In a May 10 Financial Times report, Roman Olearchyk and Quentin Peel write: “Angela Merkel has described Ukraine as a “dictatorship”, ratcheting up European pressure on Ukraine’s president to free Yulia Tymoshenko, the jailed opposition leader, and reverse a broader rollback of democracy.”
According to the report, the German chancellor drew parallels between Ukraine and Belarus, its authoritarian neighbour, sending a “clear message about European leaders’ frustration with what they view as undemocratic, un-European behaviour.”
In a speech to Germany’s lower house of parliament, Ms Merkel said: “Today we are living in peace and freedom in Germany, and in the European Union, but sadly not in the whole of Europe: for in Ukraine, and in Belarus, people are still suffering under dictatorship and repression.”
Financial Times: Merkel brands Ukraine a ‘dictatorship’
Germany's Andrea Merkel is the first EU country leader to describe Ukraine as a dictatorship.
