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Written by Patrick Poppel, expert at the Center for Geostrategic Studies (Belgrade)
It is well known that Ukraine is one of the most corrupt states in the world, but now even the Western European media are reporting on this problem very often.Whether general or specific individual cases – the Western media is full of reports about corruption.
Under the title: “Ukraine too corrupt to join NATO? Zelensky increasingly unpopular internationally” was comprehensively reported on the corruption problem in Ukraine in the Berliner Zeitung on July 3, 2024.And at the beginning of the year, the same media reported that the agriculture minister had enriched himself personally.Not a week goes by without new scandals about Ukrainian corruption being reported.
What is particularly shocking is that these media are actually politically on the side of Ukraine. But only the bare minimum is reported. Only the tip of the iceberg is made visible.
Ukraine has made some efforts to combat corruption since the Maidan Revolution in 2015. The previous “National Anti-Corruption Committee” was dissolved and replaced by the “National Anti-Corruption Bureau” with a completely new composition. At least 5 other government organizations are trying to contain it. Almost 400 charges were filed between 2019 and 2021 alone.
However, only 57 of them were convicted. At the same time, Ukraine is implementing numerous measures to keep its own money under control. Accession to the European Union currently depends largely on the fight against corruption.
There is no question that Ukraine has a serious corruption problem. According to Transparency International, Ukraine is the most corrupt country in Europe. Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania follow very closely. Such proportions destroy citizens’ trust in the state and its institutions. The causes of corruption are partly political and cultural. Ineffective law enforcement further aggravates this.
Corruption is becoming a massive foreign policy problem for Ukraine as it seeks membership in alliances. A state with such a big problem finds it difficult to meet the requirements for membership. There are minimal standards that must be met. But Ukraine does not meet even these standards.
Of course, corruption also ensures that money disappears from the West and weapons are sold on the black market instead of being sent to the front. But the biggest problem is the damage to the international reputation.
As an applicant for membership in NATO and the EU, it is not only necessary to meet standards, but also to have a good reputation. But that is exactly what Ukraine is missing.
But now many politicians and media claim that the Ukrainian administration is fighting corruption. There are new authorities that were created for this purpose and advisors from the West. The only problem is that the fish starts to stink at the head. And recent corruption scandals have not been limited to the police officer on the street or the mayor of a small village. Most reports spoke of people in the state’s senior leadership. The problem is currently particularly prevalent among ministers and the military leadership.
Will Ukraine be able to fix the corruption problem?
Actually the answer is quite simple. Corruption is always easier in times of war than in times of peace. States that fundamentally (historically) have a problem with corruption need a lot of time and good framework conditions to correct the problem. Both factors apply precisely to Ukraine.
During the current conflict, an efficient fight against corruption is not possible. It can even be assumed that this problem will continue to grow. Even if there are reports of a minimal decrease in corruption, the reality is different.
Only when the conflict ends will Ukraine be able to put its internal problems in order. NATO membership for a warring state is just as absurd as EU membership for this country that has so many internal problems.
We in the West do not know exactly how many funds and weapons have already disappeared in Ukraine. But more support is being sent. The most corrupt country in Europe continues to receive billions without control mechanisms functioning properly.
Actually, this is irresponsible towards the people who finance this “support” with their taxes. But even sending more Western advisors will not solve the problem.
Corruption weakens Ukrainian society internally, gives Ukraine a very bad image abroad and will be a major problem in alliance accession negotiations. It is therefore clear that Ukraine in this state cannot seriously be admitted to NATO or the EU.
Corruption in Ukraine should actually mean that the West should send less support.
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ukraine’s corruption may not be up to nato standards, but they try harder.
you’d think the most major hurdle for nato would be a concern for nato being blasted off the map in a nuclear exchange, but like what they say: fools rush in where sane men fear to tread.
corruption is the name of the game. without corruption, the americans would not have an empire. they pretend that corruption is a problem while using urkaine as a laundromat for western pedophile elites and their investments
they’ll be no nato or eu for ukraine ever.
that’s a shame. for sure, ukraine would have sped their demise.
or for anybody else. how long before both fall?
ukraine is a corrupt mafia shithole. that should fit in perfectly with nato membership.
back in 1997, ukraine could not join nato, owing to never ratifying their borders, in accordance with international law, since the fall of the soviet union, back in 1991. nothing has changed and another major reason why they still cannot join nato or the eu, come to that.
russia and putin entourage are the bigest corrupters of the face of the earth ,post that new without laught is laughtable ,that why putin kill navalny but eat icecream wirh forehead is the russian specialty
maybe you can use ai to come up with better fake propaganda. this war was created over gas pipelines and overcharging the eu 3x more than russian gas was costing them. with “friends” like that the eu needs no other enemies.
