KIEV, Nov. 9 – Parliament will hold an emergency session on Wednesday, the day when a deadline expires for approval of key legislation needed to enable the signing of landmark agreements with the European Union later this month.

Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Rybak signed an order to hold the session after opposition groups had submitted 160 signatures requesting it.

The move gives lawmakers a chance to approve the bills hours before the deadline is due to expire. Otherwise, the next full session of Parliament is due on November 19.

The Wednesday deadline was set by two European mediators, Pat Cox and Alexander Kwasniewski, whose recommendation on Thursday is supposed to play a crucial role in whether the EU eventually backs the agreements or not.

The legislation is expected to include a bill allowing imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to get medical treatment in Germany, in addition to bills on the prosecutor’s office and amendments to Ukraine's electoral system.

The opposition Udar party, in a statement on Saturday, urged President Viktor Yanukovych to join the session to make sure that his Regions Party lawmakers vote to approve the bills to secure the agreements.

“The parliament on November 13 is due to resolve critical issues needed for the successful outcome of the summit in Vilnius and implementation of Ukraine's European aspirations,” Vitaliy Klichko, the leader of the Udar party, said in the statement.

“Therefore, we believe that Yanukovych will have to find time to showcase Ukrainian society their true intentions regarding the future of Ukraine,” Klichko said.

“The moment of truth must finally come,” he said.

The calls for Yanukovych’s presence come amid allegations aired by opposition lawmakers that the Regions Party may resort to sabotaging the bills, in particular the bill on Tymoshenko, which may derail the agreements.

The Regions Party said it would not be able to support the Tymoshenko bill without some key amendments, and called for creation of a group that would discuss the bill before it is debated in Parliament.

The group was created on Friday and is due to hold its first meeting on Monday to try to agree on the Tymoshenko bill, before Parliament is ready to debate and support it on Wednesday.

But Oleksandr Turchynov, the second in command at Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna party, said Yanukovych was not like to let Tymoshenko go.

"Instead of approving the bill, they create the commission and start inviting experts, academics, professors that will be enough for six months of work,” Turchynov said.

“This is a fraudulent game,” Turchynov said. “They will argue that ‘We wanted to release Tymoshenko, but we hadn’t had enough time.’” (tl/ez)