MOSCOW, October 17 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said Thursday he was ready to sign a law allowing jailed ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko to undergo medical treatment in a foreign hospital.
Speaking to journalists during a visit to the country’s eastern Donetsk Region, Yanukovych said the country has no legislation allowing Tymoshenko to travel abroad for treatment.
“Naturally, if the parliament passes such a law, I’ll sign it,” the president said.
Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison on abuse of power charges in 2011 over a 2009 gas agreement signed with Russia. The former premier insists the charges were politically motivated, and the EU has called on Ukraine to pardon her.
The proposal to seek medical treatment abroad for Tymoshenko, who was transferred to a hospital last year after reporting serious back pains, came from former European Parliament President Pat Cox and former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who arrived in Ukraine last week to meet with her.
Tymoshenko agreed to undergo medical treatment in Germany last week, and suggested in a statement cited by her lawyer that allowing her to leave Ukraine would lay the ground for the success of a planned trade treaty to be signed next month between Ukraine and the EU. Stefan Fule, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, said recently that the EU was waiting for a decision on the Tymoshenko case before the association agreement could be signed.
The Berlin-based Charite Clinic on Thursday confirmed its readiness to accept Tymoshenko.
