A few words on the margins of Ukrainian successes in the fight against corruption
Recently, we’ve been experiencing an upsurge in social media coverage from right-wing MPs. They’re outraged because corruption has been uncovered in Ukraine. Officials have been recorded. More and more well-known names are being named in ongoing investigations. The right-wing is screaming. Why do they object to Ukrainians’ fight for a fair state?
Corruption…What can you think of a country where:
1. Parliament is described as a hotbed of criminal groups, and there is a generally known price list for passing a bill in the form desired by the proposer.
2. Demanding that a price list be posted in the office of one of the country’s largest cities, because nothing could be done there without a bribe.
3. A huge amount for one word in the bill – $17.5 million.
4. Destroying entrepreneurs who did not want to “share” profits with politicians.
5. During a road check, everything could be settled with a bribe.
6. Brutal police who can do nothing but beat suspects.
7. Unpunished judges who sentenced anti-communists during the communist era.
8. Murderers laughing at their victims. Innocent people in prison.
9. To get a job at a well-paying state-owned company, you had to pay a bribe.
10. Corrupt doctors performed surgeries for bribes.
11. Corruption scandals broke out every year.
12. 2-3 million Poles did not believe in the development of Poland and left for the EEC countries.
Corruption is practically everywhere… In neighboring countries, they said that because of it, this country could never join the European Union. There were no functioning institutions when negotiations began regarding admission to this elite group.
This isn’t about Ukraine or Belarus. This is what Poland looked like in the 1990s. And yet, we were given a chance, and we seized it. Someone trusted us, didn’t waste time, and we made the most of it.
Why were we given this opportunity?
Poland in the early 1990s was a phenomenon. Like all the countries that now constitute the Visegrad Group, politicians of all parties unanimously formed a pact to strive for accession to the European Union. The societies of these countries were also united and elected governments that sought EU membership. Thanks to many returning emigrants, they were fully aware of the differences and the benefits of integration. They knew it meant development, higher wages, greater resilience to crises, and greater external negotiating power. And another: the opening of the vast European market to goods produced here.. The EU also means requirements that were beneficial for candidate countries, such as the fight against corruption.
Poland has been trying to combat it from the outset, and as shown above, it wasn’t easy. We were given a chance, though there were many doubts. The far right and left attacked the idea of Poland joining the EU from the very beginning. Interestingly, these parties in the EU also opposed their countries’ membership. It looks familiar, as in the Polish political landscape (Konfederacja and Braun are against Poland’s EU membership and also against Ukraine’s membership – schizophrenia?). Despite this, we succeeded. We reduced corruption to a much smaller scale. A similar situation occurred in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Although Poland had corruption at one of the highest levels, today we have the lowest, or almost the lowest, among these countries.
Scandals in Ukraine
This year, we witnessed another corruption scandal revealed in Ukraine. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) identified ten members of parliament who voted for money. They received bribes to vote according to the recipient’s wishes. A few months ago, an even larger scandal arose when, after a lengthy investigation, NABU accused numerous politicians, including some of Ukraine’s top leaders, of corruption in connection with energy procurement.
I look at the right-wing and its posts, amazed by their hypocrisy. Yes, even I’m amazed by the level of stupidity displayed and accepted by Braunite and Confederate supporters. In their posts, they seem incredibly surprised and disappointed that corruption exists in Ukraine. They’ve discovered something extraordinary: corruption in Ukraine! They needed NABU for this—the same NABU that was created under pressure from the European Union, which the right-wing hates.
For them, the existence of corruption is a pretext for calling for no help for Ukraine. This seems strangely consistent with the pronouncements of the source of honesty, transparency, and bastion of democracy – Russia.
The great love of Russophiles – the Right-wing party and Olszański’s comrades
For many years, the right-wing party has held a position close to Russian propaganda. Wojciech Olszański, appearing with Grzegorz Braun, openly praises the murderer of Poles, Ivan Serov, and boasts of having served in the ZOMO (Moscow Reserves of the Citizens’ Militia) during communism. Whether he was actually a member of the ZOMO (Moscow Reserves of the Militia) is irrelevant. What matters is his praise for the Russian occupation of Poland.
