Statement by the Steering Committee of the Ukrainian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum on the elimination of anti-corruption bodies’ independence following the adoption of draft law 12414
23 July 2025
The Steering Committee of the Ukrainian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum expresses concern over the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada and signing by the President of Ukraine on 22 July 2025 of draft law No. 12414. These actions by the authorities — both Parliament and the President — nullify Ukraine’s 11-year efforts to build an independent anti-corruption system, which forms the foundation of Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration and our accession to the European Union.
The adopted law undermines the independence of two key anti-corruption institutions — the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) — and effectively transfers control over them to the Prosecutor General, who is a political appointee.
The adopted draft law has become the culmination of a series of recent events including the non-appointment of the head of the Bureau of Economic Security, pressure on NABU and SAPO whilst investigating cases involving high-ranking officials including the Deputy Prime Minister, and persecution of one of the leaders of the anti-corruption civil movement. The urgency in adopting the draft law and its signing by the Speaker of Parliament and the President demonstrates the authorities’ coordination and determination to strip anti-corruption bodies of their effective powers and independence.
Eliminating the independence of anti-corruption bodies will lead to loss of international community support for Ukraine’s reconstruction and European integration. Investment in our country becomes less likely, whilst the opening of negotiation clusters, which was to take place these days, has already been postponed until at least autumn. This contradicts Ukraine’s civilisational choice, for which Ukrainian society has been resisting bloody full-scale Russian aggression for the fourth year.
As the authorised body of a broad coalition of pro-European civil society organisations, which is the Ukrainian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, we strongly condemn the elimination of anti-corruption bodies’ independence and call on Parliament and the President of Ukraine to immediately ensure the restoration of their independent status.
Steering Committee of UNP EaP CSF
For reference:
The Ukrainian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (http://eap-csf.org.ua/) is a network of more than 150 non-governmental organizations in Ukraine that advocates Ukrainian interests within the framework of the Eastern Partnership. The platform is part of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (EaP CSF). The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum is unique multi-layered regional civil society platform aimed at promoting European integration, facilitating reforms and democratic transformations in the six Eastern Partnership countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Serving as the civil society and people-to-people dimension of the Eastern Partnership, the EaP CSF strives to strengthen civil society in the region, boost pluralism in public discourse and policy making by promoting participatory democracy and fundamental freedoms. The EaP CSF is a non-partisan bona fide non-governmental organisation.
