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Action Ukraine Report

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT"
In-Depth Ukrainian News, Analysis, and Commentary

"The Art of Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World"

EUROPEAN UNION
The EU continues to send Ukraine weak, wishy-washy, mixed, contradictory
signals when it should be sending a strong, clear, consistent YES.
How short-sighted can the EU be?

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" Year 04, Number 70
Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC), Washington, D.C.
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Washington, D.C.; Kyiv, Ukraine, FRIDAY, April 30, 2004

INDEX OF ARTICLES
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"

1. "EVER-EXPANDING EUROPEAN UNION?"
EU Official Argues in New Book "Ukraine Should Be Permanently Ruled Out"
EU's single-market commissioner, Frits Bolkestein
The Economist Global Agenda
The Economist, London, UK, Thursday, Apr 29th 2004

2. UKRAINE FAILS TO OBTAIN EU MARKET ECONOMY STATUS
Ukraine's President Kuchma described this as "a negative signal"
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, Ukraine, in Russian, 29 Apr 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

3. EU ATTITUDE ANGERS UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT
UT1, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian 1830 gmt 28 Apr 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

4. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT WANTS CLEAR SIGNAL FROM EU
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, Ukraine, in Russian, 29 Apr 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

5.WARSAW ECONOMIC MEETING DEBATES EXTENT OF EUROPE
Ukraine: Kuchma says the direction we are proceeding in is Europe.
Polish Radio 1, Warsaw, Poland, in Polish, 29 Apr 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

6. PRESIDENT KUCHMA HAMPERS UKRAINE'S EUROPEAN
INTEGRATION MOVEMENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO STATES
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, Ukraine in Ukrainian, 29 Apr 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

7. "EUROPEAN UNION: EASTERN PROMISE"
Western Ukraine changed hands and names at least 13 times in the
last century. You are now firmly in what was once Europe's killing fields.
COMMENT: The Guardian, London, UK, Friday, Apr 30, 2004

8. TOP US OFFICIAL URGES UKRAINE TO PUMP OIL TO EUROPE
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 28 Apr 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

9. COMMENT: "A UNITED EUROPE NEEDS AN INTEGRATED RUSSIA"
By Mikhail Gorbachev, Financial Times, London, UK, Friday, Apr 30, 2004

10. "WHERE EXACTLY DOES EUROPE END?"
COMMENTARY By Gwynne Dyer, The Baltic Times
Riga, Latvia, Thursday, April 29, 2004

11. CRIMEAN COMMUNIST LEADER URGES UKRAINE'S
INTEGRATION WITH RUSSIA, NOT EUROPE
"National Idea: A Moment of Truth"
By Leonid Hrach, Crimean Communist Leader
Kiyevskiye Vedomosti, Kiev, Ukraine, in Russian 20 Apr 04; p 5
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 70 ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
Politics and Governance, Building a Strong, Democratic Ukraine
http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/index.htm
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1. "EVER-EXPANDING EUROPEAN UNION?"
EU Official Argues in New Book "Ukraine Should Be Permanently Ruled Out"
EU's single-market commissioner, Frits Bolkestein

The Economist Global Agenda
The Economist, London, UK, Thursday, Apr 29th 2004

There are worries that a European Union of 25 member countries will
prove unmanageable. But the queue to join continues growing. Could the
Union one day expand to take in the whole of continental Europe and
beyond?

RATHER like the various theories of the universe, it is possible to
imagine a European Union that goes on expanding, one that reaches a
certain size then remains stable, or one that eventually implodes. So
far, the EU continues in its expansionary phase. On Saturday May 1st it
undergoes its fifth and most ambitious enlargement since its
foundation, as the European Economic Community, in 1957 (see table
below). The EU aims to admit Romania and Bulgaria in 2007, and
Croatia may also join around then.

Already, there are worries that the current enlargement will prove a
step too far. Getting agreement between 25 squabbling countries may
prove near-impossible. There are also fears that mass migration from
the poorer eastern entrants will cause a backlash against the EU among
richer existing members. Already, EU citizens have doubts about the
European project: a poll last December by Eurobarometer found that
fewer than half of its people now agree that the Union is "a good
thing".

However, while fears of the Union falling apart are growing, so is the
queue of aspiring members--and not just among countries that
geographers would call European. Israel and Morocco would both like to
join. If they get in, why not Algeria, which held a reasonably
democratic election in early April--and which belonged to France, and
thus to the EU's predecessor body, until the 1960s? Or Tunisia, the
first North African country to sign an association agreement with the
EU?

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 led to a rush of applications
from countries previously behind the Iron Curtain, the EU refined its
entry requirements. Under the "Copenhagen criteria", agreed in 1993,
applicants must be stable democracies that guarantee the rule of law
and human rights; they must have a functioning market economy; and they
must be capable of taking on all the obligations of EU membership,
including its colossal body of existing laws (known as the ACQUIS
COMMUNAUTAIRE).

