TI: Greece EU Most Corrupt Country, Falls Behind Bulgaria

Politics » DOMESTIC | October 26, 2010, Tuesday // 13:42
Bulgaria: TI: Greece EU Most Corrupt Country, Falls Behind Bulgaria Jointly heading the index -- in which a score of 10 indicates a country with the highest standards, and 0 as highly corrupt -- were Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore with 9.3. Photo by Transparency International

Bulgaria is perceived as EU's second most corrupt state, falling behind the other usual suspect Romania, but preceding Greece, an annual corruption index published by Transparency International shows.

More than a year after Prime Minister Boyko Borisov declared an all-out war on corruption, the country has slipped further down the ranking in Transparency International's annual Corruption Perception Index, but fares better than Greece.

Out of 178 countries surveyed, Greece ranked 78. Bulgaria and Romania, who last year shared spot number 71 together with Greece, have now distanced themselves to places 73 and 69, respectively.

The index is composed of 13 different expert and business surveys conducted between January 2009 and September 2010.

War-torn states are still seen as being the most corrupt in the world, according to the new report from Transparency International. The worst country is Somalia, followed by Burma, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore tie for top place as the world's least corrupt countries, with the UK 20th.

Russia is rated as among the worst for corruption, in 154th place. And Italy, down in 67th spot, now comes below Rwanda.

Meanwhile, emerging economic powerhouse China is in 78th place.

Transparency International concludes that some countries have become more corrupt in the past year, particularly the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and the US.

It is the poor and vulnerable who suffer the consequences of corruption, Transparency International found.

Hence, more should be done to enforce existing rules and laws, according to Huguette Labelle, chair of Transparency International.

"These results signal that significantly greater efforts must go into strengthening governance across the globe," she said, as cited by BBC.

"With the livelihoods of so many at stake, governments' commitments to anti-corruption, transparency and accountability must speak through their actions.

"Good governance is an essential part of the solution to the global policy challenges governments face today."

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, a square-jawed former bodyguard, once the top official in charge of the country's police and later mayor of its capital Sofia, was elected prime minister in July last year, pledging to eradicate organized crime and grapple with Bulgaria's economic woes and corruption.

His statements however have often drawn criticism that he is more a maverick populist than a reformer.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Domestic » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: corruption perceptions index, Bulgaria, Transparency International, Boyko Borisov

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria