President Zelenskyy has signed a law that limits the independence of the NABU and SAPO: How have Ukraine’s international allies responded?

President Zelenskyy approved a bill that increases the influence of the Prosecutor General’s Office over investigations by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO). He believes that the NABU and SAPO will continue their work, and the Prosecutor General is committed to ensuring that those responsible for crimes of corruption face real consequences.

“Cases that have been sitting idle for years must be investigated. It cannot be that officials who fled Ukraine live peacefully abroad without legal repercussions”, Zelenskyy added.

Notably, the amendments to the bill grant the Prosecutor General the power to:

1. take cases from the NABU and assign investigations to other agencies
2. act as the SAPO’s de facto leader and delegate the SAPO prosecutor’s authority to other prosecutors

Meanwhile, European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Valdis Dombrovskis pointed out that the EC has made further support for Ukraine and the country’s progress toward EU membership conditional on respecting the independence of anti-corruption agencies.

The OECD also believes that restricting the NABU and SAPO could weaken Ukraine’s standing among international partners, who are considering investments in its defense sector and long-term rebuilding.

The foreign ministries of Germany and the Netherlands also emphasized the significance of maintaining the independence of anti-corruption institutions for continued reform and European integration.

In response, Ukrainian lawmakers are preparing to submit a case to the Constitutional Court concerning the law that narrows the powers of the NABU and SAPO.