STRASBOURG, June 14 - The European Commission is planning to closely monitor the court hearings on the criminal case opened against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko due to the activities of the United Energy Systems of Ukraine Corporation, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule said.

"We will be watching this new trial very closely," he said at a meeting of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Cooperation Committee in Strasbourg.

In this regard, he also drew attention to "the very public hints and revelations from the Prosecutor General's Office before the trial has even begun do not inspire confidence."