Image source, Anadolu via Getty Images
-
- Author, Vitaly Shevchenko
- Author's title, BBC Monitoring
President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill that, according to his critics, weakens the independence of Ukrainian anti -corruption agencies, which unleashed protests in several cities in the country.
The new law grants the Attorney General of the National Anti -Corruption Office (NABU, in English) and the Anti -Corruption Special Prosecutor's Office (SAP, in English).
Those who oppose the measure argue that they undermine the authority of both organisms.
In a speech pronounced on Wednesday, Zelensky said that both agencies would continue to “function”, but that it was necessary to clean them from the “Russian influence.”
After the approval of the bill, hundreds of people gathered in Kyiv in the greatest anti -government protest since the beginning of the Russian invasion on a large scale in February 2022.
There were also demonstrations in the cities of Lviv, Dnipro and Odessa.
“We chose Europe, not the autocracy,” said a poster that was holding a protester. “My father did not die for this,” said another.
The chief prosecutor of Ukraine, Ruslan Kravchenko, loyal to Zelensky, can now reassign the investigations about corruption to people who lean in favor of the government or even close them.
In his speech, Zelensky criticized the effectiveness of the anti -corruption infrastructure of Ukraine.
“There is no rational explanation for criminal procedures worth bills to have 'hanging' hung” for years, “he said.
He added that the Attorney General would guarantee “the inevitability of punishment” for those who violate the law.
Image source, Reuters
“It's a serious setback”
For critics of legislation, this contradicts more than a decade of efforts in favor of democracy and against corruption in the European country.
It was these aspirations that caused the lifting of the Euromaidan and the fall of President Prorudo Víktor Yanukóvich in 2014, followed by the Russian invasion and the death of hundreds of thousands of people.
The Ukrainian government referred to the Russian influence to cut the powers of the NABU.
The day before the approval of the controversial law, the Security Service and the Attorney General of Ukraine carried out records and arrests of alleged Russian spies in the body.
The measure has raised concern among the western allies of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian independent anti -corruption system was created by its insistence and under its supervision 10 years ago.
It was a previous condition to receive help and strengthen ties when Ukraine declared its prodemocratic course in the middle of Russia's initial invasion in 2014.
“The European Union is concerned with the recent actions of Ukraine in relation to its anti -corruption institutions,” says Guillaume Mercier, spokesman for the European Commission.
“The EU provides important financial aid to Ukraine, conditioned to advances in transparency, judicial reform and democratic governance.”
End of corruption is also a key requirement for the application for the adhesion of Ukraine to the EU.
The European Commissioner for Expansion, Marta Kos, criticized the adoption of the bill.
“The dismantling of key safeguards that protect the independence of NABU is a serious setback,” Kos wrote on social networks, stating that both organisms were “essential” for the path of Ukraine towards the EU.
The Vice Prime Ukrainian Minister for European and Euro -Atlantic Integration, Taras Kachka, said he had assured Kos that “all the basic functions” of these offices “remain intact.”
Dmytro Kuleba, who resigned as Minister of Foreign Affairs last year, declared that it was a “bad day for Ukraine” and that the president had to choose: put on the side of the people or not.
The ambassadors of the G7 Nations Group have expressed their desire to discuss with the Ukrainian leaders the pressure exerted on NABU and SAP.
However, Ukraine allies would be very reluctant to reduce help and cooperation at a time when their troops are fighting in the front.
*This article was written and edited by our journalists with the help of an artificial intelligence tool for translation, as part of a pilot program.
Subscribe here To our new newsletter to receive every Friday a selection of our best content of the week.
And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and act.
