Yulia Tymoshenko

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Julija Tymoshenko, 2018

Yulia Tymoshenko ( Ukrainian Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко [ julijɑ ʋɔlɔdɪmɪriʋnɑ tɪmɔʃɛnkɔ ], German mostly in the Russian variant Yulia Tymoshenko wrote; born Hryhjan or Grigjan (Григян) *  27. November 1960 in Dnipropetrovsk , Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ) is a Ukrainian politician ( All-Ukrainian Association "Fatherland" ). From February to September 2005 and from December 2007 to March 2010 she was Prime Minister of Ukraine .

She was in custody from August 2011 until the government was overthrown after the Euromaidan protests on February 22, 2014. In 2013, the European Court of Human Rights denounced Tymoshenko's detention as "arbitrary and illegal". On June 24, 2014, the Supreme Court of Ukraine ruled that Yulia Tymoshenko was not guilty of any crime when the gas contracts between the state gas supplier Naftohas Ukrajiny and the Russian gas company Gazprom were concluded in 2009.

On August 23, 2020, her spokeswoman announced that Tymoshenko was seriously ill with Covid-19 .

Family and youth

Julija Hryhjan was born into a nomenklatura family in what was then the USSR . Her mother Lyudmyla Telehina (nee Nelepowa) ( Ukrainian Людми́ла Теле́гіна ) was born on August 11, 1937 in Dnipropetrovsk. Her father Volodymyr Abramowytsch Hryhjan (Ukrainian variant of the Armenian surname Grigjan) was born on December 3, 1937 in Dnipropetrovsk and, according to his Soviet passport , was Latvian . He left the family when Julija was three years old, after which the family mother struggled with a job in a taxi center . Her maternal grandfather was Abram Kelmanowytsch Kapitelman ( Ukrainian Абрам Кельманович Капітельман ), born in 1914. After graduating from Dnipropetrovsk National University in 1940 , Kapitelman worked in western Ukraine as the director of a public school for a quarter of an academic year in the city of Sniatric School . Kapitelman was drafted into the army in the fall of 1940 and killed on November 8, 1944 in the German-Soviet War (1941–1945) with the rank of "First Lieutenant of the Intelligence Forces".

Julija grew up with her mother and in 1977 took her name "Telehina". During the first semester of her studies of economics (economic cybernetics) at the National University of Dnipropetrovsk, she met Oleksander Tymoshenko , whom she married in 1979. Their daughter Yevhenia was born on February 20, 1980 in Dnipropetrovsk. Yulia Tymoshenko graduated with honors at the age of 24 and then worked for five years, from 1984 to 1988, as an industrial engineer at the engineering company Lenin for the armaments industry in her hometown of Dnepropetrovsk. Her mother tongue is Russian.

The daughter Yevhenia grew up in London; she first attended Rugby School and then the London School of Economics and Political Science . She married the British rock musician Sean Carr (1968-2018) on October 1, 2005.

Advancement as an entrepreneur

Pavlo Lasarenko , 1996/97

During Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika , the Tymoshenko couple made their first steps in the private sector by founding a video rental company in 1988 . From 1989 she worked as the manager of the youth center “Terminal” in Dnepropetrovsk. In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union , Yulia Tymoshenko rose with her husband and her father-in-law Hennady Tymoshenko (Hennady Tymoshenko was head of the "Department of Cinemas" at the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council) - they founded the Soviet- Cypriot (later Ukrainian-Cypriot) joint venture Ukrajinskyj Bensin (Український бензин) , which initially supplied factories with fuel - into the oil business. Julija Tymoshenko was managing director, then director of the company. In 1992 the joint-stock company was a monopoly (in the Dnepropetrovsk region) in the field of agricultural petroleum products. Dnipropetrovsk remained the informal economic and political power center of Ukraine for the first decade and a half of the country's independence.

Tymoshenko came to a billion-dollar fortune and influence from 1995 as head of the energy company "United Energy Systems of Ukraine" (EESU). EESU developed into one of the most powerful commercial enterprises in Ukraine thanks to shady gas supply contracts with the Russian company Gazprom . From 1995 to 1997 she was head of the EESU. Their rapid rise was promoted by the protection of Pavlo Lazarenko , who also came from Dnepropetrovsk and was Prime Minister of Ukraine from 1996 to 1997 . He then fell from grace and fled to the United States , where he was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2006 for corruption and extortion .

Oleksandr Turchynow also comes from Dnipropetrovsk , with whom Tymoshenko had worked since the late 1980s. He was a functionary of the Communist Youth Association, which was the organizational basis for some private companies in the final phase of the Soviet Union. In the early 1990s, Turchynow first worked as chairman of the privatization committee there and then in Kiev as an economic advisor to President Leonid Kuchma . Tymoshenko and Turchynov began their joint political ascent in Lasarenko's party.

Political career

Yulia Tymoshenko, 2007

Beginnings

In 1996 Tymoshenko was elected to the Ukrainian parliament by a large majority for the constituency of Kirovohrad . In 1999 she and her long-time political companion Oleksandr Turchynow founded the Batkivshchyna party , of which she is still chairman.

During Viktor Yushchenko's tenure as Prime Minister of Ukraine from December 1999 to May 2001, she was his deputy with responsibility for the energy sector. Their job was to reform the country's corrupt energy sector. She fell out of favor with President Leonid Kuchma, was dismissed in January 2001 and subsequently persecuted by the Ukrainian authorities. In 2001, Tymoshenko and her husband were remanded in custody for several weeks because of EESU business practices. In Russia she is also being prosecuted for bribery of the military, which is why she landed on Interpol's search list in December 2004 .

