Zelensky’s welcome move to equate corruption with treason
Tom Rogan
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Speaking to a Ukrainian journalist on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine pledged legislation that would make corruption tantamount to treason. The law would apply as long as Ukraine remains at war with Russia.
Zelensky says the proposed law will be designed to ensure that those who engage in corruption are punished accordingly. As he put it, “This is not Stalinism… if there is evidence, the person should be behind bars.”
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This is a welcome development. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv should lobby Ukraine’s Rada parliament to expediently approve the legislation when it is introduced this week. The issue here is twofold.
First, corruption remains a major challenge in Ukraine. The intersection of crony capitalism and politics has long been a scourge on the country’s democracy. More problematic, such corruption has generally been accepted as “how things are done.” Successive governments have rewarded business allies with lucrative contracts and, in turn, have been rewarded with kickbacks.
Corruption has also afflicted Ukraine’s judicial sector, including prosecutors tasked with fighting this very concern. While it is absurd, for example, that Hunter Biden has not been charged under the Foreign Agents Registration Act related to his Burisma engagements, former prosecutor Viktor Shokin was manifestly corrupt.
True, Zelensky has recently taken greater action to address corruption. Still, his efforts have been inadequate thus far. As its sons and daughters fight and die to protect their nation’s democratic sovereignty, Ukrainian politicians must do all they can to ensure that corrupt individuals find no safe harbor. Zelensky’s announcement follows his recent decision to fire military recruiters, reflecting concern over the misallocation of state resources in this area.
Yet this isn’t just about Ukraine.
As the U.S. and other nations pour tens of billions of dollars of financial and other aid into Ukraine, they have the right to expect that this money is used appropriately. That is to say that this money is used to help Ukraine survive Russia’s onslaught rather than to enrich corrupt individuals and interests.
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Even if belatedly, Zelensky appears to recognize that tolerating corruption doesn’t just endanger his nation’s interests, it endangers Ukraine’s longer-term ability to maintain foreign aid support. If, after all, major corruption scandals involving Western aid are detected by Western government oversight officials and not by Ukrainian officials, those scandals will make it far harder for Ukraine and its Western allies to justify future provisions of aid. This consideration takes on added import in the context of Zelensky’s problematic ingratitude over foreign aid support.
Put simply, Zelensky is right to treat corrupt officials as traitors against Ukraine’s fight for survival. It would be foolish for the Rada to do anything other than rapidly enact his proposed legislation.