that Hungary is being punished for opposing illegal immigration, ‘gender and pro-LGBTQ propaganda’ and ‘multicultural global governance’. Gajdics agrees with the Hungarian government that Transparency International should actually monitor the EU leadership in Brussels if it really wanted to give a fair account of corruption in the Union. He concludes by noting that in the Parliamentary elections last April, the opposition parties received 4 billion Forints of funding from foreign donors, including George Soros.
On the Magyar Hang website, István Dévényi is not at all surprised that the government and its media try to question the objectivity of Transparency International by accusing it of representing George Soros’ agenda. The government-critical conservative columnist finds it sad that Hungary has been ranked as the most corrupt country in the EU. He, however, finds it even more disturbing that supporters of the government refuse to even see the corruption behind the wealth accumulation of pro-government oligarchs.
On Mandiner, Mátyás Kohán finds Transparency International’s measurement methodologically flawed. The conservative blogger notes that the ranking is based on a handful of subjective corruption reports. That is why Hungary has slipped 13 ranks lower than last year, which is surely absurd, he suggests. Kohán attributes Hungary’s low ranking to the daily discussion about alleged corruption in the Hungarian media which creates the subjective impression that Hungary is a deeply corrupt country. In an aside, Kohán adds that Tranparency International ignores corruption within NGOs.
Tags: corruption, Soros, transparency