Poland, EU Urge Probe on Ukraine Missing, Rights Abuse
Those responsible for acts of violence and abductions in Ukraine must be identified and held accountable, Poland's premier Donald Tusk and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said Thursday.
During a joint and brief news conference held after talks on the crisis in Ukraine, the Polish premier also warned that there could be no European Union assistance to Kiev until the authorities called a halt to the violence.
Barroso said the EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton had "heard shocking stories" of abuse since her arrival Tuesday evening in the Ukrainian capital where several protesters have been shot dead and others abducted and reported missing.
"The violence must stop," he said. "Those responsible need to be held accountable...we are also calling for an investigation".
Saying he was "very much depressed by the footage" from Kiev, the Polish leader said the "authorities must understand it is only dialogue that will lead to assistance from the EU".
As long as the violence persisted, "no Ukrainian authorities can count on any dialogue with us, anything ... this must be painfully clear," repeated Tusk, who has played a frontline role in recent years to boost ties between the EU and the former Soviet republic.
Asked who was winning in the tussle for influence in Ukraine, Europe or Russia, Barroso denied anyone was thinking "in terms of winning or losing".
"We are not here competing with anybody. What we want is the Ukrainian people to be free and decide their own future," he said. "What is important is to stop the violence."
Source: Agence France Presse
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