After Mindich tapes, EU will inevitably increase attention and monitoring in Ukraine, says MEP

The EU institutions will inevitably increase their attention and monitoring in Ukraine in light of recent revelations of corruption within the operation Midas, said for LIGA.net's text Petras Auštrevičius, Lithuanian MEP from the Committee on Parliamentary Association between Ukraine and the bloc.

"The EU's interest in seeing a continuous, systematic, comprehensive fight against corruption will become an even higher priority," the politician said.

This applies to every sector, not just energy or defense, the MEP said.

"Maybe we should think about it. I mean, involve more controlling institutions. This needs to be done to protect the EU's public money, as well as private money, by the way," explained Auštrevičius.

However, despite the seriousness of the problem, he believes that Ukraine does not need an "ultimatum" or strict deadlines, such as blocking the EU accession negotiations: numerous agreements and commitments enshrined in documents are already a sufficient means of pressure.

"We have agreed on so much to fight corruption. One document, another document – the tenth, twentieth, page after page. Maybe we need to sit down and look at them: what has been done, what has not been done. I think this is our common interest. I mean to see Ukraine without this disease of corruption," the MEP said.

• A high-profile corruption scandal involving president Zelenskyy's "friends" erupted after the European Commission expressed concern in its enlargement report about attempts to limit the independence of Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies. European politicians are not just "aware" – they are disappointed. More about the situation read in the text by LIGA.net.