Yulia Tymoshenko: the world shouldn’t hope for civilized dialog with Yanukovych

The announcement of an international search for Arsen Avakov, the former governor of Kharkiv and oblast leader of Batkivshchyna, shows what President Viktor Yanukovych really thinks about the civilized world's advice and recommendations.

Just as Europe, the European Parliament and PACE call for an immediate end to politically motivated persecution, Viktor Yanukovych starts a new wave of harassment, intimidation and blackmail of the opposition, democracy and civil society in Ukraine.

Everyone knows that Arsen Avakov’s only crime was being in the opposition and Batkivshchyna. The new repressions are blatant political payback.

I have every reason to state that all the political repressions in Ukraine, all the trials, all the political criminal cases are controlled and organized by Viktor Yanukovych personally.

Therefore, I believe it is necessary to warn European and the civilized world of the danger of dialog with this person on an equal and partnership basis.

Yanukovych’s worldview wasn’t formed in the Sorbonne or Oxford. He grew up and was raised in the criminal world, where he learned the rules of communication in Ukrainian politics and is now trying to play by them in Europe.

In his world, abandoning and deceiving someone are absolutely normal actions. And that is how Viktor Yanukovych sees the civilized world and international organizations. Moreover, it is known from private conversations that he openly flaunts his insolence when speaking with world leaders and boasts that he will not fulfill any recommendations. Because in this world this would be humiliating.

I want to warn European politicians that it’s useless to hope for mutual understanding with the Ukrainian dictator. He will never understand such concepts as honor, dignity and keeping one’s word.

I am categorically against any sanctions against Ukraine if they even slightly affect ordinary people, rather than the authorities. But I must explain to the world who they’re dealing with, so that there are no illusions about the possible development of political processes in Ukraine.

Sincerely,
Yulia Tymoshenko