Representatives of the European Union have said the EU would not be able to proceed on an Association Agreement with Ukraine unless Kyiv changes its stance on the criminal case against Ukraine's former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, according to Radio Liberty.
At the EU-Eastern Partnership meeting at the level of foreign ministers in Prague on March 5, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton recalled that the EU had already made it clear to the Ukrainian authorities that "by the standards that we hold dear, by international standards, Yulia Tymoshenko was not dealt with properly."
"And we call upon Ukraine to not only understand that, but if you like, to remedy that using the standards of international justice. And that we would continue to call on them to do. We want this Association Agreement, but we recognize that the political structures which we operate in within Europe will wish to see movement on the issue," she added.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, for his part, said that his country would like to see the Association Agreement signed, ratified, and implemented, adding that this was what Tymoshenko wanted herself, irrespective of what was happening to her.
However, he said that Ashton’s words reflected the strongly held opinion of some member states that "it will not happen unless the Tymoshenko case is resolved and the government of Ukraine knows that."
