You're reading: European expert: Tymoshenko’s new arrest to influence upcoming Ukraine-EU summit

The new arrest of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will have a negative effect on the upcoming Ukraine-EU summit, but it will not lead to its cancellation, a leading expert at the European Policy Centre, Amanda Paul, has said.

In an interview with Interfax-Ukraine in Brussels on Friday, she said that Tymoshenko "has been arrested so many times and under different cases that for such a number of arrests she could be included in the Guinness Book of Records."

"We can probably expect some reaction in Brussels, but I do not think that this somehow influence the progress in EU-Ukraine relations, although a few days before such an important event as the EU-Ukraine summit, it is, of course, not positive," Paul said.

The expert rejected the possibility that the summit could be cancelled.

"I do not think that the summit will be cancelled, because this will be the wrong signal [from Brussels], which will be followed by a massive reaction. EU-Ukraine relations are too important," she added.

"It should also be kept in mind what is happening in the closest neighbors – why should the Ukraine-EU summit be cancelled if the EU-Russia summit is held next week? Against the background of what has been happening in Russia in the last few days, this [cancellation of the summit] would be the practice of using double standards," Paul said.