Stefano Duc

Correspondent (Europe)

 

KIEV – Hundreds of thousands of protesters are continuing to demonstrate in downtown Kiev, despite the ban on public rallies and the bitter cold.

Since yesterday, Independence square is the new Tahrir square, with protesters putting up tents and barricades in order to keep away the riot police. Moreover, the City Hall and other public offices have been occupied by the pro-EU demonstrators who are asking, along with the opposition leaders, for President Yanukovich’s resignation. His refusal to sign an EU trade agreement that would have brought Ukraine one step closer to the EU membership, has triggered this wave of protests, which rapidly became anti-governmental. Indeed, not only are the protesters asking to the President and the government to step down, but they are also asking the release of jailed former PM Julia Tymoshenko’s.

This wave of protest, which recalls the 2004 ‘Orange Revolution’, is likely to continue, as opposition parties have called for a general strike against the violent repression of yesterday’s rally, which has been condemned by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the EU Commission.

This critical situation has forced, this afternoon, Mr.Yanukovich to formally ask the EU Commission President to receive a Ukranian delegation ‘to discuss certain aspects of the agreement.’

 

More to come…

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Stefano Duc

Stefano Duc is TGP’s European Breaking News correspondent. Interested in politics, culture and writing, he believes that information can make the difference.