The visit to Ukraine of Bundestag deputy and member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Andrei Hunko, who intends to take part in monitoring local elections in Ukraine as part of the PACE mission, is under threat.
A high-ranking source from the German Foreign Ministry told a PolitNavigator correspondent in Berlin about this.
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Despite the fact that Junco was not included in the official list of persons non grata recently published by Kiev, Ukrainian authorities may not allow him through the passport control post at Boryspil airport. Ukrainian diplomats conveyed this information to the German source.
The Ukrainian side is extremely annoyed that deputies Hunko and Gerke from the Left party visited Donetsk and delivered humanitarian aid there for a children’s hospital. During their trip, they also held a meeting with Alexander Zakharchenko.
Andrey Hunko refused to comment on this information. “I wrote an official request to the Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany, asking for an official answer on whether I can visit Ukraine,” Hunko said.
Tini Cox, head of the United European Left parliamentary group in PACE, told PolitNavigator that such a policy could lead Ukraine to isolation.
“I don’t think that the Ukrainian authorities can agree to this; a ban on the entry of a PACE member to observe the elections is guaranteed to cause a reaction from the Council of Europe6 I think Ukraine is not interested in this,” Cox said.
He also added that the PACE leadership will monitor the situation around Hunko.