A member of the executive committee of the Opposition Bloc, MP Vadym Novynskyi, considers his summon today for questioning by the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine as yet another attempt to exert politically motivated pressure on the country's only opposition party.

He said this after a visit to the Main Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) where he was questioned as a witness:

"I can say that I consider my call to the PGO as another attempt of the authorities to exert pressure on the only opposition party in the country – the Opposition Bloc. For two years, we have been witnessing unprecedented politically motivated pressure from law enforcement agencies on our political force, on my colleagues and associates, and on me. For two years, they have been trying to silence us, trying to make us stand back and bend to a new political reality. Yet, we have been talking about, and are still talking about, the crimes of these criminally bankrupt authorities, we are telling people the truth. We are the only ones who fight for peace and true unity in the country, the only ones who stand for the reintegration of Donbass not in words, but through concrete deeds", said the politician.

According to him, this is the authorities' reaction to the growing popularity of the Opposition Bloc.

"More and more Ukrainians support us and our program. More and more political and social forces are voicing their support and willingness to unite for the common goal of saving the country from war, poverty and hopelessness. Our steps and proposals are constructive, competent and comprehensible to all people of common sense. The authorities understand that they will not trample over us, they will not silence us, and will not howl us down with their fanfares of imaginary achievements and shrill populism. Therefore, those in power are afraid of us and exert pressure upon us by resorting to such dirty tricks – including summons to the Prosecutor General's Office, searches by the police and the Security Service, resorting to trumped up cases, absurd allegations and accusations", said Mr Novynskyi.

Speaking about the reasons for his summon to the Prosecutor General's Office, he stressed that it was connected with another politically motivated case that the current authorities were trying to fabricate. "For me it is clear that the reason is my firm civic position on a number of important issues for the country. And the ultimate goal of this contrived case is to deepen the split and confrontation in society, which my associates, colleagues and I all resist," said Vadym Novynskyi.