Improve transparency and institutions’ resilience in fight against corruption urge participants of 2020 OSCE Forum in Prague

PRAGUE, 10 September 2020 – “Corruption shrinks tax revenue, distorts markets, hampers trade and investment and deepens inequalities. Every time illegal private gain wins out against the public good, it weakens our social fabric. Our objective is nothing short of zero tolerance for corruption,” said Albania’s Acting Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of Albania Gent Cakaj, while opening the 2020 OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum today in Prague.

The two-day Forum focuses on preventing and combating corruption through innovation, increased transparency and digitalization in the OSCE region. It gathered senior government officials and experts from academia, NGOs, international organizations and the private sector of the 57 OSCE participating States.

“Vast sums of money that should be spent on vital public services – education, health care, social services and all-important infrastructure – end up in the pockets of the corrupt,” said Cakaj. “As we face the economic fall-out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is our moral duty to re-double our efforts to prevent and combat corruption in order to guarantee the effective and efficient utilization of public funds in tackling this unprecedented crisis.”

Throughout 2020, the OSCE addressed corruption in parallel with good governance: the other side of the corruption coin.

Tuula Yrjölä, OSCE Officer in Charge/Secretary General, Director of Conflict Prevention Centre, said that the impact of technology on security, economic and environmental issues, is a discussion worth promoting across the OSCE’s comprehensive agenda. “We can only benefit from being proactive in addressing challenges and opportunities related to this area. Leveraging the power of innovation can be a great resource for enhancing security, stability and prosperity for us all.”

Tomáš Petříček, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czech Republic, said that corruption affects to a greater or lesser extent all the OSCE participating States, including his own. “We must prevent and combat corruption in a comprehensive way and ensure involvement of civil society and the private sector. It is necessary to strengthen the OSCE tools and commitments at the Ministerial Council in December in Tirana, in order to be able to fight this scourge more effectively.”

Marina Sereni, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, Keith Krach, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, U.S Department of State, Jean-Luc Lemahieu, Director of Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs (UNODC), and Professor Paola Severino, Special Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Corruption gave keynote speeches.

In conclusion, Cakaj said that without good governance there can be no sustainable victories in the fight against corruption. “We need good governance to achieve our shared 2030 sustainable development goals in relation to economic growth, environmental protection, transparency and the prevention of corruption,” he said.   

The fight against corruption is one of Albania’s 2020 OSCE Chairmanship key priorities.