Hungary, once seen as a democratic success story is now widely recognized as one of the EU's most corrupt member states. Regular KB host Liz David-Barrett sits down with József Péter Martin and Áron Hajnal to examine how Viktor Orbán built a system of state capture, and why the EU struggled to respond. They discuss their research evaluating the effectiveness of EU conditionality measures, the challenges of tackling corruption when it's built into the regime itself, and what might happen in Hungary's crucial April 2026 elections.
Find Áron and József’s article here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10999922.2025.2554409?scroll=top&needAccess=true#d1e186
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Hungary, once seen as a democratic success story is now widely recognized as one of the EU's most corrupt member states. Regular KB host Liz David-Barrett sits down with József Péter Martin and Áron Hajnal to examine how Viktor Orbán built a system of state capture, and why the EU struggled to respond. They discuss their research evaluating the effectiveness of EU conditionality measures, the challenges of tackling corruption when it's built into the regime itself, and what might happen in Hungary's crucial April 2026 elections.
Find Áron and József’s article here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10999922.2025.2554409?scroll=top&needAccess=true#d1e186
125. John Heathershaw, Tena Prelec and Tom Mayne on Indulging Kleptocracy
KickBack - The Global Anticorruption Podcast
42 minutes 9 seconds
9 months ago
125. John Heathershaw, Tena Prelec and Tom Mayne on Indulging Kleptocracy
For this episode we are joined by John Heathershaw, Tena Prelec and Tom Mayne to discuss their new book Indulging Kleptocracy: British Service Providers, Postcommunist Elites, and the Enabling of Corruption. This conversation focuses on professional enablers that provide services to help kleptocrats to launder their reputations, move their money, and gain access to political influence. John Tena and Tom argue that professional enabling is a systemic problem that is facilitated by the concentration of financial and legal expertise in the private sector, and the willingness of professionals to turn a blind eye to the origins of their clients' wealth. They discuss the challenges of regulating professional enabling and offer advice for researchers working in this area.
The episode discusses the new book Indulging Kleptocracy, which partly draws on research funded by the GI ACE programme. GI ACE generates actionable evidence that policymakers, practitioners and advocates can use to design and implement more effective anti-corruption initiatives. This project was funded by UK Aid from the UK government. The views expressed in the book do not necessarily reflect the UK Government’s official policies.
Find John Tena and Tom's new book here: https://academic.oup.com/book/58173
Similar themes relating to kleptocracy can be found in Kickback episode 66, with Casey Michel, and episode 111 with Tom Burgis.
KickBack - The Global Anticorruption Podcast
Hungary, once seen as a democratic success story is now widely recognized as one of the EU's most corrupt member states. Regular KB host Liz David-Barrett sits down with József Péter Martin and Áron Hajnal to examine how Viktor Orbán built a system of state capture, and why the EU struggled to respond. They discuss their research evaluating the effectiveness of EU conditionality measures, the challenges of tackling corruption when it's built into the regime itself, and what might happen in Hungary's crucial April 2026 elections.
Find Áron and József’s article here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10999922.2025.2554409?scroll=top&needAccess=true#d1e186