kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, lived on Tuesday an unprecedented situation so far: the first anti -government protests from the beginning of the Russian invasion on a large -scale, long three and a half years. Thousands of Ukrainians took to the streets to express their anger and dismay, so critics consider a campaign to strip the country’s anti -corruption agencies of their independence.
For more than a decade, the Ukrainians have fought a war on two fronts against Russian aggression and high -level internal political corruption. The Ukrainian president, promised precisely a “victory over corruption” after his 2019 election and has become a worldwide symbol of freedom since the “special military operation” of the Federation began. Therefore, the measures of your administration this week to dismantle independent anti -corruption agencies are at least disconcerting, and that is what expresses part of citizenship.
Already on Monday, the forces of the Order raided the offices of the National Anti -Corruption Office of Ukraine (NABU) and declared that 15 NABU employees were being investigated, supposedly as part of a continuous effort to process traffic offenses. These raids have affected other research agencies and concrete individuals in the past, but rarely have been used against institutions such as NABU, created in 2014 as an independent body to combat high -level government corruption.
This organism has had its problems, but Ukrainian and Western experts recognize it widely as one of the most important reform projects in the country after, in 2014.
The forces of the order, led by the Ukraine Security Service (SBU) and the Attorney General’s Office, announced that the central axis of their investigation were the positions of alleged betrayal against a pro -prorusal deputy who allegedly collaborated with NABU detectives to influence their investigations, at the request of Russian intelligence services. The SBU, whose direction is chosen by the president of Ukraine, told two of the main detectives of the NABU for having links with Khyrstenko, the legislator accused of acting for the benefit of the Kremlin against Ukraine. They also alleged that the detectives helped Ukrainian oligarchs flee from the country, to avoid criminal charges.
Western partners in kyiv have quickly urged the administration to refrain from pressing NABU. For example, the European Commission expressed yesterday its “concern” for the law approved in Ukraine to limit the scope of their agencies against corruption, after pointing out that these institutions are “crucial” for their adhesion to the block and that there are a series of funds linked to European reforms. In a message in networks, the European Commissioner for Expansion, Marta Kos, said: “The dismantling of key safeguards that protect the independence of the National Anti -Corruption Office of Ukraine is a serious setback.” The Slovena stressed that having independent agencies is “essential” for the road to the EU. “The rule of law is still in the center of the EU,” he said.
Without being intimidated by such warnings, he had reports that the Zelenski National Security and Defense Council (CSND) planned “amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure” to guarantee “the purity of the work of the forces of the order […] and eliminate corruption opportunities. “Observers feared that this would presage greater obstruction of the work of the NABU.
These fears were confirmed yesterday, when the National Council of Organized Crime (NSDC) requested the Ukrainian Parliament to present a bill that would submit to the NABU and the Special Anti -Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), the independent fiscal counterpart of the NABU, to the supervision of the Attorney General’s Office. Indeed, this would subordinate them to the presidency and probably prevent them from investigating state corruption without the influence of the government.
The Ukrainian Parliament quickly approved the law thanks to the support of the Servant Party of the People of Zelenski and the key votes of the remaining pro -Russian parties of the country. The president hastily signed the bill, despite the broad national and international calls so that he did not.
And this is how this controversial legislation has already managed to mobilize the Ukrainian public, who hastened to mobilize in defense of the fragile democracy of the country. The protests exploded in kyiv, but not only in the capital, but also in cities such as Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk, just hours after parliamentarians approved the bill.
The cabinet and the forces of the order of Ukraine insist that these measures seek to eradicate the Russian influence on the NABU and the toad to prevent these agencies from being co -opted against the Ukrainian state. “However, civil society experts and journalists are not convinced. Many suggest that the attempts of purge are a retaliation for the NABU, which presented positions of illicit enrichment and abuse of power against the exviceprimer minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, a key ally of the president’s office. Ironically, it was Zelensky himself who restored the criminal responsibility for illicit enrichment in illicit enrichment in illicit 2019, during its original anti -corruption campaign, ”he explains, for example, associate director of the Eurasia Center of Atlantic Council.
Others consider these measures as part of a broader effort to suppress corruption investigations. On July 11, the Armed Police raided the domicile of Vitaliy Shabunin, co -founder of the non -profit organization Center for Anti -Corruption Action, and stopped it under suspicion of evading military service. Critics claim that charges have political motivations.
Adhesion problems
Harassment of independent anti -corruption agencies is a problem for Ukraine candidacy for accession to the European Union (EU). Any measure of Ukraine that Socave the democratic progress of the country could also distance its most important partners in the fight against Russian aggression, and already has enough with the opposition of Hungary or Slovakia between the twenty -seven.
The Ukrainian government, civil society and Western partners in the country have constantly fight against the narratives amplified by Russia, which present Ukraine as an irremediably corrupt country and unworthy of military aid. “The attacks on the independence of the anti -corruption institutions created after the 2014 Ukrainian revolution now run the risk of giving credit to the voices that seek to discredit and undermine the country internationally,” D’Ari insists.
Just two weeks ago, kyiv authorities were looking for Western investments for post -world reconstruction at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome. Already insecure in the face of the possibility of entering a potentially unstable political and security environment, many international companies will now be even more cautious.
The feeling of anger and betrayal was palpable in Ukraine when the news of the apparent efforts of the government was spreading to reverse anti -corruption advances, achieved with so much effort since 2014. Nabu, toad and other anti -corruption surveillance organizations are symbols of this progress and have contributed to strengthening Ukraine resilience in the face of the existential danger of a Russian invasion.
“Zelenski has proven to be an exceptionally capable leader in war times, at the head of a nation strengthened by anti -corruption institutions that demand responsibilities for power, but many now question whether they recognize the importance of the values that so many Ukrainians fight to defend,” concludes the analyst.
