Germany warns Ukraine of risks to lose partnership deals with EU

Ukraine risks losing the planned partnership deals with the European Union (EU) if it fails to meet all the criteria required for signing, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said here Friday. "It is risky to assume that the consensus on Ukraine among the 28 countries would be possible without the fulfillment of the certain criteria that we have announced and agreed before," Westerwelle told the international conference entitled "The Way Ahead for the Eastern Partnership." To seal the agreements with the 28-member block, Kiev needs to reform and improve its electoral law and "put an end" to selective justice, Westerwelle said. On Thursday, Westerwelle also said Kiev should find a solution to the case of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to sign an association agreement with the EU at the Eastern Partnership Summit slated for November in Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. The case of Tymoshenko, who is serving a seven-year sentence on charge of abuse of power, has long been considered by the EU as politically motivated.