EU in overleg om Tymoshenko naar Duitse kliniek te krijgen (en)

BRUSSELS - EU envoys are in talks with Ukraine to let jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko go to Germany for medical treatment.

EU diplomatic sources told EUobserver the plan is being discussed at several levels.

One contact said Patrick Cox, a former European Parliament president, and Aleksander Kwasniewski, a former Polish head of state, are the "main channel of communication."

The two men were chosen by parliament last June to oversee Tymoshenko's wellbeing.

The contact said the EU and US ambassadors in Kiev are also working on the plan.

"It's very much on the agenda," he noted.

Another EU source said the plan will be "the main topic" at a meeting between German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle and his Ukrainian counterpart, Leonid Kozhara, in Kiev on Friday.

The German and Ukrainian foreign ministries declined to confirm the information.

But a German spokesman said: "Whenever we talk about prospects for an EU-Ukraine association agreement … Ms Tymoshenko is one element that we have to bring up and that we want to see a constructive approach towards."

He noted that Westerwelle will go from Kiev to Vilnius on Friday to also meet Lithuania's foreign minister.

Tymoshenko, who has spinal problems, was in 2011 jailed for seven years on charges of abuse of office while prime minister.

She also faces accusations of embezzlement and conspiracy to murder.

Most EU countries say she was jailed in order to keep her from running against President Viktor Yanukovych in the next elections.

Several also say the EU should not sign a political association and free trade treaty with Ukraine at a summit in Lithuania in November if she stays behind bars.

The German plan could help all concerned to save face.

If she is in a clinic in Germany at the time of the Vilnius event, the EU can sign the treaty and avoid a PR disaster, while Yanukovych can sign it and keep her under control.

"It all depends on the conditions that Yanukovych will try to impose," one of the EU diplomatic sources noted.

"We think it has to be a trip for several months, not just a few weeks. The Ukrainians would like her not to comment on political events while she is in hospital. To sit quietly. But I can't see her giving such a guarantee," he added.

For his part, Serhiy Vlasenko, Tymoshenko's lawyer, said it is too early to talk about conditions.

"Let's wait until there is a decision [to let her go]. Then let's talk about the decision," he told this website on Thursday.

He said the situation is unpredictable because too much power is in the hands of one man.

"Yanukovych says he is a European president and has no power over the courts. But every child in Ukraine can tell you this is not true," he noted.

"We might have a deal at 9am. But at 9.30am we might not," added.

"It all depends on Yanukovych's mood. If he wakes up in a good mood, we have one situation. If he wakes up in a bad mood, it's another situation," he said.