Thank you so much for giving me the floor.

Zoriana Stepanenko, Radio of Europe's Ukrainian service, I believe my question is for Guillaume and maybe for you Olof too.

It concerns the recent high profile corruption investigation in Ukraine, which has already led to the resignation of the prosecutor General.

You know that, you know, last night he left Ukraine after serving the head of Nabu with a notice of suspicion.

So the question is, does the Commission see this as Yet another attempt to put pressure on Ukraine's independent anti-corruption institutions,

and has the Commission requested any explanation or additional information from the Ukrainian authorities regarding this investigation? This is indeed for you. Thank you for the questions.

So what I can say is that we are indeed aware of the developments, the latest developments, but as you know, we do not comment on individual cases.

So let me be clear when it comes to, corruption, so the EU maintains a zero tolerance policy on corruption,

and we recall actually that the fight against corruption is a central element for any country that wants to join the EU.

It requires a continuous efforts to guarantee a strong capacity to combat corruption and money laundering through effective prevention,

investigation, and prosecution, as well as to ensure the respect for the rule of law. That's the comment I can give. Thanks, Guillaume. Valeriia.

Valeriia Pashko, Public Broadcaster of Ukraine, but this, notice of suspicion was signed by the prosecutor general against the head of NABU,

the, National Anti-Corruption Bureau, and,

the EU was the one who demanded from Ukraine to establish.

Those anti-corruption bodies, are there any, support that you can provide to, to those officials, and, also,

since the prosecutor general is resigning, it means that the new ban is going to be appointed soon.

So at the same time we have the point in so-called Taras Kachka-Marta Kos plan.

That the,

the EU requires from Ukraine to introduce the competitive selection procedure for appointment of the new prosecutor general.

Could you please let me know if this request still stands or not and do you have any updates from Ukrainian authorities,

but they in the process to fulfill this request. Thanks.

First, really quickly on your first question on the anti-corruption, institutions, we always said that the role of,

independent anti-corruption, bodies are cornerstones of Ukraine's rule of law as a future, member state.

They must be safeguarded and they must be able to do the work, properly. The, the second question.

What I can say is that indeed as a general rule, we'll continue to assess Ukraine's reforms as part of on one hand the interim benchmark for the cluster of fundamentals,

but also in addition, Ukraine has agreed with the European Commission.

As you mentioned on the list of 10 reforms,

priority reforms that should be prioritized in order to enforce the rule of law and the fight against corruption, also known as the Kachka-Kos plan.

This includes indeed the reforms that you just mentioned regarding the prosecutor general.

So what I can say, it is now for the Ukrainian authorities to continue this work in a consistent and effective manner. Thank you Guillaume. Other questions for Guillaume? You have another one there. Go ahead.

Yes, short follow up, do you see the number of cases in Ukraine that are involving the people even close to the President as a sign that actually anti corruption bodies are working and they are able to go after powerful figures,

or do you see this mainly as a sign that corruption in Ukraine is a deep and systematic problem.

Look, again, we do not comment on all the cases, in cases that we, we can see.

What, what we already said actually in the past is actually the fact that we have high level cases like the ones you referred to. Are being investigated.

It shows that Ukraine has institutions in place and they can do the work precisely the anti-corruption bodies.

It is in that sense it shows commitment from the authorities to do the work and to have in place the system when it comes to the investigations and the specific cases,

it's not for me to comment. Thank you Guillaume.

Do you have other questions for Guillaume on the many topics he covers?

No, thank you very much, then we open the floor for other topics, other questions for us today here at the front.