Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Stefan Fule, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, have welcomed the pardon and release of former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko but stress that all cases of politically motivated prosecution must be addressed, according to official web site of Yulia Tymoshenko.
"We now look forward to Ukraine addressing without further delay the outstanding case of selective justice and preventing any recurrence of selective justice by a comprehensive judicial reform in line with European standards, in order to fully implement the conclusions of the 10 December 2012 Foreign Affairs Council and the joint statement of the 25 February 2013 EU-Ukraine Summit," Catherine Ashton and Stefan Fule said in a statement on the pardoning of former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko.
The Council of the European Union on 10 December 2012 identified the conditions under which it will continue negotiations with the Ukrainian government on the possible signing of an association agreement. "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 document said.
After the EU-Ukraine Summit on 25 February 2013, Presidents of the European Council and European Commission Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso said that the key condition for the signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement remains the issue of selective justice. "The signing of the association agreement is based on three issues – selective justice, electoral law and reforms. We, on behalf of the European Union, are calling for progress to be made on these issues by May of this year," stressed Herman Van Rompuy.
