"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 202
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., FRIDAY, October 29, 2004
-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. SUPREME COURT OF UKRAINE RULES AGAINST SETTING
UP 41 ADDITIONAL POLLING STATIONS IN RUSSIA
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 28 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Oct 28, 2004
2. IN TENSE ELECTION, UKRAINIANS FIND BARRIERS TO VOTING
By Roman Olearchyk, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct 28, 2004
3. REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS CONDEMNS
HARASSMENT OF ONLINE PUBLICATIONS IN UKRAINE
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 28, 2004
4. RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY SUPPORTS UKRAINE
INDEPENDENT CHANNEL 5 TV JOURNALISTS ON HUNGER STRIKE
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
Prague, Czech Republic, Wednesday, October 27, 2004
5. 7 TSN NEWS REPORTERS FROM 1+1 QUIT IN PROTEST
AGAINST CENSORSHIP AND TEMNYKY
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 28, 2004
6. YANUKOVYCH ATTRIBUTES HIS SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER
ACCESS TO NATIONAL MEDIA COMPARED WITH OTHER
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO COVERAGE OF HIS PRIME
MINISTERIAL ACTIVITIES
Ukrainian News Agency, Kiev, Ukraine, Thu, October 28, 2004
7. "UKRAINE ALREADY THRIVING UNDER YANUKOVICH"
Letter-to-the-Editor, by Sergei Tyhypko, Campaign Manager,
Yanukovych For President, Kyiv, Ukraine
Financial Times, London, UK, Thursday, October 28 2004
8. VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO GUARANTEES FREEDOM OF RELIGION
IN UKRAINE AS PRESIDENT
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 27 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Oct 27, 2004
9. POLISH PRIME MINISTER BELKA SAYS UKRAINE'S FUTURE
HINGES ON DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
PAP news agency, Warsaw, Poland, Thu, 28 Oct 04
10. CANADA CALLS ON UKRAINE TO ENSURE ABSENCE OF
INTIMIDATION AND HARASSMENT ON VOTING DAY
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 28, 2004
11. UNANIMOUS HOUSE OF COMMONS MOTION URGES
DEMOCRATIC AND FAIR UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Canadian House of Commons
Ottawa, Canada, Wednesday, October 27, 2004
12. "A VITAL CHOICE FOR UKRAINE"
EDITORIAL, Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, October 28, 2004
13. "SHOWDOWN IN THE BORDERLAND"
Ukrainian voters will be asked to pick a new president this Sunday
OP-ED by Roman Szporluk, Professor
Ukrainian History, Harvard University
The Wall Street Journal, New York, NY, Thu, October 28, 2004
14. "UKRAINE TORN BY EAST-WEST SPLIT"
>From Jeremy Page in Kiev
Times, London, UK, Thursday, October 28, 2004
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 202: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
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1. SUPREME COURT OF UKRAINE RULES AGAINST SETTING
UP 41 ADDITIONAL POLLING STATIONS IN RUSSIA
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 28 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Oct 28, 2004
KIEV - The Supreme Court of Ukraine has cancelled the decision of the
Central Electoral Commission to set up 41 additional polling stations in
Russia for the Ukrainian presidential election [on 31 October], the head of
the Supreme Court's press service, Liana Shlyaposhnykova, told
Interfax-Ukraine.
[The Central Electoral Commission approved the decision in the early hours
of 24 October after a large opposition rally outside the Commission's
building. The law says that new polling stations can be set up no later than
seven days prior to the election day. The opposition was against setting up
additional polling stations in Russia, fearing vote rigging there, and
appealed against the Commission's decision.] -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.202: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
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2. IN TENSE ELECTION, UKRAINIANS FIND BARRIERS TO VOTING
By Roman Olearchyk, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, Oct 28, 2004
Days before the first round of presidential elections on Oct. 31, many
Ukrainians are struggling to be able to vote.
Overwhelmed Central Election Commission officials are faced with complaints
from citizens trying to get their names on voter lists across the country,
to take part in what's widely considered the most important ballot since the
1991 independence referendum. Despite the CEC's work to ensure extra
polling stations in Russia, the process for registering voters here has been
anything but smooth.
Exact figures are not yet available, but accounts from citizens and
observers indicate that the CEC has received an onslaught of complaints from
voters and observers. They suggest that many eligible voters and even entire
apartment buildings have been left off voter lists. In other cases the names
of individuals are misspelled, which could lead to invalidation of votes.
Also mushrooming is the "dead souls" issue - lists of deceased voters, or
lists that include residents who no longer reside in the appropriate region,
or even in Ukraine.
According to the CEC, Ukraine has 37.6 million eligible voters who will vote
at the more than 33,200 polling stations scattered throughout the country.
Currently there are more than 120 polling stations located in other
countries.
In its last report, dated Oct. 16, the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, a
non-governmental election watchdog, recorded complications at 1,000 polling
stations the organization is monitoring in the pre-election period. The
CVU's
next report will be made public on Oct. 29, just two days before the first
round of voting.
SITUATION NO BETTER
"I expect that this situation has only worsened since," said CVU
spokesperson Oleksander Chernenko. "We are receiving more and more
complaints."
As of Oct. 16, about five percent of the people registered on voting lists
were actually deceased. Kyiv Post reporter Vlad Lavrov checked the list in
his area of Kyiv and found that the man whose apartment he now lives in
was on the list, despite his having died three years ago. "I was told if I
can provide proof of his death, they will look into it and make the
correction," Lavrov said.
Adding to the voter registration problems, Chernenko said that about 20
percent of the polling stations in the country were not functional as of
mid-October. In many cases polling stations did not have a list of voters,
or officials declined to show the list to voters and observers, in violation
of Ukrainian law. Ukrainian law requires polling stations to have the list
available to voters and observers starting Oct. 16, without exception.
It is disproportionately younger voters, often students and young working
professionals, who are finding themselves unlisted. Chernenko had difficulty
explaining this phenomenon. On the one hand, it could be explained by
authorities' efforts to sway the electorate in favor of Prime Minister
Viktor Yanukovych, who recently raised pensions. Cutting down on the
number of young people voting could reduce the count for Our Ukraine
opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, popular with younger Ukrainians.
