Zelensky signs new law reversing last week's protested corruption bill
July 31 (UPI) -- After a week of protests, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky signed an anti-corruption bill reversing one he signed last week.
The Ukrainian parliament voted unanimously for the new bill after backlash from Ukrainian people and the European Union.
Last week's law brought two anti-corruption watchdogs under the control of the country's prosecutor general, which is a politically appointed position. Proponents said it was necessary to prevent Russian influence in the anti-corruption system and speed up corruption cases. But opponents said it stripped away the independence of the organizations -- the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.
The new law reversed last week's law.
"I want to thank all the lawmakers for passing my bill, now a law. I have just signed the document, and the text will be published immediately," Zelensky said on his Telegram channel.
"There are guarantees for the proper, independent operation of anti-corruption bodies and all law enforcement agencies of our state."
Many sitting members of parliament are being investigated by NABU. The agency has charged 71 current and former MPs with corruption. Forty-two of them were charged between 2022 and 2025. Still in parliament are 31 of the charged MPs.
Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Action Center approved of Zelensky's initiative, saying it would "restore the principles previously dismantled by the Verkhovna Rada [parliament]."
The European Union warned Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, that it saw last week's law as backsliding in the country's efforts to combat corruption and could jeopardize its plans to join its ranks.
"The European Union is concerned about Ukraine's recent actions with regard to its anti-corruption institutions, NABU and SAPO," European Commission Spokesperson Guillaume Mercier told Ukrinform, the country's national news agency last week. Mercier added that the European Union's financial assistance to Ukraine is conditional on "transparency, judicial reform and democratic governance."
Former Prime Minister and current MP Yulia Tymoshenko defended last week's bill.
"This bill, the president submitted under colossal pressure, is not about NABU and SAP, and not about the fight against corruption. NABU and SAP are organs of political pressure on Ukraine's government from outside. We are not a country that can be ruled by foreign powers as a dog on a leash," Tymoshenko said during the parliament session on Thursday. "I don't care who takes away our sovereignty, East or West."
Last week, Zelensky quickly signed the disputed bill, claiming NABU and SAP were not effective enough and were filled with Russian agents. The organizations were investigating corruption allegations against some of his closest allies.
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Hamilton Spectator
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After a reference to Trump's impeachments is removed from a history museum, complex questions echo
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'For the White House and their allies, a key part of managing the expectations and politics of the Trump economy is maintaining vigilance when it comes to public perceptions,' said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist. Just 38% of adults approve of Trump's handling of the economy, according to a July poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. That's down from the end of Trump's first term when half of adults approved of his economic leadership. The White House paints a rosier image, seeing the economy emerging from a period of uncertainty after Trump's restructuring and repeating the economic gains seen in his first term before the pandemic struck. 'President Trump is implementing the very same policy mix of deregulation, fairer trade, and pro-growth tax cuts at an even bigger scale – as these policies take effect, the best is yet to come,' White House spokesman Kush Desai said. 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Prices of heavily imported items, such as appliances, furniture, and toys and games, jumped from May to June. — On Wednesday, a report on gross domestic product — the broadest measure of the U.S. economy — showed that it grew at an annual rate of less than 1.3% during the first half of the year, down sharply from 2.8% growth last year. 'The economy's just kind of slogging forward,' said Guy Berger, senior fellow at the Burning Glass Institute, which studies employment trends. 'Yes, the unemployment rate's not going up, but we're adding very few jobs. The economy's been growing very slowly. It just looks like a 'meh' economy is continuing.' Trump has sought to pin the blame for any economic troubles on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, saying the Fed should cut its benchmark interest rates even though doing so could generate more inflation. Trump has publicly backed two Fed governors, Christoper Waller and Michelle Bowman, for voting for rate cuts at Wednesday's meeting. But their logic is not what the president wants to hear: They were worried, in part, about a slowing job market. But this is a major economic gamble being undertaken by Trump and those pushing for lower rates under the belief that mortgages will also become more affordable as a result and boost homebuying activity. His tariff policy has changed repeatedly over the last six months, with the latest import tax numbers serving as a substitute for what the president announced in April, which provoked a stock market sell-off. It might not be a simple one-time adjustment as some Fed board members and Trump administration officials argue. Of course, Trump can't say no one warned him about the possible consequences of his economic policies. Biden, then the outgoing president, did just that in a speech last December at the Brookings Institution, saying the cost of the tariffs would eventually hit American workers and businesses. 'He seems determined to impose steep, universal tariffs on all imported goods brought into this country on the mistaken belief that foreign countries will bear the cost of those tariffs rather than the American consumer,' Biden said. 'I believe this approach is a major mistake.'
