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The President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky has signed a bill, which, according to critics, weakens the independence of the country’s anti -corruption bodies, causing protests and causing international criticism.
Critics say the new law undermines the powers of the National Bureau for Corruption (NABU) and the specialized prosecutor’s office against corruption (SAPO)-to control them under the control of the Attorney General.
Zelensky said on Wednesday that both agencies would still work, but they should be cleaned of “Russian influence”.
After the bill was adopted, hundreds of people gathered in Kiev for the biggest anti -government protest since the beginning of Russia’s full -scale invasion of Russia in February 2022.
The demonstrations were also seen in the cities of Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa.
“We have chosen Europe, not autocracy,” said a poster, which was conducted by one demonstrator. “My father did not die for that,” another said.
The chief prosecutor of Ukraine, Loyalist Zelensky Ruslan Kravchenko, will now be able to redefine corruption projects to potentially more stringent investigators and even close them.
In his address, Zelensky criticized the effectiveness of Ukraine’s anti -corruption infrastructure, saying that the cases were “lying at rest”.
“There is no rational explanation for why the billions of criminal cases are” hanging “,” he said.
He added that the Prosecutor General would provide the “inevitability of punishment” for those who violated the law.
For critics, this has been at odds with more than a decade of pro -democracy and anti -corruption efforts.
Such aspirations led to the Euromaida uprising and the fall of pro -Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, after which the Russian invasion and death of hundreds of thousands.
The Ukrainian government referred to the Russian influence on the reduction of NBU powers.
The day before the conflicting laws, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General conducted searches and arrests aimed at allegedly Russian spies in Nab.
This step has caused concern about the Western allies of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian independent anti -corruption system was created on their persistence and under their supervision 10 years ago.
It was a key prerequisite for their assistance and stronger ties when Ukraine announced a democratic course against the background of Russia’s initial invasion of 2014.
“The European Union is concerned about Ukraine’s latest actions against its anti-corruption institutions,” says European Commission spokesman Guillaume Mercier.
“The EU provides considerable financial assistance to Ukraine, caused by progress in transparency, judicial reform and democratic government.”
Pulling corruption is also a key requirement for Ukraine’s application to join the EU.
The European Commissioner for Martha Kos criticized the adoption of the bill.
“The destruction of the key guarantees that defend NBU’s independence is a serious step back,” Kos wrote on social media, saying that the two bodies were “necessary” for the EU’s path.
The G7 Ambassadors also said they would like to discuss the pressure on Nabu and Sapa with the Ukrainian leadership.
However, the allies of Ukraine would be very reluctant to reject the assistance and cooperation at a time when its troops are fighting on the frontline.
