Opposition informs Komorowski about possible isolation of Ukraine in case of undemocratic elections

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.