KYIV — Ukraine’s parliament voted decisively Tuesday in favor of a bill that critics say fatally undermines Kyiv’s commitment to tackling corruption — and threatens to scupper its EU membership bid.
The new law brings the independent National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, or NABU, and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, or SAP, under the oversight of the prosecutor general of Ukraine — a political appointee of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The law was originally proposed by several lawmakers from Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party, with the aim of changing Ukraine’s criminal code regarding pretrial investigations while martial law is in effect, but last-minute amendments targeting the corruption watchdogs now face a major domestic backlash.
“Anti-corruption infrastructure was just destroyed by our own lawmakers,” said NABU Director Semen Kryvonos. “In fact, this is not only a conflict of interest but also a threat to Ukraine’s EU integration.”
Ukraine’s SBU state security service launched a series of raids on NABU on Monday as part of a probe into suspected collusion with Russian spies, right before the bill was passed.
The EU, which has staunchly supported Ukraine in its resistance against Russia’s full-scale invasion, said Tuesday afternoon that it was “concerned” about the vote in Kyiv.
“These institutions are crucial to Ukraine’s reform agenda and must operate in an independent way to fight corruption and maintain public trust,” said European Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier when asked about the law.
“The EU provides significant financial assistance to Ukraine, conditional on progress in transparency, judicial reform, and democratic governance. Ukraine’s accession will require a strong capacity to combat corruption and to ensure institutional resilience,” Mercier added.
The bill now moves to Zelenskyy’s desk for his signature, after which it would become law.
NABU and SAP were created in 2015 with guaranteed prosecutorial independence. That was a key demand for EU integration, Kryvonos added, as he urged Zelenskyy to veto the bill.
Zelenskyy’s office did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.
“This decision would effectively stop our integration into the European Union, as an effective fight against corruption was a key conditionality. And we were praised for NABU and SAP work,” said Tetiana Shevchuk, a lawyer at the Anti-Corruption Action Center, Ukraine’s top watchdog organization.
Even though many in Ukraine have disputed NABU’s effectiveness, Shevchuk said that dozens of charges against members of parliament, judges and officials prove that the organization was doing its job.
“They came for those who were untouchable before,” she added.
Soldiers on the battlefield spoke out against the law, while one prominent journalist warned of broader democratic reversion in Ukraine.
“Last week, we ran an editorial warning of an anti-democratic backslide in Ukraine. Today, it’s happening in plain sight,” said Olga Rudenko, chief editor at the Kyiv Independent.
“This isn’t what our people have been fighting and dying for, and it’s devastatingly unfair to them,” she added.
