Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-10-12-Speech-3-214-000"
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"en.20111012.17.3-214-000"2
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"Mr President, honourable Members, I have no doubt that everyone in this House will join me in expressing condemnation about the verdict against Yulia Tymoshenko pronounced in Ukraine yesterday. I issued a strong statement on behalf of the European Union at that time and I fully share the views that were expressed in President Buzek’s statement at the same time.
Tomorrow, I will be meeting both President Van Rompuy and President Barroso, and Ukraine is on our agenda. Of course we will review the contacts with Ukraine, including those political dialogues, and continue to send the clear messages to the leadership on the systemic problem they need to face in re-establishing the rule of law.
As friends of the Ukrainian people, we owe it to them to spare no effort to help Ukrainian leaders take the right decisions. It is clear to us what they are and I believe it is also clear to the people of Ukraine what they are.
There is no doubt that the prosecution of Yulia Tymoshenko was politically motivated. Her conviction yesterday followed a trial which did not respect international standards as regards a fair, transparent and independent legal process. Regrettably, her case is not an isolated one in the Ukraine. Several other members of her government have been prosecuted and convicted in the same way.
These judicial proceedings have been criticised not just by Ukraine’s partners, but by independent monitors and experts. This is not acceptable for a country which holds the Chairmanship of the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe, or for a country which claims to share our fundamental values.
Selective and politically motivated justice is not the European way. Governments are accountable to their electorates and their political decisions should be judged through the ballot box, not through the courts. This principle is a cornerstone of our democracies. There is absolute unity among the Member States of the European Union that the Ukrainian authorities must allow for swift and comprehensive appeals, without limitations to the right to stand in the parliamentary elections next year.
I was interested to see that President Yanukovych has expressed unhappiness with the Criminal Code in Ukraine and recognises the need for change, but frankly, that is not enough. It does not excuse the authorities from the responsibility to guarantee a process which is fully in line with international standards.
Ukraine also needs to press ahead with critical reforms to the constitution and adopt an electoral law which reflects a cross-party consensus in parliament. A level playing field is essential if we are to see credibility and confidence restored in Ukraine.
The year 2011 was to have been one of unparalleled opportunity and development in EU-Ukraine relations. Our aim was to sign an association agreement, including a deep and comprehensive free trade area, by the end of the year. That agreement has been conceived not as a gift to Ukraine, or a gift to Europe, but as a mutually beneficial contract sharing our values and standards, opening our markets, modernising and diversifying the Ukrainian economy, and entrenching the rule of law and fundamental freedoms. It would have been the first of its kind under the renewed European Neighbourhood Policy and the reinvigorated Eastern Partnership, whose leaders, as honourable Members know, met only 10 days ago in Warsaw and reconfirmed their commitment to closer political association based on these common values.
I believe that the offer of concluding an association agreement should remain on the table. Yulia Tymoshenko herself asked us to carry on with the technical work on the association agreement. Both citizens in the European Union and in Ukraine stand to benefit, and it offers the Ukrainian Government the road map for transformation that the country needs. So I believe that we should not walk away from the technical negotiations but continue with the aim of having before us on the table a document which makes it clear to both sides what is possible – and also what could be lost.
But we can only sign such an agreement if we are convinced that the Ukrainian leadership believes in the values on which it is based, and is committed to upholding. It is clear that this House would not accept such an agreement if it did not have this conviction."@en1
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