European Forum

Ukrainian President Yanukovych not welcome in Brussels

An EU delegation visiting Kiev has announced on October the 18th that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s visit to Brussels, that was planned for coming Thursday, has been cancelled. He was supposed to meet EU Council President Herman van Rompuy and Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to discuss the Ukrainian integration process. The cancellation follows the jailing of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment on October 11th.

Tymoshenko, the main political rival of Yanukovych and former Prime Minister, was sentenced for allegedly signing a fraudulent gas deal with Gazprom and embezzling over 150 million USD from state resources. She dismissed her trial as Yanukovych’s attempt to bar her from parliamentary elections next year. The US and the EU have condemned the conviction as politically motivated.

However, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton faces a tough dilemma. Talks about an association agreement with Ukraine have already entered a late stage, and cutting of ties with the country could push it into Moscow’s sphere of influence. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has already tried to convince Yanukovich to join a customs union with promises of cheap gas. Low-level talks about the association agreement that would grant Ukraine more access to the European market are continuing. However, the signing of the agreement has been postponed “until a later date when the conditions are more conducive to making progress on bilateral relations,” as one of Ashton’s spokeswoman said.

Sources: Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung, Financial Times, NRC Handelsbald, RFE/RL, Washington Post, Image.