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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Former Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Oksana Syroiad spoke out against the practice of involving foreign experts in shaping and operating Ukrainian institutions. In her view, Ukraine must independently take responsibility for the functioning of its own bodies, rather than shift it onto representatives of other states. Syroiad spoke about this in an interview with the public initiative “Golka,” published exclusively on “Glavkom.”
Syroid, who was a member of the VIII convocation and participated in drafting legislation in the field of judicial reform, considers problematic the approach of involving foreign experts in the process of adopting personnel and other decisions. “Involving foreign experts in the process is shifting responsibility away from oneself. It is infantilism and a sense of inferiority. That is, look, I am being beaten, I am a little girl. I will not deal with it myself – I will go to the ‘big uncle,’ bring him, and he will hand out everything for me. Because I am small. This is a losing position. You will never grow up while you lead behind you a ‘big uncle’ who has to decide everything for you. At some point you have to say: I am an adult and I take responsibility on myself,” Syriod said.
The former Vice Speaker of Parliament also cautioned against the notion that the mere origin of foreign specialists guarantees their integrity. “Do not think that in Europe or America people are born virtuous, and here we are completely depraved. If they could earn more money without paying taxes, they would do it. It’s not the state that forbade them, it is they themselves who, at the moment of state-building, agreed that it is better to pay taxes rather than avoid them,” she noted.
According to Syriod, Ukraine spends significant effort trying to secure participation of foreign professionals in the work of its own institutions, but by itself such a mechanism cannot change the system.
“We spend colossal efforts lobbying Europeans, Americans, and three very respectable foreign entities, including the IMF, hoping they will make us happy. But while these people are a foreign element, they will not change the system. Foreigners can be invited after we ourselves agree to act differently,” the former MP explained.
Syriod links the problem to a broader question of accountability for the work of state institutions. In her view, external participants cannot replace internal agreements on the rules by which the system must function.
By the way, Oksana Syriod was a member of the VIII convocation of the Parliament and from 2014 to 2019 held the post of Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada. She participated in preparing judicial reform and working on the Constitutional Commission, and was also the author of the idea to create the Public Council for Integrity. Now Syriod is an officer of the Ukrainian Defense Forces and serves in the 2-led corps of the National Guard of Ukraine “Charter.”
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