Va prezentam in cele ce urmeaza un articol realizat de reteaua EurActiv.com (in engleza; versiunea in romana se actualizeaza).elections. Reamintim ca Moldova si Georgia au semnat in dimineata zilei de vineri, 28 noiembrie 2013, demararea procesului de Asociere la UE. Ucraina, nu.

Link: LIVE VIDEO SUMMITUL DE LA VILNIUS: FELICITARI, MOLDOVA! Moldova a parafat primele documente pentru Acordul de Asociere la UE; Zi istorica pentru Republica Moldova si Georgia - momentul Zero al Asocierii la Uniunea Europena. Fara Ucraina

Link: Felicitari, Moldova!

Interviu in exclusivitate EurActiv cu fiica Iuliei Timosenko:

Fiica Iuliei Timosenko a acordat, in exclusivitate, un interviu editorului Georgi Gotev, EurActiv, in Vilnius, unde in aceste zile se desfasoara Summitul UE pentru Parteneriatul Estic. 

Reporter: Pe 21 noiembrie, guvernul Presedintelui Viktor Ianukovici a anuntat o intoarcere la 180 de grade a politicii Ucrainei fata de UE, care pare sa fi schimbat soarta mamei dvs. Acum pare sa nu mai existe nici o sansa ca va fi eliberata [din inchisoare - n.r.] inainte de alegerile prezidentiale din 2015. Aceasta trebuie sa fie o lovitura grea pentru dvs., mai ales ca o solutie parea realista nu cu mult inainte? 

Ievhenia Timosenko: Nu este vorba numai de mine. Desigur ca am fost increzatori, mama mea a fost increzatoare, speranta noastra statea in faptul ca Ianukovici va semna acordul [demararea procedurilor pentru Acorudl de Asociere UE-Ucraina - n.r.] Nimeni nu se indoia de asta in ultimele doua luni, prin felul in care acesta a condus pregatirile de intergare europeana si pentru semnare.

Din nefericire, dupa [recenta - n.r.] declarate a cabinetului sau de ministri, a devenit clar ca Ianukovici nu a avut niciodata in intentie cu adevarat o strategie europeana pentru Ucraina, ci doar a cautat sa gaseasca o cale de iesire pentru el, un instrument pentru a isi prelungi puterea si a isi consolida /proteja "averea familiei", dupa cum a numit Freedom House ultimele evolutii din Ucraina. 

Desigur ca suntem dezamagiti, majoritatea cetatenilor ucrainieni sunt dezamagiti, de aceea ei sunt pe strazi acum, sute si mii, cerand integrarea europeana si eliberarea mamei mele.

Reporter: Cat credeti ca vor dura protestele? e iarna si inca o iarna rece in Ucraina.
Ievhenia Timosenko: Revolutia Portocalie [2004-2005] a fost tot in timpul iernii si a fost mai frig decat acum, dar oamenii au rezistat. Iar acum numarul oamenilor din piata este tot mai mare, mai multi studenti, tineri ies din care si probabil ca vor fi si mai multi oameni dupa esecul Summitului [in privinta Ucrainei, Summitul de la Vilnius].

Cu siguranta, opozitia a anuntat ca va lupta pentru suspendarea lui Ianukovici si face un apel din prate mamei melee, mama mea face un apel catre liderii europeni sa acute in price fel pot, astral incat alegerile [prezidentiale] din 2015 sa fie libere si corecte, astfel incat fortele democratice sa castige si sa se asigure astfel ca fiasco-ul petrecut azi nu se va repeta. 

Reporter:Nu credeti ca Ianukovici i-a facut opozitiei un cadou dandu-i steagul UE pentru care sa lupte?

Ievhenia Timosenko: Eu cred ca opozitia a spus clar si, in special, mama mea, liderul opozitiei, ca principalul rezultat pentru Ucraina, pentru viitorul ei, este sa semneze Acordul de Asociere.

