Yulia Tymoshenko Quotations

Ukraine is a vital link for Europe: our energy transportation networks; our location between the European Union and Eurasia. We're the melting pot of Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity. The democracy we founded with the Orange Revolution has to be an example for other post-Soviet states.

My goal in politics from the very beginning has been, and will be, the goal of giving Ukraine a chance to finally secure a firm footing in the world as a competitive, independent and real European state.

I think women have to change their hairstyle from time to time.

Whenever you see a successful woman, look out for three men who are going out of their way to try to block her.

I know the Russian political elite has got used to the Ukraine suffering from an inferiority complex, but I want this to disappear from our relationship.

I ask you, people who care about the soul of Ukraine, those who want to preserve the heart, the spirit and the faith of our country for future generations, to please defend it.

I never complain. I chose the road of fighting with the Ukrainian oligarchy in 1996, and have paid for this with my freedom and that of my husband, my father and my close friends.

I just heard the latest joke about my hair: 'Do you know what that is on her head? It's a steering wheel to drive the state.

The old bastions of the post-communist regime collapsed before my very eyes. The monsters who had kept Ukraine in a criminal state left the stage.

We will fight and defend my good name in the European court. We have to be strong and defend Ukraine from this authoritarianism.

I will get to the truth, if not in Ukrainian courts, then in international ones. I will fight to my last breath. They want to put me in prison but that won't help. My voice will be heard even louder from prison than now, and the whole world will hear me.

The post-Soviet mafia wove a spider's web of dirty money around the world. Where better to attack it than to start with the Ukrainian criminal heavyweights - the 'family' and its closest circle?

Yanukovych has changed everything in Ukrainian jails - real criminals have been released, while representatives of the middle class and politically rebellious free-minded people have filled the prisons.

Everything that I have is natural - braid, nails - I practically never use cosmetics. They often ask me in the provinces about my braid.

I think everyone remembers how certain Russian bureaucrats used to work against the Ukrainian opposition; I think it is hard to drop old habits.

We don't have another path. It's our only option.

With this visit, I wanted to show that sometimes politicians have no fear when they are sure in their actions, ... I initiated this trip not only to show that there is no problem, that everything is absolutely normal but also to finally solve the issue and to put an end to it.

We shall run independently ... We shall run as an independent and self-supporting force.

old repression that (former President Leonid) Kuchma had used against me and my family.

Of course, I will fight for the post of prime minister in the parliamentary elections,

I am ready to sit down with him (Yushchenko) today ... and suggest we unite forces and create a new government,

I am sure it is not the president, it is his team,

It is absolutely important to create a coalition urgently.

I think that people who are capable of such things can only fantasize about sex and in real life are not capable of anything, ... So these people should be forgiven.

I think these two teams will go their own way. ... Viktor Yushchenko and I will go to the elections on parallel paths,

picking up Kuchma's baton and wanting to get rid of me in the same way.

We are not causing the delay. We are 100 percent ready. I think there is some confusion in Our Ukraine. They did not expect such results.

Today, we are two different teams. I think these two teams will go their own way.

We are nearly that team that can deeply reform the country, rid it of clans and oligarchs and begin democratic reforms.

We view the Party of Regions as an opposition party.

We said repeatedly that this election was about choosing the prime minister and now the people have spoken.

Without Tymoshenko's support, clearly, Yushchenko never would have become president,

the president stood up, turned his back and said, 'The conversation is over.'

failed to find understanding with Yushchenko's environment, with his team.

Today, much more than yesterday, there is a threat of a coalition between Our Ukraine and the Regions Party.

Corruption is in the air. This is the air we had to breathe.

The revolution is not yet finished. We must keep fighting to secure power!

Our team will fight for the possibility to form the government. We perceive these positions not as a goal, but as an instrument to realize the ideals of the Orange Revolution, ... I don't want people's trust in government to die.

Of course we will take part in the presidential elections -- there is no doubt about this now. But I did not make this choice, Viktor Andreyevich Yushchenko did under full pressure from his entourage,

They think they can destroy my authority and credibility with the people, their trust in me,

There is not merely a chance, but a full certainty that we will win the parliamentary elections.

Then the president left, practically breaking down our unity, our perspective, the future of the country,

The air we are breathing is corrupt. It's not the end of the Orange Revolution; it's the direct action of the Orange Revolution. A public cleansing of society is underway.

There was a separate government established by Poroshenko, ... The two governments could not exist together.

I'm not going to hide myself away - I'm not going anywhere.

I haven't been doing business for years, and all of Ukraine knows this, ... The campaign against me is based on the notion that 10 years ago I was very powerful. In a span of five years, I created the most powerful company in post-Soviet space. The memory of that exists, of course.

I have not seen the president for a long time, and we have a lot to discuss.

Honestly speaking, I have no doubts that we wi ll win the parliamentary election. And definitely I will then head the government.

I ask the president: Has he any intention of forming a coalition with the Regions Party? I consider the absence of a reply silent endorsement of this union.

I asked him to choose between his entourage, which was accusedof corruption, and me in favor of the government, in favor of an honest country, but the president made a choice in favor of his team.

I believe God sometimes gives chances to some people. And I believe God gave me the chance to explain to people what is important and I am trying to use this.

He practically ruined our unity, our future, the future of the country. I think this step is absolutely illogical.

The damage was huge, ... especially the damage to people's souls--the people who stood on Independence Square for the sake of the revolution. . . . This is a big tragedy.

I am sure that all complaints regarding me were initiated from Ukraine.