TI: Bosnia among four worst-ranked countries in Europe in corruption

This was stated at the presentation of the results of the global Corruption Perceptions Index for 2025, organized on Tuesday in Sarajevo by Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Advocacy and Public Policy Manager Edo Kanlic said that the slight increase of one point compared to last year does not change the picture of long-term stagnation, as BiH remains at the very bottom of Europe, with only Russia, Belarus, and Serbia ranking worse. Serbia, he noted, has experienced a significant decline in recent years due to the consequences of corruption on human lives and the suppression of civil liberties.

"The focus of this year’s CPI research was precisely on the consequences that the erosion of democracy has on the level of corruption in a country, because states with well-developed democratic institutions, free media, and other mechanisms for overseeing government work are more effective in combating corruption," he emphasized.

In this regard, Kanlic added, nothing has changed in BiH compared to previous years, as the country ranks, according to CPI corruption levels, between those assessed as failed democracies and states labeled as dictatorial regimes.

"This has been particularly influenced by a series of laws in Republika Srpska over the past year aimed at suppressing freedom of speech and association, as well as undermining the legal order," he stressed.

Public Relations Manager Srdjan Traljic stated that the regional Transparency International report notes that BiH’s progress in fighting corruption is hindered by unsuccessful efforts to eliminate political influence over judicial appointments and to effectively regulate the independence and accountability of judges and prosecutors.

He recalled that TI BiH had already pointed out the farce currently accompanying the process of adopting the law on the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC), where key decision-makers are trying to retain mechanisms that enable political control over the judiciary.

Traljic claims that such a judiciary, in a country at the very bottom in terms of corruption, continues to produce disastrous results in prosecuting corruption-related criminal offenses, and that numerous corruption scandals that marked the past year, such as the Viaduct or Pretis affairs, have not received a judicial epilogue.

"Another critical area remains the prevention of conflicts of interest among public officials. Under the new law at the state level, not a single sanction has yet been imposed; in Republika Srpska, conflicts of interest have been practically legalized through arbitrary interpretations; and at the level of the Federation of BiH, the law has not been applied for more than 13 years. That is why TI BiH recently, with the support of 13 parliamentarians, initiated the adoption of a new law on conflicts of interest in the Federation of BiH. The vote in parliament could clearly show which political actors are obstructing key reforms, which is why BiH has been at the very bottom of Europe for years,'' he said.

He also emphasized that with this level of corruption, BiH cannot make any progress toward European integration, and that the authorities have promised to implement most of the reforms necessary to curb corruption through the reform agenda.

"Nevertheless, we continue to witness obvious obstructions of reform processes, especially by key actors in power who are facing a crisis of legitimacy and are trying to retain levers of power by resisting democratic processes, reshaping the electoral will of citizens, and placing what remains of independent institutions in this country under political control," he concluded.