Ukraine's jailed ex-PM Tymoshenko declares hunger strike

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ukraine's jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has declared a hunger strike in an attempt to press the government to sign a landmark deal with the EU, the Guardian reported.

Tymoshenko's lawyer, Serhiy Vlasenko, announced the decision on Monday, Nov 25, at a protest against the government's move to shelve the association and trade deal with the EU and forge closer ties with Russia instead.

The EU considers Tymoshenko's imprisonment politically motivated and has said it will not sign any deal unless Tymoshenko is freed. It is not her first hunger strike.

Ukraine' president, Viktor Yanukovych, has resisted the EU pressure, apparently fearing that Tymoshenko, whom he closely defeated in elections in 2010, would challenge him again in the 2015 vote.

Last week, Tymoshenko said in an open letter that she was ready to ask the EU to drop the demand for her release if it could help persuade Yanukovych to sign the deal.

Meanwhile on Monday, Yanukovich acted to defuse pro-Europe street protests, saying a decision to suspend moves towards a trade pact with the EU had been difficult, and vowing to bring "European standards" to the country.

In a television address, Yanukovich said the decision had been forced by economic necessity.

"Today I would like to underline this: there is no alternative to the creation of a society of European standards in Ukraine and my policies on this path always have been, and will continue to be, consistent," he said.

Yanukovich's government stunned European leaders last Thursday by announcing it was suspending preparations for the signing of the deal in Vilnius and declaring it would revive dialogue instead with Russia, which had objected to the deal.

The announcement triggered pro-Europe demonstrations on the streets of the capital, Kiev, and isolated clashes with police.