"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT"
An International Newsletter
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"
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" Year 04, Number 163
The Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC), Washington, D.C.
Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA), Huntingdon Valley, PA
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net (ARTUIS)
Washington, D.C.; Kyiv, Ukraine, WEDNESDAY, September 15, 2004
-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1.IS UKRAINE HEADED DOWN THE PATH TO A STABLE DEMOCRACY?
"From everything I have seen.....I have my doubts"
Remarks by U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
"Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood
Roundtable V: Ukraine's Transition to a Stable Democracy"
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Tuesday, Sep 14, 2004
2. U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION CHAIRMAN CONGRESSMAN CHRIS
SMITH DELIVERS STATEMENT ON FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA, FREE
AND FAIR ELECTIONS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN UKRAINE
Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood:
Roundtable V: Ukraine's Transition to a Stable Democracy
Panel on Freedom of Speech and Press
Library of Congress, Madison Building, Montpelier Room
Washington, D.C., Tuesday, September 14, 2004
3. "UKRAINE: CONCERNS AND EXPECTATIONS"
Remarks by Yuri Scherbak, Ambassador of Ukraine
Advisor to Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Former Ukraine Ambassador to the United States and Canada
Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood:
Roundtable V: Ukraine's Transition to a Stable Democracy
Roundtable Focus Session 1:
The State of Democracy in Ukraine-Ukraine Perspective
Library of Congress, Madison Building, Montpelier Room
Washington, D.C., Monday, September 13, 2004
4. THE 5TH TV CHANNEL IS SUSPENDED IN KHARKOV,
SECOND CITY OF UKRAINE
More media repression takes place in Ukraine
Institute of Mass Information (IMI)
Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, September 15, 2004
5. "UKRAINE'S PRO-PRESIDENTIAL PARLIAMENTARY
MAJORITY DISINTEGRATES"
Moderates abandon Kuchma's parliamentary coalition
COMMENTARY: By Taras Kuzio, Eurasia Daily Monitor
Volume 1, Issue 83, The Jamestown Foundation
Washington, D.C., Monday, September 13, 2004
6. ROMANIA: ALLIES WILL 'CAREFULLY WATCH" UKRAINE'S
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SAYS FOREIGN MINISTER
Rompres news agency, Bucharest, Romania, Tues, Sep 14, 2004
7. "YUSHCHENKO: SNATCHING DEFEAT"
THE UKRAINE INSIDER, Vol. 4, No. 2,
Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, September 15, 2004
8. IN SEARCH OF INFORMATION ABOUT A FORGOTTEN
UKRAINIAN-AMERICAN AUTHOR: DAMON ORLOW
Can You Help?; Author Damon Orlow and his book "Red Wedding"
Source: Mark Taplin, Washington, D.C., Wednesday, Sep15, 2004
9. ANALYST SAYS RUSSIAN IMAGE MAKER'S IDEAS
BACKFIRE IN UKRAINE
"The fate of an agent provocateur"
COMMENTARY: by Andrey Piontkovskiy
Source: Ukrayinska Pravda web site, Kiev, in Ukrainian 10 Sep 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sun, Sep 12, 2004
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.163 ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
=========================================================
1. IS UKRAINE HEADED DOWN THE PATH TO A STABLE DEMOCRACY?
"From everything I have seen...I have my doubts"
Remarks by U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
"Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood
Roundtable V: Ukraine's Transition to a Stable Democracy"
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Tue, Sep 14, 2004
Thanks you for inviting me to share a few words about Ukraine. The title
of this conference is "Ukraine's Transition to a Stable Democracy," and I
think we can all agree that a stable democracy is in the national interest
of the United States. The question is whether Ukraine is headed down this
path.
>From everything thing I have seen over the past few months, including
during my August trip in Ukraine, I have doubts. There are certainly strong
democratic currents there today, including a robust opposition and wide-
discussion of political issues in the run-up to the October 31 election.
But at the same time the opposition has faced harassment and other
disadvantages, throughout the campaign, and there are strong indications
that the election itself will not be free and fair.
Before I discuss the crossroads at which Ukraine's political system stands
today, let me remind you of a fact that has been lost in much of the recent
Washington thinking. Ukraine is extremely important to the region, to the
world, and to the United States.
I fear that in recent years the United States and Europe have not been fully
cognizant of the critical role Ukraine plays, and as a result, the
aspiration of Ukrainians to see their nation firmly ensconced in the West
has drifted.
The United States and Europe must see Ukraine for what it is-an important,
proud, and populous country in a geostrategically critical position - a
country with much to offer the West. It would be a terrible blunder if,
because of our inattention and mistakes, we allow Ukraine to slip back
into the Russian orbit.
So while I believe the United States needs to pursue an enhanced
relationship with Ukraine, it is also imperative that we make clear to its
leadership that close ties with the West, and membership in our
institutions, bring with it certain obligations - the most important of
these is to move down the path of democracy.
I'm sure that I am not the first at this conference to note that Ukrainian
democracy stands at a critical juncture today. Next month's election will
determine not only who leads the country, but also how the democratic
countries of the world view Ukraine. The upcoming elections were the
chief topic of discussion when I traveled to the country in August, along
with Senators Collins, Lindsay Graham and John Sununu.
During our trip, we met with a range of government officials, opposition
figures and NGO [non-governmental organizations] representatives. We
heard repeatedly about problems the opposition faces in the run-up to
the election - unequal access to the media, the use of tax laws to target
opposition candidates, intimidation, even physical attacks.
We heard about Radio Liberty being pulled off the air around the
country and a crackdown against a cable company that broadcasts the
opposition-leaning Channel 5. And we heard widespread expectations
that the election on October 31 and the subsequent runoff will be
manipulated by the government.
While in Ukraine, the other 3 senators and I made the point repeatedly -
both publicly and privately - that the world is watching this election very
closely. We noted that we do not support any particular candidate or
party, but that we do expect to see a free and fair election.
I believe that we need to continue to make these points to the Ukrainian
government at the highest levels. President Kuchma, Prime Minister
Yanukovich, and other officials must understand the stakes facing their
country. Because of their poor record thus far during the campaign, they
have a very skeptical world to convince, even if they do run a clean
election.
But while democracy in Ukraine today is under siege, if the President and
the Prime Minister make the courageous decision that the Ukrainian people
deserve the right to freely choose their government; if they decide that
Ukraine's future best lies in a system of democracy, not autocracy; and if
they allow a free and fair election that all the world can see, than I
believe that the world needs to be prepared to respond.
