The Washington Post: It is time for the West to take a tougher stance on Ukraine

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Complex political intrigues in Ukraine are not easy to understand. However, this week we witnessed a rare moment of clarity. The most important domestic issue in this country is corruption. And for the first time in recent history, we have people and institutions to fight it. Article The Washington Post “It’s time for the West to take a tougher position on Ukraine,” the publication translates inosmi.

At the very moment when the officials responsible for anti-corruption work began to address this problem, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko began to take steps to prevent this. His supporters in parliament have succeeded in removing the head of the anti-corruption committee, and now they are preparing to neutralize the work of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the only institution fighting bribes and kickbacks that has made a name for itself with its aggressive persecution of high-ranking politicians.

The Ukrainian Security Service, as well as the Office of the Prosecutor General, with its almost unlimited powers and 45 thousand employees, organized a crusade against the tiny anti-corruption agency, which employs no more than 700 people. Imagine that the CIA and the US Attorney General are conspiring to carry out an operation against the anti-corruption unit of the FBI.

Activists in Kiev believe we are approaching a tipping point. If the Anti-Corruption Bureau is abolished or weakened, it will be the death knell for a transparent democracy in Ukraine.

Western governments have funneled hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into Ukraine to support anti-corruption reforms. Now is the time to protect your investment. The United States and the European Union must tell Poroshenko and his friends that they must fight corruption.

This kind of message will be even more important given Poroshenko's recent attempts to consolidate his power ahead of next year's elections. The president and his supporters press the media and take harsh action against their critics, all in the absence of international outrage. Many in Kiev see the attacks on anti-corruption institutions as a gift from the president to his business friends, who will support his re-election if they are confident that he will protect them from persecution.

Poroshenko apparently trusts that his supporters in Washington and Brussels will be on his side in any case, given the ongoing war with Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine. The West views Poroshenko as a bulwark against the implementation of Russian plans in Eastern Europe, and the Ukrainian president himself has given them plenty of reasons to think so. When I ask Western diplomats why they are reluctant to put pressure on our government, I almost always hear the same answer: “The Russians will use any criticism to destabilize Ukraine.” In his recent speech at the UN, Poroshenko mentioned Russia more than 20 times. What about corruption? Just one time.

In this respect, Poroshenko's position is strongly at odds with the views of his own people. Independent polls show that corruption worries Ukrainians the most - more than even war. Of course, we are all concerned about Russia's attempts to destroy our country. Of course, Putin invaded our territory. However, Putin is not stealing our state funds. Putin doesn't make holes in our roads. Putin is not helping our corrupt bureaucrats escape jail. Putin is not forcing our elite to evade taxes.

Awkward government attempts this week to arrest the former governor of the Odessa region, Mikhail Saakashvili, are the latest example of how far Poroshenko is willing to go to silence his opponents. In addition, he is trying to divert the attention of the Ukrainian society and foreign allies from his attacks on the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which are being undertaken at the same time.

Our foreign allies can help Ukraine end this corruption. But they can only do this if they stop agreeing with the narrative pushed by government officials and begin to defend their own investments in Ukraine's progress. Otherwise, the millions spent on us will be stolen, and our most unscrupulous practices will seep into the West - as happened in the case of Paul Manafort (Paul Manafort), who assisted Ukraine's most corrupt president in recent memory before he started working for Donald Trump.

Where should Ukraine's friends start? First of all, they must restore and guarantee the independence of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, giving the EU anti-corruption mission the powers of mediator and controller. They should demand that anti-corruption courts begin their work this year, and then anti-corruption cases will already be considered outside the generally unreformed judicial system.

Ukraine's allies must also show that they know how to use not only a carrot, but also a baton. They should warn the government in Kiev that the recently introduced visa-free regime with EU countries could be suspended if any attempts are made to further weaken NABU. Anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine have been very successful - which is why the country's leadership is so eager to thwart them. It is time for the reformers and their allies in the West to protect them.

Read also on ForumDaily:

The Economist: Ukraine is bursting at the seams; The West must make it fight corruption

Bloomberg: The West has supported the wrong person in Ukraine

MikhoMaydan: supporters of Mikhail Saakashvili protest in Kiev

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