The co-author of the anti-corruption reform explained why involving foreigners will not change Ukraine's system: "We need to take responsibility ourselves"

Oksana Syroyid, who participated in drafting anti-corruption legislation, spoke out against the practice of involving foreign experts in the formation and operation of Ukrainian institutions. In her view, Ukrainians must take responsibility for the functioning of government bodies rather than place it on representatives of other states. The former deputy chair of the Verkhovna Rada of the eighth convocation said this in an interview with the public initiative "Holka," published by "Glavkom," reports UNN.

Involving foreign experts in the process means relieving ourselves of responsibility. It is infantilism and an inferiority complex. As if to say, “Look, they are beating me, I’m a little girl. I’m not going to deal with this myself—I’ll go get a ‘big guy,’ bring him here, and he’ll hand everything out on my behalf.” At some point, you have to say: I’m an adult, and I take responsibility for myself

The former deputy speaker of parliament also cautioned against the belief that the foreign origins of specialists guarantee their integrity.

We should not think that people in Europe or America are born honest, while we are utterly corrupt. If they could make more profit without paying taxes, they would do so. It was not the state that forbade them from doing this; at the moment the state was created, they themselves agreed that it was better to pay taxes than evade them

According to Syroyid, Ukraine expends considerable effort trying to secure the participation of foreign specialists in the work of its own institutions, but this mechanism alone is incapable of changing the system.

We expend enormous effort lobbying Europeans, Americans, and the International Monetary Fund to appoint three—albeit highly respected—foreigners, hoping that they will make us happy. But as long as these people remain a foreign element, they will not change the system. Foreigners can be invited after we ourselves agree to act differently

Syroyid links the problem to the broader issue of responsibility for the work of state institutions. In her view, external participants cannot replace internal agreements on the rules by which the system should function.

As is known, Oksana Syroyid was a member of parliament of the eighth convocation and served as deputy chair of the Verkhovna Rada from 2014 to 2019. She participated in preparing the judicial reform and in the work of the Constitutional Commission, and was also the author of the idea to establish the Public Integrity Council. Syroyid is currently an officer in the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine and serves in the 2nd Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine, "Khartia."

The Public Integrity Council is an independent civil society body in Ukraine that assists the High Qualification Commission of Judges (HQCJ) in checking judges and candidates for judicial positions for integrity, ethics, and the lawful origin of their assets.