Merkel, Western leaders urge treatment for Tymoshenko
On 3 May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Ukrainian leaders to allow jailed former prime minister and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko proper treatment for her ailments. Merkel insisted that she had not yet decided whether to stay away from the Euro 2012 soccer championship matches to be held in Ukraine. “Much more important than my travel plans is that we must now do everything possible to see that Yulia Tymoshenko gets the proper treatment for her medical problems as soon as possible,” Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper quoted Merkel as saying. “The German government has been working on this for weeks and our offer stands for her to receive this medical treatment in Germany.” Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, was jailed last year for abuse of office, in a trial condemned by the West as politically motivated. She is now on hunger strike and has severe back pain.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Tymoshenko’s daughter, Yevgeniya, 32, called on President Viktor Yanukovych to release her mother and other alleged political prisoners before the Euro football competition starts on 8 June.
“There is still time for Yanukovych and his regime to change their ways and for him to use his constitutional powers to solve this political crisis within a month. He has the powers to do so,” she said. On May 3 boxing world champion and leader of political party “Strike” of Ukraine Vitali Klitschko called on Tymoshenko to stop the hunger strike. “Dear Yulia, along with colleagues in the party Strike, we read with concern the latest news about the deterioration of your condition. We are writing to you to stop the hunger strike…,” he wrote. “The news hurt your daughter, family and colleagues, while your opponents will continue to show a tough stance. I urge you not to give them good news that you become physically weak,” Klitschko wrote.
So far the presidents of Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Estonia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have all said they would not attend the 11-12 May gathering in the Black Sea resort of Yalta to be hosted by Yanukovich.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said he had no plans to visit Ukraine because of Tymoshenko.
The delegation of the European Union to Ukraine said on 3 May the other 26 commissioners would follow a similar line.
The snubbing of the summit could be a precursor to an even more painful boycott of the Euro tournament. Kyiv faced mounting pressure on 2 May when Holland and Austria announced that no government officials will travel to the Euro unless Mrs Tymoshenko’s conditions and treatment improve, after reports she was roughed up in jail.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said on 3 May that attempts to politicize the Euro tournament were “destructive”. “A successful championship will be a victory not for politicians, parties or ideologies, but for all Ukrainians and Poles. Its failure will be a loss for millions…”, it said.
Earlier, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said Euro 2012 was on track and Uefa – European football’s governing body – had not complained.
Poland has warned that the EU should not push Ukraine into the arms of Russia through a boycott. Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski said the tournament “is a chance for the nation, Ukraine, to present itself from the best side”. “We feel that Ukraine is somewhere between a choice of integration with the Western world… or a chance to participate in a customs union proposed by Russia.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev believes that Tymoshenko’s conviction of exceeding of authority by negotiating a 2009 gas deal with Russia that allegedly ran against Ukraine’s interests is “a political affair,” the presidential press secretary said. “As before, Medvedev considers it a political affair,” a program on 3 May on Rossiya-1 (Russia 1) television quoted Natalya Timakova as saying. Earlier on 3 May, Russian Prime Minister and President-elect Vladimir Putin had said Russian lawyers had “thoroughly checked everything” prior to signing the gas agreement with Ukraine. “The agreements we have signed are in full conformity with the Russian and Ukrainian legislations,” he said.