Czechia slips in corruption rankings
Czechia has dropped five places in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index, ranking 46th worldwide. According to Ondřej Kopečný, program director of Transparency International Czechia, the main reason is the government's failure to prioritize anti-corruption reforms. "The political will to genuinely fight corruption is very low," he says.
The score, which measures perceived levels of corruption in 180 countries, shows that while Czechia still outperforms its Visegrad neighbors, it lags behind Western European nations.
From the perspective of Transparency International (TI), the decline reflects a lack of political will to tackle corruption effectively. "The anti-corruption agenda is simply not a priority for the current government of Petr Fiala," says Ondřej Kopečný, program director of Transparency International Czechia. "Some anti-corruption laws have been adopted, but very slowly, usually late, and often only under pressure from the European Union or other organizations pushing for reforms."
One major issue is the obstruction of legislative efforts within the government itself. "Even some members of the coalition are slowing down or weakening the laws that the government is trying to pass," Kopečný explains. "We are still waiting for a law regulating lobbying, and the major issue of conflicts of interest remains unresolved after the Constitutional Court struck down a law introduced by this government."
Beyond legislation, Kopečný highlights the importance of political culture. "Legislation is crucial—we need a solid framework—but equally important is how political representatives react to corruption scandals. And here, we do not see significant improvement," he says. According to him, political integrity and accountability are key to reducing corruption risks, yet they remain stagnant in Czechia.
Compared to Slovakia and Hungary, Czechia still ranks higher, but when benchmarked against the European Union average, it falls six points behind. "There is no long-term strategy to fight corruption," Kopečný notes. "Some governments set clear goals, such as improving their ranking in the CPI each year. In Czechia, there is nothing like that. Anti-corruption legislation is typically adopted only under external pressure, not because there is genuine political will to work on this issue."
He also emphasizes that the CPI is based on expert analysis and hard data, not just public perception. "The index reflects how the world sees Czechia—whether business professionals and international observers believe that the situation is improving. Right now, the data shows that while laws are being passed, there is little confidence that they will be enforced effectively."
With general elections on the horizon and the opposition party led by billionaire Andrej Babiš performing well in polls, there is little optimism for improvement. "If Babiš returns to power while still being the beneficial owner of Agrofert, we will face the same conflict of interest issues as before," warns Kopečný. "Beyond that, there is no indication that political representatives will start respecting the rules or handling corruption scandals with greater integrity."
