Dear Baroness:
Dear Sirs:
During
a meeting held on 27 August 2013 between the President of Ukraine, Viktor
Yanukovych, and myself, on behalf of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), Mr.
Yanukovych stated that the political will was there to meet the requirement of
the European Union (EU) concerning the case of Opposition leader Yulia
Tymoshenko.
However,
according to Mr. Yanukovych, Ukrainian legislation does not provide for any
mechanism to accomplish this.
In
response, I expressed the opinion that Mr. Yanukovych could use his
presidential powers to resolve this issue, to which the President of
Ukraine answered that those powers are not broad enough.
Mr.
Yanukovych also indicated that, beyond repeated appeals to release
Ms. Tymoshenko, the EU has still not provided any concrete recommendation on
how to resolve this matter within the framework of the laws of Ukraine.
Notwithstanding
our difference of opinion concerning the availability of mechanisms to resolve
this important matter, I informed the President of Ukraine that the UWC would contact
the EU, including the Cox-Kwasniewski mission, to request that you recommend
a solution that is available under Ukrainian legislation to satisfy the EU requirement
regarding Yulia Tymoshenko.
In view
of the strategic importance of the EU-Ukraine
Association Agreement, both for the EU and Ukraine, the UWC calls upon
you to address this issue without delay in order to enable the parties
to sign the Association Agreement at the Third Summit of the Eastern
Partnership member countries, to be held in Vilnius on 28-29 November 2013.
Sincerely,
UKRAINIAN WORLD
CONGRESS
Eugene Czolij
President
