1 of 2 | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky faces blowback for a controversial bill that undermines the country’s two anti-corruption agencies. Photo by EPA-EFE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a bill that curtails the independence of anti-corruption agencies over the objections of protestors and the country’s western allies.
Zelensky defended his decision in a national address, arguing that the legislation passed by the country’s Parliament on Tuesday was needed to weed out Russian influence and expedite anti-corruption cases “worth billions” that have been unresolved for years.
“The anti-corruption infrastructure will work, only without Russian influence — it needs to be cleared of that,” Zelensky said, according to a transcript of his remarks.
However, thousands of Ukrainians protested the legislation in the capital city Kyiv, chanting “veto the law,” Kyiv Independent reported.
The new law gives Ukraine’s prosecutor general more control over the work of two agencies: the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and investigations led by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.
The European Union has warned Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, that it views the law as backsliding in the country’s efforts to combat corruption and could jeopardize its plans to join its ranks.
“The European Union is concerned about Ukraine’s recent actions with regard to its anti-corruption institutions, NABU and SAPO,” European Commission Spokesperson Guillaume Mercier told Ukrinform, the country’s national news agency. Mercier added that the European Union’s financial assistance to Ukraine is conditional on “transparency, judicial reform and democratic governance.”
European Commissioner for Enlargement said in a post on X that “independent bodies like NABU & SAPO, are essential” for Ukraine joining the European Commission.
