Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen has reacted to the high-profile corruption scandal in Ukraine following the NABU and SAPO investigations. She believes that this problem arose as a result of years of influence from Russia.
Points of attention
- The Ukrainian government, under the leadership of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has the potential to combat corruption more effectively with support from the international community and the prospect of EU membership.
- Finnish authorities emphasize the importance of addressing corruption in Ukraine and advocate for swift action to reduce the likelihood of corrupt practices persisting in the country.
Russia is fueling corruption in Ukraine
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland drew the attention of the international community to the fact that during the period of Ukrainian independence, Russia did not give Ukraine a chance to build a society free of corruption.
This is primarily due to the fact that the Ukrainian authorities have constantly been forced to fight strong pressure from the Russian Federation, and since 2014, to restrain Russian aggression.
Elina Valtonen publicly promised that Finland's support for Ukraine would continue.
Based on this, our support for Ukraine will certainly not weaken. But we definitely want to pay more attention to this than before, she emphasized.
According to the head of Lithuanian diplomacy, Kęstutis Budris, the team of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy could fight corruption faster and more effectively if negotiations on joining the EU began in the near future.
This is a reason for us to say...let's start negotiations (on EU accession) as soon as possible, because we can fix the situation, strengthen institutions, attract competent people and, ultimately, create a legal framework that will reduce the likelihood of loopholes conducive to corruption remaining," he stressed.
