Taras Kachka, the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, commented on the European Commission’s report regarding EU enlargement in 2025. The document specifically mentions that anti-corruption institutions and civil society organizations in Ukraine report an increase in pressure from state structures, particularly through criminal investigations.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Taras Kachka’s Position on the Work of Anti-Corruption Bodies
Taras Kachka noted that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) continue to develop steadily under the challenging conditions of an adversarial criminal process. He emphasized that such institutions must strengthen primarily by enhancing their reputation through quality investigations and positive statistics on successful cases.
“NABU and SAP are developing perfectly well. And if they are unable to survive in the conditions of an adversarial criminal process, it means that these institutions need to be strengthened even more. The question is how they should be strengthened. They must strengthen themselves by increasing their authority through quality investigations, which they are doing. By their statistics, proving this,” Kachka stated during an interview with Radio Liberty.
The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that criticism from the public regarding possible pressure on anti-corruption bodies is a normal process for a democratic country. In his opinion, political discussions surrounding the fight against corruption influence assessments of Ukraine’s progress toward EU membership. Kachka also highlighted that the government is constantly engaging in dialogue with civil society representatives and acknowledges their right to criticize, as it is thanks to their efforts that effective anti-corruption institutions have been established.
European Commission’s Recommendations and Assessment of Ukraine’s Progress
The Minister emphasized that all remarks and recommendations from the European Commission should be considered in the context of implementing the reform roadmap. He added that the European Union stresses the importance of combating corruption for all candidate countries, and Ukrainian anti-corruption bodies have demonstrated effective work this year, as noted in the report.
The European Commission’s report, released on November 4, indicates that there is an increasing pressure on civil activists and anti-corruption organizations in Ukraine, particularly through criminal prosecutions. The European Commission warns that such actions could call into question Ukraine’s commitment to its anti-corruption course.
Despite this, the European Commission highly praised Ukraine’s progress, as well as that of Moldova, Albania, and Montenegro, on their path to EU membership. However, Ukraine is warned against possible repeated attempts to interfere with the activities of NABU and SAP, which had already occurred in the summer of 2025, when the authorities retreated under pressure from protests both domestically and abroad.