Brussels, 26/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle spoke on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 April of their grave concern at the situation of former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
At his meeting with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Valeriy Khoroshkovsky, Füle urged the authorities “immediately” to shed light on what happened as Tymoshenko was being transferred from prison to hospital on 20 April, when she claims to have been physically assaulted. Ashton called on the Ukrainian authorities to “ensure the full respect of the right of Ms Tymoshenko to adequate medical assistance in an appropriate institution”. She also said she was seriously concerned by Tymoshenko's decision to begin a hunger strike to draw the attention of the international community to the situation in Ukraine.
Both Ashton and Füle stressed Tymoshenko's right to have access to her lawyers “without restriction”, and encouraged the authorities to allow visits by family members, independent medical specialists and the EU ambassador to Ukraine. This, Ashton said, would be “a sign of their political will to clarify the situation”.
Respect for human rights. Füle also told Khoroshkovsky that it was crucial that Ukraine demonstrate firm commitment to the rule of law and democratic values in order to facilitate new measures on the signing and ratification of the association agreement.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said that it was “difficult to avoid the conclusion that things are going from bad to worse in Ukraine” and that this could lead to a rift with the EU. In addition, the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reports that German President Joachim Gauck has cancelled his planned visit to Ukraine in protest at Kiev's refusal to allow Tymoshenko to be treated in Germany.
Ukraine ready to make effort. At a meeting with journalists, Khoroshkovsky stated that, if all the other problems between the EU and Ukraine were resolved, the Ukrainian parliament could pass an extraordinary law freeing the former prime minister from prison. He said he was sure that if this issue became a major obstacle in Ukraine's strategy for moving towards the EU, most MPs would back the adoption of an extraordinary decision to release Tymoshenko.
Jagland extremely concerned. Speaking in Strasbourg on Thursday, Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said was “extremely concerned” by the information that YIulia Tymoshenko had been beaten up in the prison where she is being held. He called on Kiev to ensure that these allegations were made subject to a credible and transparent investigation and made the point that Tymoshenko had lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights in August of last year. On 15 March, the Court asked the Ukrainian government to provide it with the information necessary to allow it to determine whether Tymoshenko was receiving medical treatment in an appropriate establishment. (CG/VL/transl.rt)