All countries struggle with corruption, including representatives of the Old Europe. ”In the recent years we’ve had a lot of corruption cases where former politicians have been involved” - says René Wenk from the Austrian Court of Audit. And he gives examples of court proceedings against the former Minister of Finance or the Minister of Internal Affairs. ”In case of the former it has been about irregularities connected with the privatisation of state apartments” - explains Wenk.
How does Austria fight with corruption? Interview with René Wenk
Corruption in Europe pt1
The Austrian do not want to tolerate any corruption cases. ”This mechanism harms the economy and citizens” - says representative of the Austrian Court of Audit. That is why this country has conducted an anti-corruption policy for many years now. It is based on four pillars: the work of law enforcement bodies, preventive activities, education and cooperation on the national and international level.
A number of actions have been taken in Austria to fight corruption in the entire public sector. That is the reason why some people may have an impression that the problem of venal officials has grown much bigger in the past years. ”Corruption has always existed in Austria” - says Wenk. ”And when we started to fight with that intensively, simply more breaches of the law came to the surface. And maybe the citizens have become more aware that this problem is present also in our country.”
Wenk has no doubts that the media are an important ally of auditors in the fight against corruption. ”If the journalists inform the society that e.g. the corruption-prevention system in a ministry is weak, usually that institution feels much greater pressure to implement proper changes” - explains the Austrian auditor. And he adds that preventive work of the Supreme Audit Institutions would not be that effective without close cooperation with the media.
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