International watchdog Transparency International says 11 of 12 Balkan nations are perceived as “highly corrupt,” and that Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Albania, Bulgaria and Serbia have “endemic corruption” in their public sector.

That’s according to the group’s 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index. It ranks 176 countries and territories from 0 to 100.

Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Montenegro and Greece fared badly-- but best of the Balkans. Four of the five scored better than the average score (43), but still earned the group’s lowest designation for corruption.

Transparency International said “capture of political decision-making is one of the most pervasive and widespread forms of political corruption” in the region.

“Companies, networks and individuals unduly influence laws and institutions to shape policies, the legal environment and the wider economy to their own interests,” the report said.

There are no shortage of such examples in the Balkans.

In Kosovo, the former prime minister of transport and telecommunications simultaneously ran an organized crime ring.

Albania’s state minister of security was revealed to be a business associate of drug kingpin and murderer Naser Kelmendi.

In Serbia, the country’s former national security adviser partnered with an organized crime leader from Montenegro.

In Bulgaria, the head of the country’s secret service simultaneously controlled most of the media in the country. He is considered to have orchestrated a run-- then an organized crime takeover of one of Bulgaria’s largest banks.

Bulgaria, of course, manages to rank as among the world’s most corrupt countries while still keeping its European Union (EU) membership.

Fellow EU members Denmark (Rank: 1/Score: 90), Finland (3/89), Sweden (4/88), The Netherlands (8/83), Germany (10/81), Luxembourg (10/81) and Belgium (15/77) ranked among the least corrupt in the world.

“Countries aspiring to join the European Union… need to establish functioning core institutions for safeguarding democracy and the rule of law,” the report said. “Creating an effective system for fighting organised crime and corruption is considered fundamental for attaining these objectives, in order to counter the criminal infiltration of political, legal and economic systems.”

Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Score - 2016

Country	Rank	Score
Kosovo	95	36
Macedonia	90	37
Bosnia and Herzegovina	83	39
Albania	83	39
Bulgaria	75	41
Serbia	72	42
Greece	69	44
Montenegro	64	45
Romania	57	48
Croatia	55	49
Slovenia	31	61

Source: Transparency International