"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 232
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, FRIDAY, November 26, 2004
-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. "RESPECT THE VOTE"
OP-ED: by Stephan De Spiegeleire
Senior Policy Analyst, RAND Europe
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT
Washington, D.C., Thursday, November 25, 2004
2. "THE POWER OF ORANGE"
By John Mullan, The Guardian
London, United Kingdom, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
3. UKRAINIAN RADA SPEAKER LYTVYN AND U.S. SENATOR
MCCAIN DISCUSS SITUATION IN UKRAINE
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 1256 gmt, 25 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Nov. 25, 2004
4. "UKRAINE: COUNTRY SHAPED BY A BLOODY CENTURY
OF BRUTAL SUFFERING"
By Daniel Johnson, Irish Independent
Dublin, Ireland, Thursday, Nov 25, 2004
5. "UKRAINE CRISIS: BOLD BUT BLOODLESS, A NATION DEFIES
HISTORY. MAKING OF A STATE UKRAINE'S STRUGGLE
FOR IDENTITY SINCE SPLIT WITH SOVIET UNION"
By James Meek, The Guardian
London, United Kingdom, Thursday. Nov 25, 2004
6. POLAND'S WALESA WISHES SUCCESS TO OPPOSITION
PROTESTERS IN UKRAINE'S CAPITAL
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 1105 gmt, 25 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
7. POLISH MPS URGE UKRAINE'S PARLIAMENT TO FOLLOW
"TRUTH, FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY"
PAP news agency, Warsaw, Poland, 1019 gmt, Thu, 25 Nov 04
8. DRIVEN BY BAD MEMORIES, POLAND GETS INVOLVED IN
NEIGHBOR UKRAINE STANDOFF
By Vanessa Gera, AP Worldstream, Warsaw, Poland, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
9. AUSTRIA MAKES CONCERNS OVER UKRAINE ELECTION
CLEAR TO UKRAINIAN ENVOY
Source: Austrian Foreign Ministry web site, Vienna, in German 24 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service,UK, in English, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
10. FORMER CZECH PRESIDENT VACLAV HAVEL SENT SECOND
MESSAGE TO UKRAINE'S OPPOSITION CALLING FOR
PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATIONS, URGED JOURNALISTS TO
REPORT FAIRLY AND TRUTHFULLY
AP Worldstream, Prague, Czech Republic, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
11. THREE CENTRAL ASIAN PRESIDENTS CONGRATULATE
UKRAINIAN PM YANUKOVYCH ON HIS ELECTION
Interfax-Ukraine, Kiev, in Russian 1645 gmt 25 Nov 04;
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1808 gmt 25 Nov 04;
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1808 gmt 25 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
12. CHINA RESPECTS UKRAINIAN PEOPLE'S 'CHOICE' VIKTOR
YANUKOVICH IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
AFX Europe (Focus), Beijing, China, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
13. MOLDOVAN OPPOSITION PARTIES CALLS ON UKRAINIAN
AUTHORITIES TO ACCEPT YUSHCHENKO VICTORY
AP Worldstream, Moldova, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
14. KAZAKHSTAN OPPOSITION MEMBERS LEAVE FOR
UKRAINE TO SUPPORT COUNTERPARTS
Channel 31 TV, Almaty, in Russian, 1500 gmt, 25 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
15. LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT ADAMKUS READY TO HELP
SETTLE SITUATION IN UKRAINE
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, November 25, 2004 (17:40)
