When on the 30th of November General Prosecutor’s Office blatantly disrupted an undercover operation of the National Anticorruption Bureau (NABU) and disclosed personal data of its agents, it was only a commencement of the offensive on the independent anticorruption institutions, carried out by the Ukrainian authorities. Already on the 6th of December the leaders of two biggest coalition factions in the Parliament registered draft law No.7362 “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Ensuring Parliamentary Control”, which would deprive NABU of any guarantees of independence from the political will of the highest government leadership, if adopted. This bill enables the dismissal of NABU director based on a protocol on an administrative offense related to corruption and in case of a no-confidence motion against him by a simple parliamentary majority.
By the morning of December 7, after the night of tough pressure from civil society activists, reform-minded MPs, and, most importantly, Ukraine’s Western allies, the bill was removed from Verkhovna Rada’s agenda for that day. However, the chances are still high that the dangerous legislative initiative to attack NABU in this or another form will be repeated. Thus, RPR has gathered the most resonant international reactions to the attempts to undermine the fight against high-profile corruption in Ukraine:
Statement of the State Department was echoed by other representatives of American political elite. For example, Michael Carpenter, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense and a key adviser to ex-U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden, warned about the possible consequence of dismissing the head of the Anticorruption Committee and the head of the NABU for US government assistance to Ukraine:
In its turn, EU Delegation to Ukraine twitted that detrimental draft law No.7362 contradicts Ukraine’s fight against corruption, reforms and VLAP commitments:
MEP Rebecca Harms said that if Artem Sytnyk is dismissed from the position of the NABU director, the reaction from Brussels will follow:
EU’s official reaction to the rollbacks of anticorruption achievements in Ukraine are especially timely and relevant in the view of the annual EU-Ukraine Association Council meeting, to be held on December 8 in 2017 – right before the International Anticorruption Day. While reform process in Ukraine, with a focus on anticorruption and judicial reform, as part of the EU-Ukraine political dialogue and cooperation is on the top of the agenda, RPR has addressed EU leadership with an open letter about the alarming tendencies in this domain.
“We are deeply concerned by recent events in Ukraine that could roll back progress that has been made in setting up independent institutions to tackle high-level corruption, including the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Special Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). Fighting corruption is a key demand of the Ukrainian society, is crucial to achieving stronger and equitable growth, and is part of the government’s commitment under the program with the IMF.
“We urge the Ukrainian authorities and parliament to safeguard the independence of NABU and SAPO. We also urge the authorities to move quickly with legislation to operationalize an independent anticorruption court consistent with the recommendations of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, which is essential to credibly adjudicate high-level corruption cases.”
In a separate statement, the World Bank’s office in Ukraine also expressed its concern and said attacks on NABU and on SAPO “threaten their ability to fight corruption and recover stolen assets.” “It’s critical they have the legislative framework & resources to fulfil their mandate,” it said.
The Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine Roman Waschuk wrote on Twitter that NABU’s independence as the cornerstone of its activity and that there would be consequences in terms of international economic support to Ukraine, should this independence be endangered:
The United Kingdom also expressed concern that Ukraine’s fight against corruption is being undermined. The UK has underlined the vital importance of Ukraine’s fight against corruption as part of its wider reform program: “Corruption remains a major threat to Ukraine’s stability and national security and is cited by Ukraine’s electorate as the number one issue facing the country. The fight against it is fundamental to Ukraine’s European choice and its aspiration to become a modern, prosperous and democratic state.”
The statement mentioned that “NABU, in which the UK has invested significant resource, is a critical piece of the anti-corruption machinery in Ukraine, and has made great strides in its development and its investigations”. It also acknowledged that “interference in NABU investigations and the exposing of NABU’s undercover officers, are a worrying sign that the future of independent anti-corruption investigations is under threat.” And called on the government to will show leadership in progressing a joined up reform effort to eradicate corruption.
Embassy of Germany has also stated on its twitter account that notorious draft law No.7362 should be renounce, since it is crucial to strengthen and preserve independence of NABU, SAPO and other anticorruption institutions:
Ambassador of France to Ukraine Isabelle Dumont also acknowledged the need to ensure independence of NABU and establish the anticorruption court for the sake of effective fight against corruption in Ukraine. Ms. Dumont has also expressed dissatisfaction with the work of members of the Parliament’s Anticorruption Committee, who, despite the position off its Chair Yehor Soboliev, did not manage to guarantee appropriate conditions for anticorruption institutions’ operation:
Ambassador of Sweden Martin Hagstrom underscored the importance of NABU’s independence for Ukraine’s international obligations under the VLAP and Memorandum with the IMF:
Besides that, attacks on NABU and interference in its activity was met with staunch criticism by international organizations, such as GRECO (The Group of States against Corruption) and Transparency International.
For more international reactions please search for hashtag #SaveNABU and #StandForNABU on Twitter.