The European Union's Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Stefan Fule, intends to study the situation involving the arrests of former government officials.
The press service of the Narodnyi Rukh of Ukraine Party headed by former Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk announced this in a statement on Jan. 10.
Tarasiuk, a member of the Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense faction in parliament and chairman of the Rada’s European Integration committee, was one of the first to meet with Fule, who on Jan. 11 is scheduled to meet with the president, prime minister and foreign minister. .
"[During the meeting] Fule … said he was aware of the strong statement by the government of the United States regarding … the persecution of members of the former Ukrainian government and that one of the aims of his visit was to study the situation properly with the aim of preparing Brussels’ official position on the issue," he said.
Tarasiuk also said that he and Fule expressed concern at the negative trends in the development of democracy in Ukraine.
Tarasiuk and Fule highly assessed the dynamics of the bilateral relations between Ukraine and the European Union in 2010, particularly regarding the preparation of an agreement on association and the progress that was achieved on visa issues.
In particular, Fule noted Ukraine’s achievements in the area of adopting legislation aimed at bringing Ukraine closer to European standards.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Fule arrived in Ukraine on Monday for meetings with government officials.
The United States recently expressed concern at the criminal persecution of members of the Cabinet of Ministers led by Yulia Tymoshenko.
Prosecutor-General Viktor Pshonka announced on December 24 that 18 criminal cases had been filed against senior officials in the previous government and that investigation of eight of them had been completed.
The most controversial cases target Tymoshenko and former Interior Affairs Minister Yuri Lutsenko.
