Brussels – The systemic level of corruption in Ukraine calls for the development of a detailed action plan for the implementation of a new anti-corruption strategy including the consolidation of democratic principles, the rule of law and institutional reforms, President of the Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) Marin Mrcela has said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
While commenting on GRECO’s previous evaluation, which said that “corruption in Ukraine constitutes a real threat to the principles of democracy and the rule of law,” Mrcela said: “As mentioned earlier, reforms to fight corruption effectively require a long-term approach and strong political commitment. In my view, it would be premature to make an overall assessment of the situation in Ukraine.”
He noted that as recently as 2011, GRECO stated it was concerned to hear that “there was some resignation and a pervasive sense among Ukrainians that political parties are established and used for private gain, and that politicians have not served them well and that democracy has failed to deliver on its promises.”
“On the other hand, it should be noted that the recent anti-corruption strategy for 2011-2015, clearly recognizes that corruption in Ukraine has reached the level of a systemic problem and that more ample reforms are needed. I’m hopeful that the action plan under preparation – with the assistance of the Council of Europe – (to which I have referred above) and its implementation, will be an important step in the right direction,” he said.
Mrcela also noted that GRECO has expressed its concerns on several occasions that civil society needs to be involved more broadly in the reform process.
According to the president of GRECO, the reforms to fight corruption “should – above all – be about consolidating democratic principles, the rule of law and institutional reforms.”
“This requires a long-term approach and strong political commitment,” he said.
While evaluating Ukraine’s six-year-long GRECO membership, Mrcela said that “six years are a rather short period of time, and one cannot expect all problems to be solved so rapidly.”
“GRECO was encouraged to note in its Compliance Report of 2009, that almost all recommendations have been addressed to some extent,” he said.
At the same time, he said that “to date only part of the reforms have been carried through.”
“In its most recent Compliance Report of 2012, GRECO expressed its regret that the pace of reforms so far had been very slow, and that the legislative process was riddled with obstacles. Therefore, GRECO continues to monitor closely the measures taken by Ukraine to implement the outstanding recommendations,” he said.