i had a small violin between my fingers to play while reading that but it seems to have slipped from my grasp as quickly as victory slipped from ukraine’s.
don’t be an ass. relinquish the four eastern oblasts as quickly as serbia relinquished kosovo. you can always say the west fooled you with unsc res 2202 just like with unsc res 1244 for serbia. you’d both be right.
do you also suck?
no, i leave that to you, ustase boy.
i gud chetnik savagery from cavestan.
what a convenient excuse, when corruption is the only obvious prerequisite to be a part of such a useless, war mongering and obsolete organization. it should have been disbanded like the warsaw pact. but give people weapons and power and they will create reasons for their own corrupt existence. waging aggressive war is a crime against humanity. they should be charged as such.
russian neo nazis scum attacked a kids hospital…
nobody is buying your ukroreich stories: when the azov part of the ukraine army was shelling russian civilians and children since 2014. human beings have a right to live in peace and a right to self determination. the propaganda “textbooks” supplied by nato backed militias, to the students in ukraine is only rivaled by nazi war propaganda. but even they didn’t completely rewrite the history of the world to facilitate their racist agenda like those controlling the ukroreich.
that’s what i say. western media stayed mum for 8 years about ukraine’s helter skelter shelling of civilians in the donbass. now let them eat shit. it’s karma shit and will do them good.
wise up, adolf. ukraine’s defective patriots fell on the hospital.
russia has no need nor desire to attack civilian targets. only ukraine does. even the msm knows it but won’t tell.
history never repeats, it just rhymes.
rf is just following nato’s script in yugoslavia, with one major difference.
nato had to resort to bombing civilian targets because it couldn’t defeat the serbian army with conventional means but the rf can defeat the afu with conventional means, no civilian bombing required. ukraine,on the other hand, does follow nato’s civilian target tactics in ’99. no wonder, nato helps them. hardly a coincidence.
death, new life in hospital hit by nato – los angeles times may 21, 1999 may 21, 1999 12 am pt. times staff writer. belgrade, yugoslavia —. alexandra rancic, 27, was being stitched up after a caesarean section early thursday when an errant nato bomb welcomed her.
what goes around, comes around, adolf.
go drink some of your’re cheap votka nazi parrot
truth seems to hurt you more than the average joe. i’d say you’re not equipped to fight anything or anyone with such a thin skin.
spiderman doesn’t sound like anyone with an education. sounds more like a potato picker from ivano frankivsk. we have them in the us too, we call ’em ozark hillbillies.
we serfs doing all shito and when time comes to pay we asks world what we have done again?
warren zimmerman played you for a fool, just like bojo played the ukrainians for fools.
might as well have shoved everyone into mass graves himself.
nobody can ever live down pavelic and the jasenovac extermination camp, sucker. not in a thousand years.
read about it on wiki. it’s cia-approved.
people were captured like beasts. slaughtered, killed, thrown live into the abyss. women, mothers with children, young women, girls and boys were thrown into pits. the vice-mayor of mostar, mr. baljić, a mohammedan, publicly states, although as an official he should be silent and not talk, that in ljubinje alone 700 schismatics people were captured like beasts. slaughtered, killed, thrown live into the abyss. women, mothers with children, young women, girls and boys were thrown into pits.
the vice-mayor of mostar, mr. baljić, a mohammedan, publicly states, although as an official he should be silent and not talk, that in ljubinje alone 700 schismatics [i.e. serb orthodox christians] were thrown into one pit. six full train carriages of women, mothers and girls, children under age 10, were taken from mostar and čapljina to the šurmanci station, where they were unloaded and taken into the hills, with live mothers and their children tossed down the cliffs.
like that, dragula? plenty more where that came from. just try me, sucker.
i.e. mislims were those killed by chetniks shumadia landia.
i gud chetnik from savagery-curtonlandia. we catholic serves pussies, aeronautis and bosnians will waste yo.
russia can’t prevent ukraine from joint nato…heheheh
you really seem to have a death wish. i truly wish you’d not drag us into your sickness.
russia won’t finish the smo as long as it is even the slightest possibility that u will become a member of nato. the fact that that topic is still around indicates clearly that the us and the eu want the war to continue! and with nazi-princess von der lugen it is not surprising, born albrecht, she’s a bona fide old time hitler nazi, ready to spend eu’s money willy nilly!
this is another shitfuck of serfian savagery.
why did the bosnians and croats fight with hitler while serbs were rescuing us airmen from him? is it because they were murderous pieces of shit?
serfs fights fo everyone hoo pays them (inclooding hitler) and many in ustashe too. martich and needich best examplars. approve by drago bosnic, real name: drago kurton.