European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule has again said he is concerned by the prosecution of Ukraine's former prime minister and leader of the Batkivschyna party Yulia Tymoshenko and other members of the previous government.
He said this during a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko in Strasbourg on Tuesday, according to the Web site of the European Commissioner.
"We also discussed the important political reforms in Ukraine, in particular electoral and judicial reform. I also expressed once more my deep concern at the recent developments in the cases of Mrs Tymoshenko and other members of the former government of Ukraine. I noted the EU's concern at suggestions of there being a political motivation behind these cases. In this context, I emphasized the need to ensure maximum levels of transparency and fairness in investigations, prosecutions and trials," Fule said.
According to the European Commissioner they discussed a series of legislative reforms that are currently under preparation, in particular the importance of adopting the public procurement law in compliance with the highest standards.
During the meeting, Fule and Hryschenko confirmed the intention of the EU and Ukraine to finalize their negotiations on the Association Agreement and its deep and comprehensive free trade area by the end of this year.
The European Commissioner also welcomed the agreement reached by Ukraine and Moldova regarding the demarcation of the borderline between the two countries at the Odesa-Reni highway section near the village of Palanca.
