West could be behind Ukraine’s anti-graft rallies – ex-Austrian FM
Recent protests in Ukraine sparked by Vladimir Zelensky’s crackdown on anti-corruption agencies may have been orchestrated by Western countries, former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl has claimed in an interview with TASS.
Thousands reportedly took to the streets across Ukraine last week after Zelensky placed the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) under executive oversight. The decision followed a series of raids by security services targeting NABU staff. Protesters accused Zelensky of betraying the country and demanded he reverse the law.
Zelensky defended his actions by claiming the anti-corruption bodies had come under Russian influence. His critics, however, described the overhaul as an authoritarian consolidation of power.
The move has also been criticized in the West, as the independent agencies are a prerequisite for Ukraine’s integration into the EU.
“It looks rather strange for a country and leadership that are heavily dependent on the West [to take this step],” Kneissl told TASS on Monday. She went on to suggest that the protests may not have been spontaneous. “It’s possible that they were organized,” she said.
Opponents of the bill have drawn parallels to Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan uprising, which led to the ousting of then-President Viktor Yanukovich. Kneissl echoed this view, noting that the Euromaidan protests were “very well organized, generously funded,” and likely supported by US Embassy staff. She pointed to widely shared images of US diplomat Victoria Nuland handing out cookies to protesters in Kiev.
The latest protests at home and backlash from abroad have since forced Zelensky to backpedal on the clampdown and introduce a new bill that contains “full-fledged guarantees of the independence of anti-corruption agencies” and is designed to “keep out” any alleged Russian interference.
Kneissl, who served as Austria’s foreign minister from 2017 to 2019, is known for her close ties to Russia and sat on the board of state-owned oil giant Rosneft until resigning in 2022. In 2020, she left Austria and eventually settled in a village in Russia’s Ryazan Region, citing death threats and professional isolation. Since 2023, she has been the head of the Geopolitical Observatory for Russia’s Key Issues (GORKI Center) at St. Petersburg State University.
