Brussels, 02/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 2 December, President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso stated during a telephone call with Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych that “it is important for the authorities to engage with all the political forces very quickly” and that “a peaceful and political solution is the only way for Ukraine to exit the current situation”. Barroso added that “all the parties should show restraint”, that all civil rights and freedoms must be respected and that the use of force by the police should be investigated “as soon as possible”. According to Barroso, Yanukovych approved this approach and “explicitly confirmed the intention to investigate the use of force by the Ukrainian police and to inform the public of the results”.
Setting up a consultation on association agreement. During their discussion, Yanukovych asked the European Commission to host a Ukrainian delegation in order to discuss certain aspects of the association agreement and the deep and comprehensive free-trade area. Barroso confirmed the Commission's readiness to host such a delegation “at the appropriate level” and affirmed the Commission's resolve to discuss implementation issues linked to the agreements already initialled, “but not to re-open the negotiations”. Yanukovych accepted these conditions. “It was decided that the timetable and the level of this consultation should be organised through the appropriate diplomatic routes”, Barroso added.
Numerous calls for dialogue. Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle, as well as Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland, Maja Kocijancic - spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton - and EU Ambassador to Ukraine Jan Tombinski, have called for dialogue and for restraint from all violence. “The current crisis should be resolved through dialogue between the two political forces”, said President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz on 2 December. He urged the Ukrainian government to respect the freedom of expression and assembly. “The excessive use of force against the peaceful demonstrators is unacceptable (…). The authorities must listen to their citizens and not beat them”, he added.
The Greens/EFA Group at the European Parliament has called for an emergency debate during the Parliament's plenary session on 9-12 December and for a delegation from the European Parliament to be sent to Kiev immediately. Pawel Kowal (EPP, Poland) is going to call for an emergency meeting of the EU-Ukraine parliamentary cooperation committee.
No sanctions planned but strong condemnation of the violence. Questioned about possible sanctions against those responsible in Ukraine, Kocijancic said that “we are not currently speaking about this”. The EU is in “regular contact” with the Ukrainian authorities, and this will be maintained, she said. At their request, the EU ambassador in Ukraine and his US counterpart were received by the minister of the interior and the minister for foreign affairs on 30 November.
The EU has condemned the police violence that took place on the morning of Saturday 30 November that left dozens wounded. Ashton and Füle “strongly” condemned the “excessive use of force” by the police in Kiev in order to disperse the “peaceful” demonstrators. They underlined that the unjustified use of force goes against the principles to which all the participants in the Eastern Partnership summit, including Yanukovych, reaffirmed their commitment (see EUROPE 10974). Several European ministers (including those of Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden, Poland, Germany and the UK) and many MEPs have condemned the violence.
Meanwhile, the pro-EU demonstrations calling for the departure of Yanukovych continue, bringing together thousands of demonstrators (our translation throughout). (CG/transl.fl)