Ukraine's Former Presidents Back Pro-EU Protesters

Radio Free Europe, December 04, 2013

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (2nd left) meets with his predecessors,
 Leonid Kravchuk (right), Leonid Kuchma (center), and Viktor Yushchenko at the
presidential administration building in Kyiv in February 2011.

Ukraine's three former presidents have released a statement of support for protests in Ukraine sparked by a decision to suspend talks on an agreement with the European Union.

Leonid Kravchuk, Leonid Kuchma, and Viktor Yushchenko co-authored the statement, posted on Yushchenko's party website on December 4, that said, "We express solidarity with the peaceful civic actions of hundreds of thousands of young Ukrainians."

It also noted, "For the first time, the Ukrainian people have come out on the streets with a demand that has unprecedented mass support."

The statement condemned the "excessive use of force" by police against protesters at rallies in Kyiv and called on the government to consider "the European yearnings of the Ukrainian people."

The three presidents' statement also warned that "the crisis is deepening and we see risks of losing control over the situation."