13:28 21.06.2013

Nemyria: EPP still insists on Tymoshenko's release for signing Association Agreement with Ukraine

2 min read

The deputy leader of the Batkivschyna Party, Hryhoriy Nemyria, has said that the position of the European People's Party (EPP) with respect to the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU remains unchanged: the question of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko should be resolved and she should be released.

"At the same time, another position based on the geo-political principle is to sign the agreement even if Kyiv does not meet all conditions – this is the position of only some European politicians," Nemyria said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine after an EPP summit in Vienna on Thursday.

"The essence of my statement about the situation in Ukraine and my address to my colleagues was the following: there remains less than six months before the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, and in two-and-a-half months it will be two years since the date of Tymoshenko's arrest [on August 5, 2011]. In this regard, I proposed that this time period that remains before the summit be used and that everything be done to meet all EU criteria [for signing the agreement]. This also implies the settlement of the Tymoshenko question," he said.

In addition, Nemyria said that during a brief discussion on this issue, he managed to ensure that the approach to signing the Association Agreement, with the dominating geopolitical arguments being that the document should be signed even if some conditions are not met, is only the position of certain politicians in Europe.

"The position of the EPP remains unchanged, and it was confirmed today [on Thursday] – there should be tangible progress in meeting the criteria, the situation with Tymoshenko should be resolved, and this resolution entails her release," he said.

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