Brussels, 17/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - ALDE Group leader Guy Verhofstadt and Arseniy Yatsenyuk, leader of the Ukrainian opposition Front for Change party, both expressed optimism, at a press conference on Monday 17 October, that Iulia Tymoshenko will be released. They also said that they hoped that the visit by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich on 20 October would lead to the signing of the EU-Ukraine association agreement in December.
Verhofstadt said he was “confident that the Tymoshenko affair will be settled quickly”, citing current discussion in the Ukrainian parliament of the amendment to the constitution which should remove imprisonment as a penalty for certain types of economic crime. Yatzenyuk said: “There is no doubt that Iulia Tymoshenko should be released”. He added: “If she is freed, someone in the prosecutor's office should be investigated”.
According to Verhofstadt, respect for the freedom of the media and the primacy of law in Ukraine could be better guaranteed once the association agreement is signed. “The association agreement is a good instrument for ensuring the rule of law”, he stated, arguing that “the Ukrainian government has understood our concerns and will take action”. Yatsenyuk underlined that the opposition and the Ukrainian government are united in the desire to come closer to Europe. “We have asked President Yanukovich to conclude the negotiations. We share Europe's values”, he stated. (DD/Stag/transl.rt)