News

On September 21st, IWP held a panel discussion with Vytautas Landsbergis, MEP, former Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament. The topic of the conversation was “Key Challenges in EU-Ukraine relations on the eve of parliamentary elections.”Professor Landsbergis underscored that Ukraine is a crucial country for implementing the idea of the united Europe. He stressed that Lithuania will support European orientation of Ukrainian people, “Lithuania will support Ukraine in its choice of European direction.”

At the same time, the member of European Parliament expressed his concern over the events associated with the case of Yulia Tymoshenko, which, in his opinion, indicates the selectivity of the Ukrainian judicial system and the lack of the rule of law. Professor Landsbergis avowed that the European Parliament is the institution that does not make such judgments such as “guilty or not guilty,” but its vital function is to be an opinion-maker especially on the issues of human rights. Professor Landsbergis stated that European criticism nevertheless was taken into account by the Ukrainian politicians and fostered some positive alterations in the case of Yulia Tymoshenko.

Among other problems that, according to Professor Landsbergis, prevail on the Ukrainian political scene and prevent the democratization process in the country are lack of visionaries and prevalence of revanchist moods within opposition that could hinder peaceful transition of power within the country.

Vytautas Landsbergis also touched upon issues of geopolitical processes that take place in the region and the role of the Russian Federation, which in his opinion still regards Ukraine as its “backyard” and executes power politics in the region.

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