NGO: Hungary political rights at lowest point since 1989

"Hungary and Malta have seen the sharpest decline in their respective CPI scores in recent years, allowing corruption to worsen," said the NGO, in a statement.

It also said Hungary had "registered its lowest score for political rights since the fall of communism in 1989."

The index ranks the perception of corruption in 180 countries based on surveys and expert assessments. It then attributes a score, from highly-corrupt 'zero' to the very clean '100'.

Hungary went from 55 in 2012 to 46 in 2018. Malta dropped as well, moving from 60 in 2015 to 54 in 2018.

Hungarian legislation on NGOs and courts, along with allegations that it committed fraud with EU funds, is largely behind the drop.

But it also comes amid earlier demands by the European Parliament to sanction Hungary's backsliding on democracy following its moves against media freedom, migration and the rule of law.

In December, the Budapest-based Central European University, was forced out of Hungary.

It had been founded by US billionaire George Soros, a man portrayed by Hungary's government and other populists as a pariah bent on encouraging mass migration to Europe.

Orban is now pressing to get his anti-immigrant rhetoric to shape the future platforms of the EU institutions. Earlier this month, he said it was Hungary's goal in the lead up to the European elections.

Such moves have proved tricky for the centre-right EPP group, which counts among its members Orban loyalists.

Meanwhile, Transparency International says Malta's slip in the rankings follows the assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

It also comes amid scandals implicating the inner circle of people close to Malta's prime minister Joseph Muscat, over allegations of kickbacks for selling passports to wealthy overseas investors.

Those scandals are further linked to secretive offshore companies in Panama and the collapse of Pilatus bank, whose founder was arrested by US authorities last year.

Despite the Hungary and Malta drop, they still fare better than Bulgaria.

Bulgaria ranks at the bottom of the EU list with a score of 42, followed by Greece at 45.

At the top of the chart is Denmark with 88, followed by both Finland and Sweden with 85.