Lithuania culture "favorable to corruption" - Marschall

VILNIUS - Miklos Marschall, Transparency International CEO to Europe and Central Asia, has said that Lithuania still has a "long way" to go before it is able to adopt an environment that would be tough on corruption.

"We are living in a culture, where the government has never been a servant or a partner – it has always been alien to us. Such environment is largely favourable for corruption," the anti-corruption chief said in an interview with the Baltic News Service.

"The relationship with the government can be absolutely different than the current one – the government must be the provider of the services, while you are the clients. We are a long way from that, but I think, that we are on the right path already," he said.

The comments came alongside the announcement that the government is cosidering implementing jury trials in a bid to cut back on corruption in the court system. 

Both the president and prime minister have said they would support jury trials for certain cases, an introduction that would mark the largest change in the court system since the country regained independence.