There is one other stipulation in the EU's treaties: members should be
"European". But the meaning of this is not defined. Turkey has had its
application formally recognised, despite most of its territory being in
Asia. Georgia would like to join, but while geographers place it in
Europe, it is actually to the east of Syria and Jordan. Azerbaijan is
also geographically European but its chances of ever being accepted
seem remote. Nevertheless, Mikhail Saakashvili, Georgia's president,
predicts that all the countries in the Caucasus will eventually join.

Some would argue that "European" means culturally European--including
being predominantly Christian. But the EU has ruled out discriminating
on religious grounds, by acknowledging Turkey's application and by
making it clear that Bosnia--also predominantly Muslim--will one day
have its application considered, as will the other Balkan states if
they continue making progress towards the Copenhagen criteria.

If all of southern Europe can apply, why not all of eastern Europe?
Maybe one day but, as Heather Grabbe of the Centre for European Reform
puts it, "Belarus is too authoritarian, Moldova too poor, Ukraine too
large and Russia too scary for the EU to contemplate offering
membership any time soon." The EU's single-market commissioner, Frits
Bolkestein, argues in a new book ["The Limits of Europe"] that these four
countries should be permanently ruled out (he thinks Turkey should be,
too). It is a good job that they are all a long way from fulfilling the
Copenhagen criteria because the cost of incorporating them would be
enormous.

There are several small, prosperous, western European states that the
EU would welcome with open arms: Norway and Switzerland (whose
governments have contemplated joining but whose citizens voted against)
plus Iceland and micro-states such as Jersey, Liechtenstein and Monaco.
These all have relationships with the EU offering them most of the
benefits of membership while sparing them some of its obligations, so
they are under no great pressure to join.

The countries that do want to join are mostly poor. What most attracts
them are the big EU subsidies that helped lift earlier joiners, such as
Spain and Ireland, from rags to riches. But the generosity of the EU's
wealthier paymasters is already under great strain and would reach
breaking-point if more impoverished countries joined on the same terms
as past entrants.

This problem is compounded by the size of some of the poor, would-be
members: Turkey could be the Union's most populous member by the time
it is ready to join, in about 2015. This would upset the current
balance of power, in which the biggest countries (and thus those with
the most votes) have been the main paymasters. In the biggest and
richest current member, Germany, the opposition Christian Democrats,
who oppose Turkish membership, could quite easily return to power in
the 2006 elections.

The arguments that the EU's leaders have used to justify
enlargement--that it will make Europe a region of prosperity and peace,
and that it will further the Union's aim of becoming a global
power--could justify its expanding to encompass the whole continent and
beyond. But both existing and wannabe members' doubts about further
enlargement will grow in the coming years, especially as the latest
entrants struggle to implement tough EU rules, without the generous
subsidies of the past to oil the wheels of integration. As the Union
gets bigger, Brussels may come to be seen as remote and dictatorial.

The waning attractions of full EU membership may eventually persuade
some applicants to accept the alternative the Union offered them last
year: under the "Wider Europe" initiative, the EU's neighbours will get
free trade and other benefits in return for political and economic
reforms. If so, the steady-state theory of the EU may eventually prove
correct.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Limits of Europe" by Frits Bolkestein, to be published in Britain
by Gibson Square Books later this year.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
See this article from The Economist with graphics and related items at:
http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2628212
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 70: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
Politics and Governance, Building a Strong, Democratic Ukraine
http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/index.htm
Become a financial sponsor of The Action Ukraine Program Fund
==========================================================
2. UKRAINE FAILS TO OBTAIN EU MARKET ECONOMY STATUS
Ukraine's President Kuchma described this as "a negative signal"

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, Ukraine, in Russian, 29 Apr 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

WARSAW - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has described as "a negative
signal" the fact that the Ukraine-EU Troika meeting at the level of foreign
ministers failed to make a decision to grant Ukraine market economy status.

Speaking to journalists in Warsaw, Kuchma reiterated Ukraine's desire to
integrate in the EU. "However, there are negative signals. The foreign
ministers gathered together, discussed the issue of granting Ukraine (the
status - Interfax-Ukraine) of a market economy. The decision was not made.
They are still chasing the hare around," Kuchma said.

Kuchma confirmed Ukraine's European integration course but warned against
speculating on this issue. "You should work with those who want to work with
you," Kuchma stressed. In this context, he recalled that Ukraine's trade
with Russia is only 1 per cent different from that with the EU. "But
dynamics with the Russian Federation is growing, while with the EU it has
stopped," Kuchma said.

"One should proceed from reality rather than speculate who and where wants
to go," Kuchma said. "You will not build a European democracy if you are
hungry," Kuchma added. (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 70: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
Check Out the News Media for the Latest News >From and About Ukraine
Daily News Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/newsgallery.htm
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3. EU ATTITUDE ANGERS UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT

UT1, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian 1830 gmt 28 Apr 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

KIEV - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has made angry comments on the EU's
policy towards his country, saying relations between the two resembled a
bullfight. Speaking at a news conference in Kiev on 29 April, two days
before 10 new members are due to join the EU, he blamed Europe for apparent
lack of progress in Ukraine's proclaimed course of European integration.

