Wednesday, 23 July 2025

Has Zelensky made a disastrous mistake?

It sounds like someone got the headline wrong: Zelensky clamps down on anti-corruption. What on earth is the Ukrainian leader and hero of the West doing trying to stop key agencies uncovering corruption. Does he have something to hide? One of the major things that concerned the West when they took on the role of helping Ukraine defend itself against Putin's invasion army was the bad reputation the country had for corruption. With billions of dollars-worth of military equipment being delivered to Kyiv, Congress in the US and parliaments in Europe have always been anxious that some of the military aid might go AWOL in a nation so embedded with corruption. But Zelnsnky announced a huge programme to stampt out corruption and over the years, numerous military commanders and others have been fired for corruption. Now, for reasons that are hard to explain, Zelensky wants the anti-corruption agencies to be shut down. He says it's to do with fears that these agencies have been infiltrated by Russian spies. But his political opponents in Ukraine are claiming it's the latest sign that Zelensky is becoming autocratic. I don't know who to believe but if Ukraine wants one day to be a member of the European Union, then fighting corruption is one of the EU's big things. Zelensky will fail the EU test if he persists in closing down the anti-corruption agencies. It won't do him any good either with the US-led coalition providing him with weapons to fight the Russians. All in all, a bad move.

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