After Catherine Ashton, the foreign policy chief of the European Union, had visited the encampment of protesters in Kyiv late on Dec. 10, nobody could fathom that just in the next several hours riot police would dare to storm the peaceful demonstration.
At night,
as the attempted breakup involving an estimated 5,000 riot police and National
Guardsmen was underway, Ashton unsuccessfully tried to contact Ukrainian
authorities to find out what was happening, the office of the EU Commission in
Kyiv reported. On Dec. 11 Ashton once more met with President Viktor Yanukovych
as well as opposition leaders and three former Ukrainian presidents.
“I really
do condemn the use of force – it’s totally unacceptable. Especially when someone
like me had a chance to see how people are demonstrating peacefully,” she said
at news briefing following the meetings.
“I made it
perfectly clear that it’s not a way to go forward, made it clear that people
have the right for peaceful demonstration; intimidation of people will result
in more and more people wanting to join the demonstration,” she added.
Yanukovych reassured
EU representatives his desire to do more for Ukraine’s European course and sign
a far-reaching deal with the EU, Ashton said. She didn’t seem really convinced
though.
“I have to
accept what president says to me,” she said. “We want to see what he said turns
to what is done, of course.”
Ashton
refused to talk about sanctions being levied against Ukraine’s leaders but
outlined instead three points that are essential for solving the escalating
political crisis. They include: release protestors in custody; start a dialog between
authorities, the opposition and civil society; start talks about what brought
people onto the streets.
“It’s very
importance to see the release of all those who have been arrested,” she said. “And
I mean release, that goal, I don’t mean another form of arrest,” Ashton added saying
that she discussed this point twice with Yanukovych.
Yanukovych
promised on Dec. 10 during a roundtable discussion with three of his
predecessors to ensure the release of some of those arrested, not indicating,
however, how many of them will be set free. But on Dec. 11 courts released five
activists from police custody with some being fined, while others put under
house arrest.
Ashton
reaffirmed that the EU is ready for closer dialogue with Ukraine, and said she
discussed with Yanukovych the economic prospects, which a free trade and
association agreement may bring to both sides.
“The
president assured me that he intends to sign the association agreement,” she
said. “I really do hope that it will happen soon.”
She,
however, refused to discuss the dollar figures of possible loans that Ukrainian
officials have said would be needed to withstand Russian economic sanctions and
to cover looming external debt payments in the near-term. Officials initially
said $160 billion would be required, then Prime Minister Mykola Azarov named
the figure at about €20 billion, after which his first deputy Sergiy Arbuzov put
it at $10 billion.
“This is
not about bids for the country,” Ashton said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko and Kyiv Post editor Katya Gorchinskaya can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected]
