{"id":88434,"date":"2025-07-24T10:50:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T10:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/88434\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T10:50:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T10:50:19","slug":"zelenskyy-promises-new-bill-amid-growing-pressure-over-anticorruption-law-russia-ukraine-war-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/88434\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelenskyy promises new bill amid growing pressure over anticorruption law | Russia-Ukraine war News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a> has promised to introduce new legislation amid continuing protests and international criticism over a law passed earlier this week that critics say undermines Ukraine\u2019s fight against corruption.<\/p>\n

The controversial law, passed on Tuesday, places the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor\u2019s Office (SAPO) under the direct authority of the country\u2019s prosecutor general \u2013 an official appointed by the president. Critics say the law strips the agencies of their independence and could allow political interference.<\/p>\n

While Zelenskyy has defended the law as a necessary response to suspected \u201cRussian influence\u201d within the agencies, European Union officials and rights groups say that it contains no specific provisions to target Kremlin-linked operatives and warn it could derail any Ukrainian accession bid to the European Union.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have analysed all concerns,\u201d Zelenskyy wrote on X following a meeting with top government and law enforcement officials.<\/p>\n

Writing about the proposal of the new bill, he said: \u201cWe will prepare and submit a bill to the Verkhovna Rada [parliament] that ensures the strength of the rule-of-law system. There will be no Russian influence or interference \u2026 and all the norms for the independence of anti-corruption institutions will be in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public anger and European backlash<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, thousands of Ukrainians rallied in Kyiv and other major cities in rare wartime protests. More than 1,000 demonstrators defied martial law, which bans large public gatherings, to express their anger at the government, while on Wednesday, more protests took place in the capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is complete nonsense from the president\u2019s office,\u201d 20-year-old student Solomiia Telishevska told the news agency Reuters, referring to the law signed by Zelenskyy on Tuesday. \u201cThis contradicts what we are fighting for and what we are striving for, namely to [join] the European Union.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cleaning up systemic corruption has long been a core requirement for Ukraine\u2019s EU membership and for unlocking billions in foreign aid. The law\u2019s passage risks alienating Kyiv\u2019s Western allies as the war grinds on.<\/p>\n

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has demanded \u201cexplanations\u201d from Zelenskyy, with a spokesperson confirming on Wednesday that she conveyed \u201cstrong concerns about the consequences of the amendments\u201d. Germany\u2019s Johann Wadephul, deputy leader of the Christian Democratic Union, warned on X that the restrictions were \u201champering Ukraine\u2019s path to the EU\u201d.<\/p>\n

Anticorruption bodies targeted<\/p>\n

The storm erupted days after law enforcement raided NABU offices and arrested an employee on suspicion of spying for Russia. Another employee was accused of illegal business ties to Moscow. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) agency also carried out searches and arrests related to other alleged infractions, including a traffic incident.<\/p>\n

Zelenskyy suggested these incidents justified the law passed on Tuesday, but Ukrainian analysts have warned the changes could erode public trust in Zelenskyy\u2019s leadership during a critical phase of the war.<\/p>\n

NABU was created in 2015 after Ukraine\u2019s 2014 pro-European revolution to tackle deep-rooted government corruption. The agency has investigated multiple high-profile cases, including figures close to Zelenskyy\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n

Transparency International Ukraine denounced the raids as \u201can attempt by the authorities to undermine the independence of Ukraine\u2019s post-Revolution of Dignity anti-corruption institutions\u201d.<\/p>\n

Some Ukrainians believe the government is protecting loyal insiders at the expense of transparency. \u201cThose who swore to protect the laws and the constitution have instead chosen to shield their inner circle, even at the expense of Ukrainian democracy,\u201d said veteran Oleh Symoroz, who lost both legs in 2022 fighting Russian forces.<\/p>\n

The political firestorm risks creating deeper rifts within Ukraine at a time when unity is vital in Kyiv\u2019s war against Russia. Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Center for Civil Liberties, warned the law could play directly into the Kremlin\u2019s hands. \u201cThis is a gift to Putin,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Russian officials have already seized on the controversy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked there was \u201ca lot of corruption\u201d when asked about the protests in Kyiv.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has promised to introduce new legislation amid continuing protests and international criticism over a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":88435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[50,3657,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-88434","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-russia-ukraine-war","10":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114907829097824441","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}