"It's hard to say whether this has been organized purposefully," Chernenko
said. "Another logical explanation for the difficulty younger people are
having in voting is that they tend to move around the country more as
students, or shift between regions accepting new jobs, while older people
have voted in the same region for years."
BARRIERS FOR STUDENTS
Purposefully orchestrated or not, students are facing many barriers in their
efforts to cast ballots.
One problem is that many students are registered as residents in one city,
but study in another. To vote outside their home districts, Ukrainians must
travel there and ask to change their residency status. The process, which is
often frustrating and long, allows a Ukrainian voter to poll anywhere
outside his home district.
The process is especially hard on students who typically have little
spending money to travel home, and little time to spend away from studies.
"There are a lot of complications for students," said Iryna Myronova, a
student at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and a member
of the university's Student Brotherhood, an advocacy group at the
institution.
"For students who want to actually travel back home in order to vote, it is
becoming a large problem to get train tickets," Myronova added.
Students who have lived in dormitories are faced with barriers of their own.
While in the dorms, the students were temporarily registered there as
residents. But after graduating, they were automatically removed from
residency lists without notification. As a result, they are now unregistered
as residents anywhere, and can't vote unless they manage to register
somewhere ahead of the elections. Doing so requires time, patience to
endure bureaucratic procedures, and money.
"In many cases, students weren't notified that the temporary resident
registration given to them while they were living in dormitories was
cancelled," Myronova said. "This problem has mostly affected those who
graduated recently. They're now registered nowhere, struggling to get
registered somewhere fast in order to vote," Myronova added.
In addition, many students leave their home districts to find work in big
cities, especially Kyiv. Masha Arkangelskaya of Yalta, 25, has lived in Kyiv
for five years, and works at a consulting firm. She called the CEC to get
information about changing her residency status, but found that few people
knew who to call to help her. She described the situation as difficult.
"When I first called the CEC, the person I spoke to had no idea how to help
me. All she did was give me a phone number," Arkangelskaya said. She ended
up having to call two other people, the last of whom told her she had to
return to Yalta to register. When Arkangelskaya asked where she needed to go
in Yalta to change her residency status, the CEC spokesperson said she had
no idea.
"It was so difficult and tiresome," she said. "I really want to vote this
year, but I have no time to go back to Yalta to do this."
OTHER TWISTS
On the ground, finding out what violations exist can get tricky.
Valentyna Bilozor, an election official at the Territorial Election Station
#117 in Lviv, refuted eyewitness accounts from voters at another local
polling station who allege that they weren't given access to the voting list
to see if they were on it. Witnesses said that the polling station was
closed Oct. 22-25 for renovations. It was open the following two days,
but officials at the station said they did not have the list.
"It's impossible that they don't have the voter list at this polling
station. That can't be true," Bilozor said. "The polling station might have
been closed earlier for renovations, but if that's the case, what can we do?
The facility has to be prepared for election day, doesn't it?"
Even well-known individuals, such as the head of the Lviv-headquartered
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Lubomyr Huzar, were excluded from the
list in Lviv, a region in which Yushchenko has support above 80 percent.
Interfax-Ukraine reported on Oct. 27 that the #117 polling region in Lviv
didn't include the Ukrainian-born Huzar, who became a citizen of Ukraine
in 2002 after residing in the United States for decades.
Election officials responsible for polling stations in the region told
church officials they did not include him on the voters list as they did not
know the number of his apartment, which is located at the cardinal's
residence, on the premises of St. George's Cathedral. Church officials
appealed for him to be included on the list and expect the regional
commission officials to include him by Oct. 28.
Late on Oct. 23, the CEC beefed up the number of polling stations in Russia
from 4 to 41. In total, 25,413 ballots have been sent to Russia. Chernenko
said it seems as if the Ukrainian election authorities have gone out of
their way to ease the voting process for Ukrainians in Russia, where there
will be fewer observers and fears of vote-rigging are high, while
complicating the process for voters in Ukraine. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.202: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
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3. REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS CONDEMNS
HARASSMENT OF ONLINE PUBLICATIONS IN UKRAINE
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 28, 2004
KYIV - Reporters Without Borders, the international journalist rights
organization, has condemned frequent cases of harassment of Internet
publications in Ukraine. Reporters Without Border disclosed this in a
statement, the text of which Ukrainian News has obtained.
According to the statement, harassment of the independent online
publications includes searches and lawsuits. The organization reckons
that these intimidations are particularly dangerous as they come on the
eve of the Ukrainian presidential elections.
"These intimidation attempts are particularly dangerous as they come
just days before the presidential election," it is mentioned in the
organization's statement. Several of such frequent cases are also
mentioned in the statement involving the exerting of pressure on the
online publications.
The organization says that on October 18, police searched the home of
Natalia Stativko, the editor of the online magazine Objective-No, which is
located close to Kharkiv.
The organization also cited another case of harassment that occurred in
Irpin (a town near Kyiv) on October 22, when agents of the Security Service
of Ukraine (SBU) raided the home of Mykhailo Svystovych, the editor of
the opposition online magazine website Maidan.
Reporters Without Borders also note lawsuits and threats of lawsuits that
were taken or made in relations to the Ukrainska Pravda and Kashtanova
Revolution online magazine websites.
As Ukrainian News reported previously, Reporters Without Borders had
noted that there is a difficult situation with freedom of the Internet in
Ukraine.
Reporters Without Borders had earlier expressed concern regarding the
blocking of the bank accounts of the Channel 5 television company.
The organization has also called on Ukraine to conduct an open investigation
into the deaths of journalists Georgy Gongadze, Volodymyr Karachevtsev and
the TOR television company's director Ihor Aleksandrov. -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTE: There are many stories in Kyiv that more attacks against youth
groups and media are expected in Ukraine on Friday.
