Only 5% citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina believe that ethnic issues are the country's key problem, while the majority are worried about corruption, unemployment and poverty, according to the findings of Transparency International survey presented in Sarajevo on Monday.

The findings were presented on the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day.

Boosting the fight against corruption is one of the 14 reform priorities set by the European Commission in 2019 so that BiH could make progress towards EU membership. However, no serious results have been achieved on that front. A conflict of interest law has not been passed due to disputes between the ruling parties. Its passage is one of the new priorities BiH must comply with for possibly opening accession negotiations next March.

The TI surveys show that nearly 70% of citizens don't trust public administration, 78% are convinced that people are hired in public administration thanks to corruption, while 89% find that state budget money is misappropriated.

BiH is sliding backwards and the latest European Commission opinion shows that no progress was made on that front in the last year, said Deputy Swedish Ambassador Sara Lindgren.

BiH citizens are most concerned about corruption, unemployment, poverty and emigration, while ethnic issues are the main concern of just a minority, said Ivana Korajlic, TI BiH executive director.

Those in power are the ones constantly imposing ethnic issues, while nobody is dealing with citizens’ concrete problems, she added.

Corruption in the country is so widespread that the judiciary can't deal with it alone, there is no cooperation, so that number of corruption reports from police agencies is incomprehensibly small, said Halil Lagumdzija, president of the BiH High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, the country's top judicial institution.

The cases which do reach the courts, mainly thanks to citizens’ reports and media information, often end up in acquittals, he added.