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8 December, 2021
The law “On State Secrets” needs to be changed - Tregub
The Law on State Secrets needs urgent changes, as its norms do not allow for fully combating corruption in the national security and defence sector. This was emphasized by the Executive Director of NAKO Olena Tregub during the conference “Modus initiative.”

“In Ukraine, there is no balance between secrecy and transparency, in our country, it is distorted. We have a very transparent country, and the information immediately appears in Telegram channels. I have lived in the United States for many years, and you will not find so much information on the Internet. At the same time, we have legislation inherited from the USSR, where the entire defence sector was secret. And the criteria for secrecy are very vague. You can keep anything secret. On the other hand, we see intelligence operatives telling the details of special operations,” said Tregub.

The Law on State Secrets does not allow whistleblowers to report corruption. If a whistleblower works for the Ministry of Defence, the General Staff, or the Security Service, they may be prosecuted for divulging state secrets. Parliamentary oversight is also restricted by state secrets. Parliamentarians, for example, could not say that the equipment was not repaired, but only painted,” she said. She noted that this system needs to be changed at the highest level.

The Modus initiative conference took place in Kyiv on December 4, 2021. It focused on organizational culture in the military with an emphasis on leadership, integrity, and gender balance. We truly thank the Return Alive Foundation, the NATO Information and Documentation Center, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine for organizing the event and the invitation.