Greece Seen as Most Corrupt Nation in Europe

Nations with the worst debt get the worst scores

The countries worst hit by the European financial crisis are also perceived as being among the most corrupt in Western Europe, and those perceptions appear to be getting increasingly negative, an international watchdog said in a report released Wednesday.

Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index shows Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece with the lowest scores in Western Europe.

On a scale newly introduced for this year's report, where 0 is "highly corrupt" and 100 is "very clean," Spain was ranked highest of the four in place 30 with a score of 65. Portugal followed in place 33 with a score of 63, followed by Italy in place 72 with a score of 42 and Greece in 94th place with a score of 36.