According to a new report, Austria is becoming increasingly corrupt. The 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released on Tuesday, ranked the country 22nd, closely followed by countries such as the Seychelles, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.
Austria continues to lose ground on Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Index, down three points from last year and five points from 2020. The country has dropped out of the top 20, with its worst result since 2014.
“Last year, Austria was still in 13th place, but now we are all being confronted with the fact that policy makers have not addressed anti-corruption measures at all or only very hesitantly,” warned Professor Eva Geiblinger, CEO of Transparency International Austria.
The report recently released by GRECO, a group of countries that fights corruption, also criticizes that the government’s efforts are not enough and need to be intensified, as Geiblinger emphasized.
Austria has been rocked by several corruption scandals in recent years, starting with the Ibiza affair that led to the government’s downfall in 2019, when a secretly recorded video was released showing right-wing opposition politicians Heinz-Christian Strache (who later became vice president). -Chancellor) and Johann Shows Gudenus planning illegal acts.
Another chat log scandal involving allegations of corruption and misuse of state funds led to former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz resigning in October 2021.
“Buying mandates and bribing future officials is not yet punishable,” says Georg Krakow, board member of Transparency International Austria.
About two weeks ago, Austria’s Conservative-Green government introduced a bill for a new anti-corruption law that would extend criminal liability for buying mandates and tougher rules for associations with political contacts.
“The newly available draft is still not enough,” Kraków said. “It’s time to create freedom of information. Austria brings up the rear in Europe here.”
Like last year, Denmark ranks first in the 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index. New Zealand and Finland rank second. Hungary is the most corrupt country in the EU and ranks 77th internationally, equal to countries like Burkina Faso and Kuwait.