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Image header Agence Europe
Europe Daily Bulletin No. 8636
THE DAY IN POLITICS / (eu) eu/council of europe

Assembly intends to suspend Ukraine if Constitution not respected

Strasbourg, 02/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - In adopting the report by Danish Liberal Hanne Severinsen and Luxembourg Christian Democrat Renate Wohlwend in Strasbourg on 30 January, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has expressed its intention to suspend Ukraine from the organisation if new attempts are made to impose political reforms "by revising the Constitution using modalities not provided by law and in an unconstitutional fashion". The European parliamentarians called for all Constitutional modifications on the duration of the term and mode of election of the President to be put to national referendum. The Assembly also hopes that "the President of the Ukraine will act as a responsible democrat by stepping down at the end of a second term, as per the Constitution of the Ukraine". They also criticised the recent statements by President Koutchma and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister that the activities of the Council of Europe were "an interference into Ukraine's internal affairs".

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