The Verkhovna Rada should consider in 2012 the question of supporting European integration and the need for Ukraine's further rapprochement with the European Union, the head of the Batkivschyna faction in parliament, Arseniy Yatseniuk, has said.

"Ukraine should currently demonstrate its readiness to move towards the European Union and unite political forces in this matter. Undoubtedly, it's necessary to fulfill a number of criteria, including on stopping the political persecutions of [former Prime minister] Yulia Tymoshenko, [former Interior Minister] Yuriy Lutsenko and other citizens," the press service of the Batkivschyna Party quoted Yatseniuk as saying on Friday.

The politician recalled that on May 19, 2011, a constitutional majority of the Ukrainian parliament adopted a resolution on the results of parliamentary hearings initiated by the opposition, in which "European integration is determined as a major foreign policy priority of the state."

"Ukraine needs the European Union, and the European Union needs Ukraine. Ukrainians, as a European nation, must and will travel to EU countries without visas. This is a task we have to fulfill, and for this purpose millions of Ukrainians voted for us in the last parliamentary elections," Yatseniuk said.