This means looking hard at Ukraine's eventual membership in NATO and
the European Union, expanding our bilateral relations with Ukraine, and
determining ways to enhance the trading relationship. It means treating
Ukraine like the strong, proud, independent, and DEMOCRATIC state
that we hope it will become.
But, as I don't need to remind this audience, all of these remain big "ifs".
If things turn in a different direction, if the current anti-democratic
trends continue, I am afraid that Ukraine's relations with the West and
with democratic countries around the world will inevitable suffer. And
that is something that, because Ukraine is so important, and because the
Ukrainian people deserve democracy, the United States much do all it
can to avoid. (END)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.163: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
=======================================================
2. U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION CHAIRMAN CONGRESSMAN CHRIS
SMITH DELIVERS STATEMENT ON FREEDOM OF THE MEDIA, FREE
AND FAIR ELECTIONS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN UKRAINE
Ukraine's Quest for Mature Statehood: Roundtable V
Ukraine's Transition to a Stable Democracy
Panel on Freedom of Speech and Press
Library of Congress, Madison Building, Montpelier Room
Washington, D.C., Tuesday, September 14, 2004
WASHINGTON - United States Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep.
Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ) released the following statement on freedom
of the media, free and fair elections and human trafficking presented today
before the Ukraine's Quest for Mature Statehood conference.
Held in Washington on September 13 and 14, 2004, the conference was
devoted to assessing Ukraine's progress in developing the rule of law, civil
society and the protection of human rights in advance of Ukraine's October
31 presidential elections. Statement of Rep. Christopher H. Smith Chairman,
U.S. Helsinki Commission:
Thank you for inviting me to participate in this conference on
Ukraine's Transition to a Stable Democracy. Media freedom is an especially
important topic with the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine, in what
will be a defining year with respect to Ukraine's democratic transition.
Given the stakes, we should not be surprised by the fact that the
powers-that-be have launched an all-out campaign to pressure the media.
Freedom of expression - and its corollary, freedom of the media - is
one of the most basic human rights. It is vital to the development of civil
society. Numerous OSCE agreements include various commitments on free-
dom of the media. These are agreements that Ukraine has voluntarily and
freely committed to abide by as one of the 55 participating States of the
OSCE.
The Helsinki Commission, whose mandate is to monitor and encourage
compliance by the OSCE States with their OSCE agreements, has also
maintained a strong interest in freedom of media in general and recognizes
its importance in democratic development. As many of you know, the
Commission has also maintained a strong interest in Ukraine and has, over
the last several decades, been steadfast in encouraging Ukraine's
independence. We are eager to have as an ally a democratic country where
human rights are respected and the rule of law prevails.
We continue to maintain our strong interest and concern, especially
with the critically important October 31 presidential elections. I am the
original cosponsor of a House resolution, H.Con.Res. 415, introduced by Rep.
Henry Hyde, the Chairman of the House International Relations Committee,
calling on the Government of Ukraine to ensure a democratic, transparent,
and fair election process for the presidential election. (This resolution,
which was introduced by Commission Co-Chairman Sen. Campbell, has
recently passed the Senate and will soon be taken up by the House.)
The resolution outlines measures Ukrainian authorities need to
take - consistent with their own laws and international agreements - to
ensure an election process that enables all of the candidates to compete on
a level playing field. The resolution specifically identifies violations to
free media and urges unimpeded access by all parties and candidates to
print, radio, television, and Internet media on a non-discriminatory basis.
Unfortunately, the situation with respect to the media in Ukraine in
the run-up to the elections is discouraging. The election - apparently
because of the clear-cut choice between current Prime Minister Yanukovich,
and leader of the Our Ukraine democratic bloc Victor Yuschenko - seems to
have frightened those who are now in power. It seems the ruling regime has
decided to interfere in media election coverage at an unprecedented scale,
presumably with the expectation that the interference will ensure their
victory at the polls.
The OSCE recently assessed the media situation in the election
campaign. They noted that overall, media pluralism is present in Ukraine -
different views are represented and politicians of all ranks are regularly
criticized - and in general the legal framework is satisfactory. On the
other hand, according to OSCE and many other observers, "the one view
dominating the airwaves is that of the government", due to an ownership
structure closely connected to, or influenced by the current government. It
is also due to the infamous so-called "temniki" or "secret instructions" to
media from the presidential administration about what or what not to cover
and how to cover it. The institutional framework of frequency allocation
and licensing also allows for favoritism in the electronic media.
In short, the electronic media is heavily dominated by government
and oligarchs, and the media tilts heavily towards Yanukovich, while casting
Yuschenko in a negative light. The media is under attack:
* Since the beginning of this year, Ukrainian authorities have harassed,
closed and filed lawsuits against numerous electronic and print media.
* Radio Liberty, an important source of objective information, and other
radio stations such as Radio Kontynent have been either partially or totally
taken off the air. Months of promises to various U.S. officials that Radio
Liberty would be put back on the air have come to naught.
* Print runs have been permanently or temporarily stopped for several
newspapers. Just a few days ago, authorities in the Kharkiv region
temporarily confiscated 42,000 copies of the newspaper Without
Censorship. Other media face politically motivated law suits.
* Volia cable, the leading cable television operator in Ukraine, (which
carries the only channel which reports objectively on the democratic
opposition - Channel 5) is experiencing severe pressure from the
Prosecutor-General's office. Almost all cable companies that carry
Channel 5 received a variety of threats and tax inspections, and some
reportedly had cables "accidentally" cut.
* Reporters face harassment and censorship daily for their objective
reporting.
Ladies and Gentlemen, equal access to media must be provided during
the remainder of the presidential campaign and will be key in determining
whether or not the presidential elections will be judged as free and fair by
the OSCE and the international community. The elections will be a watershed
for the future direction of that country. Ukraine has tremendous potential.
Ukrainian authorities need to radically improve the election environment,
including the media environment, if there is to be hope for these elections
to meet OSCE standards.
In just two days, on September 16, we will mark the fourth
anniversary of the killing of independent journalist Georgi Gongadze, who
was exposing high-level corruption in Ukraine. His murder has been subject
to numerous international protests, including statements, intercessions, and
queries, by me and other Helsinki Commission members. Ladies and
gentlemen, it is a case of a massive cover-up by high-level officials.
This is the fifth time that your conference is being held. The
first took place four years ago just two days after Gongadze's
disappearance. It was at that first conference that representatives of the
Helsinki Commission and State Department first called for the Ukrainian
government to investigate his disappearance. Four years later, the case
remains unresolved. Ukrainian President Kuchma and a number of high-
ranking officials have been implicated in his disappearance and the
circumstances leading to his murder. The Ukrainian authorities' handling,
or more accurately mishandling of this case, has been characterized by
obfuscation and stonewalling, destruction of evidence, and the persecution
and even death, in one instance , of those who tried to tell the truth about
the case.
