Opposition Warns of Corruption Rise as Slovakia Slips in CPI Ranking

Bratislava, 10 February (TASR) – The opposition criticises the state of corruption in Slovakia and the country's decline in the global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), warning that if nothing changes, Slovakia could end up in last place. "Today it became clear that since the government of Robert Fico (Smer-SD) took office, Slovakia has fallen by 14 places in the Corruption Perceptions Index," said Zuzana Stevulova, vice-chair of the Progressive Slovakia (PS) caucus. In her view, the coalition is mocking people, and she criticised Parliament for dealing with red herring issues instead of tackling genuine problems. The drop in the ranking from 59th to 61st place has also drawn criticism from Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), which points out that only four EU countries perform worse – Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. "If nothing changes, we will soon be last. Slovakia needs a restart," SaS said on social media. The 'Slovakia' party spoke in this context of the coalition "dragging Slovakia into a corruption hell". "Not only the statistical decline in the Corruption Perceptions Index, but also people's everyday experience convinces them that while investigators had their hands untied in 2020 to 2023, it is criminals and corrupt actors who now have free rein," the party posted on social media. MP Veronika Remisova ('Slovakia'–For the People) spoke of the consequences of the breakdown of the rule of law and justice. "Another year-on-year decline in the perception of corruption is a natural consequence of the current government's steps to protect criminal groups. The European Public Prosecutor's Office says Slovakia has become a haven for tax fraud, and the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has been unsuccessfully urging the government to do something about corruption," Remisova said, adding that the failure to investigate corruption due to government interference was recently criticised by Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka. Slovakia ranked 61st out of 182 countries in the global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), falling by two places year on year. It scored 48 out of a possible 100 points, with a higher score indicating less corruption, reported Transparency International Slovakia (TIS) director Michal Pisko. The ranking is compiled by Transparency International headquarters using indices from independent institutions mapping one to two years back. "Slovakia was covered by nine indices, and we worsened year on year in five of them," Pisko said. Last year, Slovakia ranked 59th out of 180 countries with a score of 49 points. mf