STATEMENT BY H. E. Mr. GÁBOR BRÓDI

DEPUTY STATE SECRETARY

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF HUNGARY

Mr. President,

May 1, at the outset, extend our sincere congratulations to you on your election as President of this highly important Conference. You may rest assured of our strong support.

Mr. President,

There can be no doubt on our minds that corruption can seriously jeopardize a country's political, social and economic structure, erode basic public functions and values of democracy. Therefore, combating vigorously all forms of corruption is a matter of particular importance for us. The United Nations recognized quite some time ago that an effective universal, legally binding instrument against corruption was indispensable. By setting the global frameworks and determining standards, the Vienna-based United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has played a key role in facilitating the negotiations of the UN Convention against Corruption that was adopted by the General Assembly in October 2003. Hungary, acting as Vice-Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee responsible for elaborating this legal instrument has also contributed to the successful conclusion of this process.

Hungary welcomes the recent adoption and wide endorsement of the Convention, which serves as an example of bringing states together from different backgrounds and experiences to find effective ways in combating corruption. By signing and ratifying this Convention, the international community clearly could demonstrate the will to give an adequate answer to a global challenge with a universal response.

The significance of this Convention is far-reaching. It reinforces the existing national and international legal instruments against corruption by introducing a set of standards, rules and measures that all States can apply, in order to strengthen their legislative and regulatory regime to fight corruption. In our view, the new Convention is both balanced and comprehensive; it duly penalizes various forms of corruption in the public and in the private sector alike. At the same time, the new instrument places strong emphasis on prevention and international co-operation as well. By strengthening progressive development of international legal codification, the Convention also contains clear provisions on recovery of illicitly acquired assets.

Mr. President,

Hungary has always been a keen supporter of the efforts of the United Nations aimed at elaborating comprehensive and effective anti-corruption standards. My country became a partner to one of the first pilot-projects of the UN's Global Programme against Corruption back in 1999. In late March this year, UNODC and Hungary organized a National Conference for "Cleaner Public Life" at which a broad-based agreement was reached on key elements of a national integrity strategy and an anti-corruption action plan. The holding of this National Conference clearly demonstrated time and again the commitment of Hungary to contribute to curbing corruption.

Mr. President,

In conclusion, let me reiterate that the Republic of Hungary stands ready and willing to join other partners in international efforts to encourage and urge all Member States of the United Nations to become a party to the Convention against Corruption.

Finally, I wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Government of Mexico for the splendid work it has done in preparing our Signing Conference, as well as to the people of Mexico for the warm hospitality extended to all of us.

Thank you, Mr. President.