16. SENIOR RUSSIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT SAYS U.S.
STAND ON UKRAINE "DESTRUCTIVE"
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1103 gmt 25 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Tue, Nov 25, 2004
17. PUTIN CONGRATULATES UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER
YANUKOVYCH WINNING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
AP Worldstream, Moscow, Russia, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
18. EU ANGER AT PUTIN'S ROLE IN UKRAINIAN ELECTION:
DIPLOMACY TURMOIL HIGHLIGHTS SIMMERING
TENSIONS WITH RUSSIA
Ewen Macaskill, Nick Paton Walsh in Kiev
The Guardian, London, United Kingdom, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 232: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
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1. "RESPECT THE VOTE"
OP-ED: by Stephan De Spiegeleire
Senior Policy Analyst, RAND Europe
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT
Washington, D.C., Thursday, November 25, 2004
The situation in Ukraine is rapidly spiraling out of control. Both sides are
increasingly throwing caution to the wind and are resorting to measures that
are bringing the country to the brink of war. They would be well advised to
focus all their attention on the main issue at hand - who actually won the
popular vote. Ukraine's current electoral legislation provides a number of
relatively straightforward ways to ascertain whether fraud took place and to
which extent. If both sides are honest in claiming that they support
democracy, they should agree to use those built-in safeguards of the
electoral process to reveal the true will of the Ukrainian people. Only
doing this - along the lines suggested in this article - may provide Ukraine
with a chance to avoid long-term and potentially irreversible divisions that
are likely to undermine the country's viability and integrity.
Events in Ukraine are rapidly deteriorating. The Ukrainian Central Election
Commission, firmly under control of the candidate of the authorities, Mr
Yanukovich, has prematurely announced the election results of the second
round of the Presidential elections without looking into many credible
allegations of fundamental electoral fraud and without publishing all the
relevant data. But also the opposition has shown disrespect for the
democratic process by unilaterally letting its candidate, Mr Yushchenko,
take a presidential oath in Parliament and by then calling for new
elections.
Whereas the situation may be dire, it is not beyond despair. The current
election framework actually provides for a number of ways in which fraud
can be relatively easily identified. As an official election observer for
the OSCE in Donetsk in 1994 and now again in the first round of the
current elections, I can personally testify to the significant progress that
has
been made in many technical aspects of Ukraine's electoral process. Vote
rigging was possible both then and now (and not only in Ukraine), but many
checks and balances have been built into the voting process that make any
attempt to do so virtually impossible to hide. Some of those checks and
balances were already at work in these elections, such as the plural
composition of electoral commissions at all levels and the presence of
observers from various candidates - including opposition ones - in all
polling stations. But some others have not been used to the extent possible,
which is all the more surprising since it is the only way to ascertain the
real outcome of the vote.
All ballots of all polling stations are still available and have been
sealed - although most observers agree that the integrity of the sealing
process has been seriously compromised. A full recount of the vote in the
more than 33'000 polling stations certainly remains one of the options that
might calm down the boiling tensions about election fraud. But while
possible and certainly far more logical than fully new elections as
suggested by the opposition, such a full recount would require an enormous
effort. Fortunately, there are a number of other steps can be taken in
relatively short order that would address most of the current election
disputes.
In very short order, two main steps can and should be taken. The final
vote tally should be retabulated on the basis of the protocols of all
primary polling stations by a new commission enjoying the confidence of both
candidates. At least one official copy of these protocols should have been
made public in the polling station itself, and its validity can be checked
against the many additional copies which were made for all members of
the commission and official observers. Secondly, the so-called
'logical-mathematical tests' of all these protocols should be double-checked
for any inconsistencies (such as, for instance, discrepancies between the
number of ballots received in each polling station on the one hand, and
number of used AND unused ballots on the other).
These two simple measures would already go a long way in alleviating various
concerns about manipulation by the Central Election Commission on the day
of the vote. But they would not address the two major alleged forms of
electoral fraud in the polling stations themselves: ballot stuffing
(stuffing unauthorized ballots in ballot boxes on election day) and the
abuse of absentee ballots to allow single voters to vote multiple times (and
many observers did indeed observe buses of voters being transported on
election day). Given the seriousness of these allegations, a number of
additional steps should be taken. First of all, it should be checked whether
the number of control coupons of the ballots (which had to be signed by
voters on Election Day prior to being separated from the actual ballot) in
every polling station corresponds to the number of ballots found in the
ballot boxes. If there is a discrepancy between these two numbers, it is
immediately apparent that ballot stuffing has occurred and to which extent.
To control the absentee ballots, the names of all voters that were added to
the voter lists on Election Day should be entered into a central database
and cross-checked for double entries. Whereas these two measures are
more cumbersome than the first two, they would only take a few days to
implement.