"Let us be honest, let us stop making empty declarations. This whole thing
reminds me of a corrida, where Ukraine is a young bull running after the red
cloth while [the EU] is standing still," an emotional Kuchma told a news
conference shown on the national UT1 television.

"And the arrows keep flying at us. They don't care about closer economic
ties, they just keep teaching us, and you know what they teach us about,"
the president said, in an apparent reference to the EU's frequent criticism
of the state of democracy and freedom of speech in Ukraine.

He indicated that Kiev was losing its patience with Europe. "We are not what
we were 10 years ago. The red cloth has somewhat faded in the sun and is not
as bright as it used to be, so we are not rushing so eagerly towards it,"
the president said.

Speaking just over a week after the Russian and Ukrainian parliaments
ratified a comprehensive economic union treaty, he added that Ukraine was
finding it hard to find its place in Europe. "Our main task is internal
transformations in Ukraine. If we go to Europe, we must have something to go
with, and this something is not what we have now. We are absolutely
uncompetitive now on the European market. Look at all the small businesses
fleeing our neighbours [the new EU entrants] and coming to us, because
no-one wants their goods in Europe."

He also made a swipe at the EU for failing to open up its market to
Ukrainian goods. "The fact that they don't give us market economy status - I
believe this is disgrace, total disgrace. Are you suggesting that Ukraine
should wait for Europe to deign to grant us this status in 20 or 30 years'
time?"

But the Ukrainian president dismissed criticisms that the economic union
signed with Russia, the Single Economic Space (SES) accord, was at odds with
Ukraine's European course, saying that the ball was now in Europe's court.

"I would like categorically to reject speculations about the SES accord,
which allegedly contradicts our European integration policy," Kuchma said.
"Ukraine has been and will be moving only in this main, strategic [European]
direction. But sadly, the EU has so far failed to produce a strategy, a
vision of its relations with Ukraine. We will build Ukraine as an integral
part of the European family, and adhere to all European standards. Only then
will they respect us and pay attention to us." Audio actuality has been
released.
Please send queries to kiev.bbcm@mon.bbc.co.uk] (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 70: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
Major Articles About What is Going on in Ukraine
Current Events Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/events/index.htm
Become a financial sponsor of The Action Ukraine Program Fund
==========================================================
4. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT WANTS CLEAR SIGNAL FROM EU

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, Ukraine, in Russian, 29 Apr 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

WARSAW - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma has urged the European Union
to clearly define Ukraine's European integration prospects.

"Only God knows where (along the path to the EU - Interfax) Ukraine is
today, even though we have chosen a strategic direction towards Europe long
ago. We would like to see the same certainty in the European Union," Kuchma
said addressing the European Economic Summit "Europe: Enlargement and
Beyond" in Warsaw today.

The summit was also attended by the presidents of Poland, Bulgaria, Georgia,
Latvia, Romania and Switzerland. EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter
Verheugen chaired the meeting.

"We are not asking much from the EU today, we just want to know one thing,
whether the EU would like to see us part of the union," Kuchma stressed.

He noted that Ukraine is not afraid of the possibility that the EU will say
that Ukraine can join only in 50 years. "We would like to see a clear time
frame," Kuchma said.

"Uncertainty is the worst thing. Over the last few years we have not
received any clear signals that Ukraine is welcome in the European Union,"
Kuchma said, noting that "Ukraine is the only country which has not been
recognized as a market economy by the EU."

Kuchma stressed that "the main strategic direction for Ukraine is towards
the EU." He reiterated that on its European integration path, Ukraine views
internal change as the most important thing. "I am convinced that we shall
not deviate from this strategic goal," he said. (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 70: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
Exciting Opportunities in Ukraine: Travel and Tourism Gallery
http://www.ArtUkraine.com/tourgallery.htm
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5. WARSAW ECONOMIC MEETING DEBATES EXTENT OF EUROPE
Ukraine: Kuchma says the direction we are proceeding in is Europe.

Polish Radio 1, Warsaw, Poland, in Polish, 29 Apr 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

WARSAW - [Announcer] At the same time, the summit proper has been taking
place at the Victoria hotel. A plenary session entitled "Europe beyond the
European Union" was attended by President Aleksander Kwasniewski, as well
as the presidents of Switzerland, Joseph Deiss; of Romania, Ion Iliescu; of
Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, and of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. The panel was
led by the commissioner for expansion of the European Union, Guenter
Verheugen.

He said there was no advice for Poland ahead of it entry to the European
Union. Poland is a country of success. The transformation and preparations
for membership of the union had gone very well, he emphasised. Juliusz
Gluski followed the summit proceedings:

[Reporter] The debate was very interesting because a great many interesting
questions were raised to which for the moment there are no answers. One of
these, constantly present throughout the debate, was where does the process
of expanding the European Union end.

