Transparency International

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that he "assumes" that nearly 7,000 donors who gave the ruling Serbian Progressive Party an identical amount of 40,000 dinars (around 320 euros) during his 2017 presidential campaign, did so "because it was allowed that individuals donate that amount - and not more than that."

The European Central Bank (ECB) has profited handsomely from its holdings of Greek government debt, according to a document seen by the Financial Times.

A written response to a request from a Greek MEP showed the bank collected €7.8 billion in interest payments between 2012-2016 on Greek sovereign bonds acquired under its Securities and Markets bond-buying program (SMP).

The offices of several Members of the European Parliament have confirmed to BIRN that they have received a mysterious book for free, named "The Bulgarian Oligarchy. They Plundered the State".

It is published by the Bulgarian newspaper Telegraf, which is part of the Balkan Media Company, linked to the controversial media mogul Delyan Peevski.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte hailed late dictator Ferdinand Marcos as a hero for many Filipinos during a weekend of emotional celebrations by supporters of the former strongman ahead of his 100th birth anniversary today.

The state has shown a fragmentary approach and a lack of determination toward combating corruption in Greece, according to a report by the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV).

When the AKP came to power in 2002, many voters saw it as a clean break with corrupt old-school parties that had mismanaged Turkey's economy and brought about a massive economic crisis in 2000-01. In recent years, however, the country has fallen steadily in Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index. 

In Transparency International's most recent annual Corruption Perceptions Index, Turkey ranked a lowly 75th. The country has been declining steadily on the index in recent years, as an earlier reform drive is abandoned and ordinary citizens increasingly come to see corruption as the normal way of doing things.

Costas Bakouris, a prominent businessman who served twice as the director of the Greek chapter of Transparency International, died Tuesday at the age of 81 after suffering a stroke.

Bakouris remained on the managing board of Greek manufacturing company Viohalco until his death.

Rasa Nedeljkov from Serbian NGO, the Center for Transparency, Research and Accountability, CRTA, stated that the organisation has been receiving reports from both citizens and its own election observers, about alleged pressures on voters to support the ruling Serbian Progressive Party and abuse of public resources for its leader, Aleksandar Vucic's campaign.

The European Central Bank needs greater oversight and more accountability, as it has strayed into the realm of political decision-making but without the necessary scrutiny, global watchdog Transparency International said in a report on Tuesday.