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.202: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
Your comments about the Report are always welcome
========================================================
4. RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY SUPPORTS UKRAINE
INDEPENDENT CHANNEL 5 TV JOURNALISTS ON HUNGER STRIKE
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
Prague, Czech Republic, Wed, October 27, 2004
PRAGUE - A group of journalists and executives at TV Channel 5 -- an
RFE/RL affiliate partner and the only television station remaining in
Ukraine not controlled by the government -- have been on a hunger strike
since Monday, October 25 to protest political persecution and harassment
of the station.
RFE/RL President Thomas A. Dine said today that "Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty fully supports our Channel 5 colleagues in their efforts to stop the
slide toward authoritarian rule and the silencing of free media in Ukraine."
The group of about 15 hunger-strikers includes Channel 5 news anchors Roman
Skrypin and Danylo Yanevsky, as well as General Manager Vladyslav Liasovsky.
They told RFE/RL Ukrainian Service colleagues that they began fasting Monday
evening and have now gone without food for 48 hours. TV 5 is maintaining
hourly news broadcasts with skeleton staff and gives bulletin updates on the
group every half hour, switching the camera to the TV studio where the
hunger-strikers are camping out.
Members of the group are in regular phone contact with RFE/RL's Kyiv Bureau.
They have said that, with only days remaining before Ukraine's hotly
contested presidential election on October 31, they wish to draw attention
to government attempts to close their station down.
On October 14, TV Channel 5's license to broadcast in Kyiv was withdrawn
and last week the station's bank accounts were frozen, at the request of a
parliamentary deputy who claimed that Channel 5 news is manipulated by
anti-government forces.
The hunger-strikers ask that the station's bank accounts be unblocked and
its broadcast license be renewed in a fair and impartial hearing. The
station continues to broadcast, pending an appeal against the loss of
license. The case is to be heard in a Kyiv court tomorrow, October 28. An
RFE/RL reporter will be in the courtroom.
RFE/RL and Channel 5 are partners in a 35-minute weekly news show launched
in April. Called "Prime Time," it is broadcast every Sunday and has become a
popular program with Ukrainian viewers, because of the frank, sometimes
heated discussion of political issues between two guests with opposing
views, who have been invited to participate on the show. "Prime Time" is
moderated by an RFE/RL host.
TV Channel 5 was established in 2003 by Petro Poroshenko, a well-known
businessman who also serves as chairman of the Ukrainian parliament's
budgetary committee. Poroshenko is a supporter of the leading presidential
opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko and member of Yushchenko's Our
Ukraine bloc of opposition parties. -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international communications
service to Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe; the Caucasus; and
Central and Southwestern Asia funded by the U.S. Congress through the
Broadcasting Board of Governors.
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty; 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington,
DC 20036; tel: 202-457-6900, fax: 202-457-6992; http://www.rferl.org;
Contact: Donald Jensen +1-202-457-6947; Sonia Winter +420-221-123-007
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.202: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
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5. 7 TSN NEWS REPORTERS FROM 1+1 QUIT IN PROTEST
AGAINST CENSORSHIP AND TEMNYKY
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 28, 2004
KIEV - Seven reporters with TSN news have quit the 1+1 Studio
television channel in protest against censorship and temnyky (instructions
from the authorities on news coverage). The journalists sent this statement
to Ukrainian News.
International new reporters Viktor Zabolotskyi, Fedir Sydoruk, Halyna
Betsko and Mariana Voronovych, correspondent Natalka Fitsych,
journalist and morning news presenter Yulia Borysko, and morning news
editor Ihor Skliarevskyi left the company after a series of long and
unsuccessful negotiations with TSN top managers.
"It happened when all attempts to reject the policy of temnyky and
censorship failed," the reporters explained. "We refuse to get involved
in information war. The government declared the war against its own
people in attempt to win the presidential elections using harassment and
force," they added.
In such conditions, the journalists continued, they are unable to fulfill
their duties at a professional level and to provide the society with
authentic information.
"Our television skills have finally turned into serving of those to whom
1+1 was given by its owners for political purposes," the statement reads.
The reporters said their statement is a final explanation of their decision
that has nothing to do with activities of the journalists' trade union and
which will be commented no further.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, 38 journalists, editors and presenters
from Inter, ICTV, Novyi Kanal, NTN and Tonis television channels as well
as Vakhtang Kipiani, a 1+1 Studio journalist, have signed a statement in
which they undertake to honestly cover the Ukrainian presidential elections
and call on other journalists to join their initiative.
Channel 5 television company recently proposed that owners of mass
media outlets sign agreements with their editorial offices concerning
non-interference in their editorial policies and stated its readiness to
share its experience in this area.
President Leonid Kuchma has expressed opposition to any interference
in the operations of the mass media during the presidential elections.
In September, the parliament called on journalists to objectively cover
the presidential election campaign. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.202 ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
Additional names for the distribution list are always welcome
========================================================
6. YANUKOVYCH ATTRIBUTES HIS SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER
ACCESS TO NATIONAL MEDIA COMPARED WITH OTHER
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO COVERAGE OF HIS PRIME
MINISTERIAL ACTIVITIES
Ukrainian News Agency, Kiev, Ukraine, Thu, October 28, 2004
KIEV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who is a candidate in this
year's presidential elections, has attributed his significantly greater
access to the national mass media compared with other presidential
candidates to the media coverage of his prime ministerial activities.
Yanukovych was speaking during a meeting with foreign and Ukrainian
media organizations. According to him, the media are merely doing
their jobs by covering his prime ministerial activities.
"Coverage of these [prime ministerial] activities is the job [of the mass
media]. Everyone should do his job," Yanukovych said. Consequently,
Yanukovych said that he did not consider the greater coverage of his
activities in the national media compared with other presidential candidates
to be a violation of the legislation.
According to him, conclusions about the legality of conduct of election
campaigns are made by the Central Electoral Commission and the courts.
He stressed that neither the courts nor the CEC have sent any complaints
to him.
He also stressed that he paid little attention to the election campaign
because he gave preference to his prime ministerial activities during the
period of the election campaign. Yanukovych said that he started spending
more time with voters only in the past two weeks, when he traveled to all
Ukrainian regions paying greater attention.
