By not signing the association agreement with the EU and crushing the student protests, the ruling regime in Ukraine has triggered the worst political crisis in Ukraine’s modern history, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko stated in an interview with Germany’s Stern magazine, according to the Official web site of Yulia Tymoshenko.
"We have a choice between a brutal dictatorship and a return to Europe," she wrote. "In a democracy people can change the government through free elections. In authoritarian regimes people are led to the ballot box only to cement the status quo. The country then either becomes a cemetery or rises up. Ukraine has nothing left to lose. Yanukovych understands only the language of force, which is why we must continue our struggle on the street peacefully and determinedly."
The ex-premier condemned the government’s use of force against peaceful protesters. "The whole world watched as on these days club-wielding sadists beat peaceful protesters in Kyiv and then threw them in jail. For what? For wanting to be in Europe? Our streets are filled with special forces and thugs paid by the government, whose numbers already exceed the army. They are willing to kill Ukrainians to protect the dictator," she said.
"I strongly believe that the Ukrainians on Maidan will win, that they will achieve their goal of the signing of the association agreement with the EU. Either the president will fulfill their peaceful demands, or the people will elect a new president," Yulia Tymoshenko added.
