Ukraine Towards a Rule of Law - The European Union’s Contribution to the Anti-Corruption Campaign in Ukraine

Corruption has flourished in Ukraine for years, making Ukraine one of the most corrupt countries in Europe. However, since the Maidan in 2014, Ukraine has turned its political course towards the west, taken several steps in order to tackle corruption and tightened its cooperation with the European Union. The purpose of this research is to assess what measures has the EU undertaken between 2014-2018 to help Ukraine in its aspiration to combat corruption and to achieve rule of law. This research has found out that the EU has supported Ukraine to tackle corruption by suggesting changes and reforms with the aim to foster overall development, while simultaneously keeping in mind the anti-corruption priority. One significant outcome of the fight against corruption has been the creation of NABU, the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine, which is today the central element in the anti-corruption campaign. Secondly, the EU has backed Ukraine economically, and thirdly, the EU has granted visa liberation for Ukrainian citizens, which is contributing to the broader cooperation between Ukraine and the EU. In the theoretical scale, this study found out that there is an ongoing identity building, whereas Ukraine seeks to exclude corruption as a societal norm and obtain the values of the EU instead