Brussels, 28/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - According to Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Leonid Kozhara, “it is mistaken to believe that by not signing the association agreement, the EU would teach Ukraine a lesson. It would be a geopolitical failure in the EU's foreign policy”, he stated, saying that it is not in the EU's interest to conduct a short-term policy.
Kozhara underlined Kiev's progress in the reforms, including the electoral reform and the reform in the judicial sector. He said that Ukraine is working in cooperation with the EU and the Venice Commission, and that the government takes the Council conclusions of 10 December as its basis. “The institutional reforms are not only about producing good laws but also about training people” and that takes time, he said.
Kozhara also stated that “we don't consider that there are any political prisoners, strictly speaking” (our translation throughout). He reiterated that the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on the case of Yulia Tymoshenko does not give an opinion on the substance of the affair, and he reiterated that the judgment is currently being studied by the European authorities. (CG/transl.fl)