Ukrainian government organized violent provocations, opposition alleges

Opposition leaders and journalists are alleging that a May 18 attack on opposition supporters, in which journalists were also injured, was organized by the administration of President Viktor Yanukovych and members of the ruling Party of Regions. Video evidence confirmed the involvement of local party organizers in the attack, journalists alleged. Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the head of the most popular opposition party Batkivshchyna, said in a television interview the attack was organized by National Security and Defense Council Chair Andriy Kliuyev, the Yanukovych administration’s official responsible for coordinating efforts for Ukraine to sign the Association Agreement with EU in November. His orders were to attack those without official badges, Yatsenyuk said, yet the brutalized journalists weren’t visibly distinguished from the rest, undermining the plan.

Following the attack, Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Ministry filed charges that carried a softer penalty than the crime of “interfering with the lawful, professional work of journalists,” prompting some journalists to demand the resignation of its chair, Vitaliy Zakharchenko. He will offer an official report before parliament today on the violent incident. Meanwhile, the Party of Regions denied any involvement in the violence.

Zenon Zawada: EU leaders have yet to issue any statements on the violent incident, and they might opt to pass considering that Ukraine faces even greater hurdles in the quest for its Association Agreement. Yet it will certainly be mentioned behind closed doors at the May 23 extraplenary session of the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament. If it’s not fairly investigated and if the attackers aren’t appropriately punished, the incident will further hurt the Yanukovych administration’s image in the eyes of the European leadership.

Yet it’s not a game changer, such as the EU demand that the administration arrange for the release of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The incident won’t even rank as a second-tier priority ahead of the agreement, such as judicial and electoral system reforms. Yet it’s the weekly accumulation of such alleged violations of democratic principles that pose the threat of tipping the scales should they become too numerous for the European leadership to ignore.