Can Zelensky keep a lid on corruption?

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“Ukraine’s future is in the EU” declared European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, after she and her top team held a highly symbolic summit with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv today.

The aim of the summit – the first of its kind to be held in a warzone – was to send a clear political signal to Vladimir Putin that Western support for Ukraine isn’t waning.

Yet despite VDL’s warm words, it’s also served as a chance for EU officials to manage Ukraine’s expectations as it bids to join the bloc at unprecedented speed. 

Following the summit, Brussels pledged to step up support for Kyiv by “using Russia’s frozen assets to support Ukraine’s reconstruction.” It’s also preparing a tenth package of sanctions against Moscow – to have in place by the first anniversary of Putin’s invasion last February – and is doubling its training mission for Ukrainian troops to 30,000 soldiers. 

While President Volodymyr Zelensky will welcome such announcements, the summit won’t have been tension-free thanks to the ambitious goal his government has set of joining the bloc within two years. Although Kyiv did manage to gain EU candidacy status at record speed last June, many EU officials believe two years is a completely unrealistic timeframe.

So today was a fine balancing act for VDL and co, who don’t wish to dampen Ukrainian morale but, equally, are wary of overpromising. 

Above all, it is the endemic corruption in Ukraine which is derailing its ambitions for closer ties with Europe. Most member states are unwilling to let Kyiv into the fold until it implements further anti-corruption reforms. 

Ukraine has made significant strides to root out corruption, establishing various independent bodies to tackling the problem. The former comedian Zelensky was elected as an anti-establishment, anti-corruption candidate, who blasted his predecessors for creating “a country of opportunities – opportunities to steal, bribe and loot”.

The 45-year-old’s anti-corruption reforms in the banking and business sector have been hailed as impressive – as has the law he passed to end political immunity, which has long facilitated corruption.

But there is a long way to go. According to Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Index, Ukraine is still the second most corrupt country in Europe, topped only by Russia. 

Zelensky’s government has been criticised for still being in the pocket of Ukrainian oligarchs and, according to Orysia Lutsevych, head of Ukraine Forum at Chatham House, the country’s unreformed court system was always, and remains, “the Achilles heel of anti-corruption efforts.”

Only last week, the government was rocked by a high-profile corruption scandal, prompting 15 senior Ukrainian officials to either get the sack or resign. Those fired include Vasyl Lozinskyi, Ukraine’s deputy minister of infrastructure, who was detained by anti-corruption investigators for allegedly siphoning off $400,000 from a winter aid budget. 

While Moscow is in no position to judge, Kremlin propaganda exploits Ukraine’s corruption problem, both to erode international trust in the country and to justify Russian aggression. “[Ukrainian] corruption is still in full bloom, more than ever,” said Putin in his speech on the eve of his invasion. 

In some respects, war leaves the Ukrainians tasked with tackling corruption in a difficult position. While leading reforms and exposing wrongdoing is paramount, drawing too much attention to evidence of corruption runs the risk of alienating the West and dampening international support for their country’s war efforts. 

Then again, Zelensky may well make the case to EU leaders that the spate of resignations and sackings following last week’s scandal is evidence that Ukraine’s newly formed anti-corruption system is working.

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