In the parliamentary elections in 2002, her party first appeared in an alliance with other parties as Blok Juliji Tymoshenko (Block Julija Tymoshenkos, BJuT). He received 7.2% of the vote; since then Tymoshenko has led the Verkhovna Rada faction in her bloc. Yulia Tymoshenko was one of the driving forces in the opposition to the authoritarian rule of President Kuchma and, alongside Viktor Yushchenko, its most popular representative.

First term as head of government

The President of the United States of America George W. Bush and the Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko, in Washington, April 1, 2008
Yulia Tymoshenko in parliament , February 4, 2005

On January 24, 2005, Yulia Tymoshenko was appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine under Viktor Yushchenko's presidency. On February 4, her nomination was ratified by parliament with an overwhelming majority of 373 votes (out of 226 necessary).

Her first cabinet had no other members of her party except her and Oleksandr Turchynov. Turchynov was appointed head of the Ukrainian security service. The ministers who worked with her defended her in her later argument with Viktor Yushchenko.

On July 28, Forbes named Tymoshenko the third most powerful woman after Condoleezza Rice and Wu Yi . However, on the September 1, 2006 list, she was not among the top 100.

A few months after taking office, internal conflicts began in the coalition, which hampered its government activities. On August 24, 2005, in his speech on Independence Day, Viktor Yushchenko described her government as “the best”.

However, on September 8, after several senior ministerial officials including the head of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Tomenko resigned , Yulia Tymoshenko's government was dismissed by President Viktor Yushchenko. while making a live televised address to the people. Yushchenko criticized her work as head of the cabinet, as it had led to a flagging economy and conflicts within the governing coalition. He stated that it had supported the interests of individual companies and that the decision to reprivatize the iron alloy factory "Nikopol" (formerly owned by Leonid Kuchma's son Viktor Pinchuk) was the "last drop" that broke the barrel and him got the government fired. On September 13, 2005, Yushchenko accused Tymoshenko of betraying the ideas of the Orange Revolution. In his interview with the Associated Press, he said that during her tenure as President of UESU, Tymoshenko had accumulated debt of 8 million hryvnias, which she canceled with her authority as Prime Minister. Tymoshenko repeatedly pointed out that the amount in question was not a debt, but fines to the tax authorities from 1997–1998, and that all of these UESU cases were closed before it became Prime Minister.

Tymoshenko accused Yushchenko's inner circle of intriguing against her and undermining the actions of her cabinet. In an interview with the BBC, she accused Yushchenko of "practically ruining our unity, our future and the future of the country" without eliminating corruption as he had promised. The President's actions are completely illogical.

At that time, the approval of Tymoshenko in polls increased significantly, while that of Yushchenko fell significantly. This trend was also evident in the later results of the parliamentary elections of 2006, when the Tymoshenko bloc overtook the “Our Ukraine” party for the first time and won 129 against 81 seats. During the previous parliamentary elections in 2002, the ratio was 22 to 112.

Julija Tymoshenko's work was hampered by internal conflicts. In their opinion, President Yushchenko and Petro Poroshenko tried to turn the National Security and Defense Council into a "second government cabinet" against their government.

Opposition leader

On September 8, 2005, President Yushchenko dismissed Yulia Tymoshenko together with the entire government during a live TV address to the nation; Her successor as Prime Minister was Yury Jechanurow . In the subsequent elections to the Verkhovna Rada on March 26, 2006 , the Yulia Tymoshenko (BJuT) bloc received 22.3% of the vote and became the second largest group in the new parliament with 129 seats. After three months of coalition negotiations, a new edition of the “Coalition of the Orange Revolution ” with the presidential party Nascha Ukrajina failed . The election of Tymoshenko as prime minister failed in parliament, and in August 2006 Yanukovych was reappointed prime minister. Tymoshenko became an opposition leader in the Verkhovna Rada.

Yulia Tymoshenko visits the Kremlin with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin , 2009

Second term as head of government

In the parliamentary elections on September 30, 2007 , the BJuT received almost 31% of the vote, while the Party of Regions (PR) of incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych gained more than 34%. At the end of November 2007, Tymoshenko reached an agreement with the third-largest group in parliament, the electoral alliance Nascha Ukrajina - Narodna Samooborona (NU-NS) of President Yushchenko, on the formation of a coalition government and so the new parliament re-elected Yulia Tymoshenko as Prime Minister on December 18, 2007 .

BJuT and NU-NS only had a thin majority in parliament. Tymoshenko's second term as head of government was shaped by the conflict with the opposition, which at times brought legislative work to a complete standstill, but also by increasing differences with President Yushchenko. Right from the start he was skeptical of a government under Tymoshenko's leadership and, shortly after the election, first spoke out in favor of a coalition between his party and the Party of the Regions of Yanukovych. This conflict within the western-oriented camp was interpreted by observers as an indication of a struggle between Tymoshenko and Yushchenko over the future distribution of power.

On June 6, 2008, two members of the government camp declared that they no longer wanted to support the government, as a result of which Tymoshenko lost her majority in parliament. On July 11, 2008, however, a surprise vote of no confidence against her failed. The two renegade members of the government camp voted against Tymoshenko, while two members of the opposition PR, Anatoly Kinach and Vitaly Khomutynnik , expressed their confidence in her.