It is impossible to prevent attempts at election fraud - a fact that is
borne out in many elections all around the world. What can be done,
however, is to make sure than any such attempts will leave traces that can
be detected. The Ukrainian election legislation provides a number of such
guarantees. The fact that the authorities went to such extraordinary lengths
to manipulate the pre-election campaign (most dramatically through the abuse
of state resources and the media in favor of Mr Yanukovich) may actually
testify to this point. The failure to make good use of these built-in
safeguards reflects the current manifest disregard by both sides for the
will of the millions of Ukrainians who voted in these elections. Ukraine can
rightly be proud of the fact that is it the only country in the post-Soviet
space where there still is a real opposition, where there is a vibrant civil
society, and where (up to this date) any forms of ethnic or other violence
have been avoided because of the moderate policies of its political elites.
Establishing the truth about these elections is a necessary (even if
insufficient) condition to hold on to these achievements. -30-
[The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Stephan De Spiegeleire, Leiden, The Netherlands, can be
contacted at stephan@rand.org.
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.232: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
========================================================
2. "THE POWER OF ORANGE"
By John Mullan, The Guardian
London, United Kingdom, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
They are calling it Ukraine's "orange revolution". Challenging the official
result of Sunday's presidential election, which gave victory to prime
minister Viktor Yanukovich, supporters of the opposition leader Viktor
Yushchenko have taken to the streets of Kiev. On our television sets they
have been highly visible through the November murk, for almost every one
of the tens of thousands of protesters has been festooned in orange. They
wear orange scarves (Yushchenko never appears without one), orange
hats, orange shawls. They wave orange flags and banners. Orange is the
colour of their cause.
Why orange? Yushchenko-ites chose the colour to be different: different
from the old red of the Soviet Union and the old blue and white that were
the Ukrainian national colours (the establishment party of Yanukovich, in
contrast, took stolid blue as their colour). Orange is the colour to break
with the past. "The future's bright. The future's orange." The semiologists
employed by the advertising companies could have told Yushchenko of
the commercial uses of this symbolic property. For the telecom company
Orange is all optimism and novelty (and the Orange prize is the new,
iconoclastic award in the literary world).
Commercially, orange signifies freshness. Orange is the livery of ailing
Sainsbury's, which confirms its faith in the colour's power by decorating
the frontages of its Local stores with huge glowing pictures of oranges.
Sun, health, vitamin C. The company that shook up the air-travel market
with its cheap and cheerful approach, easyJet, naturally bedecked itself in
orange. Its staff are clad in orange. Happy, easygoing, so unlike their
stodgy competitors.
Of course, it is the colour of our own dear Liberal Democrats. Orange is
alternative, leftfield; it signifies a rejection of the predictable palette.
It has the great advantage that it cannot be worn by mistake (red, blue and
the rest are too much like the ordinary colours of life). Think of the
spectacle of all those Holland fans in the World Cup, the stadium glowing
with amiable orange.
Orange is the Dutch colour because of William of Orange, their 17th-century
nationalist leader. He has bequeathed the exception to the rule of orange's
use. For the Orangemen of Ulster have taken their colour from him, a
Protestant hero. Perhaps that is another reason (along with the bowler hats)
why these diehard traditionalists seem ridiculous to outsiders. Everyone
knows that orange is the colour of change. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.232: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
========================================================
3. UKRAINIAN RADA SPEAKER LYTVYN AND U.S. SENATOR
MCCAIN DISCUSS SITUATION IN UKRAINE
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 1256 gmt, 25 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Nov. 25, 2004
KIEV - The chairman of the Supreme Council [parliament] of Ukraine,
Volodymyr Lytvyn, and US senator, John McCain, have had a telephone
conversation, during which they discussed the situation in Ukraine after
the presidential election runoff on 21 November.
The press service of the Supreme Council has told UNIAN that John
McCain said that the [US] assessment of the election is based on the fact
that the procedure of voting and vote count failed to meet international
democratic standards, which, the senator believes, has led to tension in
Ukrainian society.
Volodymyr Lytvyn stressed the importance of "going back to legitimate ways
to ensure a legitimate outcome of the situation, because today the issue of
retaining Ukraine's territorial integrity, saying nothing about political,
morale and psychological aspects, has become a burning one". -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.232: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
========================================================
4. UKRAINE: COUNTRY SHAPED BY A BLOODY CENTURY
OF BRUTAL SUFFERING
By Daniel Johnson, Irish Independent
Dublin, Ireland, Thursday, Nov 25, 2004
UKRAINE was once the cradle of Slav civilisation. Blessed with fertile
plains that made it the granary of central Europe, but cursed by its lack of
natural borders and more powerful neighbours, its fate has always been to
be fought over between East and West. The very name "Ukraine" means
"borderland".
