On December 16th, the Administrative Court, at the request of Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, banned the Communist Party. One of the first consequences of this decision is to prevent its official functioning, but also its participation in elections, the right to demonstrate, to distribute leaflets etc.

This prohibition is derived from the first signs of attacking freedom of expression which were recorded recently: in May 2015, the Chairman Petro Poroshenko enacted a series of laws adopted by the Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament, prohibiting the use of communist symbols, under penal proceedings that could reach up to 10 years in prison.

The European Union (EU) should react to this serious attack on freedom of expression, affiliation and association against a democratic party which has always acted for the respect of the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

The Party of the European Left (EL) demands that the European Union, which maintains relations with the Ukrainian Government, condemns this questioning of freedoms. It is intolerable that the EU keep silent against this anti-democratic drift.