Ukraine's former prime minister and current opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko has pledged to continue strengthening the opposition by "purging" it of "weak" members.

"The purge of the [Batkivshchyna] party, the [Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc's] faction will be difficult. But my position is very clear: the party must be purged... and have the right to continue defending Ukraine's right to be independent," Tymoshenko said in a live broadcast on Ukraine's Fifth Channel.

Tymoshenko moved to the opposition after her government was dissolved in March, following Victor Yanukovych's victory in the presidential elections in February.

Some members of Tymoshenko's bloc have since moved to the Party of Regions led by Yanukovych, the former prime minister's bitter political rival.

Tymoshenko has pledged to smoke out potential "traitors" among the opposition.

In an interview with the Fifth Channel, she said she remembered those times when "patriots" who were fighting for Ukraine's independence were being captured and taken to concentration camps, while others were betraying their friends and supporting the Soviet government.

"There have always been weak and strong people. It is the same in our team. Those weak will... fall away today, and the party will become strong and worthy of the people's choice," she said.

KIEV, September 8 (RIA Novosti)