In the 20th century, Ukraine became one vast charnel house. Starved by
Stalin and devastated by Hitler, it was ruled even in peacetime with a
callous incompetence of which the Chernobyl disaster was merely a symbol.
When Soviet rule collapsed, Ukraine with a population of 40 [over 50]
million inherited only obsolete industries and grasping apparatchiks. Ever
since, it has eked out a marginal existence: divided, despised and
despoiled.
It was not always thus.
>From the 8th to the 13th centuries, the medieval state of Kievan Rus
flourished to become the most important centre of trade and Christian
culture in eastern Europe. Moscow is not even mentioned in the chronicles
until 1147. Then, in 1240, the grand princes of Kiev were over-run by the
Mongols, leaving Poles and Lithuanians to dominate the region for the next
few centuries.
The rise of the Muscovite kingdom brought Kiev under Russian rule from the
mid-17th century onwards, but the western Ukraine was divided between the
Russian and Austrian empires after the partition of Poland in the late 18th
century.
Under the Russian Empire, any distinctive Ukrainian identity was
suppressed - the region was known as "Little Russia". The population was
split along ethnic, linguistic and cultural lines, arising largely from the
medieval schism between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The
Uniate Church in western Ukraine, affiliated to Rome, was proscribed under
Stalin but still has millions of adherents, while eastern Ukraine is over-
whelmingly Orthodox. Driven by Russian persecution, millions of Jews also
settled in the region during the 19th century, along with Tatars, Poles and
others.
During the First World War, Ukraine became a major battleground for the
Russian, German and Austrian armies. After the Bolshevik revolution, Lenin
sued for peace and the treaty of Brest-Litovsk in January 1918 gave the
Germans control of Ukraine, which they ruthlessly exploited. After the
collapse of the Central Powers in the autumn of 1918, Ukraine declared
independence, only to be invaded: first, in 1919, by the newly reconstituted
Polish state, then by both Red and White Russians.
By the time that Ukraine was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1922,
the Great War and the Russian civil war had ruined its economy. Starving
peasants were even driven to cannibalism. Worse was to come. The
collectivisation of agriculture in the late 1920s and early 1930s was
resisted everywhere in the USSR, but especially by the Ukrainians. Stalin
decided to single them out for extreme measures to crush capitalism and
nationalism forever.
The independent farmers, who produced most of the food, had their land
confiscated and their families were reduced to penury. From 1932 to 1933,
the Ukrainian famine killed perhaps five million people. Stalin
cold-bloodedly concealed the grim facts of genocide from the outside
world, depriving the victims of external aid.
The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in August 1939 began Ukraine's descent to
a new circle of Hell. First Poland was partitioned again, returning millions
of Ukrainians to Stalin's tender mercies. So it was not surprising that when
in June 1941 Hitler turned on Stalin by launching Operation Barbarossa,
the biggest invasion in history, many Ukrainians welcomed the Germans as
liberators. Some even fought alongside them. But their overtures were not
reciprocated; Nazis barely distinguished between Slavs, all of whom were
destined to be slaves, or Untermenschen.
At first the Wehrmacht drove all before it. The entire Ukraine, apart from
the Crimea, was conquered in the first three months, and Kiev - where the
Germans encircled an entire Soviet army group - was the greatest battle of
the war up to that point. Having diverted their panzer divisions to Ukraine
for precious weeks, however, the Germans became bogged down in the
snow before Moscow. And though they completed the conquest of Ukraine
in 1942, they were decisively defeated at Stalingrad, and began the long
retreat to Berlin.
Not only were the losses on the battlefield unprecedented: millions of
prisoners taken by the Germans were starved to death and millions more
civilians were killed. And it was in Ukraine that the Holocaust really
began. At Babi Yar, a ravine near Kiev, more than 100,000 Jews and
others were shot; hundreds of thousands more were shot under the cloak
of war. After the Second World War, Stalin took a terrible revenge on
those who had collaborated with, or fought, for the Germans.
