European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule has expressed concern over increased political repression in Ukraine, according to an Official web site of Yulia Tymoshenko.
"Commissioner Fule expressed concern about recent news related to Yulia Tymoshenko as well as investigations involving her close allies, including Mr Nemyria himself," reads a statement by the European Commission following Stefan Fule’s meeting with Hryhoriy Nemyria, the deputy head of the Batkivshchyna party and chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on European Integration, in Brussels, Belgium.
The Commissioner recalled that last December the EU Council defined the conditions for further negotiations with the Ukrainian government on the signing of an association agreement. "I am confident that these conclusions provide a good basis both for the government and the parliament in Kyiv, including the opposition to work together constructively on the European modernization of the country. They provide an ambitious goal for the benefit of the Ukrainian people," he stated.
On December 10, 2012, the Council of the European Union identified the conditions under which it will continue negotiations with the Ukrainian government on the possible signing of an association agreement.
As stated in the conclusions on Ukraine adopted today by the Foreign Affairs Council meeting: "The Council reiterates its strong concern regarding the politically motivated convictions of members of the former Government after trials which did not respect international standards as regards fair, transparent and independent legal process and regrets that, as a consequence, opposition leaders were prevented from standing in the parliamentary elections."
The Council commended the efforts undertaken by the European Parliament’s monitoring mission to Ukraine headed by former European Parliament President Pat Cox and former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski. "The Council expects the authorities to address the cases of politically motivated convictions without delay as well as to take further steps to reform the judiciary to prevent any recurrence."
"The Council stresses the importance of a clearly expressed commitment by the Ukrainian authorities to an early implementation of all judgments of the European Court of Human Rights as well as the recommendations by the Council of Europe related to detention conditions and medical assistance to persons in detention."
The document goes on to say that the EU is committed to signing the already initialed EU-Ukraine Association Agreement as soon as the Ukrainian authorities demonstrate "determined action and tangible progress" in areas identified by the European side.
