Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has blamed Russia for the adoption of a law by the Ukrainian parliament that seriously undermines the fight against corruption in the war-torn country.
“We all share a common enemy: the Russian occupiers. And defending the Ukrainian state requires a strong enough law enforcement system—one that ensures a real sense of justice,” Zelensky said on Wednesday, July 23rd, after meeting with top law enforcement and anti-corruption officials a day after signing off on the widely criticised law.
The bill places two independent anti-corruption agencies under the oversight of the prosecutor general, thereby making them little more than the extended arm of the government which they are supposed to scrutinise.
The law has been criticised by the EU, and has sparked the first major protests in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion three years ago.