The very presence of the president of Georgia already shows that the
geographical borders of Europe can undergo a displacement. Anyway, Mikhail
Saakashvili emphasised Georgia's European aspirations.

Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, for his part, said clearly - the
direction we are proceeding in is Europe. But at the same time he accused
the European Union of making a mistake by delaying the announcement of the
start date of accession negotiations for Ukraine.

But before this takes place, the union would have to recognise Ukraine as a
country with a market economy. This kind of waiting is very wearing. The
worst thing is uncertainty, President Leonid Kuchma said. (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 70: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
The Story of Ukraine's Long and Rich Culture
Ukrainian Culture Gallery: http://www.ArtUkraine.com/cultgallery.htm
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6. PRESIDENT KUCHMA HAMPERS UKRAINE'S EUROPEAN
INTEGRATION MOVEMENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO STATES

UNIAN news agency, Kiev, Ukraine in Ukrainian, 29 Apr 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Apr 29, 2004

KIEV - Ukraine's absence among the new EU members and even among candidates
for joining the EU in the foreseeable future is the most eloquent outcome of
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma's 10 years in office. His regime has
spectacularly failed in the European direction of its foreign policy, the
leader of opposition Our Ukraine bloc, Viktor Yushchenko, said in a
statement in connection with the EU enlargement.

The Our Ukraine press service has quoted Yushchenko as saying that
"everything possible and impossible has been made to make the regime's
domestic policy a formidable challenge to the European community, because it
contradicts basic European values," he stressed.

Yushchenko said that "the unprecedented rigging of the Mukacheve mayoral
election took place in the run-up to a visit to Ukraine by the NATO
secretary-general and the prime minister of the Netherlands [Jan Balkenende]
who will soon preside in the EU. This gives reasons to believe that there is
a group among this country's top leadership that openly seeks to make
impossible even the slightest progress in Ukraine's European integration
bid.

Until recently, the Kuchma- [Ukrainian Prime Minister] Yanukovych regime at
least declared its course for Europe, but their current statements show that
Ukraine has given up even declarations about its European integration
course."

Yushchenko stressed that "President Kuchma is trying to make up for the
resounding failure of its European policy by cynical speculations about
pro-Russian sentiment of the Ukrainian people and by the Single Economic
Space project [a common market treaty between Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and
Kazakhstan]."

"The project rests on a good idea which no-one rejects and which we
consistently support - the idea of boosting economic cooperation with
Russia. However, the text of the treaty shows that this project is political
populism which is economically disadvantageous for Ukraine, or a political
bribe to secure the neighbour's [Russia's] support during the presidential
campaign," Yushchenko said. Because of an unjust decision making mechanism
Ukraine will be unable to defend its interests, while Ukrainian producers
will face unequal competition, Yushchenko said.

When taking over the post of CIS head a year ago, Kuchma named as his main
objective the creation of a free trade zone within the entire CIS,
Yushchenko said.

However no progress could be observed in this direction. A free trade zone
with Russia does not work either, despite the fact that all Ukrainian
political forces, including Our Ukraine, support it. "So the regime has
become confused in its own so-called multi-direction policy. As a result,
both West and East talk to Ukraine through clenched teeth. What is happening
to Ukraine resembles a man who is trying to sit on two chairs at once,"
Yushchenko stressed.

However, Yushchenko said that it would be wrong to interpret the current
processes in Ukraine as an end of its European prospects. "This is just the
end of the Kuchma-Yanukovych regime... [ellipsis as published]. I am
confident that healthy forces will win the [presidential] election this
autumn. The Europe-oriented foreign policy and the European standards in
Ukraine will become the alpha and omega in the policy of the new president
of Ukraine," Yushchenko said.

Yushchenko promised that in a few months his political force would draft and
present to the public a clear plan of Ukraine's European integration, on
which a team of experts has been working since the beginning of this year.
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 70: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
The Genocidal Famine in Ukraine 1932-1933, HOLODOMOR
Genocide Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/famineart/index.htm
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7. "EUROPEAN UNION: EASTERN PROMISE"
Western Ukraine changed hands and names at least 13 times in the
last century. You are now firmly in what was once Europe's killing fields.

COMMENT: The Guardian, London, UK, Apr 30, 2004

Seen through the narrow lens with which Britain suspiciously gazes at all
things that emanate from Brussels, the enlargement of the European Union may
seem to present little cause for celebration and no little cause for
anxiety. Enlargement means all those Polish migrant workers who tomorrow may
be knocking on the front door. It means the looming battles over money and
power in an enlarged union.

How will it be easier to reach a consensus in meetings which will now be 50
strong, with the head of government and foreign minister from each member
country present? And won't the added chaos make it easier for the US to
cherry-pick countries for support, as it did when it sought immunity from
prosecution for American soldiers under the rules of the international
criminal court? One of the ironies of a project to make Europe more than the
sum of its parts, is that it has only increased the tendency of each part to
see the sum from its own perspective.