Ukrainians could not be trusted with the most important Soviet coal and
steel reserves, so ethnic Russians were settled in the mining areas. The
environment was sacrificed ruthlessly by the Communist regime, and when
the reactor at Chernobyl in northern Ukraine caused the world's worst
nuclear accident in 1986, 135,000 people had to move out permanently.
Up to 40,000 are expected to die of cancer as a result.
The fall of the Berlin Wall, the liberation of Eastern Europe, and the
collapse of the Soviet Union all took Ukraine slightly unawares. This
half-traumatised nation declared independence in August 1991, confirmed
it by referendum in December, but promptly allowed an unreconstructed
party boss, Leonid Kravchuk, to become president. While Vladimir Putin
has sought to draw Ukraine back into Russian orbit by supporting Viktor
Yanukovich for the presidency, his opponent Viktor Yushchenko hopes
to anchor Ukraine firmly in the Western camp. -30-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Irish Independent: http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/
=======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.232: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
========================================================
5. UKRAINE CRISIS: BOLD BUT BLOODLESS, A NATION DEFIES
HISTORY. MAKING OF A STATE UKRAINE'S STRUGGLE
FOR IDENTITY SINCE SPLIT WITH SOVIET UNION
By James Meek, The Guardian
London, United Kingdom, Thursday, Nov 25, 2004
Driving through western Ukraine on a hot spring day in the mid-1990s, I
passed an idyllic scene. Scores of Ukrainian army conscripts lay around a
radar antenna, sound asleep in the rich long grass and flowers, soaking up
the sun, expressions of pure serenity on their faces.
Not for these young men the horrors their Russian cousins were facing in the
meat-grinder of Grozny, or a posting to some miserable Arctic garrison
thousands of miles from home. Not for them the bloody civil wars of other
parts of the old communist space then raging, in Georgia, Moldova and
Yugoslavia. The young Ukrainian soldiers were poor. But at least they
weren't killing each other.
Now, when government and opposition, riot police and students, easterners
and westerners, face off on the streets of Kiev, it is worth remembering how
many times, and with how little fuss and blood, Ukraine has stepped back
from the brink before.
It is not a guide to the future; rather a reminder both of how damp the
tinder of civil strife is in the least-known of Europe's big countries, and
how, should it ever catch light, it might take generations to put out.
Ukraine's peaceful, democratically taken decision in 1991 to walk away from
the Soviet Union - taking more than a fifth of the USSR's population with
it - was so quick, quiet and unexpected that history, and Russia, have still
not come to terms with it. But it happened, and nobody died.
Crises loomed throughout the 90s. How could Russia put up with Ukraine's
insistence on dividing the old Soviet Black Sea fleet? Yet it did. How would
ethnically Russian Crimea tolerate its almost accidental incorporation into
independent Ukraine without a fight? Well, it did.
Would a newly independent country really surrender the nuclear weapons it
had inherited to the one country most opposed to its independence? Ukraine
gave its nukes to Russia with barely a murmur. Surely Ukraine's wily first
president, Leonid Kravchuk, wouldn't really give up power to the man who
beat him at the polls, Leonid Kuchma? But he did.
Energy crises, economic crises, religious crises, linguistic crises - they
have come, and never really gone. Yet the feared bloodshed has not
happened.
The lack of dramatic, headline-friendly events in the emergence of this new
country of 50 million has been such that it sometimes seems Ukraine only
has a history in the sense of not being as exciting (violent, dangerous,
humiliated) as Russia. Yet much has changed in 13 years.
Few now question the fundamental idea of Ukraine as an independent
country, an idea which for years seemed doubtful. Millions of Ukrainians
now come and go from their country to work and study abroad: the
enlarged European Union is right next door. The economy has reached a
kind of stability, the country's vast potential to feed Europe is beginning
to be harnessed, and beautiful Kiev, sadly, has reached the ugly
skyscraper stage of a building boom.
At the same time, until now, democracy has been creeping backwards.
Control of the biggest industries, of the media, of state revenue and of
the security services has fallen into the hands of a corrupt and sometimes
murderous elite of cynical, self-loving opportunists who feed off the
enterprise and hard work of others as they float between the worlds of
business, politics and bureaucracy.
