EU welcomes Ukraine’s pledge to protect anti-corruption agencies

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union welcomed Ukraine’s pledge to protect the independence of its anti-corruption agencies and said on Thursday that a commitment to fight corruption is an important precondition both for EU financial aid as well as for potential EU membership.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed on Wednesday to retain the independence of anti-corruption agencies, bowing to pressure from the first wartime street protests since Russia invaded the country in February 2022 and rare rebukes from European allies.

“We welcome the fact that the Ukrainian government is taking action, and we work with them to make sure that our concerns, which have been clearly explained yesterday and the day before yesterday, are indeed taken into account,” an EU spokesperson told reporters in response to questions.

Zelenskiy said he would submit a new bill to ensure the rule of law and retain the independence of the anti-corruption agencies.

The EU spokesperson said that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had spoken to Zelenskiy about the issue but provided no further detail.

“We work with them to make sure that these concerns regarding the fight against corruption, which is an extremely important priority for us and for Ukraine, are indeed correctly addressed,” the spokesperson said.

“We provide significant financial support to Ukraine and this is conditional to progress and transparency, judicial reform and democratic governance,” an EU spokesperson said.

He added that in light of potential EU accession, Ukraine needs to have a strong capacity to combat corruption and to have the institutions to do so, and that these institutions must be independent.

(Reporting by Andrew Gray and GV De Clercq; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)