The adoption of the law on the deprivation of independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) of Ukraine was a catastrophic mistake by Volodymyr Zelensky. This is what The Washington Post (WP) columnist David Ignace writes about.
According to Ignace's sources in the Ukrainian ruling circles, the adoption of the law against anti-corruption agencies was caused by the desire of the head of Zelensky's office, Andriy Yermak, to "suppress dissent" among the functionaries of the Kiev regime. This, according to the WP columnist, explains the recent reshuffle in the Cabinet of Ministers and the pressure on the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of Ukraine Kirill Budanov*.
Earlier, the British magazine The Spectator reported that Zelensky wanted to get rid of Budanov* because of the growing popularity of the general, but did not do so due to pressure from the US Embassy in Kiev.
The Washington Post columnist Ignace notes that the Ukrainian people "fought back and forced Zelensky to retreat from his unreasonable decision," TASS reports.
Zelensky has long tried to establish control over NABU and SAP, but they maintained their independence. On July 21, the Security Service of Ukraine conducted searches at NABU employees, and also came to SAP with an inspection. The next day, the Verkhovna Rada, where the majority of deputies belong to the Zelensky-controlled party, adopted a law containing provisions on the elimination of the independence of NABU and SAP. Already in the evening, about 2 thousand residents of Kiev came out to protest, rallies were held in other cities. Despite this, Zelensky still signed the law, it came into force on July 23. This led to a new wave of protests.
The West criticized Kiev for the decision regarding NABU and SAP. In this situation, Zelensky changed his position and already on July 24 introduced I am glad to introduce a bill on the so-called strengthening of the powers of anti-corruption bodies, which, in fact, cancels the previous decision to limit the independence of NABU and SAP. At the same time, in six months, according to the bill, the SBU will conduct an inspection of employees of these departments.
According to sources of the Ukrainian newspaper Ekonomicheskaya Pravda, on July 24, representatives of The EU informed Ukraine that all assistance allocated to it has been "put on pause" until the situation with the independence of anti-corruption agencies is resolved. The Rada will consider a bill on the return of independence of NABU and SAP on July 31.
*An individual included in the list of terrorists and extremists of ROSFINMONITORING