“Brussels wants Ukraine to address the issue of Tymoshenko’s seven-year prison sentence, levied upon her as part of a political vendetta by current president Victor Yanukovych.
While it’s unlikely that Yanukovych will set Tymoshenko free (according to the latest reports, he said he cannot order Tymoshenko’s release because she also faces trial on tax evasion and embezzlement charges and is under investigation in a murder case) the government makes an effort to show progress in other areas, such as modernizing legislations. It almost seems as if Yanukovych hopes to impress the EU by his success in other areas of his ‘homework’ – as European parliament’s members commonly refer to the conditions Ukraine must meet – and would overlook the fact that the opposition leader remains in jail,” Forbes claims.
“Ukraine has its supporters in Europe. Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague, who, after meeting with Leonid Kozhara, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said in a joint statement that “Ukraine belongs to the European family of States” and “the UK re-affirmed its support for Ukraine’s efforts to make the necessary reforms to allow signature of the mutually beneficial EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.”
Strong support but perhaps not enough. “It is now up to the Ukrainian authorities to address the outstanding issues in order to enable the signing of the Agreement,” read the statement issued by the European Commission.
Will the EU accept Ukraine’s incomplete homework? Will Ukraine’s government make the final important move? This tug war has become risky. After all, this is not just a power struggle, this will affect the future of Ukraine and 45.7 mln Ukrainains,” is noted in the article.
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