Zelensky backpedals on anti-corruption crackdown
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky announced a bill on Thursday restoring the independence of the country’s anti-graft agencies, after facing a wave of mass protests at home and a storm of criticism in the West.
It comes two days after he signed a law granting the Prosecutor General’s office the authority to intervene in the activities of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). That followed a law enforcement raid on NABU offices and the arrest of a senior employee of the agency accused of spying for Russia.
The new legislation contains “full-fledged guarantees of the independence of anti-corruption agencies,” Zelensky claimed, adding that it is also designed to “keep out” any alleged Russian interference. Specifically, the draft law introduces mandatory lie detector tests for employees of NABU, SAPO and other agencies.
“The text of the bill was discussed with partners, law enforcement agencies, and representatives of the NABU and SAPO. There were many proposals from our partners to involve European experts – from the UK, Germany, and the EU,” he said.
The about-face comes after the country endured a wave of protests against the clampdown on the agencies. Demonstrations were seen across the country, including in the capital Kiev, Odessa and Dnepr – the country’s third- and fourth-largest cities – the western city of Lviv, and others.
Critics have accused Zelensky of authoritarian tendencies and attempting to further tighten his grip on power, and argued that the move rendered the agencies “purely decorative.” The crackdown was condemned by Kiev’s key western backers, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who demanded Zelensky “respect the rule of law” and warned it could derail Ukraine’s EU membership bid.
NABU and SAPO were established following the US-backed 2014 coup in Kiev and promoted as key components of reforms supposed to align Ukraine with Western governance standards and international financial institutions. Critics, however, have branded the agencies an element of external control over Ukraine’s domestic affairs.
At the same time, some Western officials, including US Vice President J.D. Vance, have argued that the decade-long transformation has failed to yield results or weed out entrenched corruption.
