European Commission imposes non-existent “European practices” on Ukraine – Vlasenko on reboot of SBI, NPU, PGO

26 December 11:52

EXCLUSIVE

MP Serhiy Vlasenko has criticized the European Commission’s demands to reboot the selection system of the State Bureau of Investigation, the National Police and the Prosecutor General’s Office, saying that Ukraine is being offered hybrid models that do not exist in any EU country. He said this on the air of the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian"

Vlasenko emphasized that he is extremely skeptical of the competitive procedures that have been used in recent years for personnel selections in law enforcement and judicial agencies.

“I am very skeptical, and I am criticized by many people for this, but I am very skeptical about the competitive procedures that we have been using. Because, unfortunately, over the past few years, we have seen that it is a bit like a fiction. Very often, the winners are known in advance, and very often manipulations are carried out during the competitions,” Vlasenko said.

He cited competitions for positions in administrative courts of appeal as an example.

“We exposed the latest manipulations at the PIC regarding the competition for administrative courts of appeal, when by chance the leaders of this competition were current members of the HCJ, relatives of HQCJ members, assistants of HQCJ members, and HQCJ employees,” he said.

The politician stated that such competitions are not only manipulative, but also unconstitutional.

Commenting on the European Commission’s demands to reboot the Prosecutor General’s selection system, Vlasenko questioned the very term “best European practices”.

“When the European Commission insists on something, I always say one thing: please show me where it works in the European Union. Because when we go to the European Union, I don’t want us to go with some hybrid systems that don’t exist anywhere else. I want our judicial and law enforcement system to work like in Germany, France, and the UK, which I think is an ideal model. It has its flaws and shortcomings, but it works,” he said.

Vlasenko emphasized that the Constitution of Ukraine does not provide for competitions for the appointment of the Prosecutor General:

“Our Constitution says that the Prosecutor General is appointed by the President of Ukraine with the approval of the Verkhovna Rada. That’s it, there are no competitions or anything else.”

Therefore, according to him, the Basic Law should be changed first, and only then the system should be reformed.

“Let’s change the Constitution, and then we will change and reform the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Sometimes it seems to me that the more we reform, the more complicated and worse the situation becomes,” he emphasized.