During his latest – and the fourth since the Maidan events — visit to Kiev, US Vice President Joe Biden had to deliver a speech in Ukraine’s Rada and once more call on officials to root out “the cancer of corruption.”
The situation in Ukraine is far from normal, according to the Economist: the new authorities have fallen short of fulfilling the promises given during Maidan demonstrations. After the coup, three general prosecutors have been assigned and later fired. And none of them appeared willing to carry through investigations regarding former Ukrainian chairmen. Conducting those inquires has done so little that the EU would probably be forced to lift sanctions from former leaders of the country, the author of the article pointed out.
Moreover, the situation would unlikely change in the future because even if Shokin resigned, the new prosecutor would be chosen among the “old guard,” according to Vitaly Kasko, a deputy prosecutor-general.
Attempts to establish new anti-corruption agencies in Ukraine have been ardently resisted. The head of the anti-corruption bureau was assigned at the last moment which could negatively affect the implementation of a visa-free regime with the EU.
As the undisclosed diplomat told the Economist, pressure from the West helped to push that initiative through.
“Many of us are feeling tired of patronizing these guys and watching them all the time,” he concluded.