Yet if you move eastwards the importance of what is about to take place
tomorrow grows. Move a lot further east and south of Berlin, say, and you
arrive in Przemysl, six hours' train ride away from Warsaw, on the border
with Ukraine. Tomorrow this will become one of the easternmost points of the
boundary of the enlarged union. It is a peaceful spot today, but it is one
of all too many forests across eastern Europe where the cauldron of ethnic
cleansing still feels warm to the touch.

In 1948 over 650,000 Ukrainians were deported from the foothills around the
border after a bitter partisan war by Ukrainian nationalists. Monuments to
the war dead still cause local indignation. Travel through no man's land and
bandit country 50 miles further east and you enter Lvuv as the Poles call
it, Lviv as the Ukrainians call it, Lvov as the Bolsheviks used to call it,
and Lemburg as it was known under the Austro-Hungarian empire.

One historian calculated that this town in what is now western Ukraine
changed hands and names at least 13 times in the last century. You are now
firmly in what was once Europe's killing fields. We have forgotten about it,
but the Ukrainians and Poles, whose country disappeared under successive
German and Russian invasions have not. In these rolling hills and in much of
the Russia right up to the gates of Moscow, where tank traps commemorate the
point at which the German advance was stopped, and where the earth
continues to yield the bodies of fallen soldiers, the second world war feels
as if it had ended the weekend before last.

The "lace curtain" that will now be established along this border will
create a new line of division in eastern Europe. The electric fence that the
Soviets once installed to keep Belarussians and Ukrainians in, will now be
used by Brussels to keep the the most impoverished citizens of eastern
Europe out, much to the distaste of Polish border guards who now have to
enforce the EU's wishes. And yet it is Poland, which knew Russian soldiers
as the neighbours from hell, which may provide Europe with its best chance
of negotiating a good working relationship with the rest of eastern Europe.

The new Europe will also be a community of small nations. Hungary, the Czech
Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will not be easy
to keep locked in some anteroom, while the big boys - Germany, France and
Britain - "pre-negotiate" heavyweight policy on the constitution and
defence. The new Europe will be a permanent flux of temporary bargaining
alliances, with which the Franco-German motor will have to come to terms.

As the borders shift eastwards so does Europe's centre of gravity. This
poses a challenge to our western-centric way of seeing things. But it is an
opportunity too, not least for the stalled and negative British debate on
the EU. (END)
LINK: http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1206650,00.html
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 70: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Ukraine's History and the Long Struggle for Independence
Historical Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/histgallery.htm
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8. TOP US OFFICIAL URGES UKRAINE TO PUMP OIL TO EUROPE

UNIAN news agency, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 28 Apr 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Apr 29, 2004

KIEV - Even short-term use of the Ukrainian Odessa-Brody pipeline to pump
oil in the reverse direction [to Odessa rather than to Europe, which is
suggested by Russian oil companies] will result in Ukraine losing the status
of a country transiting Caspian oil to Europe. US Deputy Assistant Secretary
for European and Eurasian Affairs Steven Pifer said this at a news
conference [in Kiev] on 27 April.

He said that companies and countries which extract oil from the Caspian Sea
will find other ways of transporting oil because of problems at the
Bosporus, should Ukraine agree to reversing the flow. "Somebody has said
that the reverse flow is appropriate in the short term. However, the
situation with tankers passing through the Bosporus is very strained. If the
flow is reversed in the short term, other countries will find ways of
transporting oil other than through Odessa-Brody," he said.

Pifer noted that at the beginning of this year there was a time when oil
tankers spent up to 30 days at the Bosporus due to massive congestion and
bad weather.

Pifer said that the government of Ukraine has to step up talks with
companies about filling the pipeline with oil and delivering it to Europe.
"Today the negotiation process of Ukraine with international oil companies
proceeds not so quickly as we wanted," Pifer said.

The Ukrainian president [Leonid Kuchma] yesterday criticized the government
for approving a decision to use the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline to transport
Caspian oil to Europe.

The president also criticized Poland and the EU for being passive in
implementing a project to extend the Odessa-Brody pipeline up to the Polish
town of Plock and create a Eurasian oil transport corridor on its basis.
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 70: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
The Rich History of Ukrainian Art, Music, Pysanka, Folk-Art
Arts Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/artgallery.htm
Support "The Action Ukraine Report"...Send A Check Today
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9. "A UNITED EUROPE NEEDS AN INTEGRATED RUSSIA"

COMMENT: By Mikhail Gorbachev, Financial Times, London, UK, Apr 30, 2004

Almost two decades ago, I called for the building of a common European home,
an idea that became central to perestroika's new political thinking. In the
years that followed, decisive steps were taken to make it a practical
reality. Democratisation in the former Soviet Union, freedom of choice in
central and eastern European nations and the ensuing "velvet revolutions"
created conditions for ending the division of Europe. In the autumn of 1990
European leaders signed the Charter of Paris and in effect drew a final line
under the cold war.

