You're reading: Expert: Court ruling on Tymoshenko’s appeal to affect Kyiv – Brussels relations

The ruling of the Higher Specialized Court of Ukraine to uphold the seven-year sentence given to former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko in the gas case will further affect the relations between Kyiv and Brussels which are already strained, Olga Shumylo-Tapiola an expert at Carnegie Europe in Brussels, has said.

In an interview with Interfax-Ukraine in Brussels on Wednesday, she said: “Brussels could not and was not going to influence the decision of the Ukrainian court. However, it hoped that that politically motivated cases – and that is how they are seen in the capitals of the EU – against Tymoshenko and her associates will be dropped.”

According to the expert, the Ukrainian court’s ruling has confirmed the existing thesis that official Kyiv prefers to look unbending and consistent inside the country, rather than to follow the European standards.

“Today it is difficult to say how much the situation will worsen, as Tymoshenko’s case is one of the three conditions for the restoration of relations between the parties,” she added.