Brussels, 25/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Speaking on Thursday 24 March on the sidelines of the European People's Party meeting, Ukraine's opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko urged Europeans to “prevent the Ukrainian train from going in the direction away” from rapprochement with the European Union. An effective way of achieving this would be to conclude talks “by the end of this year” aimed at sealing an association agreement between the EU and Ukraine, she said, while regretting the “procrastination” of those negotiating on behalf of her country.
Yulia Tymoshenko hoped the future association agreement would be composed of a political chapter to guarantee the holding of “free and fair” elections. “A government can get things wrong but there should be the possibility of changing this”, the former prime minister of Ukraine stressed, saying she was “ready to propose an alternative”. She also criticised the attacks against freedom of the press as well as the deterioration of the way in which democratic institutions operate. The same is true for the privatisation, at a give-away price, of the national telecommunications company which, despite the interest shown by European companies such as Deutsche Telekom, is now said to belong to the inner circle of the Yanukovich family. “Unfortunately, that is part of Ukraine's current reality”, she deplored. (M.B./transl.jl)