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Ukraine’s Communists collect signatures in favour of referendum on joining Customs Union

The Communists have fulfilled the requirement to collect at least 100,000 signatures in favour of the referendum in 18 Ukrainian regions

KIEV, November 22, 22:41 /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine’s Communist Party has already collected 3.5 million signatures in favour of a national referendum on joining the Customs Union [of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan], leader of Ukrainian Communists and members of the national parliament Petr Simonenko told Itar-Tass on Friday.

“We are through we the entire procedure in strict compliance with the current laws and have collected 3.5 million signatures even in a shorter time than the 39-day period established by the law,” he said. “It was much more difficult to collect signatures in Ukraine’s western regions, where nationalists have more influence. However, a woman activist managed to collect more than 500 signatures in Ivano-Frankovsk.” So, according to Simonenko, the Communists have fulfilled the requirement to collect at least 100,000 signatures in favour of the referendum in 18 Ukrainian regions.

“The key task is to demonstrate society that people want a referendum,” he noted.

Commenting on the Ukrainian government’s decision to suspend the signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union, the Communist leader said that this agreement did not take into account Ukraine’s national interests. “The entire European integration propaganda campaign was built on anti-Russian oratory,” he noted. “About 10,000 Ukrainian enterprises might have stalled should Ukraine sign the Association Agreement with the European Union. It might have entailed shrinkage in trade and economic relations with Russia.