Ukraine’s backsliding – and we need to keep an eye on it…
Last week and yesterday we were all reminded that vigilance in anti-corruption is so important. Politico EU and the New York Times , led the way yesterday and then today, there were many more articles alerting the world to the fact that the Ukrainian legislature passed a law which limits the independence of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) as well as the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO). “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.” This is very concerning, as it placed the two enforcement anti-corruption agencies under the Prosecutor General, which has been very political over the years. The agencies, specifically NABU and SAPO, were created with significant donor involvement and as such, though they have been much quieter about this, will keep monitoring the situation.
What should be done? In this case, it seems that everyone is doing what is needed. The citizens are protesting, the donors are concerned, and civil society is reminding us that these changes are extremely only important, and we should make certain that we continue to monitor them. Many of us who are following this closely hope that the Ukrainians, who are in the midst of fighting for their country’s survival, will continue to fight against corruption, and we, corruption fighters in the West, must support them.
Links:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/world/europe/zelensky-ukraine-corruption.html
https://www.axios.com/2025/07/22/zelensky-ukraine-corruption-law-protests-nabu-sapo
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-corruption-law-protests-volodymyr-zelenskyy/