Today, a great deal hinges on where Europe goes from here. It can head
towards new dividing lines or towards a truly united Europe that includes
Russia. A Europe that embraces Russia is the only Europe that could become a
credible partner to the US, China and other emerging powers.

The enlargement of the European Union and the deepening of its integration
is a part of this process. But those who want to see a whole, peaceful and
strong Europe should also welcome the emerging process of integration in the
east of the continent. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan - nations
that account for the bulk of the former Soviet Union's resources - are
working to create a common economic space.

It is true that EU enlargement has recently caused difficulties in EU-
Russian relations. It is now necessary to readjust the mechanism of
relations, address specific trade problems and make sure that there is no
slackening in the pace of mutual rapprochement. The task is not easy, but
both Russia and the EU have taken a responsible approach. Intense contacts,
exchange visits and a search for mutually acceptable solutions are under
way. This is exactly right when problems arise between partners.

Therefore, it is harmful to European construction when some politicians and
commentators lapse into old-style rhetoric. This is why I was shocked by the
vision of Europe's future that George Soros recently outlined in this
newspaper. He seems to see Russia as the main source of danger to Europe:
"In the east . . . the EU cannot entice [Russia's neighbours] with
membership any time soon, whereas Russia would be only too happy to lure
them into a reconstituted empire."

The EU's goal should be "to counteract Russia's pull", he said, and
everything should be subordinated to that goal, including "greater access to
Europe's common market, more favourable visa regimes, job and immigration
opportunities, and access to capital, cultural contacts and technical
assistance".

At the heart of Mr Soros's thesis is a distrust of Russia and a pessimistic
and profoundly erroneous assessment of its prospects. "After a chaotic
period, the restored Russian state is shedding the few attributes of an open
society it had acquired," he said. He added that it was time to cease
treating Russia as a "nascent democracy".

But Mr Soros's fears do not have any basis. The process of regional
integration of the four republics, based on common economic interests that
evolved historically, is not at odds with the desire of those nations to
build stronger ties with the EU. Nor does it threaten in any way their
political sovereignty. Seeing the closer interaction of post-Soviet states -
which is natural and inevitable - as a manifestation of Russia's "imperial
ambitions" is at best an error of judgment and at worst a malicious
distortion of reality.

Instead of presenting this as contrary to the overall European construction,
we should focus on developing a modern relationship between the EU and its
neighbours. It is clear that, following expansion, the EU will take many
years to modernise the economies of the accession countries. What is wrong
with having a credible and strong EU partner emerging in the east in the
meantime? It would be better for the EU to deal with such a partner rather
than with what are currently failing economies of resource-rich provinces.

I have often asked my American and European counterparts what kind of Russia
they wanted to see - a strong, responsible, good-faith partner, or a weak,
insecure, dependent one. Russian citizens have answered this question. They
concluded that Vladimir Putin's policies during his first presidency were
needed for political and economic stabilisation and they entrusted him with
a new four-year mandate.

The next few years must be used to continue the democratic process,
modernise the economy and strengthen the institutions of civil society. I am
sure that Mr Putin shares this vision and is aware of his responsibility.
But Russia needs the understanding, good will and faith of its partners in
Europe and elsewhere. (END)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The writer is the former president of the Soviet Union.
===========================================================
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 70: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
Politics and Governance, Building a Strong, Democratic Ukraine
http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/index.htm
===========================================================
10. "WHERE EXACTLY DOES EUROPE END?"

COMMENTARY By Gwynne Dyer, The Baltic Times
News from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
Riga, Latvia, Thursday, April 29, 2004

As of May 1, the European Union's easternmost land border will be with
Russia, and its sea frontier will be halfway between Cyprus and Lebanon. The
entry of 10 new member countries in Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean
brings the EU up to 25 countries and 450 million people, but it's not
finished expanding yet. Romania and Bulgaria, with 30 million more people,
are working toward entry in 2007. Croatia has also joined the queue, and
Turkey hopes to get a green light for entry negotiations this December. If
Turkey eventually joins, the EU's easternmost land borders will be with Iran
and Iraq. Where exactly does Europe end?

The traditional geographer's answer is that Europe ends at the Ural
Mountains, but that is not a national frontier at all, just a non-dramatic
mountain chain that divides "European Russia" from Western Siberia. The
problem with Russia is the same as with Turkey - where Europe technically
ends at the Bosphorus Strait that runs through Istanbul, leaving most of
Turkey in Asia. Only in Russia's case, including the whole country in the EU
would give "Europe" a short common border with North Korea - and a 2,000
mile frontier with China and Mongolia.