Tragically for Ukraine, the handling of this case has made a mockery
of the rule of law. Not surprisingly, lack of transparency illustrated by
the Gongadze case has fueled the debilitating problem of widespread
corruption reaching the highest levels in Ukraine. A credible and
transparent investigation of this case by Ukrainian authorities is long
overdue and the perpetrators - no matter who they may be - need to be
brought to justice. I hope that well before the sixth of your conferences,
this case is resolved, as well as the cases of at least 18 other journalists
in Ukraine who, according to Western media watchdog organizations, have
died because of their work.
These journalists, including Mr. Gongadze, were exposing the massive
problem of corruption and crime in Ukraine. One important issue intimately
linked with corruption and crime worldwide - a global scourge to which
Ukraine is by no means immune - is the trafficking of women and children.
Each year, an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 girls, boys, women and men,
including tens of thousands of Ukrainians, are bought and sold like chattel
across international borders, many of them for brutal exploitation in the
commercial sex industry. The plight of these individuals has touched many
hearts and has led to a global movement to eradicate this form of modern-
day slavery known as trafficking in human beings.
In November 2000, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which I
authored, was enacted with broad, bi-partisan support. The Act provides a
framework for combating trafficking through law enforcement, prevention
programs, and assistance to those victimized. The Act mandated major
changes in U.S. law, including severe penalties of up to life in prison for
those who traffic in humans and treatment of the victims - mostly women and
children - as victims of crime rather than criminals themselves. This past
December, President Bush signed a reauthorization of the Act, which I also
wrote, to expand and strengthen the U.S. response to this scourge.
Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian women and children have been
trafficked mostly to Europe and the Middle East over the course of the last
decade, making it one of the largest source countries in Europe. It is also
a major transit country. Ukraine has been designated in the most recent
State Department report as a Tier II country (there are three tiers),
meaning that the Ukrainian Government does not yet fully comply with
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but is making
significant efforts to do so.
I am pleased that our government, the OSCE and other international
organizations and NGOs are devoting resources to combat this modern
day slavery, but much more remains to be done. I encourage the
Ukrainian Government to make further progress, and implement its
Comprehensive Program to Combat Trafficking in Persons, better
coordinate with law enforcement officials of destination countries, and
fight government corruption.
By conducting free and fair elections, respecting media freedoms,
including resolving the Gongadze case, and effectively tackling the scourge
of trafficking, the Ukrainian authorities will go a long way in restoring
the trust of the citizens of Ukraine and strengthening Ukraine's
independence, democracy, sending a powerful signal of its readiness to join
the Euro-Atlantic community of nations. I stand in solidarity with the
Ukrainian people as they strive to achieve these important goals. ((END)
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The United States Helsinki Commission, an independent federal agency, by
law monitors and encourages progress in implementing provisions of the
Helsinki Accords. The Commission, created in 1976, is composed of nine
Senators, nine Representatives and one official each from the Departments
of State, Defense and Commerce.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Helsinki Commission, 234 Ford House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-6460; Rep. Christopher H. Smith, Chairman
Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Co-Chairman
Media Contact: Dorothy Douglas Taft, 202.225.1901
Staff Contact: Orest Deychakiwsky, orest.deychak@mail.house.gov
======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.163: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
=======================================================
3. "UKRAINE: CONCERNS AND EXPECTATIONS"
Remarks by Yuri Scherbak, Ambassador of Ukraine
Advisor to Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Former Ukraine Ambassador to the United States and Canada
Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood:
Roundtable V: Ukraine's Transition to a Stable Democracy
Roundtable Focus Session 1:
The State of Democracy in Ukraine-Ukraine Perspective
Library of Congress, Madison Building, Montpelier Room
Washington, D.C., Monday, September 13, 2004
Mr. Chairman, Dear Sponsors and Conference Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Thank you for the invitation and the opportunity to speak at the
conference. It is a great honor for me to participate in the
discussion about the state of democracy in Ukraine.
As the chair of Roundtable Focus Session 1, I would like to share
with you a couple of my thoughts. I came back to Washington after
six years of absence. The world has changed during this period, the
USA and Ukraine are changed, all of us changed and I have also.
Maybe we have become a little bit wiser.
Today, I do not present here any political party, any group of
influence - neither authorities nor opposition. I just present myself,
my own personal view on the Ukrainian situation, the view of a
Ukrainian.
After coming back to Ukraine in 2003, I saw a new country, which,
to a great extent, was alien to me. The country in which the people
who were close to me have died or retired from the scene. The county
in which capitalism had won but democracy had not.
The country the population of which decreases each year by thousands
of persons but where the bright, young, educated generation of Euro-
Ukrainians grow. The country out of which oligarchs take dozens of
billions of dollars abroad while millions of Ukrainian immigrants who
work in Italy, Portugal, Germany, Canada, Poland, etc. send 2.5 billion
dollars back to their homeland each year.
The country in which political cruelty and the informational elimination of
adversaries becomes increasingly common, but in which, at the same
time, the number of NGO's [non-governmental organizations] defending
the principles of the rule of law and human rights, showing mercy to the
needy and sick and performing other vital social functions has grown in
number to 30,000.
I came back to the country in the capital [Kiev] in which there are more
expensive "cool" cars in the central city streets than in Ottawa [Canada]
and Washington, D.C. but where almost 20 millions citizens belong to the
poor and miserable [one-half of the population].
The complete disbelief in the communist authority is brought to present-
day Ukraine, whose leaders have not managed to win the trust of the
people: 82% of Ukrainian citizens do not feel like masters of an independent
state, 80% are not satisfied with the socio-economic policy carried out by
the state and 29% believe that the regime established in Ukraine is rather
a dictatorship, in comparison to only 19% who think that we have a
democracy.
The key words for today's Ukraine remain: (1) disbelief, (2) dissatisfaction
and (3) the need for radical changes, as indicated by 77% of the
respondents.
I brought with me the complete text of the remarks by Chairman Volodymyr
Lytvyn in English given at the opening of the Sixth Session of the Verkhovna
Rada [parliament], and I draw your attention to this very interesting
political document and recommend you read it.
Let me also inform you that recently the Consultative Body (council),
composed of representatives of several of the most respected Ukrainian
NGO's, was established by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada. There
have been three meetings of the Council and the views and proposals of the
NGO's on the current situation regarding the presidential election race in
Ukraine were presented. That is an example of a new, small, but important
step towards the creation of a civil society in Ukraine.
