Brussels' policy towards Kyiv unfair, says PACE ex-president Cavusoglu

The former President of PACE and a member of the PACE observation mission for the parliamentary elections in Ukraine, Mevlut Cavusoglu, has criticized the EU's position with regard to Ukraine, calling it unfair and wrong.

"Like it or not, Tymoshenko's case has cast shadow on everything. It's understandable. But I find it hard to understand why all EU institutions and political parties should look at Ukraine only from the perspective of Tymoshenko's case. It's not fair," Cavusoglu said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

He said that the criticism of Ukraine with regard to the case of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was understandable, although Kyiv can be criticized for many other things as well, for instance for the fact that Ukraine had not fulfilled all of its obligations to the Council of Europe.

"I have criticized the period after the Orange Revolution. First we were full of hope, we gave the new leadership our full support, but they didn't use it. They could have met their obligations, but the country didn't overcome corruption, did not carry out these reforms. Thus, Ukraine can be subject to criticism for corruption as well. But you cannot assess a country from only one perspective, only from a point of view of Tymoshenko case. It is unacceptable to base relations exclusively on Tymoshenko's case. This is not the right approach," he said.

Cavusoglu said the approach to Ukraine should be more constructive.

"If we want to help the country meet our standards, we need to be more helpful, instead of isolating the country, putting forward one or more conditions, some of which are simply not relevant. Therefore the EU approach is unfair. I would be more fair towards Ukraine and more fair to Turkey and several countries in the Balkans. If the EU wants to be an active player in Europe, it should have not only the policy of punishment, but also the policy of encouragement," the politician said.