The foreign ministers of the European Union have urged Ukraine to resolve the situation with former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko as soon as possible, since the delay in addressing this matter poses a risk to the signing the Association Agreement.
This follows from statements made by some foreign ministers at the beginning of a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Monday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.
“Tymoshenko’s case has great symbolic significance for some EU member states, and we hope that this issue will be resolved as quickly as possible. Any delay [in addressing this issue] makes no sense and is very risky,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.
In turn, Foreign Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt also stressed the importance of Tymoshenko’s case for the European Union.
He also expressed the opinion that if Tymoshenko was sent abroad for treatment, but then had to return to Ukraine as a prisoner, this would not be a solution to the situation.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, for his part, said that during a meeting of the Group of Friends of Ukraine, which was held on the eve of the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, the ministers noted the significant progress made by Ukraine in the fulfillment of the necessary conditions for the signing of the Association Agreement.
However, this did not apply to the situation with Tymoshenko, Sikorski said.
