prijava
SARAJEVO, December 12 (FENA) - British Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Matthew Field said today that corruption is present in every segment of the private and public sector in BiH.
At a panel discussion "Anti-corruption Agenda 2022" organized by Transparency International in BiH, as part of marking the International Anti-Corruption Day, Fild said that corruption prevents economic growth and investments and can increase the cost of procurement contracts by 25 percent, and directly threatens: education, security, healthcare, judiciary and public services.
He added that his country would continue to support all necessary reforms that would lead to a reduction in corruption in BiH.
Acting Executive Director of Transparency International BiH, Ivana Korajlić, stated that there are declarative commitments in BiH to the fight against corruption and the binding strategic documents, but the problem is in their implementation.
“The first step in the fight against corruption is the improvement of the judiciary to ensure its independence and integrity, because the judiciary itself is fighting internally with corruption affairs,” said Korajlić.
Head of the Office for the Rule of Law at the EU Delegation to BiH, Richard Wood, emphasized that corruption is a major obstacle to BiH's prosperity and its path to the European Union, which is why prevention and sanctioning of corruption requires full attention in the European integration process.
Deputy Ambassador of the United States to BiH, Ellen Germain, said that her country expects from the BiH authorities to successfully address the problem of corruption that affects each and every citizen and their future success and prosperity.
The panel was organized in order to consider the future directions in the fight against corruption in BiH, with a special focus on the implementation of the new EU Strategy for Western Balkans, as well as the announced new reform processes in the field of rule of law.
(FENA) S. R.
