By Olena Harmash and Dan Peleschuk
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed on Wednesday to retain the independence of anti-corruption agencies, bowing to pressure from the first wartime street protests and rare rebukes from European allies.
For a second day in a row, thousands of people across the country – from Kharkiv in the northeast to the capital Kyiv to Lviv in the west – took to the streets demanding reversal of the law curbing the independence of anti-graft agencies.
In his evening address to the nation on Wednesday, Zelenskiy said he would submit a new bill to ensure the rule of law and retain the independence of the anti-corruption agencies.
“Of course, everyone has heard what people are saying these days… on social media, to each other, on the streets. It’s not falling on deaf ears,” Zelenskiy said.
Thousands of people turned up for a second day of protests in central Kyiv, close to Zelenskiy’s office.
In the first such demonstrations of the war, the youth, activists, and war veterans chanted ‘Shame’ and ‘Veto the Law’.
“It’s like a knife in the back, to be honest,” Maryna Mykhalchuk, 26, who has friends killed in the war and plans to join the army soon, told Reuters.
Opposition lawmakers and European officials also called for reversal of the law, which Zelenskiy signed overnight.
The law gives the Prosecutor General appointed by Zelenskiy more power over two investigative anti-corruption agencies. It was rushed through parliament on Tuesday, a day after the security services arrested two anti-corruption officials for suspected Russian ties.
In a joint statement, both agencies – the anti-corruption bureau NABU and the specialised prosecutors SAPO – said they wanted their independence restored through legislation.
Parliament is expected to hold an emergency session next week to consider the new draft bill from Zelenskiy’s office, several lawmakers said.
STRONGEST CRITICISM SINCE THE WAR BEGAN
The law prompted some of Ukraine’s European allies to deliver their strongest criticism of Zelenskiy’s government since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her strong concern to Zelenskiy and asked for an explanation, said the spokesman.
The law’s critics say the government appears to be trying to rein in anti-corruption agencies to protect officials.
After decades of endemic corruption in Ukraine, cleaning up its government has been held up as the key condition for the country to join the EU, tap billions of dollars in foreign aid, and integrate more broadly with the West.
The issue risks antagonising Kyiv’s most loyal allies at a time when it is trying to smooth over the relationship with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has frequently criticised Zelenskiy.
“Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions are vital to its reform path. Restricting them would be a significant setback,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said in a post on X.
Benjamin Haddad, France’s European Affairs minister, said it was not too late to reverse the decision.
Ukrainian political analysts said the legislation risked undermining society’s trust in Zelenskiy during a critical stage of the war against Russia.
Fierce fighting rages along more than 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) of the frontline. Russian troops continue their grinding advance in the east and have stepped up near daily attacks on Ukrainian cities with hundreds of drones.
Hundreds of protesters, some clad in military uniforms, in the city of Zaporizhzhia, close to the frontline in the southeast, demanded overturning the law with chants of “Ukraine is not Russia.” Similar rallies took place in other major cities across the country.
The public’s European aspirations are vital to sustaining the war effort, said Valerii Pekar, a Kyiv-based analyst: “Only democracy and the European choice give us a chance to win,” he posted on Facebook.
(Additional reporting by Anastasiia Malenko; Editing by David Gregorio)
