On February 23, former President Leonid Kravchuk, Vitaliy Klychko, who heads the election list of the "Pora-PRP" bloc, and Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz will speak in the European Parliament. Viktor Yanukovych is not planning to go to Brussels, since EU Commissioner for External Policy Javier Solana will come to him in March. We choose, we are chosen

All the invited politicians told "DELO" that they had already accepted the proposal to speak at a meeting of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Ukraine. However, as "DELO" learned, the initiative for the meeting did not come from the MEPs – the Ukrainian politicians themselves asked to come to Brussels. "It was not we who chose them. It's just that representatives of Kravchuk and Klychko stated their interest in coming to the European Parliament," the press service of the European Parliament delegation told "DELO".

When the "initial plan" did not work – to hear representatives of only the three main political forces (in the MEPs' opinion, these are "Our Ukraine", the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc and the Party of Regions), the delegation decided to accept proposals from "all parties that expressed a desire to speak in Brussels."

"At first we wanted to see Yanukovych. We are disappointed by his refusal. As for the 'replacement' he proposed (in the person of Raisa Bohatyryova and Taras Chornovil), that is not the right level," the press service said. "But it is better than nothing."

The idea of meeting with leader Moroz came from the MEPs themselves. "Our socialists decided to invite him, and we thought that other politicians of a similar level could also be invited in order to learn (the views) of the entire spectrum of political forces," they said in the European Parliament.

As Marek Siwiec, the head of the delegation, told "DELO" through an aide, first of all the Ukrainian politicians will be asked about their vision of Ukraine's integration into the EU. "Today no one in Ukraine talks about the real costs and difficulties of joining the EU," he said. As for the gas issue, the MEPs are not interested in the views of Ukrainian parties. "We were interested in Tymoshenko's position on gas. But at the meeting with other politicians this issue is not so important to us," they said in the European Parliament.

The mountain and Mohammed

"I am ready to go to Brussels and will highlight mainly the points related to the exit from the gas crisis," Taras Chornovil told "DELO". He also clarified the question of why Viktor Yanukovych himself is not going to the European Parliament. "The thing is that Javier Solana agreed to come to him himself. And instead of a formal meeting that could have taken place in the European Parliament, they intend to have a much more serious conversation and obtain the maximum of information," Chornovil told "DELO". Solana's arrival is expected in early March. Plans of the visitors

Leader of the "Not So!" bloc Leonid Kravchuk intends to focus attention in the European Parliament on the domestic political situation. "I think they (the European Parliament) will be interested in the opposition's assessment of the economic situation in the country, what problems arise for the current authorities," he said. Oleksandr Moroz changed his schedule of trips around the regions in order to meet with the MEPs, and intends to explain to them what the socialists' slogan "We will build Europe in Ukraine" actually means.

Printed in the newspaper "DELO" No. 80 of February 17, 2006.