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The fight against corruption in the East: the least of European concerns?

(B2 archives) In the new Member States, corruption plagues all day-to-day relations at the top of the State.

A daily practice

In Eastern Europe, corruption stems more from the art of living than from a reprehensible practice. From the doctor who practices in "private" to the driving license inspector who issues sesame for a few hundred euro notes, through building permits and road fines, the "skip the line" is money common in Eastern European countries. A practice that dates back well before enlargement, in the era of communism and which has not really regressed. The low level of the average salary of a policeman, a judge, a doctor – between 300 and 500 euros – is not for nothing in this state of mind.

An example from above

Former agents of the secret services and other political police have easily converted to these activities. Past masters in the art of putting together a more or less bogus file, mixing real and fake invoices, with the help of crooked notaries and lawyers, to obtain all the necessary documents in record time, they watch out, with professionalism , European subsidies. Politicians are not left out.

The President of the Lithuanian Republic, Rolandas Paksas, was thus dismissed at the beginning of April, by his Parliament for violation of the Constitution; he would have benefited during his electoral campaign from "logistical" support, in particular in the form of the loan of an airplane by the company Avia Baltika, of the Russian Yuri Borisov. And, in Poland, the former Prime Minister, Leszek Miller, is embroiled in a troubled history. The director of the popular Polish daily, Gazeta Wyborcza, former dissident Adam Michnik, says he was approached by film producer Lew Rywin, co-producer of Schindler's List and chairman of Canal Plus parent company Polska, asking him, on behalf of the Prime Minister, for a bribe of wine of 17,5 million dollars, to change the law and allow the group of written press to acquire a private television.

Vulnerable countries

According to a survey of businessmen by Transparency International, the anti-corruption non-governmental organization, only three countries (Cyprus, Estonia, Slovenia) have a sufficient level of anti-corruption; four others (Poland, Latvia, Slovakia, Poland) are at the level of Colombia or Jamaica.

An open mafia

In Lithuania, the Russian mafia is not really hiding. Just observe! His black Mercedes or Bmw parade at open dump in the cities and his henchmen in silk suits parade. Vilnius, the capital, is in fact only a few kilometers from the Russian border. And the enclave of Kalilingrad, the Russian port located some 150 km on the other side, sharpens all desires.

A taboo word

Faced with mafias of all kinds, and state apparatuses that are still weak, the European Union still seems poorly armed. Community legislation is scarce. A short framework decision and a vague communication, dating from 2003, all in all. Admittedly, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), set up four years ago, is slowly gaining momentum. But this can only intervene if Community resources (subsidies, VAT, etc.) are at stake. As for Europol and Eurojust, the two cooperation instruments put in place by the States, one police, the other judiciary, are still in their infancy. The urgency of the fight against terrorism seems to have relegated the fight against corruption, which is more obscure, to the rank of the youngest of European concerns.

Nicolas Gros-Verheyde (in Brussels)
article published in Ouest-France, May 2004

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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