It sounds preposterous, and yet both Turkey and Russia have been part of the
European great-power system for centuries. The expansion of the EU from its
original six member core in the 1950s has been relentless: three more
members in the 1970s, three more in the 1980s, three more in the 1990s, and
now 10 more at once. With each expansion it gets more complicated (EU
documents must now be available in Latvian, Maltese and Hungarian, together
with over a dozen other languages), but new candidates keep banging on the
door, and Europe finds it hard to say "no."

It's hard to say "no" because the EU's real purpose is not merely economic
(though it spends much of its time squabbling over budgets and subsidies).
It grew out of a "European Coal and Steel Community" that was initially
created in 1951 not just to produce cheaper coal and steel but to bring
together France and Germany, two countries that fought each other three
times in 70 years. Economic integration was supposed to make wars between
the partners impossible.

It worked: Nobody today could imagine France and Germany going to war with
each other again. The same now applies to Britain, Italy, Spain and all the
other European countries that have been at one another's throats for
centuries. The more recent creation of a common European currency, the euro,
was likewise driven more by the desire to make the union indissoluble than
by strict financial logic. But if the goal is to turn the "cockpit of
Europe" into the garden of Europe, how can you freeze any European country
out?

Which brings us back to the question of where Europe ends. It will take the
EU some time to digest the 10 new members, whose 75 million citizens will
not enjoy unrestricted freedom to move to any other EU country for another
seven years. The business of running such a complex assemblage of still
sovereign states gets ever more cumbersome, and while a new constitution to
streamline the workings of the EU will probably be agreed on in June, it
must then run the gauntlet of as many as half a dozen national referendums,
with a single "no" being enough to sink the whole project. And yet, however
haltingly, the expansion will continue.

Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia are shoo-ins, and some of the smaller Balkan
fragments left over from former Yugoslavia will doubtless join once they
establish a stable democratic order. Which leaves three big steps: Turkey
(75 million people), Ukraine and Belarus (60 million) and Russia (145
million).

Turkey is the most democratic and probably the most prosperous of these
potential candidates: its government has turned itself inside out to meet EU
standards, and entry negotiations should be a cinch. They will not be,
mainly because almost all Turks are Muslims, and their entry would mean that
almost twenty percent of the EU's total population is Muslim. That should
not be an impediment, but in central Europe there is still a folk memory of
the time when Turkish armies were beating at the gates of Vienna, and in
Western Europe there is already prejudice against the large Muslim immigrant
populations in most major cities.

Yet Turkey probably will gain entry in the next 10 years, and Ukraine and
Belarus may not have to wait much longer. Which leaves Russia, the biggest
and most indigestible lump that the EU might ever try to swallow. Given a
big democratic deficit in Russia, the war in Chechnya and half a dozen other
major obstacles, that question isn't on the table yet - or anywhere near it.

But even Russia will probably join in the end. It will join a lot sooner if
the Bush administration's unilateralism wrecks the NATO alliance and
ruptures Europe's transatlantic bonds. One way or another, it will probably
be possible by 2020 or 2025 to drive from Portugal to the Pacific Ocean
without passing through a single border checkpoint. Who would have believed
that in 1945, or even in 1990? (END)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose articles are
published in 45 countries. http://www.baltictimes.com/art.php?art_id=9963
===========================================================
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 70: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
The Story of Ukraine's Long and Rich Culture
Ukrainian Culture Gallery: http://www.ArtUkraine.com/cultgallery.htm
===========================================================
11. CRIMEAN COMMUNIST LEADER URGES UKRAINE'S
INTEGRATION WITH RUSSIA, NOT EUROPE
"National Idea: A Moment of Truth"

By Leonid Hrach, Crimean Communist Leader
Kiyevskiye Vedomosti, Kiev, Ukraine, in Russian 20 Apr 04; p 5
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004

KYIV - Ukraine should strive for closer cooperation with Russia rather than
move in the European direction, Crimean Communist leader Leonid Hrach has
written in a progovernment newspaper. Opinion polls show that Ukrainians are
Russia-oriented, he argues. Hrach condemns the official course towards NATO
integration, as Ukraine may lose its sovereignty in NATO, according to
Hrach.

The following is the text of the article by Leonid Hrach, entitled "National
idea: a moment of truth" and published in the Kievskiye Vedomosti newspaper
on 20 April 2004; subheadings inserted editorially:

[Editorial introduction] The term national idea is sometimes applied to
pretty odd things in our land. For one, a recipe to transform Soviet
Ukraine, erstwhile one of the world's top 10 industrially advanced
countries, into Europe's backwater. Further pursuance of this policy, being
passed off as gaining national sovereignty, can only confirm Ukraine's
status as a raw-material and transit appendage to advanced states.

UKRAINE'S INTERNATIONAL PREFERENCES

[Leonid Hrach, chairman of the all-Ukrainian association Heirs of Bohdan
Khmelnytskyy, people's deputy of Ukraine] We have satisfied ourselves that
independence does not automatically create a national idea. A national idea
cannot come about unless society has developed consciously perceived
priorities and values. They are traditionally referred to as national
interests because they make it possible to unite isolated ethnic and
cultural groups into a political nation.

