Corruption in Czechia: stuck in the middle between East and West

Czechia has scored 59 points in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index, equalling its best result to date but still lagging behind the EU average. According to Transparency International analyst Marek Chromý, the country has made clear progress since the 1990s, yet remains stuck in the middle of Europe’s corruption rankings. 

Progress since the 1990s — but slow

Marek Chromý says the country has clearly improved since the early post-communist years, particularly in institutional trust and the functioning of the police and judiciary.

Marek Chromý|Photo: Jan Volejníček

“The progress is there. There is no doubt about that,” he says. “We are slowly, very slowly getting there. Yet there is still a lot of work to do ahead of us.”

One major change since the 1990s is stronger confidence in law enforcement and the justice system. However, public trust in politicians remains extremely low.

“The trust that politicians would not misuse their position for personal gain remains on extremely low level,” Chromý says, adding that distrust in politicians in Czechia is comparable to levels seen in non-democratic countries.

Stuck between East and West

In regional terms, Czechia occupies what Chromý calls a “middle position”. The country performs better than some Central European neighbours but still lags behind Western Europe.

Germany and Austria remain among the top performers and should serve as inspiration, he says, while Slovakia and Poland have shown stagnation in recent years. The biggest gap between Czechia and the world’s least corrupt countries lies in political culture.

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“In top-scoring countries, even a slight suspicion of unethical behaviour often leads politicians to step down until the situation is clarified,” Chromý notes. “This sort of behaviour and ethics we lack in the Czech Republic.”

Lack of long-term strategy

Another key weakness is the absence of a consistent anti-corruption strategy. According to Transparency International, many reforms have been adopted mainly under pressure from the European Union.

“There is a strong lack of strategical approach on how to fight corruption,” Chromý says. “Most laws were adopted based on push from the European Union, and the will from Czech political representatives is strongly limited.”

He cites the lobbying law as an example: although Czechia now has such legislation, it was adopted reluctantly and contains many exceptions.

Political trust and future risks

The current CPI does not yet reflect the new government led by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, because the index is based on data collected over the previous two years. Still, Chromý expects future editions to show whether political developments affect perceptions of corruption.

Photo: Michaela Jílková, Profimedia

“I expect the current government will strongly possibly erode the general trust towards politicians and their personal integrity,” he says. “I have a strong suspicion that the situation in Czech Republic is going to get worse.”

For now, the country remains where it has been for years: between Western Europe’s top performers and weaker performers in Central Europe.

“We are stuck here for quite some time and the situation is getting better very slightly,” Chromý concludes. “If we want to be perceived as a state actively fighting corruption, we need to get much, much better.”