The talks about sanctions against the Ukrainian officials involved in Tymoshenko’s imprisonment might have real consequences. The US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has unanimously adopted the draft resolution urging to release the former Ukrainian prime minister. Of course, it is not a decision of the Congress or Senate but it is definitely a warning to the Ukrainian authorities.
“The US Senate is critical about the actions of Ukraine’s Presidential Administration aimed at politically motivated imprisonment of the former prime minister Yuliia Tymoshenko,” the resolution reads. The Senate has also called upon the US Department of State to ban the issue of visas for those “who are responsible for Tymoshenko’s imprisonment and ill-treatment.”
Another representative of the US authority, Philip Gordon, has actually parried this declaration. The current Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs claimed that the US prefers cooperating with the Ukrainian government rather than imposing sanctions.
“We want to continue cooperating with the Ukrainian government and want to see the results... The highest US authorities including the President and the Secretary of State made clear their concerns about the selective prosecution in Ukraine and emphasized the importance of free and honest elections. I do not think that the Ukrainian authorities do not realize how seriously we take these issues,” Gordon emphasized.
It is significant that this summer the same US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations unanimously adopted “Magnitski law” according to which the US executive authorities will have to impose visa and financial restrictions on the Russian officials involved in the lawyer’s death. However, the administration of the President Barack Obama was quite careful about this issue.
As we can see the situation with “Tymoshenko case” is similar. However, the Ukrainian authorities will have to take one more test: the parliamentary election. Foreign politicians have repeatedly shown their intense attention to it. Judging from the behavior of the election campaign when almost every day there is some information about law breaches, the reaction of the international community might be even worse than now.
“There are yellow cards but it seems to me that it is a red card,” the MP from the fraction BYuT-Batkivshchyna Serhii Soboliev commented this situation. “If the whole US Senate takes the same strict attitude it will mean the beginning of the global boycott campaign against Yanukovych. It shows that nothing has changed in Ukraine as for democracy, reforms, freedom of speech, independent judiciary and avoiding political repressions… It is a very serious warning. All European political forces are in the opposition with Yanukovych, even the socialists the Party of Regions has signed an agreement with. He has only one ally, Zhirinovski, who actively supports Yanukovych. I cannot think of anybody else.”
In the government they insist that such resolutions remind of “elements of the Cold War.” “We also have committees that adopt some decisions and then the parliament does not support them,” the MP from the Party of Regions Volodymyr Oliinyk commented. “I do not think that the US Senate will support this resolution. It is co-authored by two politicians who have strong feelings about the Ukrainian opposition. That is why the decision of the Senate Committee did not surprise me much. Different positions are the evidence of democracy. Moreover, I know that another committee is now also examining this issue. Actually, these are very important challenges that remind me of elements of the Cold War. There is an attempt to isolate the country and its government from the world, however it is hopeless. The world has already gone through it.” The reaction of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been the same.
Anyway, such resolution is not good news for Viktor Yanukovych before his visit to the US. This week the Ukrainian president is planning to visit New York where the 67th session of the General UN Assembly will open. The aim of the visit is to discuss political and economic issues with the top authorities of the US and IMF. He is unlikely to avoid the burning of all international talks – “Tymoshenko case.”
COMMENTARY
“BANK ACCOUNTS MIGHT BE FROZEN”
Yurii SHCHERBAK, diplomat, writer:
“Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry is right: the resolution of the committee is not the one of the Congress or Senate. However, it is a warning. A bit later there will be another warning. When they see that there is no reaction, they will probably adopt a decision after which we will not be able to speak about the partnership between the US and Ukraine.
“If our politicians were more flexible and not so straightforward, they would have reacted somehow. Sometimes they should step back under the international pressure. However, I am afraid they will be as stubborn as during the YES summit. I think they will adopt some decision in winter or spring [concerning the sanctions. – Ed.] which will be joined by the EU. It will be more serious for the Ukrainian politicians, especially if the US makes a list of people similar to ‘Magnitski list’ for Russia.
“As for the influence of the resolution on the Ukrainian politicians, I think that the Ukrainian politicians worry only about their property abroad since not only Lazarenko has a lot of accounts. Meanwhile, special fiscal bodies of the American intelligence, especially FBI, have their agents in banks where our politicians keep their money. So, there might be a threat for them as their accounts might be frozen.”
Prepared by Ihor SAMOKYSH, The Day
