Steven N.Hungary continues to pose a prominent risk to the European Union through its use of EU funds, according to the newly-published 2021 report by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
The report gives a rather damning indictment of Hungary’s willingness to pursue corruption cases: OLAF asked the Hungarian Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate specific matters in 18 criminal cases, but 12 of the cases were not dealt with at all by the Hungarians and only four cases in total led to charges being filed.
The report notes that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) could play an important role in Hungary’s law enforcement, but the country is not an EPPO member. Chief Prosecutor Péter Polt told EU public prosecutors at a meeting in Vienna last month that Hungary “has not joined the organization for reasons of principle.”
A report by the Council of Europe’s Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) was also recently published, similarly grading Hungary as “globally unsatisfactory” in the fight against corruption. GRECO’s report notes that only five of their 18 proposed recommendations were fully implemented by the Hungarian government. [Népszava]
So here we have yet another report about the corruption in Hungary, what a surprise!
And whoever funded that report (presumably we the EU taxpayers) will see zero results, as has been the case over the years, regarding corruption in Hungary.
Am I the only one who is truly bored by now of the EU`s endless reports and admonitions of Orban and his mafia gang? When will we see some meaningful action take place, which does not require 5 – 10 years of discussions?
Well to be fair to the EU, they are holding up Hungary’s recovery fund money over corruption concerns.