| Hi there, This week we've been talking about Europe and how to combat the corruption risks at its fringes. On Tuesday, the European Commission (EC) published its new strategy for enlarging the EU by six nations in the Western Balkans: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The strategy contains unusually strong language about corruption and the rule of law, using the term 'state capture' for the first time in an official EC document. In part, we said in our analysis, this reflects the EC's bitter experience with countries such as Poland and Hungary who, after promising beginnings, are now backsliding into authoritarianism and illiberalism. The strategy calls not only for institutional changes, but a societal transformation. This is something we have been arguing for in recent years. Now, it is up to politicians in the Western Balkans to rise to the challenge. Also this week, we've called on the EU to make sure the lessons of the Azerbaijani Laundromat are learned and not forgotten, particularly during a high-level meeting between the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister and the EU High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs on Friday. And we've been gripped by the revelation of how the Eurovision Song Contest played a role in helping associates of disgraced Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych funnel money out of state coffers, with the help of a company in the UK. So, in a week when the EU looks outward towards its neighbours and takes an active role in promoting anti-corruption, we think it's important to note that the EU could still better understand its own role in enabling corruption beyond its borders. | 