EU officials lash out at Kiev after Tymoshenko verdictOctober 11, 2011 - 18:48 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - European officials have lashed out at Kiev after Ukraine’s former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, was jailed for seven years for abuse of power. Brussels says the trial was biased and warns the verdict will have serious repercussions. President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek said he regretted Tuesday’s sentence and wished it to be reconsidered in an appeal. The sentence “causes concern over its politically-motivated nature and the discriminatory use of law in Ukraine,” he said. The European Commission’s Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement that the EU will review its policy towards Ukraine. Kiev’s approach to the trial poses a risk “of serious repercussions to bilateral relations between the European Union and Ukraine,” and will have an impact on “the Association Agreement, our political dialogue and our co-operation in a broader sense,” the statement said. The trial by a Kiev court “did not meet the international standards for a just, transparent and independent judicial procedure,” said Maja Kocijancic, Ashton’s spokesperson. Earlier, Brussels warned it would deny Kiev the EU Association Agreement it covets, should Tymoshenko be jailed, RT reported. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |