Hungarian governments in the last twenty years combined have not done as much for preventing and reducing corruption and for achieving accountability as the government currently in office has in the past two years.

We acknowledge with regret that this fact has been omitted from the organisation’s report, and we are therefore unable to embrace or agree with most of its findings. It would have been far more justifiable to express concern about the state of corruption in Hungary during the period between 2002 and 2010 when a series of high-profile corruption cases involving the effective assistance and participation of senior government officials and local political leaders brought shame to the country.

Since its establishment, the Government has implemented the most intensive series of anti-corruption measures of the past twenty years because organised corruption left unpunished in the last few years and those who turned a blind eye to such malpractices played a major role in the development of the country’s current dire economic and financial situation and the general depreciation of morals and trust. If there is any country in the world that is most painfully aware of this, it must be Hungary as generations of Hungarians will pay the price for the irresponsible practices of previous governments, the country’s high debt rate and the shortage of public funds squandered and stolen during previous periods.

The Government is committed to enhancing faith in the State, and guarantees with all means at its disposal the responsible management of the nation’s assets and public funds and the uncovering of cases involving corruption, and makes every effort to bring the guilty to justice. Since the change of regime, Hungary has for the first time a governmental anti-corruption programme the implementation of which has begun. Since its entry into office, the Government has improved the conditions necessary for the fight against corruption in the fields of law, public administration and the economy.

The Government has made the law on public procurements substantially more stringent, thereby putting an end to the untenable practice during the socialist governments, in the wake of which billions were stolen due to the shortcomings and loopholes of the public procurement system. The Government is committed to increasing the faith of citizens in the State and guarantees with all means at its disposal that the nation’s assets and public funds are managed in a responsible fashion, for the advancement of the people, that cases of corruption are fully uncovered and that those who are responsible for cases of corruption are brought to justice. To this end, the Government has implemented a number of measures in the past almost two years. For instance, Parliament passed a law on the protection of national assets, and Parliament is currently debating the draft of the new Penal Code which will take further steps towards creating rules that are capable of protecting and upholding fairness and transparency in public life.

It is also thanks to the Government currently in office that a government-level anti-corruption strategy and an action plan have been adopted for the first time since the change of regime. Hungarian society expressed an elementary demand for these (firm action against corruption, prevention, transparency of utilisation of public funds) during the socialist governance between 2002 and 2010 when the public was shocked practically daily by news of the involvement of socialist and liberal state and municipality leaders in cases of corruption.

Thanks to the new public procurement law, Hungary, uniquely in the European Union, has barred off-shore businesses with an unclear proprietary background from public procurement proceedings. Consequently, the incomes produced in Hungary cannot be channelled to foreign tax havens in an uncontrolled manner. For instance, according to the new rules, only businesses that fully reveal their proprietary structure may be awarded public procurements. The novel measures introduced in the new public procurement legislation are, in a number of instances, parallel with the goals of the EU directives in the making. Consequently, a progressive law has been created that is fully EU-compatible and is exemplary also by international standards.

Hungary has, as a result, opened a new chapter in the fight against corruption. At the same time, everyone is aware that this is an eternal fight that must be pursued persistently, for instance, also through the creation of the new party funding legislation.

Further details regarding the Government’s anti-corruption measures can be found at hu/gyik/osszefoglalo-a-kormany-korrupcioellenes-intezkedeseirol

(kormany.hu)