Press articles on the Eastern Partnership region from week 08.04-14.04

The release of the former Ukrainian interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko on 7 April sparked a huge media echo during the last week. Please find more information on this case and a selection of other recent interesting press articles on the Eastern Partnership region below:

Andrew Gardner provides an overview of the situation of the victims of selective justice in Ukraine where the unresolved case of Yulia Tymoshenko still remains: http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2013/april/former-ukrainian-minister-freed/76890.aspx

Pawel Kowal, a Polish MEP, sees the pardoning of Yuriy Lutsenko as a success of the persuasion towards the Ukrainian government but stresses that the problem is far from being resolved, as the real need for reform of the Ukrainian judicial system in order to provide justice to everyone remains: http://www.neweasterneurope.eu/node/741

Jakub Parusinski, an editor form the Kyiv Post, sees the release of Lutsenko as no sing of change, but as a tactical move of the government to appease the EU side and possibly to sow discord among the opposition: http://www.neweasterneurope.eu/node/747

Volodymyr Horbach, from the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation in Kyiv, expresses similar views: http://www.neweasterneurope.eu/node/749

Nikolaj Nielsen reports on the tightened grip of Belarusian authorities on political prisoners: http://euobserver.com/foreign/119757

Jana Kobzova reflects on the relations between the EU and Georgia, which have changed from the “autopilot” approach barely distinguishable from its support for President Saakashvili of the past years to a more differentiated approach, which should help stepping up the EU engagement in providing needed advice to the new government. She stresses that despite different accusations “Georgia is not turning into a Caucasian Ukraine”: http://euobserver.com/opinion/119719

Radio Free Europe provides an overview over the two parallel inauguration ceremonies by Serzh Sarkisian and Raffi Hovannisian, who both claim to have won the presidential elections, which took place in Yerevan last Tuesday: http://www.rferl.org/content/armenia-president-inauguration-protest/24951923.html