I would like to stress that according to several political analysts the
situation with regards to democracy in Ukraine is better that in Russia and
other CIS countries. That is promising news against the dark background
of some of the political processes found in my country.
All this takes place at the time of dramatic economic progress, annual 13%
GDP growth, real construction boom, transition to market principles of
economic activity, under which the share of the private sector equals 80%
of industrial production and 93% in commerce.
At the same time, 6.5 persons have received, free of charge, lands with a
least a value of 40 billion dollars and about 18 million persons have
become owners of housing that has a worth of more than 25 billion dollars.
This is the country in which, on the one hand, the basic human rights and
freedoms are quite often violated, and, on the other hand, there is an
active Human Rights Commissioner in the Verkhovna Rada - a generous
and brave woman, whose name is Nina Karpochova.
I have the great honor to deliver to you, on her behalf, "The First Annual
Report of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner, for Human Rights on
the State of Observance and Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms
in Ukraine." This is a very important document, which shows that
authoritarian practices do not go unnoticed and that is the first necessary
step towards the assertion of the rule of law.
Finally, we should take into consideration that in Ukraine a center of
democracy has been formed in the Verkhovna Rada. As Chairman of
the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Volodymyr Lytvyn, said in his remarks
at the opening of the new parliamentary session on September 7, 2004,
we should "abandon balancing our own interests and stake on the people
and not be political serves." The Chairman stresses that the opposition
may not be thrown out of the social life and the shameful practice of
dividing the people into friends and enemies should be rejected.
All this in Ukraine today, alien and native, rich - because it may feed
130 million persons with its lands - and poor - because it may not
ensure an adequate living standard to its people.
This is the country of cynical politicians who carry on a ruthless
struggle for power and not for the people's well-being but this is the
country of freedom-loving, talented young people who do not want
to live in an authoritarian, quasi-monarchic state, but in a democratic
prosperous European country.
This is the county which we love and whose dark sides we hate, the
country which should not be evaluated using binary, black-and-white
categories but instead all the inconsistency and complexity of the
processes taking place here should be considered.
Dear Friends - Despite the diverse views of the situation in Ukraine
that we will hear at this Conference, I believe that we are united by
a common high objective: to contribute to the democratic renaissance
of my native land.
I am also deeply convinced that Ukraine will overcome all obstacles
due to the objective law of history - the law of inexorable changes.
This law is based on the generational change, the rise of the middle
class of owners in Ukraine, the traditional freedom-loving nature
and working individualism of Ukrainians, who increasingly perceive
themselves as members of the European family. (END)
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NOTE: Ambassador Yuri Scherbak has personally asked The Action
Ukraine Report to publish the entire remarks of Chairman Volodymyr
Lytvyn, in English, given recently at the opening of the Sixth Session of
the Verkhovna Rada [parliament]. Ambassador Scherbak furnished us
with a copy of this document and we will publish it in our Report yet
this week. (EDITOR)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.163: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
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4. THE 5TH TV CHANNEL IS SUSPENDED IN KHARKOV,
SECOND CITY OF UKRAINE
More media repression takes place in Ukraine despite repeated
promises from President Kuchma about free and fair elections
Institute of Mass Information (IMI)
Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, September 15, 2004
KYIV - In Kharkov, second city of Ukraine by population percentage,
they have suspended the transmission of The 5th channel, as reports the
television group by itself. The incident happened on Monday. "Alpha-
telecommunications", the group which is operator of cable network, has
excluded the 5th channel out from the package of the television channels
that it has to operate. The measure was taken without any comment by
"Alpha-telecommunications" group.
It is not the single "switching off" of The 5th channel in the regions.
Sometimes, the operator groups state that the reason is bad quality of
equipment of The 5th channel which does not permit to execute the
transmission in some regions. However, The 5th editorship claims that does
not correspond to the reality. "We state our equipment is of a high quality,
so there one can not have any problem", - told anchor-man of The 5th
news on the air on Monday.
The press-cutting service of The 5th announced the list of cable operator
groups that had suspended The 5th transmission in the following regions:
-Donezk region, in July 2004. The operator groups "Nadia" (branch office of
"Donbass-telemereja"), "Antares" (branch office of Ukrtelemereja"), SKTel
(#95), "Kramatorsk".
-city of Dnipropetrovsk, August 2004. The KCK group.
-town of Dneprodzerjinsk. The operator group "Avtor TV"/
-town of Ujhorod, August 2004. The operator groups "Kram" (#44), "Teviant".
As well, there are some other operator groups which have an authorization to
transmit The 5th channel, but they do not do it. In Donezk region there are
operator groups "Khimist" at Avdiivka, "Teleradioservice" at Dymytriv,
"Altair" in Mariupol, "Satelite", "Halaktika" in the region of Poltava. Two
other cable operator groups -"Falstap" (3175) in Dnipropetrovsk, "Telecom"
in Kryviy Rih- fixed a higher price for The 5th channel without giving any
notice about it.
Lately, the problems to transmit that The 5th channel has faced became
object of the interest of the representatives of some Occidental agencies.
Especially, John Tefft, deputy of US State secretary discussed this issue
talking with the president L. Kuchma and prime-minister V. Yanukovich.
The importance to renew the transmission of The 5th channel in all the
regions was stressed out by Hanne Severinsen and Renate Wolwend,
co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
The importance is evident owing to the fact, that The 5th channel is the
sole highly critical television channel which is working on the best
standards of western journalism. Just on The 5th one can hear the harsh
journalistic investigations on the top personalities at the power and
stories on real problems of Ukrainian people. The other television channels
are or on the authorities side or on the side of some business structures
together with the authorities. (END)
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LINK: http://imi.org.ua/eng/?id=read&n=101&cy=2004&m=thm
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.163: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
=======================================================
5. UKRAINE'S PRO-PRESIDENTIAL PARLIAMENTARY
MAJORITY DISINTEGRATES
Moderates abandon Kuchma's parliamentary coalition
COMMENTARY: By Taras Kuzio, Eurasia Daily Monitor
Volume 1, Issue 83, The Jamestown Foundation
Washington, D.C., Monday, September 13, 2004
The pro-presidential majority in the Ukrainian parliament collapsed when 15
out of the 30 deputies in the moderate Democratic Initiatives-People's Power
faction defected.
