You're reading: European Council head calls on Ukraine to return to democratic model

There was democracy in Ukraine in 2004 and the country should return to a democratic model of state, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has said.

"When once the Ukrainian prime minister announced intention to visit Brussels, we told him "don’t come, stay at home." We sent a specific political message to Kyiv – to change the situation," Rompuy said, answering questions in a TV program on Euronews Channel.

Asked a question from Ukraine why the EU leaders don’t come to Kyiv and ask the Ukrainian leadership unpleasant questions instead of boycotting Euro 2012, thus "pushing Ukraine into the hands of Russia, despite the fact that Ukrainians would like to join the EU," Rompuy noted that he jointly with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso visited Kyiv in December 2011.

"We had quite a long conversation on the issue with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. We initialed the Association Agreement with Ukraine, thus opening the way to European perspectives, but we have not ratified the document," said the European Council president.

"We clearly said that this is possible only under the condition that Ukraine will stick to our values, because the Association Agreement concerns not only trade but also political arrangements, and we consider the way Ukraine is treating former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko unacceptable. And we clearly told this to President Yanukovych," he said.