Mr ARIEV (Ukraine) – Ukraine has probably made its very first step towards solving the conflict peacefully, but it is too early to be optimistic. The President still has not signed the cancellation of the dictatorship legislation so it is still in force. We should not forget who is at the top on the governing side.

I would like to remind you one more time about the criminal past of Victor Yanukovych. My colleagues from the Ukrainian opposition and I have mentioned it many times, but all of you had a chance to be informed of the real so-called “policy” of the Ukrainian president and his team after the Summit of Eastern Partnership in Vilnius and were able to compare words and acts.

Sometime in the future, scientists will discover the true phenomenon of a criminal leader who wants to appear respectable to everyone, but who is really deceiving them all. Criminal acts are hidden in laconic words for the ears of European politicians.

But since 30 November when peaceful students were bloodily chased, all the cases of cruelty, murder and kidnapping have demonstrated the real face of the ruling party: 7 killed, 36 kidnapped or disappeared, and thousands injured, and 98 % of them have internal head injuries, which bears witness to the illegal use of truncheons by police. The world was shocked when riot police threw Molotov cocktails at protesters, with pictures of football ultras guarding peaceful protesters from attacks by riot police and unknown streets gangs.
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Detainees turned out to be victims of Nazi torturers, undressed and watered at minus 10°. A riot policeman’s page on a social network had anti-Semitic content. The facts are horrible! By the way, some pro-government and Russian mass media tried to present all the protesters as extremists. But how should one react when a policeman throws Molotov cocktails? How should we view riot police shooting directly at Red Cross activists? Or aiming at a cameraman’s eyes? Or cruelly beating journalists? Who exactly are the extremists? The answer is clear – the Ukrainian government and the police force who are acting brutally with impunity.

Millions of Ukrainians demand an investigation of anti-human crimes perpetrated by the Yanukovych regime. They call on all responsible Council of Europe institutions to form an investigative committee and to send their results to the International Criminal Court of The Hague.

Ukrainians are deeply concerned about Russian assistance to extremists-in-law. This document confirms the sale to the Ukrainian police of a very powerful weapon for dispersal, which is forbidden in European countries because of the very high risk of injuries and death. This is despite all the assertions by Russia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs. Now the Russian Government has renewed pressure on Ukrainian exporters. By the way, I want to reply to some Russian speakers: between cheap gas and liberty, Ukrainians choose liberty.

In this situation, we see the very weak position of the European Union. It seems as though it is observing from a distance while people in Ukraine are dying in the name of European and democratic values. The European Union has to react strongly and actively because it is very important for stability in Europe. The resolution prepared by the Monitoring Committee is the first serious document since the crisis in Ukraine began.

European Commissioners could play an important role as intermediaries in negotiations between the president and the opposition and in guaranteeing the execution of a possible compromise. The main objectives are: cancelling the illegal decision adopted by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine arbitrarily to change the Main Law despite the legal procedure; the preliminary elections of President and Parliament with guarantees of clear and honest process controlled by the world democratic community.

At the present moment, Mr Yanukovych has not made any concessions. His strategic goal is as it always was – brutal and complete repression of protests all over the country, affirming his lifetime reign on the Russian-Belarussian model. There are no changes in the authority’s actions at all. Yesterday again, dozens of activists were put in detention; almost a hundred people have gone missing.

The police and interior forces keep kidnapping random pedestrians on the streets, raiding hospitals and driving injured away to unknown destinations; hired thugs armed with metal pipes, batons and automatic pistols have been brought to the cities where demonstrations took place. During Monday’s government meeting it was decreed that Special Unit of Riot Police numbers should be increased from 5 000 to 30 000. Moreover, the government allowed itself to enact the state of emergency without consulting parliament.

Without real action by the International community to solve the crisis in Ukraine, it may become something more serious. The provocative activity of the Russian media and dirty deeds by pro-government politicians are aimed at creating a situation of total chaos in Ukraine, and this is a challenge to the whole of Europe.

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