The disintegration is a major blow to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's
election campaign. Yanukovych described the move as "treacherous," caused
by the acute "politicization" of the 2004 presidential elections. "It is
unpleasant for me to say this, but I have no choice but to do so: currently
parliament is becoming an unproductive partner" of the government
(Ukrayinska pravda, September 11). The move is particularly damaging as
this faction is headed by Stepan Havrysh, Yanukovych's official
representative in the Central Election Commission.
Another 21 deputies in the Agrarian faction also withdrew from the
parliamentary majority. This faction is led by Volodymyr Lytvyn, the speaker
of parliament. Lytvyn was head of the presidential administration in
1997-2002 and head of the pro-presidential For a United Ukraine bloc in the
March 2002 parliamentary elections.
Along with these defections in parliament, Crimean branches of Yanukovych's
Regions of Ukraine and Medvedchuk's SDPUo are defecting to challenger Viktor
Yushchenko's "Our Ukraine." Members of Yanukovych's coalition, such as Ivan
Czyzh's All-Ukrainian Union of the Left -- Justice, have also defected in
the key Donetsk region, and the Democratic Party's branch in the Crimea has
also gone over to Yushchenko (Ukrayina moloda, July 15; Ukrayinska pravda,
September 8).
Two factors explain Lytvyn's disassociation from Yanukovych. First, Lytvyn
is looking out for his personal survival in the post-Kuchma era. Lytvyn was
present during the meeting recorded by presidential guard Mykola Melnychenko
where President Kuchma ordered Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko to "deal"
with opposition journalist Heorhiy Gongadze. (Gongadze was abducted on
September 16, 2000, and his decapitated body found two months later.) The
Gongadze issue remains unresolved and is a major factor contributing towards
Ukraine's poor international image.
Second, moderates in the pro-presidential camp are perturbed at a number of
strategic issues. Personal animosity between Lytvyn and current presidential
administration head Viktor Medvedchuk is acute, especially since parliament
condemned the blatant fraud in the April Mukachiv mayoral elections. Since
summer Lytvyn has complained about Medvedchuk's Social Democratic
United Party (SDPUo) decision to support the Peasant Party as a pliant
alternative to Lytvyn's Agrarians, including attempts to poach its members.
The withdrawal of Lytvyn's Agrarians has put a nail in the coffin of Kuchma
and Medvedchuk's second attempt to railroad constitutional changes through
parliament before election day. In March the first defectors from the
pro-presidential camp created the Center faction that led to the failure of
the first attempt to switch key powers from the president to the prime
minister.
Communist Party candidate Petro Symonenko, who supports the constitutional
changes, has therefore criticized the disintegration of the pro-presidential
parliamentary majority. Meanwhile, Yushchenko, who always believed the
constitutional changes were meant to take executive power away from him in
the event of his election victory, welcomed its disintegration
(Interfax-Ukraine, September 10).
Moderates in the pro-presidential camp are also unhappy with the choice of
presidential candidate Yanukovych, both because of his criminal record and
his Donbas links. Yet a third factor is the manner in which Yanukovych is
conducting his election campaign which, despite promises by him and
President Kuchma to hold free and fair elections, has been dominated by
massive violations.
Parliament therefore voted on September 7 for two resolutions. One
resolution, which was supported by 390 deputies, called for an equal playing
field for all presidential candidates, especially with regard to media
access. Three television channels controlled by Medvedchuk (State Channel
1, 1+1, and Inter) provide positive coverage of Yanukovych and only highly
negative coverage of Yushchenko. The second resolution, creating a
commission to investigate campaign infractions, was only adopted because the
Agrarians supported it.
Not surprisingly, the SDPUo was the least supportive of both resolutions, as
they were tantamount to criticism of the presidential administration's
manipulative role in the election campaign. Yanukovych, whose faction also
did not support the second resolution, ordered the Justice Ministry to
provide a legal assessment of the parliamentary commission. The newly
formed commission is headed by Lytvyn and includes one representative from
each faction, the Central Election Commission, and different branches of the
security forces.
Ukraine's parliamentary majority has been a heterogeneous coalition cobbled
together after the 2002 elections. Its thin majority could be seen in May
2002, when Lytvyn was elected parliamentary speaker by a one-vote margin,
which resulted from the defection of one Communist deputy. The majority
increased its size by another 15-20 deputies in 2002-2003 through
intimidation and blackmail of opposition factions. These additional
"recruits" were always likely to be the first to abandon the majority when
the opportunity arose.
The hard core of the majority consists of presidential administration head
Medvedchuk's SDPUo and Prime Minister Yanukovych's Regions of
Ukraine party, representing the Kyiv and Donbas clans respectively. Together
these two factions make up 103 out of the 183 seats of what is left of the
parliamentary "majority."
A third member of the "majority" is led by Serhiy Tyhipko, the head of
Yanukovych's campaign. Tyhipko's Labor Ukraine party, although
representing the important Dnipropetrovsk clan, is the smallest of the
oligarchic parties with a bare 30,000 members. This faction adds another
30 deputies.
If elected president, Yushchenko has promised to create a broad new
parliamentary majority (www.yushchenko.con.ua, September 9). This could
include Tyhipko's Labor Ukraine (Tyhipko was a member of the 2000-2001
Yushchenko government) but would certainly exclude the SDPUo. Former
President Leonid Kravchuk, the SDPUo parliamentary faction leader, has
already stated that the SDPUo is ready, if Yanukovych loses the elections,
to move from a party-of-power to an opposition party (Hromadske Radio,
July 9).
The remaining factions in the parliamentary "majority" are even more
lukewarm members. The People's Democratic Party (NDP) has a joint faction
of 17 deputies with Anatoliy Kinakh's Party of Industrialists and
Entrepreneurs (PPPU). This group unites Valeriy Pustovoitenko's NDP, which
officially supports Yanukovych but is highly unenthusiastic, with Kinakh,
who is a presidential candidate himself. Kinakh is on record as stating that
anybody with a criminal record (i.e. Yanukovych) should not be allowed to
become president (Ukrayinska pravda, July 22, August 30). Not surprisingly,
Yanukovych has launched proceedings to revoke Kinakh's candidacy
(Ukrayinska pravda, September 12).
The parliamentary "majority" is now down to only 183 deputies, compared to
198 members of the four opposition factions. The steadfast members of the
pro-presidential camp are the SDPUo (40), Regions of Ukraine (63), and, to
a lesser degree, Labor Ukraine (30). As one well-known commentator pointed
out before these latest defections, "Viktor Yanukovych does not have real
allies, except for the Regions of Ukraine Party" (Zerkalo nedeli, July 3-9).