Map of existing and planned gas pipelines in Europe

On the night of September 3, 2008, the NU-NS faction of the Verkhovna Rada decided to leave the coalition. The decision came under pressure from President Yushchenko and under the impression of the previous parliamentary session, in which Tymoshenkos BJuT had pushed through several parliamentary decisions together with the opposition Party of Regions (PR). The BJuT was also accused of having reached an agreement with the PR on impeachment proceedings against the president. The coalition partners had not previously been able to agree on a joint position on the Caucasus conflict . The official end of the government coalition of BJuT and NU-NS was announced by Parliament President Arseniy Yatsenjuk on September 16, 2008.

Almost three months later, on December 9, 2008, Yushchenko and Tymoshenko agreed to continue their alliance. Since then, the coalition has also included Blok Lytwyna , whose chairman Volodymyr Lytwyn was elected President of Parliament on the same day. The dispute between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko, however, continued - and so Tymoshenko acted single-handedly during the gas conflict in winter 2008/2009, when large parts of Europe were affected. Due to the acute emergency, she took on responsibility to quickly resume gas supplies for Ukraine and the transit partners. In the gas supply contracts agreed between Tymoshenko and the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin , new formulas for the determination of the gas price and the transfer of the gas still owned by RosUkrEnergo, worth around 4.5 billion dollars, into the ownership of the Ukrainian state company Naftohas had been agreed. And from 2009 they agreed to exclude the dubious middleman RosUkrEnergo based in Zug (the oligarch Dmytro Firtasch held 45% of the shares) in order to trade directly between Gazprom and Naftohas. The EU assessed Tymoshenko and Putin's solution to the gas conflict as positive.

Tymoshenko at a congress of the European People's Party in Bonn, September 2009

In 2009, due to the ongoing power struggle and the dramatic impact of the international economic crisis on Ukraine, Tymoshenko also negotiated a possible grand coalition with Yanukovych. However, the negotiations failed in June 2009. In October 2009, Tymoshenko announced her candidacy for the 2010 presidential election . In both ballots on January 17 and February 7, 2010, she came very close behind Yanukovych in second place. She described Yanukovych's election victory as the result of irregularities in the election, but she did not take legal action against the result. On March 3, 2010, as a result of its defeat in the presidential election, the majority of MPs expressed suspicion of its government. Tymoshenko refused to remain in office as acting prime minister until a new cabinet was formed and handed over the office to her deputy, Oleksandr Turchynov .

In January 2010 she expressed her support to Yushchenko, referring to the internationally controversial posthumous recognition of Stepan Bandera's title “ Hero of Ukraine ” .

Tymoshenko at the Charlemagne Award ceremony in Aachen

Julija Tymoshenko took part in the presentation of the Charlemagne Prize to Donald Tusk on May 13, 2010 in Aachen, where she met the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and representatives of the European Union. During her conversation with Angela Merkel, the safeguarding of democracy, domestic politics and the energy independence of Ukraine were discussed, it is said.

Tymoshenko also received an invitation to Brussels from Herman Van Rompuy , President of the European Council. The latter said: "I support the efforts of all pro-European forces who aim to integrate Ukraine into the EU, strengthen democracy and protect freedom of expression."

The question of relations between Ukraine and the EU was also raised in the meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek . He emphasized that he had "always supported the democratic, pro-European Ukraine and the politicians who support this strategic direction of Ukraine".

Ukrainian parliamentary elections 2012

The incarcerated Tymoshenko was not allowed to run in the Ukrainian parliamentary elections in October 2012. From prison she called for the election of President Yanukovych's government.

Ukrainian presidential elections 2019

In the polls on the presidential election in Ukraine 2019 , it was ahead of incumbent President Petro Poroshenko , who should receive around 11% of the vote, with around 20% of the vote in December 2018 . She later fell back in the polls against the career changer Volodymyr Selenskyj and finally came third behind him and Poroshenko in the first ballot on March 31. So she missed the second ballot.

Legal proceedings

After Tymoshenko lost her government office, several criminal proceedings were initiated against Tymoshenko - as well as against members of her cabinet: From May 2010 the public prosecutor's office re-investigated on the old suspicion that in 2003 she had tried to bribe judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

Conviction for abuse of office

A second case came after a report was published by US law firms investigating Tymoshenko's second term and holding evidence of misuse of public money, fraud and money laundering by officials, several government departments and private companies.

The public prosecutor's office investigated three matters:

  1. the inappropriate use of proceeds from the sale of CO 2 - emission rights ,
  2. the purchase of ambulances at inflated prices,
  3. Abuse of office in the negotiation of contracts for the supply of natural gas with Russia.

For many observers, the allegations finally raised by the public prosecutor's office in December 2010 did not reveal any personal advantages Tymoshenko was taking. The BBC reacted with incomprehension to the allegations made of negotiating a gas agreement and the station commented on the short-term use of the funds from the Kyoto Protocol to pay out pensions: "That's what prime ministers do."

The first official indictment was made on December 20, 2010, alleging misappropriation of state funds. A second lawsuit followed on May 24, 2011, alleging abuse of office, that she had signed the gas supply contract in 2009 without the approval of the cabinet and that the agreed prices were too high and ruined the Ukrainian economy.

Tymoshenko described the trials against her and several of her former ministers as an attempt by the Yanukovych government to "behead" the opposition and lodged a complaint against their prosecution at the European Court of Human Rights in late June 2011 ; this complaint was later expanded to include conditions of detention and what they believed to be inadequate medical care in the prison.

