Transparency International Hungary Presented the findings of its 2019 CPI Report at Central European University this Thursday. A discussion panel made up of TI Hungary’s József Péter Martin and Miklós Ligeti; Corvinus University’s Dóra Győrffy; András Bíró-Nagy from Policy Solutions and Róbert László from Political Capital, discussed the findings and gave their impressions, predictions and warnings on Hungary’s position going forth into 2020.

TI Hungary’s Executive Director József Péter Martin suggested that based on the findings of the Corruption Perceptions Index, ‘Hungary is now playing in the Balkan League’, not in the V4. As the report finds, Hungary’s performance, with a fall of 11 points since 2012, is now at the very bottom of both regional and EU countries, with only Bulgaria performing worse. Whilst this downwards trend is also reported in otherwise well performing countries such as Canada; he joked ‘We Hungarians would like to take such a nose dive and find ourselves in such a position (as Canada)’. He also emphasised an ‘…almost twenty-year decline in competitiveness in the Hungarian economy… (with) the main reason for this deficit is corruption’, adding a warning that this seriously ‘…undermines the long-term success of the Hungarian economy’, despite more recent economic robustness.

Whilst this position is alarming from an outside perspective, it was the unanimous opinion of the panel that the current government is not only wilfully ignorant, it is actively encouraging the misuse of public funds. In the words of Róbert László ‘there is no intention to change the system- what we perceive as corruption is the essence of Government policies…they perceive it as good’.   This was seconded by Andras Bíró-Nagy who concluded the government’s actions were an ‘ideological’ position, designed to allow those on the right of politics to succeed where they had been previously been denied opportunities. This places Hungary in the unique position of having what József Péter Martin described as ‘centralised corruption- a reallocation of wealth to those close to the government…forming a (ideological) nationalist capitalist group’.

This does not bode well for Hungary’s reputation in the EU in a year when, as described by András Bíró-Nagy ‘…Hungary is in greatest need of allies in the EU’. He predicted the ‘…main clash between the EU institutions and Hungary…’, rather than the Article 7 proceedings, will be at the EU budget talks this year, ‘…A positive image will be sorely missed as Hungary is perceived as using EU funds to finance the oligarchs’. With a potential 27% drop in EU funds to Hungary the key question will be ‘Who will the Hungarian citizens blame for less funds?’.

Corvinus University’s Dóra Győrffy highlighted the widespread impact this centralised corruption was having on both Hungarian society and national security. She argued that ‘Corruption may also cause demographic problems, we know after 2010 many people have left Hungary. Corruption is demoralising for talented people, so many highly qualified people have left Hungary (as a result)’. Equally she warned ‘…corrupt systems are open to exposure to foreign influence…Hungarian interests are not represented in the decision-making process but foreign interests’. She explained how Russia and China used corruption to buy influence at the expense of national interest, part of the so called ‘Kremlin Playbook’. This threat to national security was also echoed by TI Hungary’s Miklós Ligeti who described how government residence bonds were being sold to people of ‘unknown backgrounds’ with little to no official oversight. An ironically hypocritical position given the Hungarian government’s anti-immigration stance.

Whilst the courts do preserve their independence as, in the words of József Péter Martin, the ‘last bastion of European values’, judges are having to work tirelessly to ‘maintain their independence’ with the government and the public prosecutor’s office defeating every attempt to ‘restore the rule of law in Hungary’.

Whilst there were some positives for the future to focus on; as in the words of József Péter Martin the recent ‘Municipal election results are a sign that the rule of law can be restored’; the panel warned that this is still an uphill struggle. Despite sixteen opposition mayors having committed to TI’s transparency rules they must, according to Miklós Ligeti ‘walk the talk’ if they are to stand any chance of extending this victory into the 2022 national elections. There is ‘…no other path for these local governments than to show a cleaner picture than Fidesz’ according to Bíró-Nagy, ‘…if corruption scandals occur, chance of success goes back to zero’. A point reinforced by Róbert László, claiming that ‘No corruption is a form of self-defence against Fidesz, if they want to stand a chance (the opposition) have to be over and beyond the shadow of doubt.’

TI Hungary’s entire report is available here in English.

The author of this coverage is Owen Howells, who currently works as an intern at TI Hungary