EU conditions for Tymoshenko release are impossible, Ukraine minister says

It’s unfair and improper for the European Union (EU) leadership to base its willingness to sign the Association Agreement on the demand that the Ukrainian government arrange for the release of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Foreign Minister of Ukraine Leonid Kozhara said in an interview published on July 25 by the Interfax-Ukrayina news agency.

He criticized the European parliament’s most recent resolution calling for Tymoshenko’s unconditional release. “No one has the authority in this country to ‘unconditionally release’ a convicted person,” he said, adding that arranging for such a release, based on what the resolution calls for, is “impossible.” Tymoshenko refuses to cooperate with Ukraine’s justice system and the government has yet to confirm whether she wants to be released. “Currently, it sometimes comes out that our Western partners inspire the convicted Tymoshenko not to cooperate, citing the certainty that she will be released based on some norm that’s not understood.”

Zenon Zawada: The administration of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is biding its time, maintaining its negotiating position, as it continues to play the EU off the Russian Federation in pursuit of gaining greater concessions from either or both sides. It looks as though the Yanukovych administration will use every last maneuver, and every last minute, at its disposal to work out an arrangement with the EU that will proffer a pact with the least amount of concessions from its end, particularly in regards to Tymoshenko.

While we share the common view in Ukraine that Tymoshenko’s release is a coin toss at this point, we are confident that the EU leadership won’t sign the Association Agreement without her release. Based on this assumption, we believe the Yanukovych administration and EU leadership are working on the conditions of her release behind the scenes, with the Ukrainian side being most concerned about neutralizing her for the 2015 presidential election.