Ukraine could curb corruption more quickly and effectively if it started EU accession talks immediately, says Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys amid a graft scandal shaking Kyiv.
“[The corruption scandal] sends an unhelpful message in Europe about Ukraine and those who do not want to contribute to Ukraine’s success [...] They will say: look at what is happening there and look at who we are dealing with. On the contrary, this is a reason for Europe to help Ukraine even more so that such things do not happen,” Budrys said on LRT TV on Monday.
“This is a reason for us to say [...] let us start the [EU accession] talks as soon as possible, because we can fix this, strengthen institutions, bring in competent people, and ultimately put in place a legal framework that reduces the likelihood of corruption-friendly loopholes being left behind,” he said.
Budrys said Lithuania faced similar issues during its EU membership talks.
“Let us remember our entire EU accession process, the problems we had to address in society, the scale of corruption, and the inefficiencies we had in various fields,” he said.
A week ago, Ukrainian investigators accused businessman Timur Mindich, an ally of President Volodymyr Zelensky, of orchestrating a 100-million-dollar (86.39 million euros) corruption scheme.
According to the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), Mindich “exercised control over the accumulation, distribution, and legalisation of money obtained through criminal means in the energy sector of Ukraine”.
SAPO also accused Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, who previously served as energy minister for four years, of receiving “personal benefits” from Mindich in exchange for control over cash flows in the energy sector.
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