Limiting Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies' independence complicates EU path – German FM
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has criticized Ukraine's adoption of a law that restricts the powers of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), and noted that this complicates its European integration.
"Limiting the independence of Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies complicates Ukraine's path to the EU. I expect Ukraine to consistently continue the fight against corruption. That is why I also met in Kyiv with the heads of NABU and SAPO," Wadephul said in a statement published by the German foreign ministry on X on Wednesday.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada at its meeting on Tuesday supported by 263 votes in the second reading and in general draft law No. 12414, which limited the independence of NABU and SAPO. The Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, immediately signed the law and sent it to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for signature, while in normal practice this happens after considering blocking resolutions submitted by opponents.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos expressed concern about the Council's vote on the draft law, noting that it was a "serious step backwards." In addition, she stressed that the rule of law remains at the very heart of Ukraine's EU accession negotiations. Later, after talking with Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Taras Kachka, Kos stated that the EU would continue to work "with Ukraine on the necessary reforms in the area of the rule of law and progress on the path to the EU." In turn, Deputy Prime Minister Kachka assured Kos in the conversation that Ukraine's reform agenda and commitments to join the European Union remain fully valid.
A number of politicians and public figures, as well as representatives of the European Commission, have categorically opposed this bill and called on Zelenskyy to veto it. Protests against the bill were held in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro and Rivne on Tuesday.
Zelenskyy later signed this law. The document was published in the parliamentary publication Voice of Ukraine (Holos Ukrainy) on July 22. It comes into force on the day following its publication, that is, July 23.
Currently, people's deputies are initiating the collection of signatures and preparing a constitutional submission to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine regarding the law on narrowing the powers of the NABU and the SAPO.
