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| Europe |
| EU Insists Ukraine Free Tymoshenko to Sign Treaty |
| 2013-09-21 |
| [An Nahar] The European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... on Friday insisted that Ukraine free tossed in the slammer Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko if it expects to sign a deal bringing Kiev closer to Europe. "Requests from the EU on Tymoshenko's case are still on the table," Lithuanian President Dalia Gribauskaite told news hounds at a regional forum in Yalta in southern Ukraine. "Without a solution of this question I do not see a possibility for the signing of the (association) agreement," she added. The EU, whose rotating presidency is currently held by Lithuania, has pressed Ukraine to release Tymoshenko or at least allow her to seek medical help abroad for back problems which had kept her in hospital for most of her prison term. In August, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych pledged to fulfill all the conditions put forward by the EU to sign the agreement, but gave no hint of a breakthrough in the dispute with Brussels over the jailing of Tymoshenko. He reiterated Friday that he has no legal authority to free Tymoshenko as it is up the courts to decide, but added that he had not yet given a "no" answer. "We are trying, we are looking for how to approach this most difficult issue related to Tymoshenko," he said, arguing there are pending cases against the opposition leader which "have to be answered". Kiev is hoping to sign the Association Agreement at the EU's Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in November, which would be a first formal step on the road to EU membership. |
| Posted by:Fred |