washington post
By DUSAN STOJANOVICThe Associated Press Friday, January 7, 2011; 6:47 AM
BELGRADE, Serbia -- Bags of cash delivered to the office of a prime minister with a penchant for expensive watches. A dizzying fortune amassed by another from years of tobacco smuggling.
Or the plain grotesque: A head of state who allegedly led a mafia-like gang trafficking kidneys cut from murdered prisoners in the 1990s.
Wherever you look, accusations are flying about high-level corruption in the Balkans. But while some say it's endemic, others see progress: In a region torn apart by war two decades ago, nations now aspire to join the European Union and there's a more urgent need to pursue and prosecute.
"For many years, organized crime and corruption encountered few obstacles preventing their growth or stunting their influence in southeastern Europe," says Balkan political analyst Misha Glenny. "That is now changing largely because of the conditions imposed by the European Union on regional governments to clean up their acts."
The accusations are being fought by former and current leaders of Croatia, Montenegro and Kosovo. But nerves are being rattled far beyond their nations' borders.
EU members Romania and Bulgaria are under pressure from Brussels to fight graft and bribery more than three years after joining the 27-nation bloc, with Germany and France recently warning that allowing them to join the continent's visa-free travel zone too quickly could have "grave consequences" for the bloc's security.
That is slowing momentum to expand the union deeper into the Balkans.
Clearing the higher bar could prove difficult for Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Kosovo - all ex-Yugoslav states tinged with a reputation for corruption.
The 170-nation list of Transparency International's 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index places Macedonia and Croatia joint 62nd, Romania 69th and Bulgaria 73rd. Compared to established EU nations like Germany at 15 or France at 25, the results show they have a lot of catching up to do.
That's particularly true for Bosnia, listed at 91 and Kosovo, at 110.
While Croatia - the next likely EU member - has fulfilled most membership requirements, it must increase "the fight against corruption at all levels," says EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele.
At first, probes in Croatia involved minor players - university professors giving passing grades in exams in exchange for bribes, or clerks at land registry offices who took money in return for quickly issuing construction permits. ...more...
The 170-nation list of Transparency International's 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index places Macedonia and Croatia joint 62nd, Romania 69th and Bulgaria 73rd. Compared to established EU nations like Germany at 15 or France at 25, the results show they have a lot of catching up to do.
That's particularly true for Bosnia, listed at 91 and Kosovo, at 110.
While Croatia - the next likely EU member - has fulfilled most membership requirements, it must increase "the fight against corruption at all levels," says EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele.
At first, probes in Croatia involved minor players - university professors giving passing grades in exams in exchange for bribes, or clerks at land registry offices who took money in return for quickly issuing construction permits. ...more...
*Associated Press writers George Jahn in Vienna, Snjezana Vukic in Croatia, Predrag Milic in Montenegro, Jovana Gec in Serbia and Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.
read more: washington post
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