his resignation from the post of interior minister. In his letter of resignation, the minister described the incident that happened in Frankfurt, and stressed that the German police had officially apologized to the Ukrainian delegation for this incident; but that despite this, German mass media disseminated false publications, which were later re-published by Ukrainian media. He said none of these publications mentioned the apologies of the German police. Lutsenko was confident that a dirty campaign had been waged against him in Ukraine. The aim of the campaign, according to him, was to destabilize the work of the Interior Ministry. On 15 May 2009, the Verkhovna Rada passed a resolution, stipulating to address the government with a request to suspend Yuriy Lutsenko from the post of the Interior Minister of Ukraine until the "drunken incident" is investigated. From 12 May 2009 until 14 May 2009 and again on 15 May 2009, members of the Party of Regions, then part of the opposition, blocked the Verkhovna Rada's rostrum and presidium, demanding the resignation of Lutsenko. They placed (in the session hall) posters with inscriptions: "A drunkard minister is a shame for Ukraine", "A drunk policeman is a criminal" and "Drunk minister – a politician?". Later, on 12 May 2009, Lutsenko claimed that he would sue Bild. According to Lutsenko, the publication does not contain "any true things, any references to documents or real officials". President Viktor Yushchenko considered his appeal for resignation "a logical step, which should be made ... There was an incident which damaged the reputation of the state, the government and the minister himself. It must be settled with due regard for the interests of the nation and the country". Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko believed that the information about the incident is doubtful. "I may state that the son of the Interior Minister is a child ill with cancer; he underwent a very serious operation. This child is taking special medicines that are incompatible with alcohol drinking. Besides, no tests were made. I'm confident that this child had nothing in common at all with alcohol. And this untruth, which was publicized many times, casts doubt upon the whole information". The Party of Regions faction insisted on accepting the resignation of Lutsenko without getting any proof of the incident at Frankfurt airport. The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc faction refused to support the resignation of the interior minister without any proof concerning