President Yanukovych's spokesmen are actively either trying to put a positive spin on Thursday's "European Parliament resolution on the current developments in Ukraine", or are accusing the EU of double or inconsistent standards. They are denying linkage between further progress in Ukraine's Euro-integration and Tymoshenko's release.
The resolution itself is quite clever.
[The Europarliament] "Welcomes the agreement that has been reached on the conclusion of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement; regards this agreement as a solid basis for the possible finalisation of the negotiations on an Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine."
i.e. The details of the free trade and association agreements are all but sorted. and are, one could say, 'ready to go'.
The resolution "calls on the Council and Commission to reschedule the meeting with President Yanukovych so that it takes place ahead of the planned EU-Ukraine Summit in December 2011"
An offer Yanukovych can hardly refuse - so the ball is now definitely in Ukraine's court.
But:
[The Europarliament] "Takes the view that a deepening of relations between the EU and Ukraine and the fact of offering Ukraine a European perspective are of great significance and in the interests of both parties; recognises Ukraine's aspirations pursuant to Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, provided that all criteria, including respect for the principles of democracy, human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, are met;
Deplores the sentencing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko as a violation of human rights and an abuse of the judiciary for the purpose of the political suppression of Ukraine's leading opposition politician...[and] insists that Yulia Tymoshenko should be allowed to exercise her right to participate fully in the political process both as of now and in the forthcoming elections in Ukraine...
..expresses concern at some signs of decline in democratic freedoms and at the possible instrumentalisation of state institutions for partisan purposes and to exact political revenge"
Surely, if the EuroParliament insist Tymoshenko be allowed to participate fully in the political process right now..this means they are insisting she should be released right now, otherwise, no deal?
p.s. The official translation of "Deplores the sentencing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko" is "Засуджує обвинувальний вирок..
I.m.h.o this sounds rather soft; maybe "Vvazhaye zhalyuhidnym..would be better..
Note:
Treaty on European Union Article 2: The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.
Article 49, referred to in Thursday's European Parliament resolution, says that any European state that respects the "principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law", may apply to join the Union.
And what about the other members of the opposition that have also been persecuted. Lutsenko has been imprisoned for nearly a year and his trial is consistently delayed.
ReplyDeleteTymoshenko's appeal is at least a month off and the government appears to have won the battle with the opposition in disarray and the people of Ukraine remaining silent at the abuse of processes.
The EU will still try and seduce Ukraine my offering it tokens of acceptance. Free visa regime goes hand and hand with a Free trade agreement. You can not have free trade when only group is denied access to the others market space. The freeing up of Ukrainians access to visas will be seen as a major achievement of Yanukovych. One that Yushchenko and others could not secure for Ukraine. It will bring Ukraine closer to Europe through culture and commerce.
Yanukovych's hard line, either accept us of lose us will deliver fruit. In the end he knows Europe needs to Keep Ukraine on line more than it needs to protect Tymeshenko or democratic rights.
Pragmatism will overrule emotion.
LEvko,
ReplyDeleteThank you for providing a link to the resolution of the European parliament.
Of note is Item
7. Takes the view that a failure to review Yulia Tymoshenko's conviction will jeopardise the conclusion of the Association Agreement and its ratification, while pushing the country further away from the realisation of its European perspective; expresses concern at some signs of decline in democratic freedoms and at the possible instrumentalisation of state institutions for partisan purposes and to exact political revenge;
I agree, I think it is a motherhood statement and needs to be stated much firmer then the words expressed, but this is the language of diplomacy and whe need to read between the lines.
In addition, is item
11. Strongly supports the recommendations put forward in the joint opinion of the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR on the draft parliamentary election law; considers it essential that these recommendations should be adopted and implemented in an expedient, inclusive and comprehensive fashion, involving both the opposition and civil society;
Item 11 is more strongly worded and it is important to note in that it strongly criticises the proposed changes to Ukraine's electoral laws and the return to a hybrid MMP system of Parliamentary representation.
Both the Venice Commission and the OSCE have recommended that Ukraine establish multiple local electorate with each electorate electing repesenatives using a system of proportional representation.
A good alternative model is to establish 45 local electorates with each electorate electing 9 members of parliament on a 10 % quota using a system of Single Transferable Proportional Representation voting system (Meek or Wright method of counting the vote).
The above model meets the expectations of the Venice Commission's recommendations and if implemented would put Ukraine at the forefront of Representative democracy. Each electorate is equal not only the number for constituents (+/- 10%) but more importantly equal in the mandate percentage applied to each electorate. It provides for accountability at a local level and at the same time provides effective representation of Ukraine's diverse population in proportion to the support given in each region without any political bias or distortion in the results.
It is possible to make some initial assessment of the outcome of this model based on the elections 225 administrative districts (5 districts make up one electorate), but it would be wrong to try and base a proposed model based on the possible electoral outcome. Any model must be assessed and determined on the principle of fairness, equality and one vote one value.
Thanks for the comments.
ReplyDeleteI think most are agreed that the EU/Ukraine negotiations are 95%completed, but the eventual outcome of the current impasse will be determined by just one man - the president. Maybe it is he who should be pragmatic?
Europeans do not want to have closer ties with Ukraine in the condition it is in at the moment. The perceived flaws are clearly enumerated in the Europarliament resolution. Most of them can be 'worked on'.
Experience with other new members shows that once Association and Free Trade agreements are initialled and ratified, there will eventually be some back-sliding to 'bad habits' hence the high bar set before initialling and ratification.
During the ratification period any prospective new member country has to be on it's best behaviour too.
The word 'insist' [see blog] can be interpreted in several ways, but i.m.o. it is not a 'rubbery' word that can be bent much...I would say the Europarliament 'demand in a determined manner' [that Tymoshenko be released...]