Yulia Tymoshenko in the courtroom, 2011

In the course of negotiations for abuse of office before a Kiev city court, Judge Rodion Kireev had Tymoshenko arrested on August 5, 2011, after the public prosecutor had requested this during the trial. The court had previously refused pre-trial detention. Tymoshenko did not recognize the trial and had Judge Kirejew et al. a. referred to as a "puppet". Shortly after pre-trial detention was ordered, there were fights in the courtroom. The arrest of Tymoshenko was sharply criticized by representatives of the European Union. Both the EU and the US criticized the criminal proceedings as politically motivated and warned Ukraine against international isolation.

On September 27, 2011, the public prosecutor requested a seven-year prison sentence for abuse of office. The defense demanded an acquittal. On October 11, 2011, Tymoshenko was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison. The court found it established that Tymoshenko had concluded contracts with Russia in 2009 for the supply of natural gas to the detriment of Ukraine. As a result, Ukraine suffered damage equivalent to around 137 million euros. In addition, she has to pay damages in excess of 137 million euros and is not allowed to hold any public office for three years after the prison sentence. Tymoshenko immediately announced his appointment.

The EU, Russia and Germany sharply criticized the judgment. In connection with the criminal proceedings against Tymoshenko and her imprisonment and conviction, President Yanukovych was repeatedly accused of exercising direct influence over the judiciary and using this criminal procedure to eliminate his strongest political opponent. Yanukovych, however, stated that the judiciary was independent and that he did not want to intervene in the trial against Tymoshenko.

In December 2011, EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso postponed the signing of the already negotiated association agreement between Ukraine and the EU for an indefinite period, also because of the ongoing imprisonment of Tymoshenko.

Just a few days after the conviction by the Kiev city court, it became known that Tymoshenko was being investigated on suspicion of embezzlement of 295 million euros during her time as head of the energy company EESU (1995 to 1997). A few weeks later, the public prosecutor's office announced that there were also indications of Tymoshenko's involvement in the contract killing of the member of parliament and Donetsk businessman Yevhen Shcherban . Shcherban was shot dead at Donetsk Airport in 1996 together with his wife and two crew members. Pavlo Lasarenko , who was serving a long prison sentence in the United States for fraud and money laundering until November 2012, is also believed to be involved in the murder . Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin said that the statements of the businessman Petro Kirichenko, who lived in the USA and who had business relations with Lazarenko in the 1990s, indicated that the Shcherban murder was paid for with money from Lasarenko's and Tymoshenko's accounts.

The appeal process began on December 13, 2011. She did not attend the hearing for health reasons. On December 23, 2011, the appellate court upheld the seven-year prison sentence. Tymoshenko decided not to go to the Ukrainian Court of Cassation. At the end of December 2011, Tymoshenko was transferred from the Lukianivska detention center to the women's prison No. 54 Kachanovka in the north of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv to serve her prison sentence.

Her husband Olexander Tymoshenko left for the Czech Republic in January 2012 and received political asylum there . The asylum application was against the background of investigations that are being carried out in Ukraine against Julija Tymoshenko in connection with her work for the United Energy Systems of Ukraine (EESU) group around fifteen years ago. Her husband, Olexander Tymoshenko, was also involved in the company. The director of the Institute for International Relations in Prague, Petr Kratochvil, did not rule out the possibility that the Ukrainian authorities could issue arrest warrants against her husband in this context.

Criticism of prison conditions and health problems

Yevhenia Tymoshenko, the daughter of Yulia Tymoshenko

Since the beginning of 2012, there have been repeated public disputes over Tymoshenko's health. Her daughter Yevhenia said that her mother may have to undergo an operation because of a severe herniated disc that causes constant pain and that a hernia is suspected. However, the Ukrainian authorities denied her “adequate” medical care while in custody. In this context, a medical examination of Tymoshenko by Canadian and German doctors took place in February 2012 and a further examination by two German doctors in April 2012. The spokeswoman for the Berlin Charité spoke of a "serious illness" found in Tymoshenko, which would require inpatient treatment if possible outside the prison. Also, due to her illness, Tymoshenko is currently not able to negotiate. In this context, the German Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy , Markus Löning , said that both Tymoshenko and other imprisoned politicians were withheld from health care and treatment in Ukraine. In March 2012, Tymoshenko, who was still in custody, requested medical treatment at the Charité in Berlin . She refused treatment by Ukrainian doctors while in custody for fear of deliberately induced hepatitis infection. According to media reports, the German federal government held talks with the government of Ukraine in this context with the aim of enabling Tymoshenko to receive medical treatment in Germany. On April 26, 2012, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle declared that the German side had repeatedly offered the Ukrainian government to treat Tymoshenko in Germany.

At the beginning of May 2012, the 27 members of the EU Commission around Commission President José Manuel Barroso announced that they would not travel to the European Football Championship games in Ukraine. The intention is to protest against the policies of President Yanukovych and the handling of the imprisoned Tymoshenko. EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy joined this protest, which is expressly not a “ boycott ” of the European Championship .

Second criminal case for tax evasion and embezzlement

On April 19, 2012, another criminal trial against Tymoshenko began in Kharkiv. In these proceedings, she is accused of tax evasion and embezzlement, and she stayed away from the court hearing due to her illness. From April 20 to May 9, 2012, Tymoshenko went on a hunger strike to protest the conditions of her detention . This was preceded by a forced transport to a clinic by prison staff. According to her defense lawyer, she was also beaten during this transport. The Kharkiv City Prison Service, which is responsible for Tymoshenko, denied this information.