This is now even more the case with the disintegration of the
pro-presidential parliamentary coalition. (END)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taras Kuzio is a Visiting Professor at the Institute for European , Russian
and Eurasian Studies, Elliott School International Affairs, George
Washington University, Washington, DC.
=======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.163: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
=======================================================
6. ROMANIA: ALLIES WILL 'CAREFULLY WATCH" UKRAINE'S
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SAYS FOREIGN MINISTER
Rompres news agency, Bucharest, Romania, Tues, Sep 14, 2004
BUCHAREST ------September: Romania, alongside its European and
NATO allies, is carefully watching the strategic direction currently pursued
by Ukraine, and the one it is to follow also after the presidential
elections in this country, hoping this neighbour of Romania will not give up
its European integration goal, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana
told the official opening of the international cycle of the NATO Senior
Executive Master programme of the NATO Studies Centre.
"I have been watching with utmost preoccupation Ukraine's recent actions
and, beyond the aspect of the Bystre canal, which is a serious element of
the bilateral relation, I would also ask an important question with respect
to the strategic direction on which Ukraine seeks to enter Europe. We hope
this manner of operating is to a great extent exaggerated by the
presidential campaign taking place in Ukraine.
And we all, in Europe and NATO, will look very carefully at which the first
gestures of Kiev will be after the presidential elections and the manner in
which the presidential elections in Ukraine will be organized, as a
symptomatic direction for the track Ukraine wishes to follow in the next
period. Romania is interested that its main eastern neighbour, that is,
Ukraine, wished to be part of Europe," Geoana said.
The Romanian foreign minister said that a larger question should be asked
as regards the integrationist tendencies in the former Soviet space. Beyond
the economic integration dimension of the countries in this space, which
Geoana admitted is natural, he voiced concern regarding the existence of
a strategic dimension of this tendency of reintegrating the countries of the
former Soviet space. (END)
=======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 163: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
=======================================================
7. "YUSHCHENKO: SNATCHING DEFEAT"
THE UKRAINE INSIDER, Vol. 4, No. 2,
Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, September 15, 2004
With only a month and a half to go before the first round of presidential
elections on October 31, the Yushchenko campaign is looking more and
more like the Titanic.
Despite having two years, following Yushchenko's removal as Prime
Minister in April 2001, to prepare to take the country's top post, his staff
were caught unprepared this past July and frittered away the first month of
campaigning.
Despite packing thirty financial backers into the election list of his
coalition, Our Ukraine, in the general elections in 2002, Yushchenko's
campaign is running out of money. Small wonder that, despite his rating as
Ukraine's most popular politician for two years running, today Yushchenko
looks like the underdog to most Ukrainians.
A more detailed look at Yushchenko's campaign in progress paints an even
bleaker picture. Despite having the support of tens of thousands of party
activists, Yushchenko's staff chose to hire campaigners, mostly students,
for money. Small wonder the latter spend their time sitting around in small
tents painted with campaign slogans, morosely staring at the stacks of
campaign materials they are supposed to be distributing.
A planned door-to-door campaign is still nowhere in evidence and the lack of
training for campaigners bodes ill for the prospects of an alleged 180,000
election observers that Yushchenko's managers say are ready for election
day.
Publicly, Yushchenko's campaign claims they have put their money on the
candidate's regional tours. Yet this is a form of campaigning uniquely
ill-suited for Ukraine and for Yushchenko in particular. Without TV and
other media coverage of his tours, Yushchenko is meeting several thousand
of what are, his campaign staff admits, already his supporters.
According to his campaign staff, in August Yushchenko spoke before 330,000
people. Even accepting this clearly exaggerated figure shows that, at best,
Yushchenko will be able to reach 1-3 million people before election day,
taking into account relatives and friends of demonstration attendees. This
figure is pretty small as compared to the 6 million voters who already
supported Yushchenko's coalition in 2002 and pales before the minimum 14
million Yushchenko will need to win the presidency.
Yushchenko has missed many personnel opportunities, choosing to leave in
place his embattled campaign director, Roman Bessmertny, and to superimpose
a bewildering array of overlapping campaign managers. Only the inclusion of
Oleksandr Zinchenko, the Deputy Speaker of the Rada, or parliament, who
crossed over from the Social Democratic party, boosted Yushchenko's base
and was widely viewed as a minor victory. Small wonder, perhaps, that
Bessmertny has reportedly been spreading rumors that Zinchenko is a plant.
Now another of Yushchenko's powerful supporters may be wavering. After
signing a cooperation agreement "Power to the People" with Yushchenko, Yulia
Tymoshenko traveled with him for several weeks and Yushchenko's public
responses became fast and effective. For example, when three top officials
from the power ministries warned on August 22 that potential insurrection
would be put down, Yushchenko immediately demanded their resignations.
But hobnobbing with Yushchenko is not only Tymoshenko's favorite past-time.
Rather than work on the campaign, most leading figures in Our Ukraine vie
with each other over exposure to the "tilo," or body, of their leader.
Also, initial returns from the densely populated eastern oblasts, where
Yushchenko's support is weakest and for which Tymoshenko is responsible,
indicates that Tymoshenko has, so far, done nothing in a region which
presents particular difficulties for her. In 2002 Tymoshenko did well in
eastern regions by spending money and making promises. After the elections,
however, she lost all interest in the area and her name is now mentioned
with a "not so angry, a quiet word," as Ukrainians would say.
Some observers even claim that Tymoshenko, a shrewd player, has already
made overtures to Yanukovych in order to ensure that persecution of her ends
with Kuchma's tenure (See The Ukraine Insider, vol. 2, No. 12 from December
3, 2002), including through figures such as Oleksandr Volkov, a former
Kuchma favorite.
To top things off, internal warring between the parties making up Our
Ukraine came to the fore during the last Reforms and Order congress on July
18, at what was supposed to be the start of the election campaign (See The
Ukraine Insider, vol. 1, No. 6 from December 5, 2001), when the party
decided to rename itself as "Our Ukraine."
There is one positive note, however, which could potentially be a decisive
factor: matters are in some state of confusion in the principal opponent's
camp. [In the following issue: Yanukovych: between a place]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE UKRAINE INSIDER - is distributed via the Internet free of charge to
all interested parties as a source of in-depth information on political
events in Ukraine, including behind-the-scenes coverage of significant
current issues, the positions of policy-makers, tactics and strategy
information on Ukraine's ongoing struggle toward a free and democratic
society. All comments and inquiries should be addressed, lozowy@i.com.ua,
via telephone: (380-50) 311-4385; via facsimile: (380-44) 416-3072
=======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 163: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
=======================================================
8. IN SEARCH OF INFORMATION ABOUT A FORGOTTEN
UKRAINIAN-AMERICAN AUTHOR: DAMON ORLOW
Can You Help?; Author Damon Orlow, "Red Wedding"
Source: Mark Taplin, Washington, D.C., Wednesday, Sep15, 2004
WASHINGTON, D.C. - "Red Wedding," Damon Orlow's memoir of
growing up in a Ukrainian village at the beginning of the twentieth century,
published in 1952 by Chicago's Regnery Press, is a remarkable book - and
one that deserves to be available to a new generation of readers. Orlow
wrote with remarkable sensitivity and wit, capturing a time and place in
Ukraine all but lost in the wake of Soviet repression and neglect.
