Representatives of the pro-presidential Party of Regions have gone to great pains to tie Tymoshenko’s name to this messy affair that involves power, fat bank accounts in foreign jurisdictions and a personal connection between convicted money launderer Lazarenko and Tymoshenko in the wild 1990s, when she was big in the gas trading business.
The accusations were rolled out on the same day that the Party of Regions sabotaged a parliament committee hearing that was to debate proposed legislation to allow Ukrainian prisoners to receive medical treatment abroad. If any of these three laws were approved, it would have opened the way for the courts to release Tymsohenko to Germany – a key precondition for signing an association agreement with the European Union at the end of November.
But all signs point to no movement on the Tymoshenko issue. Oleksandr Yefremov, one of the Party of Regions’ most senior members and its parliamentary faction leader, told Interfax-Ukraine that his party will support “none of the laws” that would pave the way for the ex-prime minister’s freedom.
The Party of Regions, which takes direct orders from the president on important issues, is not acting on its own. It’s becoming ever more obvious to observers that the president blindly believes that he can have his cake and eat it too – that he thinks he can keep Tymsohenko in prison and still sign the association agreement, which he has been touting passionately.
But that simply won’t happen. As evidence of his unwillingness to act piles up, so does the disappointment of Ukraine’s partners. Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister, said his assessment of chances for signing is “rather pessimistic.” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorki suggested that the signing could happen in 2014. Many visiting officials echo these sentiments.
At the same time, Ukrainians are getting more frustrated that neither their desire to move closer to Europe nor their efforts to do so are getting recognition by the Europeans.
But, as one senior Western diplomat put it in a meeting with alumni of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, if you run a marathon and manage 42 kilometers, and fail to do the other 195 meters, it won’t count. The same is true for Ukraine.
Failure to release Tymoshenko will mean failure to sign. After that, expect much anger and the greatest Ukraine fatigue there has ever been.
