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EU to Tymoshenko: Settle political rifts
Journal Staff Report

KIEV, June 20 – European Union officials called on Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to heal political rifts with her rivals to ward off further political instability that may slow down economic development in Ukraine.

The call comes as the Tymoshenko government has come under increased pressure from opposition Regions Party to step down, while Tymoshenko’s relations with President Viktor Yushchenko have been also strained.

"We still have some preoccupation on our side on the political situation," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told Tymoshenko after talks at EU headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, according to The Associated Press. "We would like very much to see the political situation stabilize."

Tymoshenko told Solana she would work to heal political divisions.
"Ukraine has a very good potential and is developing positively and what we need is to get is the political unity between the president ... and my majority in the parliament.”

“From my side as head of the government, I will do my best to head in this direction," Tymoshenko said.

Tymoshenko was in Brussels before an EU leaders summit to bolster Ukraine's membership bid. French President Nicolas Sarkozy will host an EU-Ukraine summit in September, at which the EU could present Kiev with an offer of closer ties.

The political crisis deepened as the Regions Party had pressed for an emergency session of Parliament to hear a report from Tymoshenko over skyrocketing inflation. The report is needed for the no-confidence motion to be put on agenda.

But Tymoshenko lawmakers went to block the podium in Parliament, making it impossible to hold any sessions, thus effectively blocking the report and the no-confidence motion.

The developments add pressure on Tymoshenko after two pro-government lawmakers had quit her majority coalition, reducing the number of seats it controls to 225 in the 450-seat Parliament.

The no-confidence vote in Parliament would require a simple majority of at least 226 lawmakers backing the motion to topple the government. Tymoshenko said the Regions Party is not likely to collect enough votes.

The leader of the Regions Party, former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, said his party will press for Tymoshenko to report about the inflation, while a bill has been already submitted for the no-confidence vote.

Ukraine recorded consumer inflation at 31.1% between May and May 2007, one of the worst such indicators in the world, and much of the hike is thought to be caused by Tymoshenko’s populist social spending policy.

Meanwhile, Arseniy Yatseniuk, the speaker of Parliament, is said to be opposing the scenario of holding the emergency session to try to topple the Tymoshenko government, people familiar with the situation said. (tl/ez)




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