By Jaime Ortega.
The Ukrainian government has closed the door of the EU just to prevent opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko for her to escape . Hours before the Ukrainian parliament rejected to pass a law that would allow former Prime Minister who is jailed to transfer her political problems abroad, the Ukrainian government has announced that it temporarily suspended the work to sign a free trade agreement with the European Union .
The treaty, which is key to an economy adrift to the current Ukrainian financial crisis, was initialed to go on the 28-29 of this month in Vilnius (Lithuania ) , but the EU demanded that before the agreement Timoshenko’s case was finally fixed a she turns her seven years in prison for abuse of office in a trial widely criticized by the West. The explanation given by the Ukrainian government to grind to this decision is that they want to analyze well the impact of the agreement on industrial production ( designed primarily for former Soviet republics ) and in trade with Russia.
In recent months, pressure from Moscow for Kiev to not sign has been enormous. Russia is building its own customs union with other members of the USSR such as Kazakhstan and Belarus. In the EU, Russian replica Ukraine is a very coveted piece , but Kiev had to choose one of two sides. The European Union requirements threaten the political future of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich , with Tymoshenko’s release because before the upcoming 2015 presidential election it would allow her to be back on the political race who he most fears : the charismatic blonde combative frustrated with the Orange Revolution in 2004 and the assault on the power of the head of state .
Tension with Russia
Relations with Moscow also are complicated for Yanukovych. The Kremlin has threatened Ukrainian rulers with a new ‘gas war ‘ that could leave the country frozen in winter. And has imposed various barriers to Ukrainian products . In this tug of war Russian President Vladimir Putin offered little before the announcement of a tripartite committee that would be presented in Ukraine, the EU and Russia. But with the requirement that the entity could only be formed before any agreement is signed .
President Yanukovych , who was visiting Austria today, has said his country will follow the path to the EU as Ukrainian service reports from the RFERL news portal . But some voices from Brussels to Kiev , have advised that the more it takes Ukraine to make a decision, they might may not enjoy another opportunity to get closer to the European institutions.
This maneuver can boot Yanukovich , in the future with juicier agreement by the EU: its approach to European markets would close many doors in existing commercial circuits in which it operates : mainly those of the former Soviet Union . Today’s decision is in the background between two games . On one hand, the struggle between Russia and the EU to attract Ukraine. On the other, the war between the opposition and the Party of Regions , which supports the government.
The details concerning the future of Timoshenko have shipwrecked the agreement. Although in the past the Ukrainian president has been willing to release her to a clinic in Germany to treat her serious back ailment, the opposition does not want the former prime minister to return to Ukraine past the treatment. For days, pressure has mounted knowing that Yanukovych was running out of time and could opt for a pardon . But Ukraine has finally returned to stand in the road that separates it from Moscow and Brussels .
