President Viktor Yanukovych, in an interview broadcast on state-owned First National TV on Oct. 19, continued his combative stance over the cooling of Ukraine-European Union relations. EU officials have said they will indefinitely postpone meetings with Yanukovych until the human rights climate in Ukraine improves.
Tensions have risen since the Oct. 11 conviction of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is now serving a seven-year prison sentence for negotiating a gas deal with Russia that prosecutors said cost the state $188 million more than necessary. Yanukovych has been widely condemned in the West for persecuting Tymoshenko and former members of her government. She remains as popular, if not more so, than he does in the polls even though he beat her by 3.5 percentage points in the 2010 presidential election.
Top officials in the Ukrainian government – including Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Deputy Prime Minister – have hinted that the nation may join the Russian-led customs union, a prospect that would scuttle or slow talks under way for four years by Ukraine to achieve a free-trade and association agreement with the 27-nation EU.
Here’s an unofficial English-language translation of Yanukovych’s interview with First National TV:
“We worked hard on this [free-trade] agreement, very hard. There are obligations for Ukraine. But are there obligations for the EU here, or not? We are asking for a membership perspective for Ukraine. Without this, it will be empty and will negatively affect the Euro-integration process.
“Thus, there will be no motivation. Also, this agreement is signed only once. If it is ratified, there can’t be others and it’s not clear how long it will last. They don’t want to take upon themselves any obligations, because they are not certain if they will be expanding or not.
“There is an impression that we are like beggars asking in, but they are not letting us in. I don’t want this. I don’t want our rights as partners are violated and I want to have support that we need.
“At the Warsaw [Eastern Partnership] Summit [on Sept. 29-30], I called for Ukraine’s membership perspective to be included in the agreement. We heard no response. We got signals that the European Commission is not happy that we are demanding this. I said ‘If you are not ready to adopt this agreement now, let’s put it off and see how reforms in Ukraine will continue. We are doing these reforms … for us to lift quality of life, to defend human rights and standards and living standards.
“The situation is such that we have a position which our partners do not want to consider. This is the main point if we want to talk of this process. As for the Tymoshenko situation, I am confident that this will all fall into place. If she is innocent, this is what the court will decide. If she is guilty, then will face justice.
“Thus, today, the main thing is that we as partners look each other in the eyes with respect. I do not have the right as president of Ukraine to allow anyone not to respect our position, the position of our country.
“I am asked by many: when will be become members of the EU. I reply: This is a gradual process. I say that we need to continue reforms as we have fallen behind the world."
Question: Could you say something about the [Russian-led] customs union? Is there a conflict?
“There is no conflict. We are talking absolutely in normal terms. We just signed an agreement on free trade within the framework of the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States]. I hope that we will soon settle the problem of natural gas. Russia and Kazakhstan are now trying to join the World Trade Organization.
“When they do, all the rules of the free trade will start. We will look at how it works. We will see how it works. Then people will ask me, why are you playing politics? Why are you not going where it will be better for us?
“We want to consciously and wisely look into the future.
“This is the main aim. We have time. Nobody is rushing us. We have good relations. It can’t be any other way.
“Thus, the decision today one: we are in a negotiation, integration process with the EU. We want this process to be pragmatic and two-sided in terms of respect. This is the position of Ukraine which I should uphold.”
