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July 6, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 4
In the memo, Friedman suggested recruiting Kwasniewski to the group. But he noted that Kwasniewski would have a conflict of interests because Kwasniewski was the leading figure in the European Parliament’s monitoring mission to Ukraine.
The monitoring mission was tasked with judging whether Ukraine was fit to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union. A leader of the monitoring to mission could hardly also pub- licly lobby in favour of Ukraine.
Friedman then suggested to Manafort that Kwas- niewski appear at conferences together with Gusenbauer, with conferences 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 partici- pants, I have received a honorarium,” Kwasniewski 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 community in Ukraine.”
“It [the monitoring mission] always kept an eye on its independence and impartiality [...] 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 Parlia- ment press officer Sanne De Ryck said.
”Alexander Kwasniewski had a double role, work- ing for Ukrainian oligarchs and the EU [...] This
creates conflicts of interest, which is indeed prob- lematic,” 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 revo- lution of February 2014 and its aftermath.
The flight data points to intensive Manafort super- vision of the “Hapsburg Group” members such as Gusenbauer, Kwasniewski, and Prodi. Manafort frequently flew on the Lovochkin family’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 “consist- ently advocated for Ukraine to have closer ties to the West.”
Kwasniewski confirmed this. “He [Manafort] was in favour of signing the Association Agreement.”
Yulia Lovochkina acknowledged owning an ex- ecutive jet business. “Its services were open
to everyone on the market,” she said. She also acknowledged flying with Manafort to the Rome conference on one of the planes. She “paid for the ticket herself and had her own agenda for the trip,” she said.
Manafort lost little time after the creation of the Hapsburg group in June 2012. On September 20, 2012, Gusenberg and Prodi spoke at a conference organised by the Otto Renner Institut. Manafort flew to Vienna on its conclusion the following day.
On October 23, 2012, he flew on a one-day trip from Kyiv to Berlin, where the Hapsburg group – including Kwasniewski – were appearing at a conference organised by the Eastern Economy Committee. Kwasniewski confirmed a meeting with Manafort here.