Orlow's boyhood village, despite all odds, still exists, some ten miles
outside of Uman - along with its original Cossack church and his family
home. On the other hand, Orlow's book is entirely unknown in Ukraine, and
he himself largely forgotten even in his adopted homeland.
The information about Orlow that I have is limited to a photograph and the
information on the dust jacket of "Red Wedding": "Damon Orlow was born in
the small Ukrainian village of Xendzovka.the son of former feudal serfs. At
the age of 17 he left home to become a railroad telegrapher, and volunteered
in that capacity in the Russo-Japanese war. A young revolutionist, he fled
Siberia for Japan.
After boarding a freighter bound for New York, he was seized by the Tsar's
agents for deportation to Russia. .He managed to escape ashore in New York,
disguised as a peddler. .He edited various Russian-language newspapers and
studied law under Clarence Darrow in Chicago. In 1950 he was a candidate
for Congress. He is now a practicing attorney in Gary, Indiana."
You might hold the key to reviving interest in Orlow's beautifully written
memoir, and giving it new life in this second decade of modern Ukrainian
independence. If you know how to track down Orlow's family, or know
anything about his life and accomplishments in America, please contact Mark
Taplin at (703) 351-9202 [Virginia] or mtaplin@verizon.net. (END)
=======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.163: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
=======================================================
9. ANALYST SAYS RUSSIAN IMAGE MAKER'S IDEAS
BACKFIRE IN UKRAINE
"The fate of an agent provocateur"
COMMENTARY: by Andrey Piontkovskiy
Source: Ukrayinska Pravda web site, Kiev, in Ukrainian 10 Sep 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sun, Sep 12, 2004
Presidential candidate and Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych will
lose the election, a Russian analyst has said. This is due in no small part
to a strategy chosen by a Russian political image maker, Gleb Pavlovskiy,
which has backfired, the analyst said. Ukraine's choice in the election is
"between the past and the future" and not between the West and Russia as the
Kremlin would like to force Ukrainians to believe, he added.. Illusions of
grandeur and importance are clouding Russia's policies, and it seems that no
matter who comes to power in a post-Soviet state, sooner or later the
Russian political elite will label him "pro-American".
The article is followed by a response from Pavlovskiy. The following is the
text of the article by Andrey Piontkovskiy, entitled "The fate of an agent
provocateur" and published on the Ukrayinska Pravda web site on 10
September; subheadings have been inserted editorially:
Just as there is no such thing as a former KGB officer, there is no such
thing as a former provocateurs. The well-known political image maker [Gleb]
Pavlovskiy seethed with noble tyrant-fighting pathos at a meeting of the
Open Forum, which was held a few days after the arrest of [Russian oil
company Yukos CEO Mikhail] Khodorkovskiy.
Shaking papers with the last speech of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin
and a speech by the Stalin-era people's commissar [for Internal Affairs of
the USSR, Nikolay] Yezhov, which was read in 1937, he was trying to
convince the audience of the continuity of KGB methods and traditions.
LINKED TO THE PAST
And there really was a stunning coincidence in the logic of thought of the
two prominent state figures, who were raised in one and the same non-Gogol
greatcoat [allusion to 19th century Russian writer Nikolay Gogol and his
story The Greatcoat], and somehow being similar even by outward appearance.
"Our lauded agencies cannot make a mistake. But even if they do make a
mistake, they will be corrected by our Soviet courts," one of them said.
"Our Russian prosecutor-general's office does not make mistakes. But even if
it does make a mistake, it will be corrected by our Russian courts," the
second repeated.
"We are an echo, we are an echo, we are an eternal echo of each other"
[reference to a Russian song], a choir of little KGB officers [children
willing to become KGB officers] could sing after the Dance of the Swans
[from Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Swans Lake ballet] at the ceremonial jubilee
evening on 20 December.
However, not even managing to run to the Kremlin, the tyrant fighter called
and demanded his sensational words be cancelled from the verbatim record
of the forum.
And he spent a long time walking from television studio to television
studio, proving, with all of the same pathos, how the modern secret services
had unmasked Khodorkovskiy, who, as it turned out according to Pavlovskiy,
had "promised Condoleeza Rice to ruin the nuclear shield of the fatherland".
None of the authorities' apologists had ever gone to such idiocy, in any
case publicly, if only for fastidious considerations. In contrast to the
1980s, mini-Faustian deals with the authorities guarantee not only freedom
and position, but also wads of cash.
Among other playgrounds, Pavlovskiy has a little stump of a backwater in
Ukraine. During their elections there, Pavlovskiy, together with a few
people who are always ready for anything are selling their stale services to
the local party of power.
BIG MONEY IN ELECTION
Not simply for big money, but for very big money [are they selling their
services]. So the backwater duly pants, the Odessa con-artists use two
simple tricks. In Kiev they puff their cheeks importantly, making themselves
out to be Secret Agents of the Ruler who are implementing the will of the
Kremlin in the post-Soviet landscape.
In Moscow they instill in the political beau mond and in the same Kremlin,
that the higher geopolitical interests of Russia, nay, the very survival of
Russia as an independent state, demands that the clients of Pavlovskiy and
Company find themselves in power in the neighbouring country.
They present the presidential election in Ukraine as an Armageddon, the last
fight between Good and Evil, "the pro-Russian Yanukovych" and "the
pro-American Yushchenko".
It is not difficult to fool the Russian political class. It is happy itself
to be fooled. Post-empire, messiah complexes have always been characteristic
of the Russian political class. But if in the first decade of post-Soviet
life our [Russian] diplomats, with exceedingly great pomp, waged their
phantom wars "against the enlargement of NATO" and "for traditional Russian
interests in the Balkans" and so forth, now its operational geography is
narrowing down to post-Soviet areas, where it intends to have a "last and
decisive fight".
WHAT IS THE CHOICE?