Olszański is a cabaret figure, for many years appearing in a uniform with National Armed Forces insignia. If Olszański had met NSZ soldiers in 1945, he would have been shot behind a barn. The NSZ fought against Russia. And it didn’t tolerate Russian agents. Therefore, looking at the “Kamraty” (Comrades), Olszański’s creation, I can’t help but reflect… I once knew a wonderful man personally. Major of the National Armed Forces Witold Szpatowicz. He dealt with such traitors without batting an eye. And now Olszański is making a cabaret out of an NSZ soldier’s uniform. He defiles it by wearing it. Because a Polish uniform on a traitor will always be tainted. But Grzegorz Braun doesn’t mind. He’s happy with the support of this extremely Russified man. What else could you expect from someone who enjoys sympathy in Belarus?
High-ranking officials in Ukraine have been involved in corruption for many years.
We return to corruption in Ukraine. Anyone with ears and eyes must have heard how widespread corruption is in Ukraine. This is due to the fact that scandals involving officials and politicians were reported in Polish media, including the press, television, radio, and online media. This was one of the reasons why the people of Ukraine rebelled against Putin’s elected president in 2013. Russia invested considerable effort and resources to ensure corruption flourished in Ukraine. As a result, they managed to install their own man with a criminal record as president. This convenient figurehead opposed Russia in every way. He stole, and therefore had no interest in building a rule of law in Ukraine.
When Ukraine rose to fight for a better state, a better country for its children, it was attacked by Russia. It turned out that Yanukovych, a Kremlin puppet, had completely dismantled the army. It was unable to resist Russian forces entering Crimea, Donbas, or Luhansk. Corruption is Putin’s weapon against other countries. When used in Ukraine, it proved remarkably effective.
The condition for helping Ukraine is the fight against corruption
Struggling Ukraine asked for aid and received it, albeit with hesitation due to corruption. However, in the name of humanitarianism, numerous aid programs were launched, the most important of which was arming and training the Ukrainian army. One of the conditions for this aid was the creation of institutions to combat corruption. The National Anticorruption Bureau (NABU) was established, and part of the prosecutor’s office was separated and made independent. We didn’t hear from them for a long time. Until now. It turned out that these were not empty shells, but organizations genuinely fighting to rebuild their own country.
In this light, it should be gratifying that NABU It’s working and it’s not giving up. I hope it will combat corruption. NABU is an institution that Poles in the 1990s would have welcomed. They would also have welcomed the scandals uncovered. Because that’s what these institutions are all about. They’re not called upon where the law is respected, but where it isn’t. Their job is to do what they do. Worse is the silence, because it would force us to question whether NABU itself is acting or whether it’s an institution trying to pull the wool over our eyes. Well, no, it is. It’s acting, and sometimes it does it with aplomb.
The institution itself gained recognition earlier this year, when crowds of Ukrainians protested against its absorption by another institution. Concerns arose at the time as to whether NABU would continue to fight in its new form. NABU remained in its current form thanks to Ukrainians fed up with corrupt politicians. And NABU is demonstrating that, despite the war, it lives up to the expectations of the society it serves. For them, there are no sacred cows in Ukraine. Everyone respects this institution.
What is the Polish para-right afraid of?
NABU is the best response to the wailing Polish para-right, which itself has corrupt members in its ranks. They’re not even in power yet, but they’re already corrupt..
Recently, a British court sentenced a Confederation activist, an assistant to MEP Anna Bryłka, to prison. Nigel Farage is also implicated in the theft of EU funds. The question arises: is the right-wing party afraid of establishing an institution with experience in the European Union? NABU‘There must be something behind this massive campaign against Ukraine. Certainly not just pro-Russian sentiment.’
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