With support from the German Marshall Fund and co-funded by the European Union, we spent the past period focused on a topic that is quiet, yet all the more dangerous – strategic corruption as a tool of hybrid influence against democratic countries in Europe and around the world.
The result of the project is an analytical framework for assessing strategic corruption – a key piece of the puzzle in building resilience against hybrid threats.
What is it about?
Strategic corruption isn’t about individual cases. It’s the systematic abuse of public finances, public procurement, subsidies, or state investments to gain political or societal influence – often to the benefit of foreign actors.
What did we create?
An analytical framework that enables early identification of risky schemes – from overpriced procurement, through indirect financing of political parties and media, to investments in sensitive sectors such as energy or infrastructure.
The project combined analytical work, expert consultations, and pilot testing of the proposed framework in practice. The output is a comprehensive framework including:
✅ a framework for early detection of strategic corruption
✅ identification of key risks and vulnerabilities
✅ recommendations for public policy changes
How did we do it?
During the project, we used participatory process. To gain insights from relevant stakeholders, we organized 3 roundtables across Slovakia, involving various local stakeholders from NGO, academia, investigative journalists or public administration. We also organized conference with more than 100 attendees across the world, with experts from the field of strategic corruption.
Project Outputs
Please find the following outputs of the project:
- YouTube Videos from the Conference on Strategic Corruption, held in Bratislava, Slovakia on 28th April, 2026
- Analytical framework for assessing strategic corruption with recommendations for public administration – ENGLISH VERSION / SLOVAK VERSION
This is not the end of the road for us. While this particular project has concluded, our work on strategic corruption continues. We’ll keep monitoring the issue, applying and refining the framework, and sharing findings and concrete examples that help deepen understanding of strategic corruption and its impacts. Stay tuned.
This project is funded by PROTEUS project of the Transatlantic Foundation, co-funded by the European Union.
