by Diego D'Amelio

(ANSA) - TRIESTE - "Past integration in the EU of some Central Eastern European countries is our benchmark: we can't make certain mistakes again. Rule of law and anticorruption are crucial in the membership negotiations", president of the Italian National anti-corruption authority Raffaele Cantone said after Western Balkans Forum held in Trieste. According to Cantone, "the transition from a planned market economy to a market economy, not guided rationally, is one of the causes of corruption. These issues occurred in all the former socialist world". "Perhaps it is true that there was no preliminary verification before UE membership, but it's also true that anti corruption demonstrations in Romania show that the European spirit has come", Cantone said. "In the WB6 area, people and politicians are talking about administration transparency, party funding control, and public officials' salaries. The culture of anti-corruption is entering all the Balkans", he added.

Talking about the anti corruption workshop in Trieste, Cantone said that "participation by members of the Western Balkans Agencies was fairly real. It's very important that a political and economic Summit had a strong connotation on legality issue: it was an Italian request, accepted by all partners". (ANSA).