The Ukrainian government has named a new director of the country's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) from among three candidates in a live-streamed meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers to address domestic and international corruption concerns as foreign assistance plays a crucial role in Ukraine's war effort.
The extraordinary session on March 6 appointed Semen Kryvonos to the post. He had previously led an architectural and urban-planning inspectorate
"This demonstrates our determination to move to the start of [EU] accession negotiations already this year," Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on Telegram after the vote.
Brussels has been firm in its position that while it backs Ukraine's EU bid, the country will need to implement a wide array of democratic and economic reforms and root out endemic corruption and graft before it can be admitted to the bloc, and that the admission process could take many years.
NABU's former director, Artem Sytnyk, was dismissed in April after a seven-year term in office.
Several high-ranking Ukrainian officials' homes were raided by anti-corruption agents on February 1 in a second sweep in a week, with senior officials from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy down pledging to fix the problem.
The two other shortlisted applicants for the NABU leadership post were Serhiy Hulyak, head of a department within the state investigative bureau, and Roman Osypchuk, head of NABU's internal control department.
During a visit to western Ukraine last week, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, called for Kyiv to start EU membership negotiations as early as this year.
"The future of Ukraine is in the European Union," Metsola said.
The European Union earlier this month acknowledged Ukraine's "considerable efforts" in recent months to advance toward membership in the 27-nation bloc and urged Kyiv to continue on that path after EU leaders met with Zelenskiy in the Ukrainian capital in a show of support.
Zelenskiy, speaking at a news conference after the meeting on February 3 with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel, pressed again for negotiations to start relatively soon. He called it "not just a purpose but a major overwhelming goal."
Von der Leyen said there were no rigid timelines for Ukraine to join the European Union, and reiterated that Kyiv must meet certain benchmarks as part of its membership push.