He also noted that he did not force anyone to come to his October 28
meeting with the media and that the meeting took place exclusively at the
request of the mass media. "Is this [meeting with the press] an abuse or
not?" Yanukovych asked the journalist who asked him about his opinion
about equal coverage of presidential candidates.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, media experts recently said that
Yanukovych had disproportionately greater access to the central mass media
during the September-early October period, compared with the Our Ukraine
coalition's leader and presidential candidate Viktor Yuschenko.
In late September, the European Union called on the Ukrainian authorities to
ensure that all presidential candidates have equal access to the mass media
and to ensure the independence and freedom of the press. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.202: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
Suggested articles for publication in the Report are always welcome
========================================================
7. "UKRAINE ALREADY THRIVING UNDER YANUKOVICH"
Letter-to-the-Editor, by Sergei Tyhypko, Campaign Manager,
Yanukovych For President, Kyiv, Ukraine
Financial Times, London, UK, Thursday, October 28 2004
>From Mr Sergei Tyhypko.
Sir, The October 31 Ukrainian presidential election offers a choice between
rhetoric and results. Viktor Yushchenko, the preferred candidate of FT
commentators ("East or west: Ukraine's election could alter relations with
Russia or Europe," October 12) and much of the western media, is
proposing economic progress that prime minister Viktor Yanukovich has
already delivered.
On the prime minister's watch, Ukraine has emerged as a thriving market
economy that attracts trading partners and delivers prosperity for its
people.
Gross domestic product growth reached 9.4 per cent last year, while
manufacturing output grew 15.8 per cent. Inflation fell to a manageable
8.2 percent (down from 25.8 per cent when Mr Yushchenko was prime
minister). The hryvnya is stable, and Ukraine's national reserves have
increased to $12bn.
The FT's claim that foreign investors are skittish about coming to Ukraine
is simply not supported by the facts. Annual foreign direct investment is
five times greater than it was in 2000 and the US Overseas Private
Investment Corporation, citing Ukraine's economic reforms, recently
announced $240m to help American businesses seeking opportunities in
Ukraine.
It is not a coincidence that all this has happened under prime minister
Yanukovich. He has pushed an aggressive economic reform programme
that has included tax cuts, anti-money-laundering legislation and
intellectual property rights protection, an initiative that is a
prerequisite to World Trade Organisation membership but which Mr
Yushchenko and his political bloc have adamantly opposed.
Finally, the headline of your article - "East or west" - offers Ukraine a
false choice. The only pragmatic course is one that looks both east and
west. Ukraine can and must seek greater integration with its European
neighbours while maintaining ties with Russia and its other partners in the
Single Economic Space. That is the approach preferred by prime minister
Yanukovich, because it is the one that best serves the interests of the
Ukrainian people.
SIGNED: Sergei Tyhypko, Campaign Manager, Yanukovich for President,
Kiev, Ukraine -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 202: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Letters to the editor are always welcome
========================================================
8. VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO GUARANTEES FREEDOM OF RELIGION
IN UKRAINE AS PRESIDENT
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 27 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring ServiceUK, in English, Wed, Oct 27, 2004
KIEV - Equal rights will be guaranteed to all churches in Ukraine,
[opposition] presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko has said.
Yushchenko said that after winning the election he, as the guarantor of
the constitution, would guarantee freedom of conscience to all citizens,
UNIAN has learnt at Yushchenko's press service. The church will have
a full freedom of religious service.
Yushchenko said that when he becomes president, "all churches and all
confessions will be guaranteed appropriate conditions, so that nothing
should prevent them from bringing the light of faith to people's souls".
"This is my position of principle. Do not believe those who claim that I
think otherwise," Yushchenko said.
He also said that "the incumbent authorities are deaf to the voice of
conscience. They do not stop and will not stop speculating on the sacred
faith and the church". Yushchenko called on believers of all churches and
confessions "to unite efforts and pray for Ukraine and its future".
Yushchenko stressed that he is an Orthodox believer. "My parents brought
me up in this faith and I chose this road myself. At the same time, as a
believer, I deeply respect other people's beliefs, irrespective of whether
they attend Orthodox or Roman Catholic churches, mosques or synagogues,"
Yushchenko said. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTE: Alexi II in Moscow will not like this statement. He has
never indicated a belief in freedom of religion or in the concept of the
separation of church and state.
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.202: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
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9. POLISH PRIME MINISTER BELKA SAYS UKRAINE'S FUTURE
HINGES ON DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
PAP news agency, Warsaw, Poland, Thu, 28 Oct 04
WARSAW - Prime Minister Marek Belka told Poles who would
monitor Sunday [31 October] presidential elections in Ukraine that the
elections would be crucial for Ukraine's future.
The prime minister underlined that if elections are held according to
democratic standards Ukraine may become closer to Europe than it has
ever been. The violation of democratic principles would put an end to
Ukraine's drive to Europe.
Polish observers will take part in a Visegrad group mission jointly with
Chechs, Slovaks and Hungarians. "The fact that we are doing it jointly
means that we perceive Ukraine as a country belonging to our circle, a
country that may undergo the same transformation that we did and may
score similar results. You are going there to help Ukrainians reach this
goal," the prime minister told the meeting.
The prime minister said he believed there would be no attempts to falsify
elections. Visegrad group observers will go as part of OSCE mission for
monitoring presidential elections in Ukraine. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.202: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
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10. CANADA CALLS ON UKRAINE TO ENSURE ABSENCE OF
INTIMIDATION AND HARASSMENT ON VOTING DAY
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thu, October 28, 2004
KIEV - Canada calls on the Ukrainian authorities to ensure absence of
intimidation and harassment on the election day. The Canadian Embassy in
Ukraine sent Ukrainian News a copy of the statement made by the Canadian
delegation at a meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe. The statement was announced on
October 28 in Vienna, Austria.
"Canada calls upon the Ukrainian authorities to take steps now to end
measures which are undermining the credibility of the election process and
to ensure that the vote on October 31, and in any subsequent second round,
guarantees Ukrainian citizens their right to vote in an atmosphere free of
intimidation and harassment," the statement reads.
