Ukrainian oppositionists have met with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel in Bucharest on Wednesday, October 17, Our Ukraine – People's Self-Defense parliamentary faction MP Iryna Heraschenko has said.
“We met with Chancellor of Germany [Angela] Merkel. I participated in
the meeting on behalf of the UDAR Party. Yevhenia Tymoshenko [the
daughter of former Ukrainian Premier Yulia Tymoshenko], Arseniy
Yatseniuk, Borys Tarasiuk, and Hryhoriy Nemyria represented the
Batkivschyna Party,” reads a posting on Heraschenko’s page on Facebook.
She noted that Merkel is “well-informed” about the political and pre-election situation in Ukraine.
“Her key message was that the EU and Germany are watching the
campaign attentively, and they are concerned about the use of
administrative leverage and violations of the legislation, unequal
access to the media and voters,” the deputy said, and added that the EU
wants to see the opposition united for the sake of democracy in Ukraine.
According to her, Merkel promised that “the EU will keep watching the
situation after the elections to see how independent the new parliament
will be and whether it would suffer from external pressure.”
Heraschenko, who is candidate No. 6 in the party ticket of the UDAR
Party, in turn, briefed Merkel on the party’s pro-European program.
“Our leader Vitali Klitschko is making efforts to inform the voters
about our program, he is doing everything possible for the party’s
victory in the elections, for joint victory of democrats. We will do
everything we can to prevent the forming of a pro-presidential majority
in the parliament, because it may strengthen authoritarianism in the
country. [UDAR] will unite with democratic forces after the elections
depending on the compatibility of their programs and will work to return
voters’ trust, avoid conflicts and ultimatums,” the deputy said.
Other oppositionists told Merkel about the election campaign in
Ukraine, particularly about pressure and violations against the
opposition, as well as about the current talks on cooperation in the new
parliament.
“Yevhenia passed a post card from her mother to Merkel,” Heraschenko said.
