Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-04-25-Speech-3-280"
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"en.20070425.36.3-280"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, honourable Members, we very much welcome your decision to put discussion of the current situation in Ukraine and also the European Union’s relations with that country on the agenda. Ukraine’s importance in terms of European stability is not to be underestimated, and so I am glad of the opportunity to express the Council Presidency’s position with regard to it.
The Orange Revolution was an impressive demonstration of the power of civil society movements in Eastern Europe, and the democratic parliamentary elections in March 2006, being largely free and fair, were an example for other states in the region to follow.
This is not, however, the first time that Ukraine has found itself at a very difficult point in the course of its difficult process of transition and transformation. It has experienced the Orange Revolution, which was in itself the critical culmination of a political dispute, followed by the political wrangling and difficulties relating to the formation of a coalition and a government following the March 2006 parliamentary elections, which were a debate on the country’s internal and external orientation, and now President Yushchenko’s decree of 2 April 2007 dissolving the parliament, together with the refusal by the government and parliament to obey it.
The attitude of both sides is causing considerable constitutional misgivings in Ukraine itself, with the Ukrainian parliament appealing to the constitutional court to rule on the constitutionality of the President’s decree dissolving it.
While the Council is of course following events in Kiev with close attention, they are also a cause of great concern to it. The European Union has been in close contact with both parties in the conflict since the crisis broke; Mr Solana has spoken with them on several occasion and has made them aware of the European Union’s position, and our Presidency, on the day after the decree of dissolution was published, urged moderation and readiness for dialogue on the basis of democratic rules and the Ukrainian constitution. Our Presidency has also been in close contact with the groups involved in the crisis and with protagonists on both sides, and the European Union will build on those contacts.
The Ukrainian constitutional court has been presented with a difficult task, and will be able to perform it only if it is enabled to come to a decision on the constitutionality of the dissolution of parliament without being made subject to external pressure. If the political crisis is to have a long-term solution, however, political compromises will be necessary, and so we are glad to see that both President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yanukovych are no less willing to engage in dialogue than they were, and welcome the assurances given by both sides to the effect that violence is not even being considered as a means of settling the conflict. Our expectation is that both sides will abide by their public statements and the assurances given by them to the European Union in order to prevent any further escalation of the crisis.
Whatever changes may come about in the political environment in Kiev, democracy, free and fair elections, the free expression of opinion and the freedom of the press remain the basis underpinning political and social life, and that is one reason why we are confident that Ukraine will find a way out of this political crisis that is consistent with our shared conceptions of democracy and of the rule of law, one that will enable Ukraine to continue to be able to count on the support of the European Union."@en1
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