Business communities and civil society organizations to Zelenskyy: "We regard current events as disruption of course towards European integration"
Business communities and public organizations have called on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to repeal the law, thus confirming to Ukrainian society and European partners the loyalty to Ukraine's European choice.
According to Censor.NET, this is stated in a statement on the elimination of the independence of anti-corruption institutions, which was distributed by public figure Valeriy Pekar.
"11 years ago, the Revolution of Dignity ended the uncertainty and "multi-vector" nature of Ukrainian politics and fixed the European choice of the Ukrainian people. The same year, the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement was signed and ratified. In the following years, the Free Trade Area and visa-free regime were launched, the course for EU membership was included in the Constitution of Ukraine, and eventually Ukraine applied for membership, received the status of a candidate country and began negotiations. Today, the European Union and its members are reliable partners of Ukraine in strengthening its defense and financing the state budget of Ukraine," the statement reads.
It also emphasizes that at all these stages, independent anti-corruption institutions have been and remain one of the key conditions for Ukraine's European integration. This was a direct requirement of the Association Agreement, one of the main conditions for the introduction of a visa-free regime, one of the seven key conditions to be met for the start of accession negotiations, etc. Independent and effective anti-corruption institutions are not a technical detail, but a systemic requirement for Ukraine's European integration. They are one of the main criteria for assessing Ukraine's progress towards EU membership and an important marker of trust on the part of European partners, a symbol of political and value compatibility.
"Draft law No. 12414, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, eliminates the independence of anti-corruption bodies, turning them into units of the unreformed and politically dependent prosecutor's office, and significantly limits the effectiveness of these bodies by depriving them of the ability to maintain confidentiality of investigations.
In essence, this means the destruction of one of the most important factors that keeps the doors to the European Union open for Ukraine, ensures the trust and support of European partners, which is vital in times of war, and feeds the Ukrainian dream of a better future, which gives people strength at the front and at the rear.
Among other things, this creates grounds for rolling back the existing achievements of European integration and increases financial risks for the country.
We, the representatives of Ukrainian civil society, were among those who won the European perspective for Ukraine during the Revolution of Dignity. Knowing the position of our European partners, we regard the current events as a disruption of the course towards European integration, which was paid for not only with a hundred lives of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes, but also with many thousands of lives of the ATO heroes and later the Ukrainian Defense Forces during the full-scale war.
Together with the disruption of the reboot of the Bureau of Economic Security and the High Qualification Commission of Judges, the application of politically motivated selective justice to civic activists, military personnel, journalists, etc., this creates a sense of returning to 2013, when Ukraine's geopolitical and civilizational choice had not yet been made.
Only the conditions are completely different now. A full-scale war has been going on for four years, which requires maximum unity and concentration of the forces of the state, society and our European partners. In the face of a falling economy, a catastrophic lack of financial resources, fragile political support from the outside, and even more fragile social cohesion within, this creates extraordinary risks for Ukrainian statehood.
We call on the President of Ukraine to show a statesmanlike position: to weigh the risks and veto the adopted draft law, thus confirming to Ukrainian society and European partners the loyalty to Ukraine's European choice," the statement reads.
It is noted that this statement was drafted and signed by many before the law came into force last night.
"Therefore, the requirement of this statement should now sound like this:
We call on the President of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to show a statesmanlike position: to weigh the risks and take the actions necessary to repeal the law, thus confirming to Ukrainian society and European partners the loyalty to Ukraine's European choice," the statement added.
The statement was signed by business communities, NGOs and think tanks.
You can join the statement here.
On July 22, the Verkhovna Rada passed draft law 12414, which eliminates the independence of the NACB and the SAPO.
In the evening, it was signed by President Zelenskyy.
NACB Director Semen Kryvonos urged the president not to sign the bill, as it would make NACB and SAPO dependent.
In Dnipro, people protested against the adoption of draft law No. 12414 by the Verkhovna Rada, which effectively means the elimination of the independence of the NACB and the SAPO.
A protest also began in Kyiv.
In a video address, Zelenskyy later said that Ukraine's anti-corruption infrastructure would work. July 23 The law limiting the powers of the NACB and the SAPO comes into force.
