Debates on outcome of the Vilnius Summit and the future of the Eastern Partnership, in particular as regards Ukraine

Plenary session

European Parliament, Strasbourg

10-12-2013

Debates on outcome of the Vilnius Summit and the future of the Eastern Partnership, in particular as regards Ukraine

Vytautas Landsbergis:

The stance of Europe on Ukraine was both productive and semi-productive. Therefore the undoubtful success of Vilnius summit could be greater at this point, if EU had clear line long before.

Step by step the principle of openness of EU became reality. The barriers for homework – as well. Some of them looked rather artificially hardened. The Ukrainian World Congress calling for democracy and consistency on Ukraine’s European Way did not demand first a release of one doubtfully sentenced person as “precondition” for Association agreement with EU. In case of Union, the priorities became confused.

The treatment of Julia Timoshenko indeed lacks humanity and political neutrality, but formula about selective justice is hypocritical. While underlying that that justice in Ukraine, maybe in Georgia, is to be condemned, we appreciate selective justice of gross scale towards millions of victims of both totalitarian tyrannies in Europe, those who caused the Second World War.

Victims of one of them, that brown and black fascism, are honoured and commemorated, their butchers and torturers persecuted. Victims of red fascism, killer of tens of millions of innocent people, are marginalized and perpetrators of crimes against humanity let go easy.

Such a dualism of ourselves does not help post-communist countries to make their progress sooner. We are not observers only, we do participate in everything.