DISINFO: European taxpayers finance cocaine and Zelensky's luxury villas

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: European taxpayers finance cocaine and Zelensky's luxury villas

SUMMARY

Paying taxes is not a problem. But if it's to pay for someone's cocaine or for Mr. Zelensky's villas – no, a thousand times no.

Taxes should be used for something else. No party has an agenda to save money, figure out how money can be spent better, or track where all that money is going. Nobody ever talks about it. Millions and millions are involved in corruption, whether in France or Europe.

RESPONSE

Pro-Kremlin disinformation against support to Ukraine.

None of these claims are true. All rumours about luxury goods and real estate allegedly purchased with Western money to help Ukraine are fakes that have been debunked. The alleged addiction to cocaine refers to a libelous campaign of 2022.

It is incorrect to claim that no one cares about the use of European taxpayer money or that Ukraine has done nothing to fight corruption. Ukraine, with EU support, has made significant progress in anti-corruption and Rule of Law reforms since the Revolution of Dignity. Overall, Ukraine improved its ranking in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index from 144 to 104 since 2013, and various surveys attest to the growing intolerance among citizens for corruption, although much remains to be done to re-establish citizens’ trust in the justice system. The fight against corruption is driven by a combination of pressure from Ukrainian public independent media and foreign donors. Noteworthy achievements in fighting corruption include the implementation of the State Anti-Corruption Programme (2023-2025) and the establishment of independent and capable anti-corruption institutions (namely NABU, SAPO, NACP, and HACC), which have started delivering promising results. Judicial and institutional reforms include updating the Civil, Economic, and Administrative Procedure Codes, establishing independent self-governing judicial bodies, and implementing new rules for selecting and appointing judges based on integrity and professional competence criteria.

These changes are demanded by Ukrainian society and align with Ukraine’s foreign policy goals of joining the EU and NATO, as its strategic course has been enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine since 2019. At the end of 2023, the European Council approved a historic decision to open negotiations on the country’s accession to the European Union.

Read related stories such as Zelenskyy's wife bought one of the most expensive sports cars in the world , or the IMF considers Ukraine is a totally corrupt state fuelled by the US and NATO, or Zelenskyy bought a British mansion from King Charles III for 20 million pounds, or the Reporter who found Zelenskyy’s Mother-in-Law's villa found dead, or Olena Zelenska spent more than 1 million dollars on jewellery with EU money, or French studio releases animation series denouncing Zelenskyy's blood thirst or Zelenskyy bought Goebbels’ villa to show his commitment to Bandera, or Zelenskyy's mother-in-law uses war money to buy luxury houses.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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