EU urges Ukraine to uphold independent anti-corruption bodies
BRUSSELS : European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called on Sunday for president Volodymyr Zelensky to uphold independent anti-corruption bodies, with the Ukrainian leader signalling that supporting legislation could be adopted within days.
'Ukraine has already achieved a lot on its European path. It must build on these solid foundations and preserve independent anti-corruption bodies, which are cornerstones of Ukraine's rule of law,' von der Leyen said in a post on X after a call with Zelenskiy.
After a rare outburst of public criticism, Zelensky on Thursday submitted draft legislation to restore the independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies – reversing the course of an earlier bill aimed at stripping their autonomy.
'I thanked the European Commission for the provided expertise,' Zelenskiy said in a post on X after his Sunday call with von der Leyen.
'We share the same vision: it is important that the bill is adopted without delay, as early as next week.'
Von der Leyen also promised continued support for Ukraine on its path to EU membership.
'Ukraine can count on our support to deliver progress on its European path,' she added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
an hour ago
- Malay Mail
US-China restart trade talks in Sweden, possible extension of tariff truce in play
STOCKHOLM, July 28 — Top economic officials from the United States and China are set to renew negotiations Monday, with an extension of lower tariff levels on the cards as President Donald Trump's trade policy enters a critical week. Talks between the world's top two economies are slated to happen over two days in the Swedish capital Stockholm, and they come as other countries are also rushing to finalise deals with Washington. For dozens of trading partners, failing to strike an agreement in the coming days means they could face significant tariff hikes on exports to the United States come Friday, August 1. The steeper rates, threatened against partners like Brazil and India, would raise the duties their products face from a 'baseline' of 10 per cent now to levels up to 50 per cent. Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have already effectively raised duties on US imports to levels not seen since the 1930s, according to data from The Budget Lab research centre at Yale University. For now, all eyes are on discussions between Washington and Beijing as a delegation including US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent meets a Chinese team led by Vice Premier He Lifeng in Sweden. Beijing said on Monday it hoped the two sides could hold talks in the spirit of 'mutual respect and reciprocity'. Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing sought to 'enhance consensus through dialogue and communication, reduce misunderstandings, strengthen cooperation and promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US relations'. While both countries in April imposed tariffs on each other's products that reached triple-digit levels, US duties this year have temporarily been lowered to 30 per cent and China's countermeasures slashed to 10 per cent. But the 90-day truce, instituted after talks in Geneva in May, is set to expire on August 12. Since the Geneva meeting, the two sides have convened in London to iron out disagreements. China progress? 'There seems to have been a fairly significant shift in (US) administration thinking on China since particularly the London talks,' said Emily Benson, head of strategy at Minerva Technology Futures. 'The mood now is much more focused on what's possible to achieve, on warming relations where possible and restraining any factors that could increase tensions,' she told AFP. Talks with China have not produced a deal but Benson said both countries have made progress, with certain rare earth and semiconductor flows restarting. 'Secretary Bessent has also signalled that he thinks a concrete outcome will be to delay the 90-day tariff pause,' she said. 'That's also promising, because it indicates that something potentially more substantive is on the horizon.' The South China Morning Post, citing sources on both sides, reported Sunday that Washington and Beijing are expected to extend their tariff pause by another 90 days. Trump has announced pacts so far with the European Union, Britain, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines, although details have been sparse. An extension of the US-China deal to keep tariffs at reduced levels 'would show that both sides see value in continuing talks', said Thibault Denamiel, a fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. US-China Business Council president Sean Stein said the market was not anticipating a detailed readout from Stockholm: 'What's more important is the atmosphere coming out.' 'The business community is optimistic that the two presidents will meet later this year, hopefully in Beijing,' he told AFP. 'It's clear that on both sides, the final decision-maker is going to be the president.' Far from ideal For others, the prospect of higher US tariffs and few details from fresh trade deals mark 'a far cry from the ideal scenario', said Denamiel. But they show some progress, particularly with partners Washington has signalled are on its priority list like the EU, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea. The EU unveiled a pact with Washington on Sunday while Seoul is rushing to strike an agreement, after Japan and the Philippines already reached the outlines of deals. Breakthroughs have been patchy since Washington promised a flurry of agreements after unveiling, and then swiftly postponing, tariff hikes targeting dozens of economies in April. Denamiel warned of overlooking countries that fall outside Washington's priority list. Solid partnerships are needed, he said, if Washington wants to diversify supply chains, enforce advanced technology controls, and tackle excess Chinese capacity. — AFP
Free Malaysia Today
an hour ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Greece to seek €1.2bil loans under EU's defence fund
Greece spends about 3% of its gross domestic product on defence, which is nearly double the average in the EU. (Wiki pic) ATHENS : Greece will seek to access a big European defence fund to secure cheap loans worth at least €1.2 billion to boost its military capabilities, prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday. EU countries have agreed to create a €150 billion fund, known as Security Action for Europe (SAFE), which will be financed through joint borrowing and give loans to EU members and certain other countries such as Ukraine for projects that enhance their defences and boost Europe's arms industry. 'We will put in an official request tomorrow to be included in the SAFE mechanism, seeking low-interest loans worth at least €1.2 billion to boost our national defence and the Greek arms industry,' Mitsotakis said in a post on Facebook. Greece is spending about 3% of its gross domestic product on defence – nearly double the average in the EU – but has been looking for funds to finance a €25 billion plan to modernise its armed forces by 2030, as it tries to keep pace with its eastern neighbour and historical rival Turkey. Mitsotakis also called on Europe to set up a joint fund to finance a unified continent-wide anti-missile defence shield.
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Kim Jong-un's sister says 'no reason' for talks with South
SEOUL: North Korea has no interest in pursuing dialogue with the South, leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister said Monday (July 28), dismissing a new president in Seoul who has vowed to mend ties. Since his election in June, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has broken with his predecessor's hawkish tone on the North and halted loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border -- begun in response to a barrage of trash-filled North Korean balloons. North Korea has ended its own propaganda broadcasts, which had boomed strange and eerie noises into the South. But such gestures do not mean Seoul should expect a thawing of icy ties, Kim Yo-jong (pic) said in an English dispatch carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency on Monday. "If the ROK... expected that it could reverse all the results it had made with a few sentimental words, nothing is more serious miscalculation than it," she said, referring to South Korea by its official name. "We clarify once again the official stand that no matter what policy is adopted and whatever proposal is made in Seoul, we have no interest in it and there is neither the reason to meet nor the issue to be discussed with the ROK," she added. "The DPRK-ROK relations have irreversibly gone beyond the time zone of the concept of homogeneous," she said, using the North's official acronym. Seoul said Kim's statement -- Pyongyang's first reaction to Lee's overture -- "reaffirms the high level of mistrust between the two due to years of hostile policies". "We take this as a sign that the North is closely monitoring the Lee administration's North Korea policy," Unification Ministry Spokesman Koo Byung-sam said at a press briefing. Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP that Kim's statement underscored Pyongyang's entrenched anti-South stance. "It declares that its hostile perception towards the South has become irreversible," he said. The two countries technically remain at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. The United States, a key security ally of South Korea, keeps around 28,000 troops in the South to help it defend attacks from the nuclear-armed North. The South's Lee has said he would seek talks with the North without preconditions, following a deep freeze under his predecessor when relations plummeted to their worst level in years. - AFP
