“A panic move”: The law against NABU and SAPO may have been prompted by an investigation into Zelensky’s inner circle, says The Economist

The recent law restricting the powers of Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) may have been driven by ongoing investigations targeting figures close to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Economist reports this.

“The authorities’ decision to openly strike at the post-Maidan reform legacy raises suspicions of ill intent. According to sources, NABU investigations involving individuals from the president’s office may have prompted the bill,” the article states.

Journalist Yuriy Nikolov, known for supporting NABU, had earlier suggested the same motive.

The report notes that the attack on anti-corruption infrastructure has shocked even many within Zelensky’s own team.

“One official likened the speed and scale of the bill to the infamous ‘dictatorship laws’ of January 16, 2014 — one of the final acts of the Yanukovych regime before it fled Kyiv. Another insider speculated that Zelensky’s office felt emboldened by a sense of impunity and by what they perceive as warming relations with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has become disillusioned with Putin. The new target is internal opposition,”the magazine writes.

Despite reported pressure from the European Union urging Zelensky not to sign the bill, it was passed and signed into law in record time — all in a single day.

“This vote, which undermines one of Ukraine’s most critical anti-corruption reforms, casts a long shadow over the country’s future,” concludes The Economist.

Let us recall that yesterday, Zelensky signed a law limiting the powers of NABU and SAPO.