EU supports new proposal for Tymoshenko’s release

The EU diplomatic mission led by former European Parliament President Pat Cox and former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski voiced its support on October 31 for a new proposal to solve the EU requirement that an arrangement is made for the release of imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The mission endorsed the legislation submitted by Ukrainian independent MP Anzhelika Labunska that doesn’t involve a pardon for Tymoshenko, but creates a window for her release from prison, the Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper reported on November 1.

In particular, the Labunska proposal involves giving prisoners the right to seek medical treatment abroad if they spent at least a year of uninterrupted treatment that didn’t result in a full recovery. Upon ruling on a convict’s treatment abroad, the judge must also rule on whether to grant freedom altogether, without necessarily overturning the conviction. Labunska submitted the bill at the behest of Fatherland Parliamentary Faction Chair Arseniy Yatsenyuk as a compromise to the administration of President Viktor Yanukovych that doesn’t involve a pardon, the Ukrayinska Pravda news site reported. The EU and Ukrainian governments have been deadlocked on how to arrange for Tymoshenko’s release, which is a requirement for Ukraine-EU Association Agreement scheduled for signing at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius on November 28-29.

Zenon Zawada: This is the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for, particularly since it removes the requirement that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych pardon Tymoshenko, which we have consistently viewed as highly unlikely. It’s clear that the EU leadership sees the Association Agreement slipping away and is ready to go to greater lengths to get it signed before this historic opportunity disappears, perhaps for many years. So this compromise on behalf of the Cox-Kwasniewski mission reinforces our belief that the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement will be signed. Further adjustments will be needed to the Labunska legislation, which the ruling Party of Regions will likely pursue, in our view.