Poland still supports Ukraine, but expects explanations on corruption
Poland's strategy of supporting Ukraine remains unchanged, but Warsaw expects explanations concerning the recent high-profile corruption cases in Ukraine, Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has said.
The Ukrainian news website Ukrainska Pravda reported on Friday morning that "the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) are conducting searches at the office of Andrii Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine."
Yermak, a senior Ukrainian politician, has been involved in talks with Washington on the US peace plan for Ukraine. He has declared full cooperation with Ukraine's state agencies.
Kosiniak-Kamysz said in Swinoujscie, north-western Poland, on Friday that the corruption scandal complicates Ukraine's position in ongoing peace negotiations.
"It is not good news for Poland or Western Europe, for whom the security line now lies on the Russian-Ukrainian front line," the Polish defence minister said, expressing hope that "the four-year-long heroic defence of Ukraine will not be undermined by matters that evoke certain emotions, and these emotions will certainly be stirred up by forces hostile to Ukraine."
"We expect explanations. Our strategy for supporting Ukraine remains unchanged, because our security frontier lies there, but one cannot, for example, join the European Union if you fail to ensure transparency in anti-corruption policy," Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
The search of Yermak’s office follows a series of recent reports of high-level corruption in Ukraine. His name previously surfaced in the context of corruption in the Ukrainian energy sector, revealed by NABU and SAPO in early November. It is estimated that more than USD 100 million has been defrauded in the energy sector scandal.
According to Ukrainska Pravda, Yermak was also involved in preparing a draft law on NABU that was designed to limit the agency's powers.
On November 10, NABU searched the home of Tymur Mindich, who had been a business partner of Volodymyr Zelensky before the latter became the Ukraine president. (PAP)
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