On the occasion of 9 December – International Anti-Corruption Day, Kosova Democratic Institute (KDI) has published Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer 2010.

Esat Mazreku from KDI has unveiled the content of the report, according to which 73 % of the respondents in Kosovo believe that since 2007 the level of corruption has increased, while only 8 % think that corruption has decreased. According to him, just like in the entire world, political parties are seen as the most corrupt instuitions in Kosova, followed by the judiciary and surprisingly the parliament.

“Political institutions and the judiciary have clearly an extremely negative image among the citizens. Therefore, politicians and judges need to try harder to improve this image as the entire responsibility for high level of corruption is attributed to them,” said Mazreku.

According to him, the perception of respondents is that the sectors with the least levels of corruption are the NGOs, clergy (religions institutions), defense, and the police.

“Giving bribes is a serious concern, both at the global and the national level in Kosovo. 15 % of respondents have stated that they or someone related to them has given bribes in various forms and institutions. It should be noted that bribery, in most of the cases, affects the poorest strata of a country’s population, including in Kosovo” said Mazreku during the press conference.

According to the Global Corruption Barometer, 61 % of respondents think that anti-corruption measures of government have not had any effect, while 32 % believe that the measures have been effective.

“In general, at the regional level, Kosovo is not better in terms of perception of corruption with an average grade of 3.5. This means it is very close to the extreme level of corruption” (with 5 meaning extremely corrupt), he said.

Merita Mustafa, Manager of the Transparency and Anticorruption Program at KDI, said that the “Global Barometer is a public opinion survey that is undertaken by Transparency International, measuring the perceptions and experiences of ordinary people in dealing with corruption”.

This year’s Barometer for the first time asks the ordinary people if they are willing to be involved in the fight against corruption. The responses are: 7 out of 10 respondents expressed willingness to report any case of corruption, 7 out of 10 respondents also stated that ordinary people can make a difference in the fight against corruption, while half of them said that they can imagine themselves involved in the fight against corruption, expressed Mustafa.

The 2010 Global Corruption Barometer reflects the views of more than 91 thousand respondents in 86 countries, making it the most complete edition since its first launch in 2003. The publication is prepared by Transparency International, the world wide known organisation against corruption, its main partner in Kosovo being Kosova Democratic Institute, that is also given the right to launch this report on Kosovo. Simultaneously, on International Anti-Corruption Day, this publication is launched at the global level.