THE tangled relationship between Eastern Europe’s political leaders and organised crime has become a pressing issue for the European Union as politicians across the region face accusations of corruption.

In Warsaw, Lew Rywin, the film producer whose credits include The Pianist and Schindler’s List, was led in handcuffs into court yesterday to face charges of attempted bribery. His trial could lead to the fall of his political ally, Leszek Miller, the Polish Prime Minister.

The Lithuanian parliament began an emotional debate on a report linking President Paksas with a shadowy Russian businessman. That debate yesterday could trigger the President’s resignation, or sacking.

Last week Vladimir Spidla, the Czech Prime Minister, was questioned about the Government’s role in authorising the building contract for a motorway without throwing it open to competitive tender.

The Slovakian parliament has decided to lift parliamentary immunity from Gabriel Karlin after an envelope containing £10,000 was found the deputy’s briefcase. Mr Karlin claims that he had been sitting in the bank, left his briefcase to go to the lavatory and became aware of the envelope only when he was stopped as he left the building.

The EU is becoming aware that it is about to inherit a serious problem when post-communist states from the Baltic to the Adriatic become full members next May.

“This is about the overlap of politics, business and crime,” Jürgen Roth, the author of several books on the so-called Russian Mafia, including the bestselling Gangsters from the East, said.

The former communist states have been tainted by corruption since bribery and the black market became a means of survival in over- regulated, centrally planned economies.

To qualify for EU membership in less than six months, all the new entrants have committed themselves to independent judiciaries and tough money-laundering rules. While some of those countries still have crooked courts and are awash with suspect money — between £1.7 billion and £5.2 billion is laundered each year in Poland, according to the taxman — societies have generally become more aware and more transparent. The problem is that the political class, with its roots in the old communist party elite, has been quietly subverted by a decade of rampant corruption.

The Czech and Slovak cases may reflect an encouraging development. Anti-corruption squads have lost their fear of questioning ministers and parliaments are no longer shy about pointing a finger at a possibly corrupt colleague. During membership negotiations, the EU insisted on independent police forces and a free press.

But the corruption affairs in Poland and Lithuania should act as a warning signal to the EU, because they highlight notable democratic shortcomings. In Lithuania, Mr Paksas is accused of speeding up the citizenship application of Yuri Borisov, the Russian businessman, and allowing him to gain influence in certain strategic areas. The President denies the charge, but the fact remains that Mr Borisov was a big election campaign contributor to Mr Paksas.

In Poland, Mr Rywin is accused of approaching the Agora media group and soliciting a £10 million bribe in return for the right to the lucrative licence of a private television satellite channel. The money was supposed to have been earmarked for members of Mr Miller’s Government, ensuring that they would amend Poland’s media ownership laws in a positive way. Mr Rywin denies the charges. He faces three years in jail and could implicate the Prime Minister to save his skin.

Mr Miller looks dangerously exposed. He runs a left-wing minority Government and if it crumples the whole future of the Left in Poland will be thrown into question.

Poles gave a shrug yesterday at the news. The authorities have been making life easier for the owners of gambling slot machines, a traditional means of laundering illicit cash. The concept of a one-armed bandit seems to many Polish commentators to be a metaphor for their society.

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