The EU, the US and NATO called on the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to adopt a bill on reforming the SBU 
Verkhovna Rada deputies should vote for the law on reforming the Security Service Ukraine (SBU), as this will help the country move closer to the standards of the European Union (EU) and NATO. Such an appeal was made by representatives of the EU, the EU Advisory Mission, NATO and the United States in the publication Evropeyskaya Pravda.
According to Western diplomats, in order to get closer to global practices, the SBU should be deprived of its powers of pre-trial investigation, as well as significantly reduced the number of security officials and demilitarize the special services. In addition, the diplomats recalled strengthening the mechanisms for overseeing the activities of the SBU and eliminating the service from investigating economic crimes.
“A historic opportunity opens up for Ukraine to step forward on the path to Euro-Atlantic integration,” the authors of the article explained the position of Ukraine's key partners on the reform of the SBU. They added that the deprivation of the special services of functions inherited from Soviet times is a prerequisite for strengthening confidence in Kiev.
Ultimately, the appeal explains, the SBU should turn into a purely counterintelligence body, similar to the secret services of the EU member states and NATO. At the same time, some provisions of the reform require revision, since the counterintelligence powers contain clauses that allow violating human rights and using physical force.
In July, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced preparations for the reform of the Security Service of Ukraine and fired several officers departments. The representatives of the EU and NATO demanded that the reform of the SBU itself be carried out in 2019.