Brussels, 02/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday late afternoon, the EP foreign affairs committee, chaired by Elmar Brok, held an extraordinary meeting with the president of the Ukrainian parliament's foreign affairs committee, Mr Tarashuk, a fervent supporter of the presidential opposition candidate, Victor Yushchenko. He said that, "speaking on behalf of Mr Yushchenko, I would like to express my gratitude to all those at the European Parliament and elsewhere how are supporting the orange revolution which is happening in my country". He said that this did not involve a "power struggle" but between two different visions: between Christian and European values on one side and criminal values on the other. He said that the Ukrainian people would remain firm in reclaiming the victory of Yushchenko because, "the Ukrainians have never been so determined to express their will" to reject the massive fraud that took place during the second round of the elections. Mr Tarashuk said that there were only two solutions to the crisis: the first is legal and consists of the Supreme Court recommending another vote count or new elections; the second, of a political nature would see president Kuchma taking the initiative and finding a negotiated settlement with the two candidates. Tarashuk explained that the opposition was ready to agree to new elections "but only on certain conditions": a) that a new central electoral commission is set up; b) the current government (which lost the confidence of the Ukrainian parliament during Wednesday's vote at parliament has to resign to allow the two candidates to carry out a campaign in "equal conditions"; c) postal ballots, which were the source of many irregularities denounced by the opposition have to be banned under electoral law; d) a large number of OSCE election observers should attend. Tarashuk said that he hoped that Member States of the European Union would soon send a substantial number of observers, as the USA had done. He asserted that, "the time is right for the EU to invest in democracy in Ukraine". He also asked for the EU to impose sanctions on those who falsified the election results.
Asked by MEPs about the EU's new European Neighbourhood Policy on Ukraine (and other countries), Mr Tarashuk affirmed that his country could "agree" to this policy on the condition it represented a transition stage to new and closer relations in the future, declaring, "On the other hand, if this neighbourhood policy excludes Ukraine's accession prospects to the European Union, then we can't accept it". Many MEPs expressed fears about the territorial integrity of Ukraine and warned against the country being divided up. Tarashuk provided assurances that separatist declarations were nothing more than intimidation put forward by those close to Yanukovich and were nothing other than "irresponsible political provocation", against whom president Kuchma should launch legal proceedings as they are anti-constitutional. The only way of there being a possible split in the country is by organising a national referendum, stated Mr Tarashuk.