On May 8, 2012, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov offered Tymoshenko relief. From now on she can also be treated by German doctors in any Ukrainian hospital of her choice. Azarov also offered the German government to have allegations of abuse in prison investigated by a joint commission. A day later, Tymoshenko, accompanied by the German neurologist Lutz Harms from the Berlin Charité, was transferred from the prison to the railway workers' hospital in Kharkiv. She gave up her hunger strike after almost three weeks. According to Vice Minister of Health Raissa Moisejenko, Lutz Harms was also placed in the hospital so that he could look after Tymoshenko around the clock and was supported by a Ukrainian team.

On May 15, 2012, Tymoshenko stopped treatment in protest against the publication of her therapy plan by the authorities in Kharkiv. Lutz Harms spoke of conditions that are "unimaginable" in most European countries. Tymoshenko is under video surveillance even when showering and going to bed. Harms doubted that she would be able to participate in the process.

On June 25, 2012, the first day of the trial against Tymoshenko, the further proceedings were postponed to July 10, 2012, the time after the European Football Championship. The Kharkiv court ordered an official medical examination of Tymoshenko's health. The trial against her had to be postponed again and again in the following months. After the parliamentary elections on October 28, 2012, Tymoshenko went on a hunger strike again in protest of what she believed to be significant election fraud, which she ended again after 18 days. Since she also stayed away from further court appointments due to illness, the process had to be postponed further because her presence was required. The process was postponed again and again in 2013.

Debates about release from prison

After the former Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko , who was sentenced to four years in prison, was pardoned by President Yanukovych on April 7, 2013, Yanukovych told Tymoshenko that her pardon would not be possible until the ongoing legal proceedings against her were completed.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) complained on April 30, 2013, the detention of Tymoshenko. The pretrial detention of the politician was "arbitrary and illegal," a small chamber of the court decided unanimously. The court also found four violations by Ukraine of Tymoshenko's fundamental rights, but rejected her complaint about poor treatment in detention. Since the Ukrainian government did not appeal the judgment, the decision of the ECHR came into force on July 31, 2013. In connection with the planned ratification of the EU's Association Agreement with Ukraine, EU politicians increased diplomatic pressure on Ukraine in autumn 2013 and called for Tymoshenko's immediate release. In this context, President Yanukovych declared that he was ready in principle to release Tymoshenko for medical treatment abroad. A prerequisite for such a step, however, is that the Ukrainian parliament pass a law that allows Tymoshenko to leave the country. A pardon for Tymoshenko is out of the question for him. In November 2013, several bills in the Ukrainian parliament, on the basis of which Tymoshenko should be allowed to travel abroad for medical treatment, failed due to the negative attitude of the ruling Party of the Regions . After the Ukrainian government announced on November 21 that it did not want to ratify the association agreement with the EU for the time being, Tymoshenko went on a hunger strike again to protest against Ukraine's foreign policy, but ended it a few days later. On February 21, 2014, parliament approved a law paving the way for Tymoshenko's release. The relevant article in the Criminal Code of Ukraine was amended so that the offenses for which Tymoshenko was convicted were no longer punishable by law. Tymoshenko was released on February 22, 2014.

Legal rehabilitation

On February 28, 2014, the criminal case against Yulia Tymoshenko for financial abuse was closed due to a lack of facts. On June 24, 2014, the Supreme Court of Ukraine found that Tymoshenko was not guilty of any crime in the 2009 signing of gas contracts between the state gas supplier Naftohas Ukrajiny and the Russian gas company Gazprom .

After release from prison

After her release from more than two and a half years in prison, Tymoshenko flew directly to Kiev in a private plane on February 22, 2014. Sitting in a wheelchair, she gave a speech on the Maidan that evening calling on the government opponents to continue fighting. She warned the protesters not to evacuate the Maidan now. She also announced her candidacy in the presidential elections scheduled for May 25th .

On March 24, 2014, a bugged telephone conversation Tymoshenko made on March 18, 2014 with the Member of the Verkhovna Rada , Nestor Shufritsch, was published on the YouTube video platform . The two politicians discuss the referendum held in Crimea on March 16 . During the conversation Tymoshenko said, among other things, that she was ready to "shoot this bastard in the forehead", apparently referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin . When asked what was happening to the eight million Russians who lived on the territory of Ukraine, she replied that "they should be killed with nuclear weapons". She also said she wanted to campaign against Russia internationally, "so that - damn it - not even a burned field remains from Russia". Tymoshenko later admitted on Twitter that he had actually made the phone call. The published version of the conversation was, however, partially manipulated. The statement about the Russians living in Ukraine should therefore be wrong. Instead, she said in conversation: "The Russians in Ukraine are also Ukrainians". She apologized for the sometimes obscene language she used. Tymoshenko's statements were critically taken up in many media around the world. The head of the Federal Government's Press and Information Office , Steffen Seibert , declared that despite all opposition to the Russian approach in Crimea, there are limits in language and thinking that should not be exceeded. Bundestag President Norbert Lammert said that her statements confirm the assumption that she is just as unsuitable for the political leadership of Ukraine as Viktor Yanukovych, who has been driven out of the presidency. Tymoshenko had accused Putin of “unfiltered fascism” a few days earlier.

On March 27, she officially announced her candidacy for the presidential election. In the election on May 25, 2014, she received 12.81% of the vote.

