Brussels, 18/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych has said he is ready - if the Ukrainian parliament adopts a law to allow former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko to leave to receive medical care abroad - to enact it. “There isn't a law [on medical care for detainees] in Ukraine that would allow Tymoshenko to leave for abroad (…) If the parliament adopts such a law, I will enact it. Very probably it will be a law court that will take a decision on the issue of an exit procedure, on the maintenance of guarantees”, he stated.
He again said that “currently, Ukraine does not have a law that would allow Tymoshenko to go abroad to follow treatment”, and that he does not have the power to do this (see EUROPE 10912). “The political forces represented in the parliament have prepared a draft law that will allow this task to be resolved”, Yanukovych added (our translation throughout).
On 4 October, the European Parliament's mission of presidents Pat Cox and Alexander Kwasniewski presented a request for Tymoshenko's pardon (see EUROPE 10937).
A European diplomat said that Europe has always said that a solution needed to be found to the Tymoshenko case but the diplomat did not give further details on this solution. He did not state whether Tymoshenko's transfer is enough or if she must be pardoned. (CG/transl.fl)