Canada noted that the Government of Ukraine has engaged in, and
continues to engage in, systematic efforts to distort the electoral process,
and to remove from the people of Ukraine the democratic right to decide
upon their next President in a free and fair manner.
For example, the fourth interim report of the ODIHR (OSCE Office for
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) observation mission, released
last week, found that the state administration is engaged in determined and
widespread efforts to promote the candidature of Prime Minister Viktor
Yanukovych and to interfere with the electoral campaign of his chief
opponent, Our Ukraine Coalition leader Viktor Yuschenko.
Canada is dismayed by administrative decisions that may result in the
silencing of the only national independent broadcaster, Fifth Channel
television station, at a critical time in the campaign.
Canada is also deeply troubled by reports that plain-clothed members of the
state security forces have attacked supporters of the opposition candidate
as they participated in a peaceful rally in the capital.
The statement accentuates that the Government of Ukraine, like other OSCE
governments, has taken on a politically binding commitment to ensure that
the election is free and fair. This commitment has not been forced on
Ukraine: it has been entered into freely as an OSCE participating state.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Canadian Ambassador to Ukraine
Andrew Robinson expressed doubts that the Ukrainian presidential election
will proceed in keeping with democratic standards. The Ukrainian Foreign
Ministry describes his attitude as biased. On July 3, Ukraine launched the
election campaign that must end the day before the voting day of October
31. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.202: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
Additional names for the distribution list are always welcome
========================================================
11. UNANIMOUS HOUSE OF COMMONS MOTION URGES
DEMOCRATIC AND FAIR UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Canadian House of Commons
Ottawa, Canada, Wednesday, October 27, 2004
OTTAWA - In response to disturbing reports of escalating intimidation and
violence against opposition candidates and their supporters in the Ukrainian
presidential election, Canada's Parliament today cast aside partisanship and
sent a strong message to the Ukrainian government to clean up its act.
Introduced by new Etobicoke Centre MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj, the House
of Commons motion urged the federal government to make it clear to the
Ukrainian Government that it needs to ensure a democratic, transparent and
fair election process for the Ukrainian presidential election on October 31,
2004 and the probable second round election on November 21, 2004.
In a surprise show of non-partisanship Liberal Wrzesnewskyj's motion was
supported by Government House Leader Tony Valeri, Foreign Affairs Minister
Pierre Pettigrew, the Liberal Defence and Foreign Affairs Caucus, the
opposition House Leaders and the Foreign Affairs Critics. The motion follows
the public warning of Canada's Ambassador to Ukraine that the Ukrainian
presidential election will fail to meet democratic standards.
Commenting on the importance of the motion, Wrzesnewskyj stated: This
election will show if Ukraine will follow the path of democracy and whether
it is ready to join the Western community of nations. "With the numerous
reports of dirty tricks, intimidation, political malfeasance, violence, and
even the probable poisoning of the opposition frontrunner in the Ukrainian
presidential election, alarm bells have sounded in many quarters. Canada was
among the first countries to recognize Ukraine's independence and has always
taken a proactive role in supporting democratic development and institution
building in the country from which 1.1 million Canadians draw their origin.
A strong message from the Canadian Government to authorities in Ukraine
represents a continuation of that special relationship."
While underscoring the importance of working together in this minority
Parliament, Wrzesnewskyj said: "I want to thank all the opposition House
Leaders and Foreign Affairs Critics for endorsing my motion. I also want to
thank Government House Leader Tony Valeri, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre
Pettigrew, and my colleague the Hon. Walt Lastewka for supporting my efforts
to send a strong message to the Government of Ukraine. The fact that all
parties supported the motion should make it clear to the Ukrainian
government that democracy is the only way forward."
The text of the motion is below:
HOUSE OF COMMONS; FIRST SESSION; 38th PARLIAMENT
Notice Paper, No. 7
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
PRIVATE MEMBERS - NOTICES OF MOTIONS
M-156 - October 12, 2004 - Mr. Wrzesnewskyj (Etobicoke Centre) - On or
after Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - That, in the opinion of this House, the
government should impress upon the Government of Ukraine to ensure a fully
transparent election process by: (a) providing free access for Ukrainian and
international election observers, multiparty representation on all election
commissions, unimpeded access by all parties and candidates to the media,
freedom of candidates and media from intimidation or harassment, a
transparent process for complaint and appeals through electoral commissions
and the courts; (b) guaranteeing election monitors from the Office of
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, other participating States of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Ukrainian political
parties, candidates' representatives, non-governmental organizations, and
other private institutions and organizations, both foreign and domestic; and
(c) providing unobstructed access to all aspects of the election process for
the Ukrainian presidential election of October 31, 2004 and a potential
second round election for November 21, 2004. -30-
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.202: ARTICLE NUMBER TWELVE
========================================================
12. "A VITAL CHOICE FOR UKRAINE"
EDITORIAL, Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, October 28, 2004
GOOD MAN, POOR CAMPAIGN
While we sympathize with opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko for the
challenges he's faced, we're not sold on him as a candidate. Based upon his
service as prime minister, we know he could run the country. But even
conceding the vile tactics used against him, his campaign has been
disappointing.
For example, the opposition leader has published no economic plan. He's
promised that Ukrainians will live better under his stewardship - but he's
failed to make clear what steps he'll take to make good on those pledges.
Also, we have little idea of what his administration will look like if he
wins. Who will his prime minister be? Yushchenko should long ago have
sketched out the composition of his future staff.
He's also flirted with demagoguery, in his harping on how his administration
will jail Ukraine's "bandits." Some of Yushchenko's political friends could
be called "bandits." To hear him talk, only those rapacious tycoons who are
pro-Yanukovych deserve prison. This testifies to either a blind spot, or
opportunism. Selectively going after "bandits" will weaken confidence in
every investment in Ukraine.
Speaking of opportunism, there has also been his grandstanding on the issue
of Ukraine's Iraq deployment. If sending troops to Iraq was such a bad idea,
why did he abstain from voting on the issue last year?
