Visegrad Group urges EU-mediated talks between Ukraine govt, protesters
KYIV. Dec 12 (Interfax) - The foreign ministers of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, countries forming the so-called Visegrad Group, have urged the government and pro-European Union protesters to "refrain from violence" in their current conflict.
"We strongly reiterate that the use of force, particularly by a government on peaceful protesters, is unacceptable and we call on all parties to refrain from violence. We also call on the Ukrainian authorities to launch a prompt investigation against those responsible for brutality against peaceful demonstrators and demand that the wrongdoers are held accountable. The ministers also urge the Ukrainian authorities to release all those who have been arrested without any evidence of violating the law," Poland's Radoslaw Sikorski, Slovakia's Miroslav Lajcak, Hungary's Janos Martonyi and the Czech Republic's Jan Kohout said in a statement on Thursday.
The text of the statement was posted on the Polish Foreign Ministry's website, www.mfa.gov.pl.
"The Foreign Ministers highlight their deep belief that the right of the people to demonstrate and express their opinion peacefully is one of the basic principles of the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] and the Eastern Partnership, which should be respected," the statement said.
"The ministers urge the political leaders to seek a solution through dialogue, involving the representatives of the government, civil society and the opposition. They call for European Union mediation between the parties," the document said.
"The Visegrad countries are committed to continue providing assistance to Ukraine in strengthening its relations with the European Union, reform course and its modernization," it said.
"The Visegrad countries lend full support to [EU foreign policy chief Catherine] Ashton's endeavour in Kiev to help Ukraine find a constructive way out of the current crisis and to confirm the importance of the intensive EU-Ukrainian dialogue," the statement said.
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