Several held as riot police clash with pro-Europe protesters

Описание: (29 Nov 2013) Ukrainian riot police clashed with pro-Europe protesters on Friday in Kiev's Independence Square.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the square to protest against President Viktor Yanukovych's decision not to sign a landmark association agreement with the European Union.
Protesters held Ukrainian and EU flags and called for the president's resignation.
Riot police moved in and encircled the square, firing tear gas to try to disperse the protesters.
Several people were detained by police.
Yanukovych's government abruptly announced last week that it was suspending preparations for signing the agreement.
The move angered many in Ukraine, where nearly half of the population favours closer ties with the EU.
Yanukovych argued that Ukraine can't afford to sacrifice trade with Russia, which has tried to block the deal by banning some of Ukraine's imports and threatening more trade sanctions.
World boxing champion and opposition leader Vitaly Klitshcko and opposition politician Arseniy Yatsenyuk were flying back from the EU summit in Vilnius on Friday to speak to protesters in Kiev.
The demonstrations revived memories of the 2004 Orange Revolution which overturned Yanukovych's fraud-tainted victory and helped bring a pro-Western president to power.
But Yanukovych made a comeback amid economic problems, narrowly defeating Orange Revolution heroine, then-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, in a 2010 presidential vote.


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