Sjöstedt: ‘Support for Ukraine is not unconditional’

MEP Jonas Sjöstedt (Left Party) says that Ukraine has taken a major step backwards in its fight against corruption after a change in the law was passed on Tuesday, causing protests in several places and potentially jeopardising the country's EU support.

‘I think we should give more support to Ukraine, but it is not unconditional,’ says Jonas Sjöstedt.

The storm of criticism has now caused Zelensky to back down, and on Wednesday he proposed a new law.

The independence of the state authorities Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Special Prosecutor's Office for Combating Corruption (SAPO) is being revoked in Ukraine through a change in the law. This was voted through on Tuesday by the Ukrainian parliament and President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The suspension of the independence of the anti-corruption work has been criticised in several quarters. Among others, by Germany's foreign minister, France's EU minister and parts of the parliament and opposition in Ukraine.

EU parliamentarian Jonas Sjöstedt (V) is also critical. He was in Kiev on Tuesday together with the European Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control. He sees the bill as a serious setback. "For many years, the work has improved and grown stronger, and Ukraine had built up independent organisations to investigate cases of corruption.

But now the parliament and the president have chosen to remove that independence. This is a major step backwards.

Promised the EU independence

Jonas Sjöstedt emphasises that Ukraine promised the EU that it would fight corruption in the country independently. Now that this is no longer the case, there may be grounds for the EU to withhold its support.

"I really hope that Ukraine will see sense and reverse this decision so that support can continue. Otherwise, I think it is likely that some of the EU's support will be delayed or withheld. I think we should give more support to Ukraine, but it is not unconditional.

Zelensky reverses

On Wednesday, however, Zelensky changed his tune and announced that he had analysed the law together with the authorities involved to see what needs to be changed. He also said that he will propose a new law to ensure the independence of anti-corruption institutions.

According to Zelensky, Tuesday's amendment was made from the outset to prevent Russian influence.

This is an argument that Sjöstedt does not believe.

"Of course, it must be investigated whether there are cases of Russian influence. But unfortunately, I think that's a pretext. There are many indications that it is instead a matter of investigations being launched into people close to Zelensky, which is causing his party to react in this way.