On April 15, 2014, she called for the establishment of an armed "resistance army" to defend Ukraine and to consist primarily of volunteers with combat experience. The militia bears the same name as Tymoshenko's party. She participates in the conflict in eastern Ukraine and is to be largely financed by Tymoshenko.

On August 30, 2014, Tymoshenko announced that he would hold a referendum on Ukraine's future membership in NATO , together with the planned parliamentary election on October 26, 2014.

On September 16, 2014, after the surprising adoption of a special status for some regions of eastern Ukraine, Tymoshenko declared that the law would “legalize terrorism and occupation”. Several MPs from the Fatherland Party and other parliamentary groups submitted a motion to annul the law.

Influencing public opinion in Germany

According to Der Spiegel , a media campaign for Tymoshenko was staged and paid for in Germany in the years before 2014. Tymoshenko's party colleague Arsen Awakow made contact with Berlin lobbyists. Lothar de Maizière was influenced by a PR group, among other things . Tymoshenko's media presence should be increased. Der Spiegel criticized the campaign for Tymoshenko as "a lesson on lobbying in Berlin, it shows how people pulling the cords in the capital try to influence media and politics".

See also

Fonts

literature

theatre

Web links

Commons : Julija Tymoshenko  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
 Wikinews: Yulia Tymoshenko  - in the news

