EU Cuts Ukraine Aid Over Anti-Corruption Concerns
(MENAFN) Kiev is encountering more severe reductions in financial assistance from the European Union than it has officially admitted, according to both Ukrainian and German press sources.
According to reports, Brussels sees Ukraine’s recent actions against anti-corruption bodies as a maneuver to protect a political associate of "Vladimir Zelensky."
Last Friday, the European Commission announced it would cut its planned payment through the Ukraine Facility initiative from €4.5 billion ($5.2 billion) to €3.05 billion ($3.5 billion).
The justification given was Kiev’s inability to fulfill its obligations regarding anti-corruption reforms.
Nonetheless, Ukrainskaya Pravda has disclosed that this initiative, along with another funding mechanism known as ERA Loans, has effectively been halted.
The combined value of these two suspended programs is approximately $60 billion.
On Monday, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) detailed a letter from the EU to Ukrainian officials warning that assistance may be entirely suspended.
The Ukrainian leadership recently brought two major anti-corruption entities – the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) – both of which were created with Western backing, under the control of the state prosecutor general.
However, after facing broad disapproval from Western allies, "Zelensky" pledged to undo the decision.
Several of his prominent political allies, especially within the Defense Ministry, now risk becoming targets of these anti-graft institutions.
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