Prominent among this new elite is a member of the old Soviet elite, the
outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma, head of state for 10 years.
In his book, "Beheaded: The Killing of a Journalist", Jaroslaw Koshiw
details the scandal around the kidnapping and murder of Georgi
Gongadze, who criticised Kuchma on the internet. From the transcripts
of conversations secretly recorded by one of Mr Kuchma's bodyguards,
many of them independently certified as genuine, it can be seen not only
that Mr Kuchma ordered the journalist's kidnap but that he is, in private,
unusually foul-mouthed, paranoid and anti-semitic.
DISGUST
The same kind of visceral disgust at the perceived corruption of their
leadership as overthrew Eduard Shevardnadze in Georgia seems to be
at work in the extraordinary stoicism of the Kiev crowds, standing up
for their rights in the snow.
There may be something else at work, too; a disgust with the feeble,
undignified way in which Ukraine, despite its independence, continues to
mimic Russia. It happens on all sorts of levels. Moscow rebuilt a landmark
church destroyed by Stalin: Kiev immediately rebuilt a landmark church
destroyed by Stalin. Boris Yeltsin handed power to a trusted successor,
Vladimir Putin, to protect himself and his friends; Mr Kuchma wanted to
hand power to his trusted successor, Viktor Yanukovich, for similar reasons.
There is some truth in the idea that the standoff between the two Viktors
represents the old split in the country - ethnic, religious, historical,
linguistic - between the Russified east and south of the country and the
more Europe-looking west.
Beneath the surface, the divisions are more complex. Traditional Ukrainian
nationalism, centred in the western provinces, is conservative, an archaic
nationalism that harks back to the 19th century and is much more
anti-Russian than it is pro-western. One of the striking things about the
new wave of anti-government protests is that they seem to have brought on
to the streets disgruntled middle-class voters and students who are more
likely to contrast their lives with their counterparts in Barcelona or
Warsaw than with those in Moscow.
Ultimately, Ukraine is a project still under construction. What is happening
on the streets of Kiev now may be the last time Europeans witness a country
of such size defining exactly what it is and, not least, understanding the
unique character of its own post-Soviet inheritance, with so many large,
proud cities vying to be first among equals: the great seaport of Odessa,
the most cosmopolitan of Soviet cities, the baroque nationalist capital of
Lviv, haunted by the absence of its slaughtered Jewish population, the
formerly closed missile-making city of Dnepropetrovsk, maker of Kuchma
and of Leonid Brezhnev, the mafia-marred glory of Yalta, and bleak, low-
rise Donetsk, where Ukraine's exploited coal miners, once a more privileged
class than doctors or lawyers, cultivate their grudges.
All now send their pride, their grievances, and, increasingly, their best
and brightest, to Kiev, rather than Moscow: they're still getting used to
it. In the rivalry of the cities there's plenty of mutual incomprehension,
and some dislike. The short history of Ukraine so far gives hope, but no
guarantee, of a muddling through without violence or a shift to
authoritarianism. And that, given the history of the former Soviet Union,
would be historic. -30- [The Action Ukraine Monitoring Service]
======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.232: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
Your comments about the Report are always welcome
======================================================
6. POLAND'S WALESA WISHES SUCCESS TO OPPOSITION
PROTESTERS IN UKRAINE'S CAPITAL
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 1105 gmt, 25 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
KIEV - The Polish president's special envoy to Ukraine, Lech Walesa,
has told a rally of opposition supporters in Kiev that he would try to
mediate in their conflict with the government. He told the protesters he
had fought for the same ideals all his life and wished them success.
Hundreds of thousands are rallying in Kiev's central square, protesting
against what they see as rigging of the 21 November presidential election
runoff in favour of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
The following is the text of Walesa's speech, relayed live by Ukrainian
television TV 5 Kanal on 25 November:
[Walesa, in Polish, processed from consecutive Ukrainian translation]
Dear people! I have fought for the same ideals all my life. The situation
was difficult, maybe even more difficult than the one here. But I admire
your emotion and your enthusiasm. I am deeply convinced that this will
lead to your victory.
