EU: Yanukovych trip to Brussels canceled

[October 18, 2011]  KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- The European Union on Tuesday put off a key visit to Brussels by the Ukrainian president over the jailing of former prime minister and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

President Viktor Yanukovych had been slated to travel to Brussels Thursday for talks on a long-awaited free-trade agreement with the 27-nation bloc, but EU Commission spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said the trip has been "postponed to a later occasion when the conditions will be more conducive to making progress on the bilateral relations."

Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison last week on charges of abuse of office in the signing of a natural gas import contract with Russia in 2009. She dismissed her trial as Yanukovych's attempt to bar her from parliamentary elections next year. The U.S. and the EU have condemned the conviction as politically motivated.

The postponement of Yanukovych's visit to Brussels follows signals from Kiev that Tymoshenko would not be quickly released based on legal amendments that would turn her misdemeanor into a less serious offense as her supporters and Western officials had hoped.

Commenting on the decision to put off Yanukovych's trip, Dirk De Backer, spokesman for EU President Herman Van Rompuy said: "Ukraine has to make improvement on important issues, such as the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary."

Members of Tymoshenko's parliamentary faction staged a protest on Tuesday over an apparent refusal by the pro-Yanukovych majority to consider a bill that could allow her release.

Yanukovych also hinted in an interview with Western newspapers that Tymoshenko is unlikely to be freed any time soon. He said that the changes in legislation wouldn't be approved until they are analyzed by EU experts.

[Associated Press; By MARIA DANILOVA]

Raf Casert contributed to this report from Brussels.

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