This was stated by the European Commission spokesperson, as reported by European Pravda."Kyiv should appoint the director of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine swiftly and in line with the ESBU reform law and applicable selection and appointment procedures," the spokesperson said.The spokesperson also noted that the European Commission’s 2024 enlargement report highlights the need for rapid implementation of the ESBU law, particularly through a transparent selection process based on personal merit.BackgroundOn June 24, NABU detective Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi — one of the leaders of the “Clean City” operation, which uncovered a large-scale land corruption scheme in the Kyiv City Council — won the competition for the position of the ESBU Director.However, his candidacy was not approved by Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers. The decision was based on information provided by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), citing national security concerns, including reported family ties with Russian citizens. Tsyvinskyi confirmed that he had passed all necessary checks but said he received no official explanation or documentation regarding the government's refusal.As a result, the Cabinet decided to re-invite no more than two candidates who meet all established requirements, including so-called “security criteria”, though such criteria are not explicitly outlined in the ESBU law.Despite this, the competition commission chose not to re-evaluate Tsyvinskyi’s candidacy, noting that the law does not allow for reconsideration once a winner has been selected.On July 24, documents for Oleksandr Tsyvinskyi’s appointment as the ESBU Director were resubmitted to the Cabinet of Ministers.