Ukraine’s parliament has repealed anti-protest laws

(Vatican Radio) Ukraine’s parliament has repealed anti-protest laws that set off violent clashes. The decision came in an emergency session which was called Tuesday to work out possible concessions to the opposition to end street protests in the capital Kiev and in other cities in which six people have been killed.
The move comes after the country’s Prime Minister Mykola Azarov offered his resignation to President Viktor Yanukovich.
Azarov said he hoped his departure would help towards a peaceful settlement to two months of unrest which has engulfed the country.
Lydia O’Kane spoke to Orysia Lutsevych, research fellow at the Russia and Eurasia Program at London-based think tank Chatham House. She says that the Prime Minister’s offer to step down does not mean that the whole cabinet will resign. “So far it’s a personal resignation… it also means that it’s not enough because the protesters are demanding more, they are demanding a return to European integration… and most importantly preliminary parliamentary and presidential elections.”
Asked about what kind of role the European Union can play in finding a solution to the crisis, Ms Lutsevych says that what it is trying to do right now is to propose mediation efforts, calling all the groups to sit at the table in order to “find a peaceful legitimate solution to the political crisis”.
In recent days a number of activists have died in incidents linked to the protests.
The turmoil in Ukraine was ignited when President Yanukovych pulled out of a planned trade deal with the EU last November in favour of a $15billion bailout from neighbouring Russia. Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s interview with Orysia Lutsevych