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Piotr Świtalski: Armenia did not fulfil half of its commitments in the fight against corruption (video)

Politics
svitalski

Corruption in Armenia is of systemic nature. Armenians believe that state officials, tax authorities and the presidential administration are the most corrupt bodies in the country. All governments in Armenia have announced the fight against corruption as top priority. But how can they speak about the fight if people do not confide in the presidential institute? According to the European Union, in 2015, the Government of Armenia did not show desire to fight against corruption. The EU annually allocates €50 million to Armenia to eliminate corruption, but the Armenian government remains ‘unshakable.’ Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Piotr Świtalski says, “In 2015, the Armenian government failed to fulfill half of its commitments in the fight against corruption. That is why we were unable to pay the rest of the money. We are hopeful that the country will meet its commitments in the coming years.” The Armenian authorities have promised many other international organisations, including the United Nations, Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), to toughen fight against corruption. In fact, the progress in Armenia only remains in the form of laws. “The adoption of legal acts is not enough, their implementation is much more important. Equally, it is important to know how those legal acts are enacted and what results they give,” says Khachik Harutyunyan, an expert at the Transparency International Anticorruption Center. The government and society should joint efforts in the fight against corruption whereas the survey conducted by the Center does not instill optimism. Sixty-seven percent of the respondents said they would not report to law enforcement agencies about cases of corruption while 63 percent said the fight against corruption would not give tangible results. “The passiveness of civil society in the fight against corruption is a negative phenomenon. Selling one’s vote for 10 000 or 20 000 drams is unacceptable. The future of your country is more expensive than the sum. One cannot always blame high-ranking official,” says Piotr Świtalski. Corruption exists everywhere, even in the most developed countries. It is impossible to completely eliminate it. The problem is to bring it to the lowest possible level and make it manageable.