EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule has said that Brussels' concern over the criminal proceedings against ex-premier and Batkivschyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko has been growing, and that this reaction is not connected with her membership of the European People's Party.
He said the EU expressed its concerns back in January. Brussels is concerned not only about the number of cases, but also about the number of people who have come under investigation. "I can only say that our concern has only grown with time," the European Commissioner said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists in Brussels on Thursday.
When asked, whether Tymoshenko would have received the same attention from Brussels, if her party was not a member of the European People’s Party, Fule refuted such a connection.
"I do not think it (Brussels’ concern) is connected with the membership of the EPP. She was a prime minister of Ukraine, she worked closely with the European Union, and that’s enough for us to be concerned over what is happening in Ukraine, with her and with her former colleagues," the European Commissioner said.
