Penitentiary Service’s changing story regarding Teixeira visit to Yulia Tymoshenko

Following the public statement by the State Penitentiary Service’s Press Office that it had given permission for José Manuel Pinto Teixeira to visit former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and that Mr Teixeira did not arrive, the EU Office has set the record straight

Comment of the EU Delegation to Ukraine on the statement of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine (25/07/2012)

In the late afternoon of 24 July the EU Delegation learned about the information published by the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine website whereby the State Penitentiary Service did not grant permission for a visit by Head of European Union Delegation to Ukraine, Ambassador José Manuel Pinto Teixeira to Mrs Yulia Tymoshenko.

A few hours later such information was replaced on the website with another statement of the State Penitentiary Service according to which the State Penitentiary Service, as an exception, did grant permission for such meeting.

The EU Delegation has received no official information by the Ukrainian authorities on the above mentioned permission. Consequently, no possible date for the visit to Mrs Tymoshenko was officially communicated to the EU Delegation.

As required by diplomatic protocol rules, in the morning of 24 July the EU Delegation officially informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the EU Ambassador José Manuel Pinto Teixeira would be travelling out of Ukraine beginning from 24 July.

Therefore, EU Ambassador José Manuel Pinto Teixeira could not be expected to be present in Kharkiv on 25 July and pay a visit to Yulia Tymoshenko in the hospital.