Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a press conference on the negotiations in Istanbul, in May. Photo/ Getty Images
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s abrupt decision to hobble anti-corruption authorities in Kyiv blindsided Ukraine’s allies and may have inflicted lasting damage to its ambition to join the European Union.
The Ukrainian leader’s approval of legislation rushed through parliament over loud protests yesterday drew thousands of protesters to the streets for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Zelenskyy later defended the move to strip the anti-graft bodies of their independence as a way to weed out Russian influence.
EU leaders, however, regarded the about-face on more than decade of rule-of-law efforts as a major setback for Ukraine’s bid on Western integration.
The new law may impede long-term talks on EU accession and jeopardise future funding for Ukraine’s war effort, officials familiar with deliberations in European capitals said.
One official called the move Zelenskyy’s biggest blunder since taking office in 2019. All spoke on condition of anonymity as talks take place behind closed doors.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke with Zelenskyy to express her “strong concerns” and seek an explanation, a spokesperson of the EU’s executive arm said today.
“The respect for the rule of law and the fight against corruption are core elements of the EU,” von der Leyen’s spokesperson said.
“As a candidate country, Ukraine is expected to uphold these standards fully. There cannot be a compromise.”
The events amount to an unexpectedly grim turn as the West maintains support for a country that was invaded by Russia in 2022 and has struggled to maintain its war aims.
It adds to criticism over Zelenskyy’s concentration of power and a shift to what many see as increasingly authoritarian tactics.
Ukrainian lawmakers took up the new legislation, which places the two main anti-corruption agencies under the control of Zelenskyy’s chief prosecutor, amid cries of “shame” from the opposition.
With Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party controlling a majority, it passed with 263 votes in the 450-seat chamber.
The director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, Semen Kryvonos, excoriated the bill, saying his office’s work “has been destroyed” - and demanded that Zelenskiy veto it.
He didn’t.
As protesters gathered in cities including Kyiv, Lviv in the west, and the Black Sea port city of Odesa, brandishing posters and Ukrainian flags, Zelenskyy’s office confirmed that he signed it into law.
The Ukrainian leader, celebrated in the West as a bulwark against Russian tyranny, defended the move as necessary to rid the process of the Kremlin’s sway.
“Anti-corruption infrastructure will work,” Zelenskyy promised in his nightly address, without referencing the protests. He and his top officials have sought to reassure allies, insisting that the anti-graft bodies wouldn’t lose their powers.
Prosecutor-General Ruslan Kravchenko - who has held two press briefings in as many days - pledged not to compromise on Nabu’s independence.
Zelenskyy received no pushback from United States President Donald Trump, whose Administration he’s urgently seeking to win over to secure weapons shipments.
But if the Trump Administration’s dwindling commitment to the rule of law created an opening for Zelenskyy to chip away at anti-corruption efforts, as one official speculated, the EU places the issue front and centre when it comes to accession and funding.
“The restrictions on the independence on Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities burden Ukraine’s path into the EU,” Germany’s Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, said in a social media post. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky - a committed Kyiv ally - said the bloc’s support isn’t a “blank cheque”.
Joining the EU is a distant prospect for Kyiv.
But to start the accession procedure, Ukraine must align a vast array of its laws and systems with the 27-member bloc.
The first set of issues, or cluster, that Kyiv had aimed to begin negotiating this year entail the fight against corruption. That is now undermined, officials said.
International donors like the EU and the International Monetary Fund also make funding flows conditional on rule-of-law criteria.
Zelenskyy’s new Prime Minister, Yuliia Svyrydenko, said in a Bloomberg interview that she’s likely to seek more IMF financing as she sets out to shore up financing.
This week’s actions - including a set of sweeping raids targeting anti-graft agencies on Tuesday - can only make that work more difficult.
Still, the EU may have to temper condemnation with the strategic necessity of backing a country at war as it bolsters its own security to fend off further Russian aggression.
The main check on Zelenskyy’s power is likely to come from the streets. Protests yesterday bore a startling similarity to student demonstrations in 2014 that cascaded into a popular revolt that ousted Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian president.
That action was sparked by Yanukovych’s sudden rejection of an association agreement with the EU. This time, it’s about an anti-corruption regime that was installed in response to those same tensions - and a yearning for EU integration.
Protesters gathered near a city-centre theatre in Kyiv close to the presidential headquarters bore posters with slogans including “Why do I need a system that works against me?” and “Do we want to be like Russia?”
Among them were military veterans like Mykola Hradnov-Savytskyi, 31, who fought in the eastern Donbas region and lost both legs.
“I am now trying to integrate into society,” he said in an interview. “I am here to support conscious people who will not allow harm to be done to Ukraine.”
It’s not a constituency that Zelenskyy, whose popularity has again begun to wane, can afford to alienate.
In a sign of compromise, Zelenskiy brought together the heads of the two anti-graft offices - Nabu and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office - today with his chief prosecutor and the chief of the Security Servie of Ukraine, or SBU.
Everyone will work together constructively, Zelenskyy told officials as they posed for an unsmiling photo. The officials will have a more detailed meeting next week to work out a joint action plan to “deliver greater justice”, he said.
“We all hear what society is saying,” Zelenskyy said.
- With assistance from Alberto Nardelli and Maxim Edwards.