Than one man can scupper the future of the country by imprisoning a woman whose trial by normal civilised measure was highly dubious is almost surreal...He is not Hitler or Stalin.
The stakes are high. If agreements are not signed by the end of the year, Ukraine's foreign affairs vector may not be reset westward for maybe a generation. Sadly, most of the population has such a jaundiced view of the country' political elite that they don't seem to be bothered; but if the Ukraine's European project ends in failure in December these same people will not forgive Yanukovych.
In response to the EU, The Pineapple, the village idiot "the president" of Ukraine, went to ----- Brazil.
ReplyDeleteThere is a group in Ukraine which did a video about it - and I absolutely fell out of my chair and rolled on the floor laughing.
They did a take-off on the song "Macarena" about The Pineapple's trip to Brazil:
"hey, cucuracha, Maradona, Guevara
everything's fine in Ukraine
hey, --- macaroni"
It's a few minutes into this clip, just before the interview with Klitchko:
http://tvi.ua/ua/watch/author/?prog=700&video=4412
There is also an excellent, excellent interview with Timothy Snyder - well worth watching:
http://tvi.ua/ua/watch/author/?prog=700&video=4415
Ukraine news
ReplyDeleteThe European Union rules out imposition of any sanction against Ukraine for the jailing of former prime minister and leader of the Batkivschyna All-Ukrainian Association party Yulia Tymoshenko.
Miroslav Lajcak, the European Union's chief negotiator and the managing director for Russia, eastern neighborhood, and the western Balkans in the European Union's external action service, stated this in an interview with the Channel 5 television station on October 29.
"I do not even want to think about it, because the quality of our relations with Ukraine is much higher. We are not talking about sanctions, and we do not want to think about it. For us, Ukraine is a very important partner within the European partnership, the country with which we have made the most progress in the preparation of agreements on association and free trade area, and the country that holds the presidency of the Council of Europe," he said.
Lajcak also said that the name of the defendant in the trial of Tymoshenko does not matter to the European Union and that what is important to the European Union is compliance with European principles during consideration of this case, and European Union member states and members of the European Parliament reacted because they did not see compliance with these principles in the case.
"If a former prime minister is in court, and a court case is opened against him [Her], that certainly prompts great interest in Europe... For us, the name is not the key. What is very important to us is the principle. If such a person is brought before a court, then, of course, everyone is watching to ensure that the court process is fair and transparent, to ensure that there are no doubts. Unfortunately, these expectations were not met," said Lajcak.
At the same time, he expressed hope for successful completion of the negotiations with Ukraine on an association agreement before the Ukraine-European Union summit scheduled for December.
Comment: Either he is speaking for the EU or he needs to be sacked.
The Fact that Ukraine has not come out in protest and defended Tymoshenko is a sure sign that she will spend most of her time imprisoned. ( I hoope she is comfortable)
ReplyDeleteLutsenko has been imprisoned for nearly an year and the EU has done nothing over his imprisonment. EU Negotiators continued.
If Yanukovych was concerned he would release both on bail pending the outcome of their trials and appeals.
In the absence of civil unrest I would not expect the EU to backup its resolutions. In 207 the EU made noise about Yushchenko's violation of Ukraine's Constitution. Then they sat back and watched as Yushchenko in direct breach of EU recommendations interfered in the independence and operation fo Ukraine's Constitutional Court. In this instance Yushchenko's actions caused seven years of political and civil unrest.
The EU will not go battle over Tymoshenko. Certainly not if Ukrainians do not protest.
This is Yushchenko's legacy.
A loss of confidence in the political process.
Yushchenko betrayed the people of Ukraine.
Like in Poltava 300 years ago they will not fight for their independence and human rights.
They do not see it as their war.
They do not see it as their war - and that is precisely the problem!
ReplyDeleteOlena Bumdarenko, who clucks like a hen, has been making the blitzkrieg on the political talk shows in Ukraine.
The latest message, besides "Tymoshenko is a criminal," is
"we don't have stalinist show trial courts - we are just like Iceland and Sweden and England and other countries who prosecute corruption."
And - apparently they have even hired some shysters - or someone - to actually look up the laws in other countries, and provide links to them on various blogs!
The problem is that when you actually look at the legal system, and the laws in the other countries, they:
1) have juries
2) the laws specify the conduct that is illegal
3) the judge are impartial - they are not handmaidens of a village idiot like Yanukonvikt, The Pineapple
Ukraine has no juries, despite Ukraine's constitutional guarantee of a jury.
The judges are clearly servants of The Pineapple, the village idiot president of Ukraine.
And the laws under which they have conducted their stalinist show trials date back to - surprise, surprise - stalinist times.
Article 364 and 365
"exceeding government, or the powers of office, with heavy consequences"
These days, the opposition patiently explains what the EU is saying - that if Jesus Christ herself, or Pontius Pilate, or satan, or even stalin, were on trial in Ukraine, they would be looking only to whether the legal system in Ukraine is up to European standards.
Because the legal system in Ukraine has affected everyone in Ukraine for 20 years now.
I am glad that the EU kicked Yanuklownych in the balls.
The people passed their sentence on Yushchenko.
Now maybe the people can get past all the sovok mafia propaganda from Olena Bumdarenko, the clucking hen, and finally realize that the EU has a point - and that the people in Ukraine ought to finally stand up for themselves and for Ukraine.
PS - On the last Savik Shuster show, and on the last "Big Politics" show on Inter, it seems that the clucking hen, Olena Bumdarenko, can't say anything except - "don't interrupt, I can't get my message out due to all the interruptions by the opposition."
She has nothing useful or honest to say - so she keeps accusing the opposition of interrupting.
I hope the clucking hen finally stops clucking.
She's never said an honest word in her life - just like the rest of the sovok mafia in Ukraine.