After having warned in the past that the visa-free regime between Ukraine and the European Union may be terminated due to the controversial decision made by Verkhovna Rada regarding appointment of Ukraine’s Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office head in September, member of European Parliament Viola von Cramon follows with another warning.
This time, the scope of potential sanctions is reduced: She warns that the visa-free regime may be lifted not for all Ukrainians, but for a number of politicians and oligarchs responsible for “backsliding of praised reforms” in the country.
In a joint letter signed by von Cramon and two other members of the European Parliament, Michael Gahler and Rasa Jukneviciene, the MPs address David Arakhamia, head of the parliament faction of the ruling Servant of the People party, who previously called such actions from the EU parliament “rumors.”
“We will reserve the right to impose the specific denial of such freedoms to individual oligarchs and policy-makers who abuse this right for their private illegal activities,” says the letter published on Oct. 5.
The three MPs write that the most crucial reason for the EU parliament to take such a step would be the lack of progress in fighting corruption.
Fighting corruption was the main campaign promise of President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Servant of the People party, who came to power in 2019.
In spring 2020, Zelensky ran on the promise to put corrupt officials in prison.
“Seventeen months later, we cannot but see that the dream is showing cracks and many of those cracks are knee-deep in your party, Mr. Arakhamia,” the letter says.
European MPs mentioned that the Western community is disappointed when they see how some members of the Servant of the People party spread “Kremlin-backed disinformation while orchestrating well-organized attacks on independent institutions.”
Among those institutions are the National Bank of Ukraine, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
“The same members do not shy away from rubbing shoulders with oligarchs and ‘untouchables’ or publicly advocating for cutting ties with the EU,” von Cramon writes.
EU MPs also mentioned in their letter other loud corruption scandals in Ukraine, including “how the general prosecutor (Iryna Venedyktova) downplayed the allegations of corrupt judges,” and the case of alleged selling of state posts.
Read more on judicial corruption in Ukraine here.
At the same time, von Cramon strongly believes that not all lawmakers from the president’s party are corrupt, and some really want to change the country.
“We are fully aware that besides the dozens of bad apples, your party is also a platform for energetic, intelligent, and honest lawmakers,” the letter says. Those lawmakers are “committed to putting the country’s national interests above everything else and fighting for its European future.”
“Unfortunately, they are a minority and thus not always heard.”
Arakhamia did not respond to requests for comment.
