Szazadveg: Two out of three Hungarians view political elite in Brussels as corrupt

Twenty-four percent of respondents consider corruption to be the most pressing problem with Brussels.

Brüsszel, 2023. január 3. Az Európai Parlament jelképe a testület brüsszeli épületén 2023. január 3-án. Az elõzõ nap az illetékes belga ügyészség kérte a parlament két szocialista párti képviselõjének, a belga Marc Tarabella és az olasz Andrea Cozzolino mentelmi jogának felfüggesztését Eva Kaili görög szocialista képviselõnek, az Európai Parlament alelnökének korrupciós ügyével kapcsolatban. MTI/EPA/Stephanie Lecocq Fotó: Stephanie Lecocq

68 percent of Hungarians consider the political elite in Brussels to be corrupt, and corruption is the biggest problem for the European Union's leadership in Brussels, according to a survey conducted by Szazadveg in June.

As the think-tank's survey shows, 35 percent of Hungarian respondents consider the leaders in Brussels and the EU bureaucracy to be highly corrupt, while 33 percent consider them to be rather corrupt. They add that

the survey results cannot be separated from the fact that Brussels has recently been rocked by an unprecedented corruption scandal.

 

As we highlighted in our previous article, several current and former MEPs and one of their assistants are now behind bars on preliminary charges of corruption, money laundering and conspiracy. More than six months after the scandal erupted, Belgian authorities are still investigating what exactly the corrupt politicians were required to do for Qatar, Morocco and Mauritania in exchange for the €1.5 million that has been transferred.

As Szazadveg has also pointed out, a total of 53 MEPs have breached the European Parliament's Code of Conduct by failing to declare their paid-for trips received as a gift, including to Qatar, within the set deadline.

This is precisely what Romanian MEP Cristian-Silviu Bușoi - president of the EU-Qatar Friendship Association from 2019 to 2021 - has done, as he was more than 1,000 days late in submitting his declaration.

Szazadveg's research also quizzed Hungarians on what they think is the biggest problem with the European Union's leadership in Brussels at the moment. The think-tank underlined that corruption was the number one issue, which "clearly stands out among all the problems examined."

Accordingly, 24 percent of respondents consider corruption to be the most pressing problem with Brussels.

Along with almost one in four, the bloc's weakness to assert its interests and its inability to act were cited by 13 per cent, while external influence and a general disregard for the EU's interests were cited by 11 per cent. Ten percent of respondents view the EU's cumbersome and sluggish decision-making process to be the biggest problem for the bloc. 

 

Cover photo: The emblem of the European Parliament on its building in Brussels on 3 January, 2023 (Photo: MTI/EPA/Stephanie Lecocq)