KIEV, July 5 (RAPSI) - The Ukrainian authorities have been trying to find a legal solution to the issue of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, but she has refused to cooperate, Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara said in an interview with Ukraine's Channel 5.

He said the Tymoshenko case is a sore spot in Ukraine's relations with the European Union, with which Kiev hopes to sign an association agreement this fall.

The EU believes that members of the opposition are being prosecuted in Ukraine for political reasons and has called on Kiev to stop the practice of "selective justice," which the Ukrainian authorities have denied using.

"The Tymoshenko case is a problem for 46 million Ukrainians and 500 million Europeans," Kozhara said, as quoted by the Kiev-based LigaBusinessInform news agency.

"Ukraine is really trying to find a solution, as the country's leadership has said. We have discussed this issue with many foreign guests, including [German Foreign Minister] Guido Westerwelle. I believe Germany understands that this issue cannot be resolved unconditionally, without due regard for Ukrainian legislation."

The minister said that the Ukrainian leadership has been trying to find a legal solution to the Tymoshenko issue, but she has refused to cooperate and is acting in disregard of Ukraine's legislation and legal system. "I believe that this issue can be resolved if Ms. Tymoshenko shows goodwill and acts in accordance with Ukrainian legislation," the foreign minister said.

Tymoshenko is currently serving a seven-year sentence in a penal colony in Kharkov for abuse of power when she signed a gas deal with Russia in 2009. Since May 2012, she has been undergoing treatment in a hospital in Kharkov. She has also been charged with financial fraud, which is alleged to have taken place when she was head of United Energy Systems of Ukraine in the 1990s.