The group of the European People's Party and the Green Party in the European Parliament are against the extension of the work of the monitoring mission of the European Parliament, which consists of former president of the EP Pat Cox and former president of Poland Alexander Kwasniewski, a source in the European Parliament has said.
"The Greens and the EPP want the mission to complete its work within two to four months. Others believe that the mission should be working until the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius," one of the participants of the recent discussion of the mission's fate at the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament told Interfax-Ukraine.
The discussion lasted about two hours and the MEPs have not come to a consensus concerning the timeframes of the mission. Therefore, they decided to hear the report of the former presidents in two months, and then decide on the timeframe of the mission.
The interlocutor told the agency that the position of Head of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and EPP member Elmar Brok, who strongly opposed the extension of the mission, doesn't reflect the views of the EPP group as a whole.
"Most importantly, the mission does not end. Otherwise this would have been clearly stated. Most of the meeting's participants were against the early completion of the mission. Therefore, no decision was made," the source said.
In his opinion, the biggest problem of the mission was that it had not produced the results, which were expected by the majority in the European Parliament. "From this follow the problems of the mission, and as for the support of the mission by the Ukrainian opposition, it is not exactly what one could expect," the source said.
When asked, why they have such an opinion with respect to the position of the Ukrainian opposition, which has publicly declared its support for the Cox-Kwasniewski mission, the politician referred to informal conversations. "MEPs do not feel the support of the opposition in Ukraine for this mission. Why? This follows from informal conversations. While continuing the confrontation with the government, the opposition is not interested in a stabilizing factor, which is the mission, but cannot openly say so," the source said.
There is also an understanding that an important factor that could contribute to the efficient work of the mission is the stabilization of the situation in Ukraine. "From this point of view, the biggest mistake of the Ukrainian authorities were the new charges against [Ukraine's former Prime Minister Yulia] Tymoshenko. They worked against the mission, as there was no understanding that the mission is a guarantee of the stabilization of the situation. The mission does not change Ukraine politically, that is not its role. The goal of the mission is humanitarian, and it is efficient from this point of view," he said.
