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Ukraine is ‘marching backward,’ says EPP
Journal Staff Report

KIEV, March 24 – The European People’s Party, one of Europe’s most powerful political groups, warned Ukraine on Thursday that progress in talks over closer ties and free trade will depend on the level of democracy in the country.

EPP issued a statement following a meeting in Brussels with Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, who has been facing prosecution by the authorities in Ukraine for alleged abuse of power during her time as the prime minister in 2009.

“Unfortunately Ukraine is marching backward from the important goals of democratization, Europeanization and modernization,” EPP said in a statement. “If it continues, this direction is running a risk to become totally
incompatible with the declared intention to move closer to the European Union.”

Tymoshenko’s party, Batkivschyna, is a member of the EPP.

The message in the statement shows that Tymoshenko has succeeded in linking the progress in EU-Ukraine free trade and political association talks to the level of democracy Ukraine.

President Viktor Yanukovych’s government has been struggling to try t make a progress in the talks and perhaps to sign the agreement before the end of the year.

EPP said it was “deeply concerned that there is growing evidences that Ukraine’s judicial system and law enforcement agencies are increasingly used by Ukrainian authorities as a political instrument for harassment and intimidation of opposition, civil society and media.”

EPP urged Yanukovych to “avoid temptation” to change the law on parliamentary elections in a “non-transparent way to benefit his own political party his political calculations.”

Tymoshenko’s travel has been essentially restricted since the middle of December 2010 due to the investigation, and she had been twice denied by the authorities the ability to go to Brussels for meetings with European leaders.

US Senator John McCain and European People's Party President Wilfried Martens jointly urged the Ukrainian authorities earlier this month to let Tymoshenko leave for the political meeting in Brussels.

McCain and Martens signed the statement days after US Vice President Joe Biden, in a phone call with President Yanukovych, voiced concerns over “selective prosecution” of opposition politicians.

Tymoshenko, before boarding her chartered flight from Kiev to Brussels, said on Wednesday that she had a message to Yanukovych: “I will be back on Friday.”

Tymoshenko, in Brussels, met Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, and Stefan Fule, the EU commissioner for enlargement and the European Neighborhood Policy.

She is also expected to meet Jerzy Buzek, European Parliament president, before leaving for Kiev. (tl/ez)




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