Why Ukraine's new anti-corruption law spells trouble for its EU hopes

Euronews

24-07-2025

For the past three years, the European Union has invoked the mantra of "as long as it takes" to reaffirm, time and time again, its unyielding, all-encompassing support for Ukraine as it fights against Russia's brutal full-scale invasion.
That pledge was not merely rhetorical. It translated into financial assistance, weapons and ammunition, energy security, roaming services, a free-trade deal and temporary protection for refugees. The bloc's proposed seven-year budget features a separate, tailor-made fund worth €100 billion to help the country's long-term reconstruction.
But this week, that unbroken front cracked for the first time when the European Commission slammed, in no uncertain terms, a new law in Ukraine.
The law, passed through parliament at a speed that appeared to catch Brussels off guard, is designed to bring two anti-corruption bodies – the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) – under the direct oversight of the prosecutor general, a political appointee.
The prosecutor general will now be allowed to select cases handled by NABU and SAPO and reassign them to other state entities, which critics say risks empowering the executive branch to sway and possibly derail high-profile investigations. The prosecutor general will also be able to give written instructions to the agencies.
The fact that the vote in parliament took place a day after the security services raided the NABU offices over allegations of Russian espionage added to the outrage.
Marta Kos, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, who is tasked with assessing the progress made by candidate countries, was the first to express her disapproval.
"Seriously concerned over today's vote in the Rada. The dismantling of key safeguards protecting NABU's independence is a serious step back," Kos said on social media.
The warning was stark, but futile. A few hours later, amid growing uproar from protesters across Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the bill into law.
"The anti-corruption infrastructure will work, only without Russian influence – it needs to be cleared of that. And there should be more justice," Zelenskyy said in his evening address, referring to the recent raids into the NABU offices.
"It is important that the Prosecutor General is determined to ensure that in Ukraine, the inevitability of punishment for those who go against the law is actually ensured. This is what Ukraine really needs."
The following day, the extraordinary clash escalated when Ursula von der Leyen called Zelenskyy and demanded explanations about the contentious legislation.
"President von der Leyen conveyed her strong concerns about the consequences of the amendments," a spokesperson said. "The respect for the rule of law and the fight against corruption are core elements of the European Union. As a candidate country, Ukraine is expected to uphold these standards fully. There cannot be a compromise."
A few hours after the phone call, Zelenskyy promised to submit a new bill to "ensure the strength of the rule of law system", without giving further details.
Separation of powers
The hands-on interventions signal the high-risk gamble that Kyiv is taking.
The fight against corruption has been central to Ukraine's ambition to join the bloc. It was among the first issues raised by reporters and analysts when Zelenskyy, in the first days of Russia's war, submitted the membership application and remained a prominent subject as the debate among capitals gained traction.
Corruption has been a notoriously persistent problem in Ukraine since the collapse of the Soviet Union, when oligarchs and organised crime rushed to exploit the chaos of the political transition and pillaged the up-for-grabs sectors of the economy. Corruption has been detected in elections, the judiciary, the public administration, the education system and the business sector, creating an impression of widespread penetration.
Transparency International has consistently ranked Ukraine among Europe's worst performers on corruption. Although the country's score has moderately grown over the last decade, it remains outside the top 100.
Mindful of the formidable challenge, the Commission made strengthening the fight against corruption one of the seven prerequisites that Ukraine had to fulfil before formally starting accession negotiations.
Leaders agreed to launch talks in December 2023, despite Kyiv having made only partial progress on anti-corruption, de-oligarchisation and the rights of minorities.
Since then, Brussels has encouraged Ukraine to continue its efforts, which are essential to convince international donors and investors to bring capital into the nation.
The latest edition of the enlargement report, released in October 2024, found that Ukraine had "further improved" the credibility of its anti-corruption framework and had "strengthened the independence and the institutional capacity" of NABU and SAPO, which were created in response to the 2014 revolution.
NABU investigates top-level corruption, and its cases are overseen and prosecuted by SAPO. The cases are then tried by the High Anti-Corruption Court.
"NABU and SAPO have maintained their operational effectiveness and remain important institutional pillars in the anti-corruption infrastructure," the Commission said.
The report highlighted the fact that SAPO had become a "separate legal entity" from the prosecutor general's office and recommended that the head of SAPO be allowed to open investigations into members of the parliament "independently" from the prosecutor.
These elements are rendered null by the new law, which places the prosecutor general at the top of both agencies as the ultimate arbiter.
Conscious uncoupling?
The apparent backsliding threatens to worsen the already precarious state of Ukraine's European integration.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has imposed an unassailable veto that prevents the country from opening the first cluster of accession negotiations, known as Fundamentals. That cluster also covers the fight against corruption.
Orbán has focused his opposition on the fact that Ukraine is a country at war and, in his view, fails to respect the rights of its Hungarian minority. The prime minister has branded the results of a national consultation as a "strong mandate" to freeze the bid.
In response to Orbán's actions, the Commission came forcefully to Kyiv's defence, arguing there were "no objective reasons" to block the first cluster.
"Things are really clear: as we speak, Ukraine is delivering on reforms in the most difficult circumstances that one can imagine," a spokesperson said earlier this month.
The row over the anti-corruption reform provides Orbán and other sceptics with a fresh argument to derail the accession process and, perhaps inevitably, fuels speculation about a potential decoupling of Ukraine's and Moldova's bids.
The two Eastern countries applied for EU membership shortly after Russia launched the full-scale invasion and were declared candidates on the same day in June 2022. Since then, they have moved together as a "couple".
The Commission considers both equally ready to open the first cluster and is waiting for member states to give their unanimous go-ahead. Notably, Orbán has not voiced any reservations about Moldova's ambitions, which means Chișinău could unlock the next stage of negotiations while Kyiv waits for the veto to be lifted.
Until now, member states have been reluctant to decouple the bids, fearing that doing so would amount to a big victory for Orbán and a stinging defeat for Ukraine. The dispute over the anti-corruption legislation could now prompt a change of mindset.
"Events in Ukraine are extremely worrying and risk undermining Ukraine's EU accession process, which is already stalled due to Hungary's veto on opening the fundamentals cluster," said Amanda Paula, a senior policy analyst at the European Policy Centre (EPC).
"I believe it will give momentum to discussions about uncoupling Moldova from Ukraine. It would be unfair to hold back Moldova because of developments in Ukraine."
The fight against corruption is pivotal not only to Ukraine's accession – it is also ingrained in the commitments the country made to the European Commission as a condition for receiving gradual payments under a dedicated €50 billion fund.
These payments, crucial to sustaining public services and paying for salaries, represent a powerful leverage should Brussels decide to escalate the showdown until Kyiv reverses the legal changes and restores the independence of NABU and SAPO.
A Commission spokesperson said it was premature to speculate about a possible freezing of funds at this stage.