The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has cancelled a mission to Hungary to discuss anti-bribery measures, it said on Tuesday (15 October), citing the government’s failure to act on its previous recommendations.
The Paris-based OECD has been a driving force in the global anti-corruption movement for more than four decades. The overarching objectives of the organisation’s anti-corruption and integrity (ACI) work is to support trustworthy institutions and open, efficient and inclusive markets.
A Hungarian government spokesman did not immediately respond to emailed questions for comment on what the OECD said was the first time such a high-level mission has been called off.
Scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday (15 and 16 October), the meeting was scrapped over what the OECD described as the inability of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government to secure sufficient representation of ministers and senior officials for the event.
“The high-level mission decided on by the Working Group on Bribery in December 2023 was meant to address the Government of Hungary’s failure to make tangible progress in addressing long-standing recommendations,” the OECD said.
These related to what the OECD described as the Hungarian government’s lack of understanding of foreign bribery risk exposure and the absence of a strategy for detecting and investigating foreign bribery cases.
The OECD said some of its recommendations date back more than a decade.
“The Working Group also remains seriously concerned about Hungary’s low level of foreign bribery enforcement,” it said.
The OECD said it will implement additional measures for the Hungarian government to re-engage at an appropriate level and introduce a draft plan of proposed steps to address the shortcomings its working group has identified.
(Edited by Georgi Gotev)
Source: euractiv.com
