Ukraine adopts new anti-corruption law as protests force Zelensky to retreat
KYIV - Ukraine’s parliament approved legislation Thursday restoring the independence of the country’s two main government anti-corruption bodies - a move demanded by Kyiv’s international partners as well as tens of thousands of enraged Ukrainians who protested on the streets of the capital and other cities.
The legislation passed by a comfortable margin, with 331 deputies voting in favor; a majority of 226 was needed. It was a stunning about-face by the same lawmakers who just last week had supported the previous law undermining the agencies, which drew public fury.
Demonstrators outside parliament cheered the result when it was announced. President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had been the target of the criticism, signed the law less than two hours after it was approved, according to a post by his office social media.
Even as the crowd reacted jubilantly, emergency workers in Kyiv were still responding to a brutal overnight drone and missile attack on Kyiv, killing at least 11 people and injuring at least 93. The strike, which hit residential buildings, was the latest in an unrelenting wave of Russian violence against Ukrainian cities.
Inaction by parliament on the anti-corruption issue would have prolonged the political instability in a country besieged by Russia’s continuing war.
The protests, the largest in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, erupted last week when parliament voted to place the two government agencies - the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) - under the supervision of the country’s prosecutor general, an ally of Zelensky.
The two bodies were created after Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy revolution and were seen as vital to the country’s bid to join the European Union. Critics said last week’s law would effectively neutralize them, and Zelensky quickly reversed course.
The unease among Ukraine’s Western supporters, particularly in Europe, also risked undermining billions of dollars in aid that the country needs to keep its economy afloat.
The head of the E.U. executive branch, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, quickly praised Zelensky for signing the new law. “Restoring NABU & SAPO independence is a welcome step,” von der Leyen posted on X. “Ukraine’s rule of law and anti-corruption reforms should continue. They remain essential for Ukraine’s progress on the European path.”
Marta Kos, the E.U. commissioner for enlargement, said that Ukraine’s parliament “corrected last week’s damaging vote undermining NABU’s & SAPO’s independence” but also sounded a cautionary note. “Today’s law,” Kos posted on X, “restores key safeguards, but challenges remain.”
Negative reaction to last week’s vote was immediate, and consternation grew after Zelensky hurriedly signed the law into effect. That evening, thousands of people flooded Kyiv’s Ivan Franko Square near the presidential administration, while smaller demonstrations were staged in other cities. The next night, some 12,000 massed in Kyiv to voice their dismay.
After a flurry of conversations with European leaders and the heads of his law enforcement agencies, including NABU and SAPO, Zelensky made a reversal.
He submitted a new bill overturning the old one, which he had originally said was needed to root out Russian influence at the two agencies, an assertion that was met with widespread skepticism. Before Thursday’s vote, the heads of NABU and SAPO said they approved of the new legislation.
Still, there was unmistakable damage to Zelensky’s image as a champion of democratic reforms. Martial law, adopted in response to Russia’s violent effort to conquer Ukrainian territory and topple its government, has allowed Zelensky to govern with power heavily concentrated in the president’s office.
Those who attended the protests, many of whom were students or young people in their 20s, said they would not tolerate the possibility of democratic backsliding even as soldiers were fighting and dying on the front lines to secure a European, democratic future for their country.
Lukiia Kvych, 25, who works for an IT company and has attended the protests, said she did not support Zelensky, a former comedian and actor, before the war. “I always thought that he did not have enough competence for state governance,” Kvych said over text message. But once Russia invaded, she reconsidered.
“Amid the chaos that engulfed the country, he was able to show leadership, maintain the information front and preserve statehood, for which I gained respect for him,” she said. “Not support, but respect.”
But the events of last week “came as a cold shower,” she said. Zelensky “not only failed to stop this process, he signed the law,” and switched positions only when there was a public outcry. This was a sign of his “weakness in matters of integrity,” Kvych said, and that the government’s priorities “do not coincide with the expectations of society.”
Others noted that the move against the anti-corruption agencies followed NABU and SAPO opening inquires against allies of Zelensky, such as former deputy prime minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, who in June was charged with “abuse of office and receiving undue benefits in substantial amounts for himself and third parties.”
“Of course, the level of trust has been shaken,” said Artem Ostapiuk, 22, who works for a nonprofit, “because if earlier there were only rumors about whitewashing his entourage, now he has taken a public step in this direction.”
“Trust has diminished, but I will watch his further actions,” Ostapiuk said.
Ukrainian officials warned that Russia would seek to capitalize on the political divisions inside Ukraine and to push its narrative that the country was irredeemably corrupt.
Russian negotiators raised the issue of the protests and the controversy over the law during peace negotiations last week in Ankara, Turkey, Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, said.
“The Russians said, ‘You have a problem,’” Yermak said. In response, he said, Rustem Umerov, the chief Ukrainian negotiator replied, “No, we have democracy. You have a problem.” Umerov confirmed the exchange.
Zelensky’s moves and the ensuing protests drew rare public criticism of the Ukrainian president from Brussels, where E.U. officials described it as a “serious step back” and warned of “damaged trust” between Ukrainians and their leaders.
Von der Leyen, quickly called Zelensky to request “explanations” and assert that “there cannot be a compromise” on anti-corruption standards in Ukraine as a candidate country for E.U. membership, her office said.
E.U. officials privately conveyed more serious messages to Zelensky and his team that the crackdown could hurt the flow of vital E.U. funding to Ukraine, said two European diplomats, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.
They also warned that it could impact Ukraine’s membership application, an elaborate multistep process that takes years. One of the diplomats said that some E.U. officials had grown “more wary” toward Kyiv and that officials made clear they were watching next steps closely.
European supporters of Ukraine are also working to maintain a supply of weapons by sending U.S.-made arms to Kyiv and purchasing replacements for themselves as a way to make up for slowing U.S. military assistance.
- - -
Francis reported from Brussels. Kostiantyn Khudov and Siobhán O’Grady contributed to this report.