Meanwhile, his vague promises to rectify the rigged privatizations of
Ukraine's industrial assets are disturbing. Rigged privatizations should
indeed be stopped. But Ukraine will be ripped apart if Yushchenko sets off
an internecine war among the power-class. Like their American counterparts
of the late 19th century, Ukraine's robber barons must be given the time to
civilize themselves; there is no other way. This will gall many, but it's
also political reality.
There are other questions Yushchenko hasn't clearly answered. One of them is
what Ukraine's relationship with Russia will be under President Yushchenko.
We're aware of the prime minister's close relationship with the Kremlin.
What stance vis-a-vis Ukraine's unavoidable neighbor will Yushchenko take?
We're unclear on these issues because Yushchenko has too often combined
vaguely-articulated positions with scare tactics, rather than running the
positive, solutions-oriented campaign Western political consultants could
have helped him devise. We know what Yanukovych's vision of Ukraine is, but
we still don't know Yushchenko's - and we should, given that he's the main
opposition leader. As a leader, in fact, he has often been weak, as in his
refusal to take a strong stand against anti-Semitism within the opposition
ranks. And his refusal to accept Western campaign help is itself an
indication of the aloof, uninspired nature of his campaign.
Still, Yushchenko seems - his campaign aside - to be a decent, thoughtful
man. He respects the law and democratic values. He gestures toward the
humane future Ukraine deserves. Not all the candidates in this election can
say that.
A STRONG SHOWING
Prime Minister Yanukovych, on the other hand, has run a good campaign,
absurdities like last month's egg fiasco excepted. A year ago, we knew
nothing about him; now we see that at least he knows how to work the levers
of power. Under him, the economy would continue to develop, and the country
would be run by the experienced, if not entirely lovable, managers who run
it now.
Campaign-wise, he has had an unfair advantage over Yushchenko. But, unlike
Yushchenko, he has seized his opportunities. An ex-convict, he was clever
enough to employ Western consultants who sanitized his image. The "Just
Because" poster campaign which blanketed Kyiv this autumn was easy to
mock, but it was effective. Yanukovych also has the country's startling
economic growth to run on.
As professional as it has been, it's clear that Yanukovych's presidential
effort has been a tragedy for Ukraine. All that money; all those resources;
all those powerful friends - and for what? The Yanukovych campaign is a
powerful machine working in the interests of a bad logic - returning Ukraine
to an authoritarian past in which democratic process is too little
respected.
In a democracy, the process of an election is more important than the
result - but forces sympathetic to Yanukovych have corrupted that process.
Nearly every day since the summer has brought a new outrage: beatings,
harassment of journalists, firebombings, mob intimidation, and more.
Yanukovych might not be behind this nonsense, but neither has he condemned
it. That betrays a contempt for democratic values that should invalidate him
from the presidency.
We're sure that in this election - which has been called the most important
event in Europe this year - Ukraine will be better served by his defeat and
by the election of Viktor Yushchenko, for all the frustrating liabilities
the latter campaign has shown. Yushchenko has not been a party to electoral
corruption and violence. He is a politician Ukrainians will be able to work
with, not simply under.
Based on his work as prime minister and other achievements, we offer a
qualified endorsement of Yushchenko, in the belief that he has in him what
it takes to develop into a strong leader for the entire country, and lead a
troubled Ukraine to the next level in its development. -30-
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.202: ARTICLE NUMBER THIRTEEN
Checks to support The Action Ukraine Report are always welcome
========================================================
13. "SHOWDOWN IN THE BORDERLAND"
Ukrainian voters will be asked to pick a new president this Sunday
OP-ED by Roman Szporluk, Professor
Ukrainian History, Harvard University
The Wall Street Journal, New York, NY, Thu October 28, 2004
This Sunday, Ukrainian voters will be asked to pick a successor to
President Leonid Kuchma. Among the 24 candidates, Viktor Yushchenko
and Viktor Yanukovych are expected to get the most votes. If, as expected,
neither wins on the first ballot, a runoff is supposed to choose the winner
two weeks later. Unfortunately, it's not so simple.
As election day nears, the news from Ukraine gets ever-more depressing:
Growing pressure on the mass media, the persecution of independent
newspapers and TV channels, charges of electoral fraud, police crackdowns
on opposition groups, and physical attacks on both leading candidates,
including the alleged poisoning of Mr. Yushchenko, which kept him off the
campaign trail for a month.
The intensity of the campaign underscores its importance for Ukraine -- and
for Europe. Inasmuch as the outcome isn't known, and voters are treated to
a spirited debate, Ukraine stands apart from its eastern Slavic neighbors,
Russia and Belarus, who've steadily descended into one-man rule. Who wins,
and whether the result is achieved freely and fairly, will set the course
for this pivotal, borderland nation of 48 million: Toward Europe or back to
Russia . As importantly, the next few weeks will determine if the last
major democracy in the former Soviet Union (barring the three Baltic
states) will get to keep the name.
It's surprising enough that Ukraine finds itself in this position. Fourteen
years ago, the country emerged in its current shape, stretching from the
Hungarian Plains to the Donets River, from the Pripet Marshes to the Azov
Sea and Crimea. Ukraine is bigger than France and, after Russia , the
largest country in Europe. Geographers had no problem coming to terms with
this new entity, but Western policy makers haven't quite been able to place
it. Does Ukraine belong to the East or the West? If by culture and religion
Ukraine looks to be of the east, the country was shaped by Europe more
than traditionally recognized. In the 18th century Lviv, which is in today's
western Ukraine, and Brussels were for some 25 years ruled by Vienna.
This ended in 1797 when Napoleon occupied Brussels, but, alas, not Lviv.
Ukrainians in the Habsburg Empire, including freed serfs, tasted democracy
early on with other Europeans, and long before Russians, voting in 1848 to
elect the constituent assembly of the monarchy, the Reichstag.
From the days of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, who led a major Cossack
uprising in the 17th century, to the Polish-Soviet war of 1919-1920, the
lands of present day Ukraine were a battleground between Russia and Poland.
