Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been accused of making Hungary “the most corrupt country in the EU” following his speech to the European Parliament last week.
After Mr Orbán laid out his priorities for Hungary’s EU presidency on Wednesday, Péter Magyar, a former member of Mr Orbán’s Fidesz party who has become Mr Orbán’s biggest political rival, criticized the prime minister for ruining the country’s reputation.
“I am happy that at least here, on behalf of the opposition and millions of Hungarians, I can ask you questions,” Mr Magyar said, addressing Mr Orbán directly.
“I hope you can now explain to Hungarians how Hungary went from a shining star to what is officially the poorest and most corrupt country in the European Union,” Mr Magyar added.
Other MPs, such as Germany’s Moritz Körner, echoed the sentiment by calling Mr Orbán an “imposter” and calling on him to resign.
But is it really true that Hungary is the most corrupt country in the EU or even the continent?
It depends: Hungary consistently ranks among the most corrupt European countries according to various scorecards, but whether it is the worst country for financial crime depends on which metric you use.
The corruption perception index le newer by Transparency International places Hungary at the bottom of all EU countries.
On a scale of zero to 100, with zero meaning very corrupt and 100 meaning clean, Hungary scored 42, followed by Bulgaria with 45 and Romania with 46.
This result places Hungary in 76th place out of 180 countries in the world.
Transparency International has criticized Hungary for “more than a decade of systemic violation of the rule of law”, which has allowed corruption to “thrive without being punished”.
The organization added that Hungary’s attempts to silence critics reveal “the Orbán government’s commitment to protecting the status quo.”
Looking at Europe as a whole, Russia is the country with the highest financial crime, according to Transparency International, with a score of 26 out of 100 and 141st place out of 180.
Perceived widespread corruption in the EU
If we change the ranking system, the results also change.
The 2024 Eurobarometer survey on EU citizens’ attitudes towards corruption found that 68% of Europeans consider corruption to be widespread in their country.
Of these, Greece is seen as having the worst problem with dirty money, with 98% of citizens believing that corruption is widespread there. Next come Portugal and Malta, with 96% and 95% respectively.
Hungary actually comes in eighth, but a clear majority of citizens still view the country as corrupt: 88%.
Across the Union, European citizens believe their government is not doing enough to fight corruption.
Some 65% think high-level corruption cases are not sufficiently prosecuted, and only 30% believe the government’s efforts to combat illicit funds are effective.
