Elena Kovalenko14:32, 01/31/23

On January 27, 2023, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that his country would veto any EU nuclear-related sanctions against Russia.

Hungary is recognized as the country with the worst indicators of public sector corruption in the EU.

Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, which scored between 42 and 46 out of 100, are well behind the top three Scandinavian EU countries, Politico reports   citing a Transparency International report.

Denmark topped its class (90 points), followed by Finland (87 points) and Sweden (83 points).

Luxembourg, the UK and Austria have significantly lowered their scores since 2017, and Ireland is the only EU country whose scores have improved. Moldova, which received the status of an EU candidate in June last year, also improved its result.

Russia, with a score of 28, has one of the lowest scores in Eastern Europe, and its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February is “a stark reminder of the threat corruption and lack of government accountability pose to global peace and security.” This is stated in a press release published along with the report.

Ukraine’s score is only slightly higher (33), but the report notes that the country has been “implementing important reforms and steadily improving” since the start of the war.

The index uses survey data based on interviews with experts and business people from various sources (including the World Bank and the World Economic Forum) to rank 180 countries around the world according to their perceived level of corruption on a scale from 0, meaning high corruption, to 100.

The war in Ukraine and the position of Hungary:

After the start of a full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine called on 27 EU countries to include the Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom on the sanctions list. Hungary blocks such intentions, as it has a Russian-built nuclear plant, which it plans to expand with Rosatom.

Hungary, an EU member, has repeatedly criticized EU sanctions on Russia, saying they have failed to significantly weaken Russia but could destroy the European economy.

Orban repeatedly refused to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation , and also sabotaged aid to Ukraine.

On November 30, 2022, the European Commission announced that it was freezing funding for Hungary due to corruption in the Orban government.

As of January 20, 2023,  Hungary has blocked  500 million euros of EU military support to Ukraine.

On January 27, 2023, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that his country would veto any EU nuclear sanctions against Russia.

(C)UNIAN 2023