Brussels, 07/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 6 February, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz announced that the conference of presidents has decided to prolong the monitoring mission to Ukraine of the former president of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, and the former president of Poland, Alexander Kwasniewski, without saying how long it would last. According to a European source, Cox and Kwasniewski are due to submit a new report in two months' time but the unofficial deadline is apparently 25 February - the date of the EU-Ukraine summit “where a strong sign is expected from Ukraine”.
Schulz said that the prolongation of the mission, which Cox and Kwasniewski have accepted, should allow the two men to do everything possible to improve the legal situation and daily life of the former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, and also of other people with whom they are in contact. The mission will continue its direct contact with the government, the members of parliament and the judicial institutions, Schulz added. He stated that the goal is not to interfere in the political debate or the technical reflection.
Cox and Kwasniewski have just returned from a trip to Ukraine where, inter alia, they met Tymoshenko. Their mission began in June 2012.
Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle is in Kiev on Thursday 7 and Friday 8 February. (CG/transl.fl)