Tymoshenko says she never got a proposal for medical treatment abroad

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said she never received any proposal from the Ukrainian government to undergo medical treatment in Germany. “Accordingly, I can’t comment on what they think about that and how realistic it may be,” she said in a written response to questions submitted by the Ukrayinska Pravda news site, which published in the interview on September 16. Her last interview was published in April 2012.

In response to the question of whether she believes in her release from prison, knowing that it’s not the main guarantee for signing the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, Tymoshenko said. “I believe the Association Agreement will be signed between Ukraine and the EU, and faith in that is enough for me.”

Tymoshenko has sat two years out of a seven-year prison sentence for abuse of authority when she served as prime minister in 2008-2010. EU and U.S. leaders condemned her imprisonment as selective justice and political persecution. The EU has demanded Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych arrange for release if he intends to sign the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius on November 28-29. Deutsche Welle reported earlier this month that the Charite clinic was preparing a ward for Tymoshenko, citing anonymous sources in Berlin’s medical community.

Zenon Zawada: Whether the Yanukovych administration communicated a proposal to Tymoshenko to receive medical treatment abroad is largely irrelevant. The Ukrainian government is notorious for inconsistent policies and last minute decision-making, as well as hostility towards Tymoshenko herself. We still see the likelihood of her release as a coin flip. The decision rests on a single person, President Yanukovych, who has demonstrated unpredictability on EU-related matters, waiting only until late August to commit to Euro-integration, for instance.