(In 1667, the two powers divided Ukraine roughly along the Dnieper River
and buried Khmelnytsky's design for a Ukrainian state.) Only in 1945 was
Poland forced to give Stalin what's now western Ukraine, which confirmed in
many minds that the place would be forever under Moscow.
In retrospect, Stalin unwittingly drafted the road map to Ukraine's
independence in 1991. What he surely didn't expect was that the Poles would
not only reconcile themselves to the loss of their former Galician holdings
but that they would support the Ukrainians against Moscow when
circumstances allowed it. So Poland was the first state to recognize
Ukraine's independence, a day after Kiev made it official on Dec. 1, 1991.
For the first time, rulers in Kiev didn't face a threat from the west,
giving them greater flexibility in relations with Russia and letting them
think seriously about getting closer to Europe.
The progress hasn't been steady. Little disguised reluctance in Europe
itself, the rise of Vladimir Putin and the Kuchma regime's domestic
political troubles, including backsliding on democracy, dimmed Ukraine's
early ambitions to join, one day, NATO and the EU. But, like Turkey,
Ukraine straddles the east and west, and its ultimate destination remains
up in the air.
Coming into this campaign, the political elites in Ukraine have been caught
between conflicting pressure from the West, led by the U.S. and Poland, to
stay on the path of democratic change and from an increasingly assertive
Kremlin to come join a Russian-led club made up of other ex-Soviet states.
This is roughly the choice before Ukrainian voters Sunday. Mr. Yushchenko,
who heads Our Ukraine, the main opposition party, is a former prime
minister who's viewed as an advocate for open markets and democracy. He
is especially favored in western and central Ukraine, but he has made an
appeal above linguistic and religious divisions to the ethnic Russians and
many Russian speakers of eastern Ukraine. He calls for overcoming these
old divisions and for the creation of an integrated, democratic state.
Mr. Yanukovych, the present prime minister and former governor of the
industrial Donetsk region in the east, has the support of President Kuchma,
most oligarchs, Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as Alexis II, the
Orthodox patriarch of Moscow. Mr. Putin gave an unprecedented live
interview on Ukrainian television, before paying a three-day visit to Kiev.
Today, to make the endorsement more tacit, the Russian president will
accompany Messrs. Kuchma and Yanukovych at a military parade celebrating
Kiev's liberation from the Nazis -- an event that, unusually this year, was
moved more than a week forward in order to come before the election.
Such heavy-handed tactics raise fears that Mr. Yanukovych will continue to
employ the methods of the Kuchma regime and steer the country further away
from the West. The prime minister says he favors good relations with both
Russia and the West, but in this election he has tried to divide voters
along ethnic lines, especially by telling ethnic Russians and Orthodox
believers that Mr. Yushchenko is a West Ukrainian nationalist who would
threaten their language and religion. In fact, both Messrs. Yanukovych and
Yushchenko come from the predominantly Russian-speaking eastern
Ukraine, where most of the votes are. It is politics, not language or
ethnicity, that separates the two men.
One of the ironies of this spirited race is that, when the U.S.S.R. broke
up, Russia was supposed to lead the smaller post-Soviet republics toward
democracy. Little serious thought was then given to the potential challenge
that Russian society's ethnic and religious diversity might pose to the
country's political stability, let alone its territorial integrity. For
Ukraine on the other hand, people predicted an interregional and
interethnic war, interconfessional conflicts -- the Catholic West against
the Orthodox East -- and the prospect that the state would break up with
at least part of it returning to Russia . Or, worse, follow Yugoslavia down
the path to civil war and dissolution.
The predictions got it backwards. From early on, Russia saw a gradual but
steady retreat from democratic practices, starting with the shelling of the
Moscow parliament in 1993 to Boris Yeltsin's manipulated re-election in
1996 to the elevation of an unknown KGB officer with authoritarian
instincts, Vladimir Putin, four years ago.
In spite of economic hardships and political instability, Ukrainian leaders
drew on democratic traditions from its history and saw themselves as
Europeans. In a first for the region, Ukraine peacefully transferred power
when President Leonid Kravchuk, fair and square, lost the 1994 election to
Mr. Kuchma. Five years later, Mr. Kuchma narrowly won in a run-off. The
Kuchma era also brought unquestionable electoral abuses, but at least
voters had a choice.
Why did Russia and Ukraine part ways? In Russia interethnic and
interregional peace were replaced by conflict, most bloodily in Chechnya.
By contrast, Ukraine made cautious progress in overcoming the east-west
divisions that it faced. It never had pretensions to be a great power and
it resolved its ethnic difficulties with greater ease. Ukraine has accepted
the use of both the Ukrainian and Russian languages. In fact, Russian
dominates in the Ukrainian mass media today. Ukraine also developed a
religious pluralism that is a source of strength for civil society.
There are signs that more and more citizens identify with a Ukraine that
they view as a territorial or civic entity, rejecting the traditional view
that one must be either a "Ukrainian" or a "Russian." Sociologists have
identified a category of people called Ukraino-Russians, or ukrainorussy,
the number of whom is said to be high in the east. They are also more
numerous among the generation that has grown into adulthood since 1991.
The election, in part, is a test whether citizenship will prevail over
ethnicity. In past polls, a majority of voters in Russian-speaking Kiev
have voted for democratic candidates along with voters in the
Ukrainian-speaking city of Lviv. Kiev's example may spread further east.
Will at least some voters in the eastern and southern regions, for example,
in such cities as Donetsk, Kharkiv, or Odessa, choose Mr. Yushchenko,
who's portrayed as an enemy of ethnic Russians, or will they go for Mr.
Yanukovych, believing the campaign talk that he's their defender?
Mr. Yushchenko has assured Russian speakers that he will not restrict the
use of the Russian language in the media, education or government. Several
Russian organizations have endorsed him. The Union of Right Forces, a
leading opposition party in Russia itself, declared its support for Mr.
Yushchenko, saying that the outcome of the Ukrainian poll may tilt the
balance for democracy in Russia .
Likewise, many Ukrainians, including Ukrainian speakers, may vote for Mr.