We are stubbornly trying to force a choice on our neighbours - either Russia
or the West. And maybe some socially close brothers in mind could be found
on the post-Soviet landscape if the simmering-from-hate-for-the-West Russian
elite offered them a consistent Big Anti-West Ideological Project.
But what does the modern model of Russian capitalism look like, if not a
caricature and parody of the modern West - a predatory and ruthless model
of bureaucratic primary accumulation [of capital] which is historically
pointless in the 21st century.
So what can the Russian elite offer its former neighbours in the communal
flat? Nothing except pompous talk of its greatness, its historical mission,
the messianic imperial foreordination of the Russian ethnos and so on. No,
of course, there is the distribution of electricity at internal rates. Now
that is much more interesting. Now for that, and not for free, you will
always find politicians ready to position themselves for a time as
"pro-Russian".
[Belarussian President] Alyaksandr Lukashenka has achieved virtuosity as
a partner in the business of "oil in exchange for greatness".
Every year, the most pro-Russian Great Slav [Lukashenka] travels to
Moscow, signs yet another meaningless piece of paper on an even deeper
and final joining to Russia, dashes a glass of vodka on the floor in the
Kremlin and leaves with a packet of economic preferences worth billions
of dollars.
Like most of the poorly-educated dictators of the 20th century, big and
small, Lukashenka was born a genius psychologist. He most excellently
understands all the complexes and fantasies of the Russian political elite,
elegantly and predatorily exploits them, but never for a second thinks he
will become a mere governor of Minsk Region or secretary of a regional
committee.
RUSSIAN ILLUSIONS MUST PASS
Sooner or later, sweet imperialist illusions pass and sooner or later we
label each new leader of any country in the CIS as pro-American or "even
more pro-American", not noticing that in doing so we sentence our own
policies.
Where are the "pro-Russians" for whom we wait building sand castles in our
empire. Look how pro-Russian the new president of Moldova and Russian
communist [Mikhail] Voronin appeared to be. Now he too is pro-Western
and pro-American.
But maybe something is wrong with us and our policy while presidents are
simply pro-Ukrainian, pro-Georgian, pro-Moldovan or, to put it more simply,
for their own loved ones.
The same labels could soon have been earned by the "pro-Russian" [Ukrainian
Prime Minister and candidate for president Viktor] Yanukovych. But he will
never earn it. Because he will never become president of Ukraine.
Despite the "patriotic" frenzy of the Russian mass media, the Kremlin has
wisely paused for quite a while in regard to its preferences in the
Ukrainian election.
The irony of fate is that Pavlovskiy and Company finally managed to convince
the Kremlin to unconditionally support Yanukovych at the very moment when it
became clear to all qualified experts, including themselves, that Yanukovych
will lose.
But they wanted very much to make money. And Putin's word is worth a lot in
Kiev price lists.
YANUKOVYCH WILL LOSE
Yanukovych will lose for two fundamental reasons. First, the "cohesion" of
the party of power around its candidate is rather formal and conditional.
The "Dnipropetrovsk" and "Kiev" [business clans] fear the uncontrolled
strength of the "Donetsk" [clan] far more than the election of the non-clan
[opposition leader and presidential frontrunner Viktor] Yushchenko and they
will trip up the official heir with pleasure.
But this is not even the most important thing. The basic strategy of the
outside political image makers, which is aimed mostly at the Russian
population of Ukraine, to portray Yushchenko as a Russophobe and
Ukrainian nationalist and to provoke an ethnic split in the Ukrainian
society has failed to materialize.
For this, the Russian image makers spared no means from their old Russian
arsenal - demonstrations of "Nazis for Yushchenko" on [Kiev's main street]
Khreshchatyk as a remake of "Gays for [Russian politician Grigoriy]
Yavlinskiy" and explosions at the market [in Kiev] (nice that it wasn't
houses). All this lame stink from the foremost purveyors of the Russian
orthodox idea brought only the opposite effect.
Not long ago I was in the biggest Russian-speaking region of Ukraine - in
Crimea. Many Russians there plan to vote for Yushchenko and they explain
themselves quite simply. Since Soviet times, they, like Ukrainians, are
tired of nomenclature mugs with clear signs of former or future court
convictions on their faces.
PAST OR FUTURE?
For them, the choice between Yanukovych and Yushchenko is not a choice
between Russia and the West but a choice between the past and the future,
between a Soviet Ukraine and a European Ukraine. The choice which sooner
or later Russia will also make.
Yushchenko's victory will make Russian-Ukrainian relations much healthier,
freeing them from that never-ending fraudulence under which some dream of
"dominating" and the others are ready, of course not for free, to pretend
they like it.
AND WHAT ABOUT PAVLOVSKIY?
They will gladly kick Pavlovskiy in the butt and out of the Kremlin. It has
been said that "you should not bite the hand that feeds you". And one who
has bitten once and, moreover, has bitten in someone else's land and,
moreover, has fooled the master, will sin again many, many times.
PS. Before putting this material by Andrey Piontkovskiy on the Ukrayinska
Pravda web site, we sent a copy to Gleb Pavlovskiy's e-mail, offering him to
publish his comment on the article.
On Friday [10 September], we got his answer. We publish it without changes,
although we do not agree with it. The reader can judge the level of argument
himself. Letter from Pavlovskiy: In reply to the text signed by A.
Piontkovskiy.
Dear Editor! The obligation to check facts expressed by the author lies with
the journalists of the editorial board: in the text signed with the surname
Piontkovskiy, there is not one true claim, except one: Vladimir Putin really
does support Viktor Yanukovych.
Independent of whether the text was signed by the author noted, or whether
he gave someone else the right to his signature, we have before us a text,
which as they say, "is of a commercial nature". That is shown by the
concentration of insults and accusations of explosions and so on.
It is strange, you must agree, for Gleb Pavlovskiy to engage in polemics
with a paid-for advertisement or letter meant to agitate. And I have never
argued with agitators. Suits against the quality of the product I did not
order should be expected from its users, not from me. (END)
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control. We do not change the way journalists, authors, reporters, the
news media spell these words or the other words they use in their stories.
PUBLISHER AND EDITOR
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Executive Director, Ukrainian Federation of America
(UFA); Coordinator, The Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC);
Senior Advisor, Government Relations, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF);
Advisor, Ukraine-U.S. Business Council, Washington, D.C.;
Publisher and Editor, www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS),
http://www.ArtUkraine.com Ukrainian News and Information Website;
CONTACT: P.O. Box 2607, Washington, D.C. 20013,
Tel: 202 437 4707, morganw@patriot.net
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THE ACTION UKRAINE COALITION
"Working to Secure Ukraine's Future"
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