Semnatura nu inseamna ca vom fi in Uniunea Europeana maine, va fi mult de munca si cea mai mare parte din aceasta munca trebuie facuta de autoritati. Dai cei la putere refuza sa faca vreun effort, pentru ca scopul lor este sa fie la putere si sa profite de aceasta pozitie. Prin eseul semnarii, fiecare pierde, in special ucrainienii care sperau intr-un rezultat pozitiv si intr-o sansa pentru Ucraina.

(en.)

On the fourth day of a hunger strike by Yulia Tymoshenko, the jailed former prime minister and main political opponent of President Viktor Yanukovich, her daughter Yevhenia Tymoshenko gave an exclusive interview to EurActiv in Vilnius.

 

She spoke to EurActiv Senior Editor Georgi Gotev.

On 21 November, the government of President Viktor Yanukovich announced the U-turn of Ukraine’s policy towards the EU, it looks like the fate of your mother changed. Now it looks like there is not the slightest chance that she would be freed before the 2015 presidential elections. This must have been a heavy blow for you, as a solution appeared as quite realistic before that?

It’s not only me. Of course we were hopeful, my mother was hopeful, but our hope lied in that Yanukovich would sign the [EU-Ukraine association] agreement. Nobody doubted that in the last two months, by the way he led the preparations for European integration and for signing.

But unfortunately after this cabinet of ministers’ statement it became clear that Yanukovich never had in mind the European strategy in mind for Ukraine, he was trying to find the best way out, to find a solution, an instrument to keep him in power longer and to promote “the wealth of his family”, as Freedom House called this phenomenon in Ukraine.

Of course we are all disappointed, but mostly Ukrainian people are disappointed, that’s why they are on the streets now, hundreds of thousands, calling for European integration, but also for my mother’s freedom.

How long to you think the protests may last? It’s winter, and the winter is very cold in Ukraine…

The Orange Revolution [of 2004-2005] was also done during winter and it was much colder than now, it was snowing, but people stood up. And now the numbers of people are increasing on the square, more students, more young people are coming out, and there may be more people after the failure of the [Vilnius] summit.

I think that any attempt to sell anything else to the Ukrainian people by Yanukovich will fail. People in Ukraine demand the signature of this agreement to happen tomorrow [29 November]. If not, the consequences may not be predictable.

For sure, the opposition made it clear that they will fight for the impeachment of Yanukovich and they are calling on behalf of my mother, and my mother is calling on European leaders to help in any way they can, to make sure that [presidential] elections in 2015 will be free and fair, so that democratic forces win and make sure that this fiasco which happened today will never be repeated.

Don’t you think that Yanukovich gave a present to the opposition by giving them the EU flag to fight for?

I think the opposition made it clear and especially my mother as the leader of the opposition, that the main result for Ukraine, for its future, will be the signing of the association agreement.

The signature doesn’t mean that we will be in the EU tomorrow, there will be hard work, and most of the work will have to be done by the authorities. But those in power now refused to make this effort, because their real aim is to be in power and abuse it. By this failure to sign, everybody else lost, and especially Ukrainians who were hoping for a positive outcome and for a chance for Ukraine.

 

DOSSIER UKRAINE

EU leaders did a last attempt to salvage a historic EU-Ukraine association deal yesterday (28 November), but Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich remained firm that it could not be signed in the foreseeable future. Opposition leaders present in Vilnius said a next pro-European President would sign the agreement, putting their hopes in a massive pro-Europe vote in the 2015 Presidential

Background:

The Ukrainian government announced on 21 November that it had decided to stop its preparations to sign an association agreement with the EU. The statement made it clear that the decision was taken with a view to elaborating measures towards “Russia and other countries from the Community of Independent States”.

Ukraine said it would propose to the EU and Russia the formation of “a tripartite commission to handle complex issues”.

Also, Kyiv will “resume an active dialogue with the Russian Federation and other countries of the Customs Union and the member states of the CIS on the revival of trade and economic relations in order to preserve and strengthen joint efforts of economic potential”.

The statement does not say whether Ukraine intends to join the Customs Union led by its former Soviet master Russia, which the EU says is incompatible the statute for countries associated with the Western bloc.

 

 

Issues:

On the first day of the Vilnius summit of the Eastern Partnership, EU leaders made a last-ditch attempt to convince Yanukovich to sign the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement (AA), coupled with a Deep and Comprehensive Free-Trade Agreement (DCFTA) which would anchor this country to the 28-mebber bloc.

Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Council President Herman Van Rompuy met with Yanukovich at 18.15 Vilnius time, just before a dinner in which all EU countries were represented, together with representatives of the six Eastern Partnership countries – Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. For political reasons Belarus was represented at the level of foreign minister, while Ireland, Finland and Portugal were the only EU countries represented at a level lower than head of state or government.

Hope dies last

No communiqué was issued following Barroso and Van Rompuy’s meeting with Yanukovich, which lasted around an hour and a half. Apparently, the strategy of EU leaders was to keep the door open to the Ukrainian President as long as possible. Under intense pressure from Moscow, on 21 November Yanukovich renounced plans to sign the agreement in favour of closer ties with Russia.

Yanukovich fears that if his country signs the AA, the chances would be high that it would default, as Russia would denounce a free-trade agreement and basically close its borders to Ukrainian exports. He was also cited that upgrading Ukraine to EU standards would cost his country up to $20 billion (€14.7 billion) a year, a sum described as EU diplomats as far-fetched.

EU diplomats say that they would not engage in what Russia does: bribing Yanukovich with money. One diplomat said that it had been “a self-fulfilling prophecy” that Russian propaganda about catastrophic scenarios in case his country signs the AA has had such an impact on Yanukovich.

No trilateral talks

The EU side made clear to Yanukovich that his proposal for tripartite talks on trade issues involving Russia was a no-go. “We cannot give Moscow the right of veto in EU affairs”, a diplomat told EurActiv.

In any case, the Ukrainian President, who faces protests at home, apparently wants to keep the pro-European rhetoric and says that his country would sign AA at a later stage.

But EU diplomats are pessimistic that the deal would be signed under Yanukovich and put their hopes in the next presidential elections in Ukraine, due on 28 March 2015.

The same strategy is shared by Ukraine’s opposition leaders, also present in Vilnius as guests to a pre-summit meeting organized by the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) group.

Vitaly Klitschko, boxing champion and leader of the party UDAR, said that if the power in Kyiv didn’t want to listen to people, there was one solution – change of power. He added that this would happen at the presidential elections are in 2015.

 

Asked by EurActiv why wait so long, he said if the wish of the people was ignored, the elections would take place “much sooner”.

 

Arseny Yatsenyuk, leader of the Batkivschchyna party of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and a former minister of economy and of foreign affairs, appeared more cautious, warning that the massive protests in Kyiv over Yanukovich’s geostrategic U-turn were not a revolution.

 

“This is a peaceful pro-European rally. This is not a revolution. Not yet. And we are to face presidential elections on 28 March 2015. The key goal for us is to maintain this energy of millions who are pro-European. And not to kill this energy with the riot police and security forces, as President Yanukovich is dreaming of,” Yatsenyuk said.

 

Speaking at the same event, EPP Vice President Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, who chaired the centre-right pre-summit, said the most probable scenarios following the Vilnius summit were two: Ukraine following equal distance from the EU and from Russia until the 2015 elections, which he said was the most probable, and a worst-case scenario, which would be Ukraine immediately joining the Russia-led Customs Union, of which only Belarus and Kazakhstan are members.

 

Saryusz-Wolski also said that in the light of recent events, the EU needed to rethink its policy vis-à-vis Russia [Read exclusive interview].

 

EurActiv spoke to Yevhenia Tymoshenko, daughter of the jailed Prime Minister and main political opponent of Yanukovich, who called on European leaders to help in any way they can to make sure that the presidential elections in 2015 will be free and fair [Read exclusive interview].

The summit will resume this morning with speeches by leaders, many of which would be broadcast online. Moldova and Georgia are expected to initial Association Agreements and DCFTAs, similar to the one Ukraine was able to initial in March 2012, after the EU considered that the relations Kyiv-Brussels should keep momentum in spite of the Tymoshenko case.

In the meantime, thousands of protestors in Kyiv are awaiting anxiously the news from Vilnius, the expectation being that when the bad news become official, the manifestations could become larger and more vehement.