Report: More must be done to fight party corruption

Greece has a poor track record in fighting corruption in party financing, bribery and trading in influence, according to new report by the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), which said it saw no improvement since its last report in June, 2015.

GRECO said a special statute of limitation for the prosecution of former and current government members has not been abolished, despite its recommendations. This, the report said, could “likely undermine the public trust.”

Previous recommendations, it said, to more broadly incriminate bribery of domestic, foreign and international members of public assemblies remain only partially fulfilled, with the result that cases of indirect bribery have been “overlooked.”

A recent change in Greek law, GRECO said, that enables anonymous donations of up to 50 euros, “reopens the door to risks connected with the sale of coupons and excessive use of cash in connection with political financing.” 

It also said its recommendations for the timely publication of private donations to political parties have only been partly realized.