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to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union. A leader of the monitoring to mission could hardly also publicly lobby in favour of Ukraine.
Friedman then suggested to Manafort that Kwasniewski appear at conferences together with Gusenbauer, with confer- ences planned for Berlin, Rome and Brussels. Those recruited for the group would “take direction from us informally and via Alfred [Gusenbauer].”
“I participated in several international conferences as a speaker and for this reason, like other participants, I have received an honorarium,” Kwasniewski
interest, which is indeed problematic,” Stefan Meister, expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations told bne IntelliNews.
Flight-tracking Manafort
bne IntelliNews obtained flight data for Manafort’s Ukraine visits for those years. His flight data made it possible to track his lobbying activities in 2012-2015, in the run-up to the Euromaidan revolution of February 2014 and its aftermath.
The flight data points to intensive Manafort supervision of the “Hapsburg Group” members such as Gusenbauer, Kwasniewski, and Prodi who frequently
By the end of 2012, the lobbying effort was beginning to pay off. The crowning moment came on December 18, 2012, when Manafort’s visit to Kyiv coincided with the 11th Cox-Kwasniewski mission visit. Kwasniewski confirmed meeting Manafort on this occasion.
Yanukovych, originally scheduled to
be visiting Moscow, cancelled on the Kremlin with no notice to meet Cox and Kwasniewski
In return, Cox and Kwasniewski heaped praise on Ukraine’s then prime minister Mykola Azarov on the occasion of his birthday in an open letter. This was a huge turnaround compared to seven months earlier, when President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy had told journalists that Azarov “should stay at home” instead of visiting Brussels.
The road to Vilnius
The lobbying effort accelerated in 2013, starting with the March 2013 Rome con- ference. The EU’s Vilnius summit slated for November 2013 was approaching where Ukraine was expected to sign the Association Agreement.
On May 15-17, 2013, Manafort flew again for a weekend in Warsaw and Brussels, returning on Lovochkin’s executive jet.
In Warsaw he met one-on-one with Kwas- niewiski. On May 17, Prodi and Gusen- bauer were in Brussels for Ukraine on the road to the Vilnius conference.
Two months later, Manafort was again air bound on Lovochkin’s plane, on a one day visit from Frankfurt, landing from the US, bound for the Crimea on July 29. He flew back from Crimea to Frankfurt on the same day.
One day before, Russia and Ukraine had jointly celebrated the Soviet-era Navy Day with a shared display of their two fleets that was attended by Putin and Yanukovych. Join manoeuvres displayed the close contacts between the top brass of the two fleets that prefigured Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula only nine months later.
But it was not for Navy Day that Manafort flew to Crimea, together with
“Kwasniewski had a double-hatted role as Ukraine's ambassador in Europe and the United States and as ambassador of the transatlantic community in Ukraine.”
acknowledges. “I have not received any financial gratification from the [Manafort-linked lobbyists] Centre for Modern Ukraine or Mercury, I have never received any suggestions for my contributions from Mr. Manafort, Mr. Friedman or anyone else. In all my political activities I have presented my own opinions,” Kwasniewski added.
In Kwasniewski’s ghost-written account of his activities in Ukraine 2012-2014, he describes having had a “double- hatted role ... as Ukraine's ambassador in Europe and the United States and as ambassador of the transatlantic com- munity in Ukraine.”
“It [the monitoring mission] always kept an eye on its independence and impar- tiality [...] not allowing any side to use the mission for its own purposes [...]
it is our belief that this independence and impartiality was fully achieved,” European Parliament press officer Sanne De Ryck said.
”Alexander Kwasniewski had a double role, working for Ukrainian oligarchs and the EU [...] This creates conflicts of
flew on Yanukovych chief-of-staff Lovochkin’s personal jets between Ukraine and Europe to attend their conferences or meet individually.
Manafort’s representative Jason Maloni declined to comment on the flight data. A source close to Manafort, however, argued that he had “consistently advocated for Ukraine to have closer ties to the West.”
Kwasniewski confirmed this. “He [Manafort] was in favour of signing the Association Agreement.”
Manafort lost little time after the creation of the Hapsburg group in June 2012. On September 20, 2012, Gusen- berg and Prodi spoke at a conference organised by the Otto Renner Institut. Manafort flew to Vienna on its conclu- sion the following day.
On October 23, 2012, he flew on a one- day trip from Kyiv to Berlin, where the Hapsburg group – including Kwas- niewski – were appearing at a confer- ence organised by the Eastern Economy Committee. Kwasniewski confirmed a meeting with Manafort here.
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