Corruption in Ukraine exists not only in everyday life but also on the state level en masse, and there are no real quality actions taken to eliminate it, writes Yuri Mirovich.
Yuri Mirovich is a Ukrainian refugee living in the Netherlands since 2023 and currently studying law at the University of Groningen. While living in Ukraine he was engaged in active public work and now he is a member of the Dutch political initiative De Beweging.
Politicians are saying more often lately that Ukraine should join the EU. A lot of Ukrainians and Europeans think that the country will join the union in 2027, but is it possible in practice?
Ukraine has a position of a Deputy Prime Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration. His name is Taras Kachka. He deems that Ukraine will fulfill all the requirements until 2027 and states this publicly. And if Kyiv can’t make it, Kachka will insist on using the special Cooperation and Verification Mechanism, which were implemented for Romania and Bulgaria when they joined the EU. It’s important to note that Kachka cooperates closely with Marta Kos, the European Commissioner for Enlargement. That’s why it’s very interesting to see their stances differ so much. Kos thinks that the reverse membership or the fast-track accession aren’t suitable options for Ukraine. According to the European Commissioner, Ukraine must meet two key conditions – achieve peace and carry out the necessary reforms.
Time is ticking, however, there are no reforms
Ukraine must carry out the necessary reforms according to the EU course. Sounds simple but actually it isn’t. The current Ukrainian Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, must pass at least 300 bills. And as it turned out, carrying out the quality voting process in such short terms is impossible now. The proof is the events which are happening in the Verkhovna Rada now. The deputies sabotage the voting on the “IMF tax bills” which were drafted to complete IMF Benchmarks. Ukrainian media write that the deputies are afraid of people’s rage, since the bills lead to tax-raising and irreparable consequences for the already destroyed economy of the country. There is also Zelenskyy and his inner circle, putting pressure on them, because passing these bills means getting money from the IMF. However, there is also a theory that deputies don’t come to vote because they are afraid of NABU (National Anti-Corruption Bureau), Ukrainian agency which responsible for investigating and disclosing corruption. It was confirmed that the agency was investigating a case of some deputies of the Verkhovna Rada who took bribes for passing bills.
Moreover, besides passing the bills it’s important to enforce them. At first, corruption in Ukraine exists not only in everyday life but also on the state level en masse, and there are no real quality actions taken to eliminate it. Secondly, human rights are also violated regularly in Ukraine, and it starts with forced mobilization and kidnapping and ends with persecution of opposition and critics of the president and the government. If you think that all these things aren’t about Ukraine, I recommend you to google some stories about Ukrainians who have to leave the country due to all these factors. Most of them are persecuted even abroad and have to deal with extradition cases against them. Thirdly, Zelenskyy and his government tried to weaken the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies NABU and SAPO (Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office). Many European and American politicians criticized them for this, and then the process was stopped. Nevertheless, putting pressure on the anticorruption agencies still continues. Taking into account all these problems, how can Ukraine join the EU so soon? That’s why Ukraine’s accession to the EU in 2027 is a very unrealistic scenario. It’s really convenient for Ukrainian government to tell people that Ukraine will join the EU in 2027 to distract them from domestic policy failures, even though politicians themselves understand that Ukraine can get membership many years or even decades later.
Projections and possibility of membership
When will Ukraine join the EU or will it join at all? This question is very complicated. The EU did a lot for Ukraine. Kachka claimed that the country even received the EU accession benchmarks for all negotiating clusters, although it’s usually provided when all member states are unanimous on the issue of country’s joining. Hungary systematically blocks the Ukraine’s accession, and many European officials protested Orban’s actions several times. The Hungarian prime minister definitely will do everything to not let Ukraine join the union. While the countries’ bilateral relations are getting colder every day, rumour hast it, that despite EU supporting Ukraine’s fast accession publicly, there are plenty of negative opinions about fast-track accession during union’s closed meetings, because most of the EU member states call for the merit-based process. That’s why, there is an opinion that such countries are just hiding behind Hungary’s back now.
Moreover, what would all these countries, that spent so much time on compliance with standards of the EU, feel when they would see that Ukraine became a member only due to the complicated geopolitical conditions? Such a hasty decision would bring huge image losses to Ukraine and would create an impression that no hard work was done by Ukraine. The trust in the EU as a democratic union would also be lost. That’s why the only chance for Ukraine to join the EU “safely” is to stick with the merit-based process, introducing new reforms slowly and adjusting to the norms of the EU.
Disclaimer: EUalive doesn’t necessarily share the opinion of the guest authors and is open to publishing other views on the same topic.
Caption: Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka speaks during the 62nd Munich Security Conference (MSC), in Munich, Germany, 14 February 2026. The 62nd Munich Security Conference, running from 13 to 15 February 2026, is expected to host around 50 world leaders. EPA/RONALD WITTEK
Updated: April 7, 2026 – 08:58