President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a controversial bill handing the power to clean up Ukrainian prosecutors over the country’s independent anti-corruption agency.
This sparked the largest anti-government protest on Tuesday since the full-scale Russian invasion began in 2022. More protests are expected on Wednesday.
The new law, the current law, gives prosecutors the authority to manage and reallocate investigations led by the National Anti-Corruption Office (NABU) and the Professional Anti-Corruption Public Prosecutors’ Office (SAPO).
Nabu and Sapo are two important institutions that have long represented Ukraine’s post-Euromaidan commitment to eradicate high levels of corruption. Critics say the move strips these institutions of the risk that turn their independence and risk into political tools.
Protests broke out in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa, with demonstrators holding signs that read “veto” and “we chose Europe rather than dictatorship.”
Many saw the law as a betrayal of Ukraine’s decades of democratic governance, transparency and betrayal of membership in the European Union.
Just a day ago, Ukraine’s domestic security agency arrested two NABU officials on suspicion of Russian links and searched for other employees.
In his speech on Wednesday, Zelenskyy cited the cases to justify reforms, claiming that agencies were infiltrated and that incidents, including billions of dollars, had stagnated.
“There is no reasonable explanation as to why billions of criminal cases have been hanging for years,” he said.
But watchdogs and international observers see different dangers.
Transparency International Ukraine warned that the law had dismantled important safeguards and that EU expansion committee member Marta Kos called it a “serious step.”
The EU, G7 ambassadors and other Western supporters emphasized that Nabu and Sapo’s independence is a prerequisite for financial aid and joining the EU.
Despite vice-prime minister Taras Kachika’s assurance that “all core functions will remain intact”, disillusionment is on the rise.
Dmytro Kuleba, former Ukrainian foreign minister, declared it a “bad day for Ukraine”, highlighting Zelenskyy’s tough choice.