Yanukovych -- not to make Ukraine part of Russia but simply because they
like his politics and dislike his rivals. Many Ukrainians admire the
Russian president, and see in the current prime minister a Ukrainian Putin.
In any case, one should not assume a priori that those who speak Russian or
are ethnic Russians cannot support democracy, even if democrats in Russia
are losing ground these days. But Moscow's close involvement and its
tactics suggest that the Kremlin doesn't see a fair vote as good in and of
itself -- and clearly fears a Yushchenko victory. In the final week, the
(Kremlin friendly) Moscow media have compared Ukraine to Yugoslavia
before its final breakup. One TV "documentary" presents Ukraine as three
different countries. Are important people in Moscow truly thinking about
splitting Ukraine again, thus undoing Stalin's annexation of the west?
A better question, perhaps, is: Has Ukraine come too far to go back? Even
as Mr. Kuchma browbeat the opposition, rigged elections, tolerated massive
corruption and allegedly approved the assassination of a journalist critic,
Ukraine's civil society put down deeper and deeper roots. Political parties
are stronger. People feel in control of their destiny. The outcome of this
crucial election will matter a lot. But it's fair to say the struggle for
democracy won't end. -30- [Action Ukraine Monitoring Service]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Szporluk, M. S. Hrushevsky professor of Ukrainian history at Harvard,
is the author of "Ukraine, Russia , and the Breakup of the Soviet Union."
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.202: ARTICLE NUMBER FOURTEEN
Checks to support The Action Ukraine Report are always welcome
========================================================
14. "UKRAINE TORN BY EAST-WEST SPLIT"
>From Jeremy Page in Kiev
Times, London, UK, Thursday, October 28, 2004
KIEV - IN A dingy basement in central Kiev, the footsoldiers of Ukrainian
democracy are preparing for battle. Student activists huddle over computers
and telephones, drinking too much coffee and chain-smoking. The corridors
are lined with yellow Che Guevara T-shirts and leaflets urging Ukrainians to
take to the streets.
With three days to Ukraine's presidential election, a whiff of revolution is
in the air at the headquarters of Freedom of Choice, a coalition of
Ukrainian non-governmental organisations. "We are ready for mass actions of
peaceful resistance. Many activists are ready to lie under tanks," Vladyslav
Kaskiv, a founder of the Pora (It Is Time) youth movement, said.
This is not just the empty rhetoric of a radical student leader. Pora and
its partners are on the front line of a bitter and potentially explosive
struggle for the future of a country of 48 million people, caught between an
expanding European Union and an increasingly authoritarian Russia.
The race to succeed President Kuchma, who is retiring, is ostensibly between
his designated heir, Viktor Yanukovych, the Prime Minister, and Viktor
Yushchenko, the main opposition candidate. Behind the mud-slinging and
dirty tricks that have plagued campaigning, however, lies a proxy battle
between Russia and the West that is reminiscent of the Cold War.
Mr Yushchenko, a Western-leaning reformist, promises to end the corruption
of the Kuchma era and to pursue free market reforms and integration with the
EU and Nato. Mr Yanukovych has pledged to maintain state controls over the
economy, seek closer ties with Russia and make Russian an official language.
President Putin has made no secret of his preference. He invited Mr
Yanukovych to Moscow this month for his birthday party and kissed him warmly
on the cheek.
On Tuesday, Mr Putin began a visit to Ukraine by endorsing the Prime
Minister on three television channels. Praising Ukraine's recent economic
record, he said: "This is not just quick growth. Yanukovych's Government has
achieved even more - it has managed to make this growth felt. This is good
progress, and an example to be followed."
Mr Putin's interests are clear. Ukraine's Black Sea port of Sevastopol is
home to Russia's southern fleet; the country is a buffer against
eastward-expanding Nato; its pipelines are used to export Russian oil and
gas.
Kremlin spin doctors have rallied support among Ukraine's large ethnic
Russian population by portraying Mr Yushchenko as a Ukrainian
ultra-nationalist and a puppet of the West. Russian pop stars and Duma
deputies have publicly backed the Prime Minister. Pro-Yanukovych billboards
have even sprung up around Moscow. The election commission will set up 41
polling stations around Russia to allow Ukrainian expatriates to vote -
beyond the scrutiny of election observers.
Russian officials deny interfering. They accuse the West of plotting with
the Opposition to stage an uprising like the "Rose Revolution" that unseated
Eduard Shevardnadze in Georgia last year. Western governments say that they
just want a fair vote. The US and the EU have raised concerns about media
bias and election fraud.
But analysts say that there is some truth in Russian and Ukrainian officials
' conspiracy theories. Mr Yushchenko, who is married to an American, is
backed by non-governmental organisations and student groups, most of which
are funded and trained by the West.
Freedom of Choice says that it is funded by the Organisation for Security
and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe and Western governments,
including the United States and Britain. Even if they do not explicitly back
Mr Yushchenko, their sympathies lie with him and their activities work in
his favour. Pora is said to have links to Otpor, the youth movement that
helped to oust President Milosevic in the former Yugoslavia.
"If Yushchenko does not win a clear victory, the possibility of repeating
the Belgrade and Tbilisi scenarios in Ukraine is high," Vyachislav Nikonov,
president of the Politika Fund, said. "Specialists in velvet revolutions
have come to Kiev." Mr Kaskiv said: "If the authorities falsify the results,
it will be illegitimate. If the authorities are illegitimate, the people
will have the right to take legitimate power. The same thing will happen as
happened in Georgia." -30- [The Action Ukraine Monitoring Service]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIGURES ON THE FRONTLINE
Population: 48.4 million
Ethnic make-up: Ukrainian 73 per cent, Russian 22 per cent
Languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Romanian, Polish, Hungarian
Main religions: Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Greek Catholic
East-west divide: west predominantly ethnic Ukrainian; many ethnic Russians
live in the east.
• Known as the region's breadbasket before gaining independence in 1991
• By 1999, GDP dropped to 40 per cent of its 1990 level. Conditions have
improved since 2000 due to economic reforms
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