08.07.2021 – 08:53
The US State Department has released a new annual report on the investment climate, which states that it is generally easy to do business in Macedonia and that the legal framework is largely in line with European standards, but corruption is the problem. Continued.
The DASH report for 2021 states that the implementation of anti-corruption laws in Macedonia has been weak at times and has selectively targeted government critics and low-level offenders.
The report says there have been credible allegations of corruption in the police, judiciary and other sectors.
“The current anti-corruption commission, appointed in February 2019, has resumed its work after the adoption of new anti-corruption legislation in January 2019, and has been particularly proactive since then. “The commission has launched a number of corruption-related investigations, focusing on senior officials on the political spectrum, for alleged nepotism and conflict of interest,” the report said.
The report also notes that Transparency International ranked Macedonia 111th out of 180 countries, according to the 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index, which is a drop of five countries, due to the government’s lack of efforts to fight corruption and conflict of interest in public administration.
“As a result of public frustration and pressure on the high index, they have partly pushed the Deputy Prime Minister for Anti-Corruption to introduce a code of ethics for members of the Government and all other government-appointed officials, according to which they “They must commit to transparent and accountable work,” the report said.
Numerous international reports note that the rule of law remains a major challenge in Macedonia, pointing to excessive government, business and / or political interference in the judiciary and insufficient funding and administration of the administrative courts as major obstacles.
