The CEU Weekly brings to you an interview with Ágnes Bátory, chairman of the board of Transparency Inernational Hungary, academic coordinator of the Erasmus Mundus Masters in Public Policy and associate professor at the Department of Public Policy. She also teaches courses as Corruption and Corruption Control and tutors PhD students.
Dear Agnes, thank you so much for accepting this interview. Agnes, you are chairman of the board of Transparency International Hungary, academic coordinator of the Erasmus Mundus Masters in Public Policy (involving other three universities), and CEU is lucky enough to have you as associate professor teaching courses as Corruption and Corruption Control and tutoring PhD students. We are of course very pleased for having the opportunity of talking with you.
TCW: Agnes, please, could you share with us a synthesis of where does Hungary stands with regard to the Transparency agenda; what are the pressing issues in the Hungarian context?
Agnes: The Hungarian chapter of Transparency International (TI) has been busy ever since it started operating as a foundation in 2006, but perhaps never more so than now. Not only are the ‘usual’ problems still around – chief among them the lack of transparency in party and campaign financing and a badly regulated public procurement system that is wide open to abuse – but there are also new issues that make taking effective action against corruption difficult. Several of the independent institutions charged with tasks crucial to keeping public life clean have seen their mandates changed, or their independent operation put at risk by the partisan appointment of key officials. The recent changes in the judicial system and the new power of the chief judicial official, for instance, to transfer cases to different courts opens the way to at least a perception of lack of objectivity, of using corruption for political witch hunts which obviously does not help the cause.
TCW: is there an autonomous body that safeguards the right of citizens to access to information? Who defines what is public information and how accessible is it? What is the cost of accessing public information?
Agnes: Hungary was a pioneer in the region in adopting progressive legislation on FOI (as well as electronic-freedom of information) that provided wide-ranging rights to citizens for seeking information at no cost, and for enforcing these rights through the courts. Compliance with the act, however, has always been patchy, for instance better by central government than local governments, and better by some ministries than others. The constitutional guarantees of FOI included the office of ombudsman (parliamentary commissioner) for FOI and Data Protection – an institution that, while somewhat limited by its weak enforcement powers nonetheless effectively aided the recognition of the right. In a controversial move, the current government abolished the office of ombudsman, and replaced it with an authority with weaker guarantees of independence. This change is currently contested by the European Commission as well as a number of other international bodies.
TCW: very interesting, thank you. And Agnes, tell us, how do you think CEU can better contribute to enhance transparency in the region and in itself? Any hints you could you provide to practitioners on the anti-corruption agenda on where to begin?
Agnes: CEU does what an academic institution needs to do in this respect: it does research and (hopefully) educates generations of students to keep an open mind, be critical towards authority, and never hesitate to ask questions. I believe many former CEU students live by these principles not only in countries where this is easy or even goes without saying, but also countries where you take a personal risk by asking awkward questions. As for advice to practitioners, my answer is one you’d probably expect from an academic: it depends. There is no general solution or silver bullet against corruption, only small steps tailored to context and local circumstances.
TCW: And Agnes, you obtained your PhD in International Relations from Cambridge, could you please briefly mention or enumerate a couple of those aspects in which you find CEU and Cambridge to be similar and those in which you find them to be different.
Agnes: This is a difficult question. I genuinely believe that the quality of education CEU provides is very high, and most of our graduates look back at their time with us as a very rewarding experience. But a comparison with what is (at least by some rankings) probably the best university in Europe is somewhat unfair. Cambridge is a huge university located in a charming and rather small medieval city (in fact the city centre and the university feels one and the same), with the colleges providing cozy intellectual homes for communities of students and scholars. With 800 years of history, tradition and wealth behind it, there is never any doubt about what the university stands for, or a sense that it would need to prove itself – it is others that need to measure up to its standard. I felt very privileged to spend a few years there while doing my doctorate. In contrast, as you know, CEU is a small institution that stands somewhat island-like in a bustling capital city, and after 20 years it’s still new enough to constantly reinvent itself. This and the incredible diversity of members of the university also make it a very exciting place to work at.
TCW: Agnes, thank you so much for granting us this interview. It is really nice to learn from you. Are there any final words or message that you would like to share with the CEU audience?
Agnes: I can’t really think of anything to add…
TCW: Thank you Agnes, koszonom szepen! It was great talking with you!
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