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b de.ria.ru June 24, 2014: Ukrainian judiciary confirms legitimacy of gas contract with Russia
  2. ↑ Yulia Tymoshenko tests positive for Covid-19, believed to be in serious condition - spokesperson. Interfax, August 23, 2020, accessed on August 23, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Askold Krushelnycky, Harvill Secker: An orange revolution: a personal journey through Ukrainian history , 2006, ISBN 978-0-436-20623-8 , p. 169.
  4. ↑ Azeri reporter pesters Yulia Timoshenko about being Armenian. Ukrayinska Pravda site. Armeniandiaspora.com, December 27, 2004, accessed October 11, 2011 .
  5. ↑ Galina Ivanova: Yuliya Tymoshenko. Russianelection2008.blogspot.com, November 12, 2007, accessed October 11, 2011 .
  6. ↑ a b c d Dmytro Chobit ': ЮЛІЯ ТИМОШЕНКО: І. РОДОВІД Ю. ТИМОШЕНКО (Yuliya Tymoshenko: [Part] I. Ancestry of Yu. Tymoshenko). Makuha.info, archived from the original on January 11, 2010 ; Retrieved January 27, 2014 (Ukrainian).
  7. ↑ a b Тимошенко Юлия ( Memento from February 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Korrespondent.net
  8. ↑ a b c Follath, Erich and Schepp, Matthias. The Popess // Der Spiegel Online 20/2014 (May 12, 2014)
  9. ↑ `` Anna Usik. '' Classmates wrote off work in mathematics at Julia Tymoshenko. Newspaper “Newspaper in Ukrainian” № 1039, June 9, 2010. Category “People”. Gazeta.ua, accessed October 11, 2011 .
  10. ↑ Johannes Voswinkel: Ukraine: Ukraine needs a new generation of politicians . In: The time . No. 33/2011 ( online ).
  11. ↑ Ulrich Krökel: Portrait: Die Strippenzugin , Tages-Anzeiger , October 24, 2011
  12. ↑ http://www.europeonline-magazine.eu/jewgenija-timoschenko---rockerbraut-im- Einsatz-fuer-ihre- mutter_207093.html
  13. ↑ Eugenia Tymoshenko: the fight to save my mother Yulia , The Guardian , September 23, 2012
  14. ↑ Після розлучення Жужа отримала всю нерухомість, а Карр - принтер та сканер With these "trophies" Carr disappeared in the UK , TSN.ua , February 6, 2013
  15. ↑ Ukrainian ex-prime minister in custody , aktuell.ru, January 4, 2012
  16. ^ Peter Rutland: The Challenge of Integration . ME Sharpe, 1998, ISBN 0-7656-0359-4 , pp. 173–174 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  17. ^ Der Stellvertreter , FAZ.net February 23, 2014
  18. ↑ How Julia Tymoshenko stylized herself as Joan of Arc , Die Presse, May 5, 2012
  19. ↑ Interpol is chasing Tymoshenko , Focus, December 7, 2007
  20. ↑ Presidential Decree No. 144/2005 : On the recognition of J. Tymoshenko as the Prime Minister of Ukraine . Implemented on February 4, 2004.
  21. ↑ Tymoshenko Appointed, Names reformist Cabinet. The Moscow Times, accessed December 28, 2013 .
  22. ^ President Yushchenko Appoints the New Prime Minister and Members of Her Cabinet , European Parliament , February 4, 2005
  23. ↑ CEC: Turchynov thinks Yushchenko removed Tymoshenko to use the administrative resource . In: Ukrainian Pravda , September 28, 2005. 
  24. ↑ Elizabeth MacDonald: The 100 Most Powerful Women . In: Forbes , July 28, 2005. Retrieved October 5, 2007. 
  25. ^ The 100 Most Powerful Women . In: Forbes , August 31, 2006. 
  26. ↑ Zinchenko's bombshell ( Memento from November 18, 2005 in the Internet Archive ), Kyiv Post (September 7, 2005)
  27. ↑ Oleksandr Zinchenko talks ( Memento from April 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Kyiv Post , December 21, 2005
  28. ↑ Orange Revolution in turmoil , BBC News, September 8, 2005
  29. ^ CEC: The statement by Yushchenko on the Maidan on the occasion of Independence Day . In: Ukrainian Pravda , August 24, 2005. 
  30. ^ Design for a New Europe by John Gillingham, Cambridge University Press , 2006, ISBN 978-0-521-68664-8 , p. 207.
  31. ↑ a b Ukraine leader sacks government , BBC News (8 September 2005)
  32. ↑ State-Building: A Comparative Study of Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia by State-Building: A Comparative Study of Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia, Central European University Press , 2007, ISBN 978-963-7326-90 -5 , p. 184.
  33. ↑ Ukraine: A Post-Orange Revolution Political Timeline , Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty , March 21, 2006
  34. ↑ In Ukraine, old whiff of scandal in new regime. Articles.chicagotribune.com, September 27, 2005, accessed December 28, 2013 .
  35. ↑ Ukraine president lashes out at ousted PM. Usatoday30.usatoday.com, September 13, 2005, accessed December 28, 2013 .
  36. ↑ Ukrainian ex-PM slams dismissal , BBC News. September 9, 2005. Retrieved December 28, 2013. 
  37. ^ Yushchenko fires government. Edition.cnn.com, September 8, 2005, accessed December 28, 2013 .
  38. ^ CEC: Parliamentary elections in March 2002 . In: Ukraine Reforms , May 15, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2002. 
  39. ↑ a b Ukraine’s ex-premier Splits With Her Partner. Washingtonpost.com, September 10, 2005, accessed December 28, 2013 .
  40. ↑ Kiev simply does not come to rest: Clear breaks in Ukrainian domestic and foreign policy ( Memento from March 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, March 18, 2008
  41. ↑ Демократической коалиции больше нет. Рыбаков и Бут заявили о выходе ( Memento from June 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), rus.newsru.ua
  42. ↑ Партия регионов не в смогла отправить отставку правительство Тимошенко ( Memento of 13 July 2008 at the Internet Archive ), rus.newsru.ua
  43. ↑ Коалиции больше нет: НУ-НС разрывает союз с БЮТ. Далее - новая коалиция или роспуск ВР ( Memento from September 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), rus.newsru.ua
  44. ↑ Коалициада: старое большинство распустили, а нового может не быть ( Memento from September 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), rus.newsru.ua
  45. ↑ Yazenjuk officially declares the end of the government coalition , Ukraine-Nachrichten.de
  46. ^ Politicians of the "Orange Revolution" with a new coalition in Ukraine , Reuters, December 9, 2008
  47. ^ "Unscrupulous shadow company" , Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 17, 2010
  48. ↑ Ukraine: The Tymoshenko Case , Konrad Adenauer Foundation, June 27, 2011
  49. ↑ No “grand coalition” in Kiev , uni-kassel.de, June 19, 2009
  50. ↑ Timoshenko running , NZZ, October 26, 2009
  51. ↑ Верховная Рада отправила Тимошенко в отставку ( Memento from March 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), rus.newsru.ua
  52. ↑ Timoshenko supports Yushchenko on Bandera. Voice of Russia , January 30, 2010, accessed March 17, 2014 .
  53. ↑ "Tymoshenko at the Charlemagne Award ceremony in Aachen" , Ukraine-Nachrichten, May 13, 2013
  54. ^ Tymoshenko calls for a change of power , Handelsblatt , October 28, 2012
  55. ↑ https://www.obozrevatel.com/ukr/politics/timoshenko-zelenskij-i-gritsenko-nazvani-lideri-prezidentskih-peregoniv.htm
  56. ↑ Ukraine on the eve of the elections: Everyone follows everyone , Novaya Gazeta, March 28, 2019
