Zuzana Dlugošová, chair of the Whistleblower Protection Office (source: TASR)
Slovakia has dropped in the Global Corruption Index (GCI) from the 40th position to the 42nd. It is the fifth-worst country in the EU, ahead of Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.
This year, Finland tops the GCI ranking, followed by Norway, New Zealand, Denmark and Sweden. These five countries have been competing in the upper echelon for the last 3 years, consolidating their leading positions in the GCI.
“Corruption is a global problem that even the most advanced countries cannot avoid. We also have tools to fight corruption in Slovakia - companies and state institutions must have an internal system for reporting unfair practices and check them honestly,” said the Slovak Whistleblower Protection Office, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
The office added that corrupt activities can often only be disrupted by whistleblowers. "That's why it's important to protect them and change the perception of them," the office said.
The Office, therefore, aims to put anti-corruption tools into practice, thus helping to eliminate the problem. "Therefore, we will closely monitor similar rankings and alert the institutions to the necessary systemic changes," the office added.
