14 September 2011
Representatives of the Ukrainian opposition have met with President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Petros Efthymiou to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
"Today we discussed the ways of overcoming the political crisis in Ukraine. The suggestions voiced by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly president coincide with our ideas: There is one real way out of the political crisis - it is the decriminalization of political articles of the Criminal Code," BYT-Batkivschyna parliamentary faction MP Serhiy Sobolev told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday, after the meeting with Efthymiou.
Sobolev said that the decriminalization of the articles of the Criminal Code is the only way to stop the political persecution of opposition leaders.
In turn, Deputy Chairman of the Batkivschyna Party Hryhoriy Nemyria said that they also tackled the issue of the upcoming election during the meeting with Efthymiou.
According to Nemyria, the 2012 parliamentary election could be considered as transparent if opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko and other opposition figures can run for election.
"The upcoming election could be considered honest and fair, and meet the standards of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, if the opposition leaders take part in them," the MP said.MP Oleh Bilorus noted that the president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly "expressed his concern about the political persecution of many opposition figures in Ukraine."
