The Batkivschyna United Opposition has said that its representatives discussed with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski the possible isolation of Ukraine if it holds its parliamentary elections in an undemocratic way.
“Representatives of the united opposition had a meeting with Polish
President Komorowski today. During the meeting, he expressed serious
concern about the current situation in Ukraine, in particular with
regard to political repression and transparency of the preparations for
the elections, and many other issues,” Head of the Central Election
Headquarters of the Batkivschyna United Opposition Oleksandr Turchynov
told journalists after the meeting with the Polish president in Kyiv on
Friday, Sept.21.
According to Turchynov, the participants of the meeting also
discussed the problem of the oppression of freedom of speech in Ukraine
and restrictions on the independence of the media.
The Polish president warned that if the situation in Ukraine does not
change, then it should forget about its European Union membership
prospects. In addition, the country could face real isolation, Turchynov
said.
In turn, Head of the Council of the Batkivschyna United Opposition
Arseniy Yatseniuk stressed that the opposition demands fair elections
from the authorities.
“One cannot speak about democratic freedoms today, as [former
Ukrainian Premier] Yulia Tymoshenko and [former Interior Minister] Yuriy
Lutsenko are in prison, and no country could say that these
[parliamentary] elections are democratic,” he said.
Yatseniuk added that even partial respect for freedoms in Ukraine is questionable.
He added that during the preparations for the elections candidates
are buying the votes of people, putting pressure on members of election
commissions, the opposition has no access to the media, and “an
independent channel TVi is suffering pressure.”
“This means isolation for Ukraine, this means that Ukraine will prefer some strange Asian course to the European one,” he said.