A recent survey conducted by the Oleksandr Razumkov centre for economic and
political research has shown that up to 40 per cent of Ukrainian citizens
think that relations with Russia should be a priority area in the state's
foreign policy. Only less than one-third (28.2 per cent) of the respondents

gave preference to contacts with European Union member states; 16.3 per cent
gave priority to CIS states, while 3.4 per cent named other states. Only 2.2
per cent of the respondents said that relations with the USA should be a
priority in foreign policy.

A survey conducted in Ukraine by a Moscow-based humanitarian and social
academy towards the end of 2002 showed that 53 per cent of Ukrainian
respondents supported the unification of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus into a
single federal state, 36 per cent were against it, with 65 per cent of the
respondents supporting a political union of Ukraine and Russia.

Ukrainian citizens' preferences in foreign policy are obviously in favour of
an alliance with Russia and the economic integration of the post-Soviet
space. The choice of political and economic alliance with Russia is
absolutely conscious. Integration with other republics of the former Soviet
Union, above all Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan (being like Ukraine members
of the Single Economic Space [SES]) is perceived by most people in society
as a priority in foreign policy.

INDEPENDENCE AND NATIONAL IDEA

In this context, the myth about joining the European community is being
touted in society as a Ukrainian "national idea". The myth is at variance
with political reality. It is obvious that Europe does not want to see
Ukraine as part of itself. The role assigned to Ukraine, along with Moldova
and Belarus, under the EU leadership's ongoing foreign policy project is to
be a buffer zone isolating Europe from Russia. Frits Bolkenstein, the EU
commissioner for internal market, stated this idea most frankly.

Thus, EU architects (let alone constructors of a "new world order" in the
USA) totally deny Ukraine its right to be a political entity and,
correspondingly, to have a national idea. We should be aware that Ukraine
will not be able to exist as a third-rate peripheral state helping others
for a dole to implement their own plans. To be like that, we will have to
give up our own cultural values and historical experience, which is
tantamount to giving up national identity.

It looks like Ukraine's political elite is ready to consent to the USA and
its allies using our state, its territory and human potential in their
hegemonic plans. This approach is reflected in the ratification of the
memorandum on mutual understanding between the Cabinet of Ministers of
Ukraine and NATO granting NATO's armed forces the right of prompt access to
Ukrainian territory whenever the alliance needs it to implement its general
policy. According to the document, the NATO armed forces' military hardware
(planes, helicopters, tanks and ships) may, if necessary, move across
Ukrainian territory on the basis of a general permission.

This policy is leading us to giving up our state sovereignty, it runs
counter both to Ukrainian laws and Ukrainian-Russian agreements and it can
hardly have anything to do with "national idea".

HOW TO BECOME COMPETITIVE

Meanwhile, relations with Russia and participation in the SES are not only
related to the foreign political aspect of the national idea but also to
society's concepts of the necessary course of economic development.

Ukrainian society is interested in economic growth. To make industrial
development effective, a merger of SES member states' national economies is
required. It should be kept in mind that the industrial potential of our
states was formed in the Soviet era on the basis of a unified national
economy. Political independence in no event implies giving up the
achievements of the previous historical period. State sovereignty does not
require intentionally putting forward demands capable of setting back
economic integration.

It is large supranational and international structures rather than
individual states, that are competing on the world market today. Neither
Ukraine nor any other SES state can rival big world players single-handedly.
However, having become part of the SES and drawing on its pool of resources,
Ukraine could fill economic niches, from which it is now barred. The process
of developing SES structures is giving an additional impetus to
administrative reform. In this case, the reform could go on drawing on the
world's best practices. Just a reduction in the "rent" going to
functionaries could give a strong boost to entrepreneurial competitiveness.

Apart from this, the elimination of corruption will guarantee consolidation
in society and give rise to a new political elite. Ukraine's (and Russia's)
present elite is evidently unaware of how important it is to have
mobilization projects at different levels, ranging from strategic to
specific social and economic ones.

The US leadership has overtly declared its ambition for global domination,
especially in the ideological, military and political domains. Every big
world player, such as China, leading European states, India, Saudi Arabia
and Iran, have their own national mobilization projects. No big nation can
maintain its inward unity and identity without such a project. No-one in
Ukraine's political elite, neither the authorities, nor [Viktor Yushchenko's
opposition block] Our Ukraine, has come up with a mobilization project.
Russia lacks a properly articulated project.

In both cases, the absence of a mobilization project arises from lack of
requisite social and economic resources. Such resources can become available
solely within the SES where a whole set of such projects can arise, ranging
from joint exploration of mineral resources and upgrading transport
corridors from western Europe to the Far East, to creating a common "silicon
valley" and space exploration.

We should become well aware that we cannot hope to have any serious economic
and political standing in the world without economic unification with Russia
and other former Soviet states. (END)
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