  57. ↑ Comedian Selensky goes into a duel with incumbent Poroshenko , Die Welt, March 31, 2019
  58. ↑ Investigations against Tymoshenko are ongoing , Frankfurter Rundschau, May 12, 2010
  59. ↑ Julia Tymoshenko's 500 million euro problem ( memento of October 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), Financial Times Deutschland, October 16, 2010
  60. ^ Investigations against Ukrainian ex-head of government completed , RIA Novosti, May 24, 2011
  61. ^ Public prosecutor charges Tymoshenko with breach of trust , Spiegel Online, December 20, 2010
  62. ↑ Former head of government again accused of corruption , Focus Online, May 24, 2011
  63. ↑ Julija Timoshenko speaks of "selective justice" in Ukraine , FAZ Online, January 25, 2011
  64. ^ Tymoshenko wants to fight for her rights in a human rights court , nachrichten.at, June 29, 2011.
  65. ^ Ex-Prime Minister Tymoshenko in custody ( memento from January 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de, August 5, 2011; ( Archive copy ( Memento from January 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ))
  66. ^ Tymoshenko must be in custody , Süddeutsche Zeitung, August 4, 2011.
  67. ↑ Konrad Schuller: Opposition calls for consequences , in FAZ, August 7, 2011, p. 5.
  68. ^ Tymoshenko found guilty ( memento of October 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Financial Times Deutschland , October 11, 2011
  69. ^ Prosecutor calls for Tymoshenko to be found guilty , Tages-Anzeiger , September 27, 2011
  70. ^ Guilty verdict in Kiev: Sharp international criticism of the Tymoshenko judgment , Hamburger Abendblatt , October 11, 2011
  71. ↑ Foreign Minister Westerwelle: Tymoshenko judgment, setback for the rule of law in Ukraine , Federal Foreign Office, October 11, 2011
  72. ↑ Ukrainian judgment meets with incomprehension , Stern Online , October 12, 2011
  73. ^ No interference in the Tymoshenko trial , Frankfurter Rundschau, September 2011
  74. ↑ EU cancels association agreement with Ukraine for the time being , reuters.de, December 20, 201
  75. ↑ Tymoshenko threatens new criminal proceedings ( memento of October 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de, October 13, 2011
  76. ↑ Now also a murder charge? , FAZ, November 11, 2011
  77. ↑ Tymoshenko addresses himself with a letter to the people , Die Welt of May 12, 2012
  78. ^ Tymoshenko fails with application , zeit.de, 23 December 2011
  79. ^ Tymoshenko transferred to a prison camp in a wheelchair , spiegel.de, December 30, 2011
  80. ^ Tymoshenko's husband receives asylum in Prague , NZZ, January 7, 2012
  81. ^ Tymoshenko case - new trial, old allegations , Deutsche Welle, April 18, 2012
  82. ^ Tymoshenko wants to be relocated to Berlin Charité. In: sueddeutsche.de . March 13, 2012, accessed October 13, 2018 .
  83. ↑ Federal government wants to bring Tymoshenko to Berlin , Berliner Morgenpost, March 31, 2012
  84. ^ Westerwelle supports Gauck's cancellation of Ukraine , FAZ, April 26, 2012
  85. ↑ Tymoshenko is absent from the trial
  86. ^ Radical protest - Julia Tymoshenko goes on hunger strike , Die Welt, April 24, 2012
  87. ↑ Ukraine offers concessions: German doctors are allowed to treat Tymoshenko around the clock at focus.de, May 8, 2012, accessed on May 8, 2012.
  88. ↑ Julia Timoshenko ends hunger strike at focus.de, May 9, 2012, accessed on May 9, 2012.
  89. ^ Tymoshenko ends hunger strike in hospital , welt.de, May 9, 2012.
  90. ^ Protest against grievances: Tymoshenko breaks off treatment , Sueddeutsche Zeitung, May 15, 2012.
  91. ↑ Ukraine: Tymoshenko process will only continue after the European Championship , dw.de, June 25, 2012.
  92. ↑ Fake election, Tymoshenko goes on hunger strike ( memento of November 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Stern, October 30, 2012
  93. ^ Ukrainian opposition politician Tymoshenko in bad shape after a hunger strike , Handelsblatt, November 19, 2012
  94. ↑ Second Tymoshenko trial postponed until next year
  95. ^ Tymoshenko is threatened with murder charges , fr-online.de, January 26, 2013
  96. ^ Tymoshenko trial postponed , Wiener Zeitung of April 23, 2013
  97. ↑ The Ukrainian opposition politician faces further years of imprisonment , Schwäbisches Tagblatt dated April 13, 2013
  98. ^ Human rights court reprimands Ukraine for imprisonment of Tymoshenko , Der Tagesspiegel of April 30, 2013
  99. ^ Announcement by the NRCU agency from October 23, 2013 ( Memento from October 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  100. ^ Association agreement: EU ministers demand Tymoshenko's release , SPON , October 21, 2013
  101. ↑ Kiev stops rapprochement with the EU , NZZ of November 22, 2013
  102. ^ Tymoshenko goes on hunger strike , Sueddeutsche Zeitung of November 25, 2013
  103. ↑ Yulia Tymoshenko ends hunger strike. In: The world . December 6, 2013, accessed December 12, 2013 .
  104. ↑ Lawyer: Tymoshenko arrested should be released “in the near future” , RIA Novosti , February 21, 2014
  105. Jump up ↑ Ukraine - Yulia Tymoshenko is free. Süddeutsche.de , February 22, 2014, accessed on February 22, 2014 .
  106. ^ Charges against Yulia Tymoshenko withdrawn , german.ruvr.ru , February 28, 2014
  107. ^ Tymoshenko on the Maidan: "Fight until the end!" , NZZ , February 23, 2014
  108. ^ Tymoshenko and the Revolution: The Return of the Vixen , SPON , February 23, 2014
  109. ↑ a b Shoot the bastard in the head ( memento from March 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), FAZ from March 25, 2014
  110. ↑ "Shoot the bastard in the forehead" , SPON , March 25, 2014
  111. ^ Government reprimands Tymoshenko's "violent fantasies" , FAZ from March 26, 2014
  112. ↑ Ukrainian presidential candidate: Lammert considers Tymoshenko to be unsuitable. In: Spiegel Online . March 27, 2014, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  113. ^ Tymoshenko pissed off German politicians , Handelsblatt from March 19, 2014
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  116. ↑ Irregular Fighters in Ukraine: To Arms , Tagesspiegel on August 3, 2014
  117. ^ «Fatherland» announced the referendum on membership in NATO ( Memento from September 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) newstwenty4seven.com (August 30, 2014)
  118. ↑ MPs in Kiev want to overturn the law , tagesspiegel.de of September 17, 2014
  119. ↑ Kiev Autonomy Act causes outrage , article in the Berliner Zeitung of September 17, 2014
  120. ↑ Sven Becker: Lobbyism: "That looks across Germany" . In: Der Spiegel , 52/2015, p. 34ff .
personal data
SURNAME Tymoshenko, Julija
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tymoshenko, Julija Volodymyrivna; Тимошенко, Юлія Володимирівна (Ukrainian); Hryhjan, Julija; Григян, Юлія (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ukrainian politician, Prime Minister of Ukraine
DATE OF BIRTH November 27, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Dnepropetrovsk , Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic