Viktor Yanukovich: photo - president.gov.ua
"Due to the fact that a number of European heads of states are unable to attend the summit of presidents of the Central European Countries in Yalta, Ukraine found it reasonable to postpone it until a later date," said Alexander Dykusarov, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
Poland's president Bronislaw Komorowski, who was due to attend the summit at the Crimean resort, just one month before Poland co-hosts the Euro 2012 tournament with Ukraine, has appealed via a telephone call, Tuesday, to his Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yanukovich, to find a solution to what is becoming a diplomatic war over the fate of Tymoshenko.
The treatment of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko – currently serving a seven-year-sentence for “exceeding powers” as prime minister in a deal with Russian gas giant Gazprom – prompted several heads of state to back out of the summit, however.
Tymoshenko, one of the leader of the Orange Revolution of 2004, has claimed that she has been beaten while in prison.
Photographs released two weeks ago support the claim, showing bruising to her arms and stomach.
The presidents of Germany and the Czech Republic declined to attend the Yalta summit in protest against Tymoshenko's conditions.
The presidents of Slovenia, Austria and Italy have also bowed out, alongside those of Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria and Hungary.
Several ministers from national governments in Europe and EU officials have announced that they will not be attending Euro 2012 football matches in Ukraine if the ex-Soviet nation’s human rights record does not improve.
‘Don’t boycott Ukraine, swarm it!’
Meanwhile, Polish liberal opposition MP Janusz Palikot has suggested that instead of boycotting matches in Ukraine during Euro 2012 – as has been suggested by other politicians such as Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the opposition conservative-national Law and Justice (PiS) party – supporters of the imprisoned 51 year-old former prime minister should “swarm into Ukraine with banners and T-shirts with the inscription ‘Yulia Tymoshenko’ on them”.
“I will go, even though I’m not a football fan,” the MP who leads the Palikot Movement, the third largest party in parliament, told Radio Zet.
Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, said that though he has made his thoughts clear to Ukrainian president Yanukovich that Tymoshenko must be treated humanely, "calls for a boycott are inappropriate”.
Though German ministers have been among those calling for a boycott of Euro 2012 matches in Ukraine, Germany’s national football coach, Joachim Loew, said on Monday that while he supports "humanitarian treatment" of Tymoshenko, boycotting Ukraine matches "does not make sense." (pg/nh)
source: interfax/IAR