Slovakia slid three places to 57th in the corruption perception ranking
Slovakia slid three places to 57th in the latest corruption perception ranking by Transparency International, the worst result since 2013. Of EU countries, only Hungary and Balkan countries are worse off. The corruption perception was heightened by the murder of reporter Ján Kuciak that brought to light links of top politicians to Italian mafia and of the police to Slovak mafia, as well as the abuse of farming subsidies. Courts and the police are still unable to fight corruption and most Slovaks do not trust the police. On the positive side, the police found the courage to investigate economic crimes of people close to Smer, such as Marian Kočner and Ladislav Bašternák.