The 21st century has become normal. Freedom, democracy and economic
freedom is written [in the law] everywhere. I have come here to see
whether it will really be implemented here. I will have talks with all sides
involved in the situation. I hope they will want to talk to me. I will find
to try and find ways of solving this situation. At the end of the day, I
will have to go to Portugal for a while. However, I am leaving my
envoy here, a great freedom fighter, Zbigniew Bujak.
He will stay with you for better or worse. As soon as I settle my affairs
there, I'll come back to you if need be.
A have a big request. It's a bit wintry, and we are, of course, worried
about your health. Stay together, protect and save everyone. And of
course, let us think about tomorrow. Tomorrow, your emotions and
your energy will have to be channelled into different programmes.
Ukraine needs these emotion and this enthusiasm so that it can take
the place of which it is worthy.
All the best, I wish you victory. Glory to Ukraine!
[Cheers, applause, chants of "Yushchenko", "Poland", "Walesa",
"Solidarity".]
You can rely upon us, both on Poland and Walesa. However, there are
things which only you can do. We will not be able to do them for you,
remember this. Thank you! [Chants of "Yushchenko".]
[Walesa told a news conference in Kiev he would meet Yanukovych as
prime minister, not as presidential candidate, and said the talks should be
"open", Ukrainian news agency UNIAN said at 1140 gmt on 25
November.] [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.232: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
Your comments about the Report are always welcome
======================================================
7. POLISH MPS URGE UKRAINE'S PARLIAMENT TO FOLLOW
"TRUTH, FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY"
PAP news agency, Warsaw, Poland, 1019 gmt, Thu, 25 Nov 04
WARSAW - The Sejm [lower house of parliament] on Thursday
unanimously passed an appeal to the Ukrainian Supreme Council to do
everything to make "the truth, freedom and democracy win" in Ukraine.
The appeal was passed as a response to the situation in Ukraine after
last Sunday's [21 November] presidential election which according to
a considerable number of Ukrainians and international monitors could
not be considered democratic according to international standards.
In the appeal the Sejm wrote that the Ukrainian Supreme Council had
often showed its commitment to democracy and opposed any moves to
limit it.
"Today, millions of Ukrainians and the entire free and democratic world
are looking at you with hope. You have been elected by Ukrainians to
protect their rights. History has been marked by such moments when
the destiny of a nation is at stake. And such moment has come," the
appeal said.
The appeal stressed that reports concerning the second round of the
presidential election in Ukraine coming from international monitors, the
OSCE, the Council of Europe and European Parliament were leading to
a justified suspicion that the election was marked by irregularities and
even frauds.
In the appeal the Sejm expressed the hope that the final result of the
presidential election would reflect the will of the Ukrainian nation.
"We are convinced that Ukrainian citizens want to live in an independent
and democratic state that is governed in an honest way. And such Ukraine
is needed by Europe and the entire world," the appeal stressed.
While presenting the appeal to the Sejm Marek Borowski of the Social
Democracy of Poland (SdPl) stressed that Poland had never been so
close to Ukraine as it was today.
"We are appealing to Prime Minister Marek Belka and Foreign Minister
Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz to launch a diplomatic offensive. Ukraine woke
up for the first time when it declared its independence. Now it is waking
up again and it is counting on its friends," Borowski said.
The SdPl leader stressed that Europe and the entire free world should firmly
support Ukrainians, Borowski said.
Sejm Speaker Jozef Oleksy said later that it was possible that a group of
Polish parliamentarians will go to Ukraine to present the appeal to the
chairman of the Supreme Council. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.232: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Your comments about the Report are always welcome
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8. DRIVEN BY BAD MEMORIES, POLAND GETS INVOLVED IN
NEIGHBOR UKRAINE STANDOFF
Vanessa Gera, AP Worldstream, Warsaw, Poland, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
WARSAW - Wedged between troubled Ukraine and the West, Poland
has plunged into the disputed Ukrainian presidential election in an attempt
to mediate _ a sign of anxiety over the prospect of instability and rising
Russian influence so close to home.
President Aleksander Kwasniewski said Thursday that he would head to
Kiev at the request of Ukraine's President, Leonid Kuchma, to help broker
talks between the government and the opposition led by Viktor Yushchenko,
who says he was robbed of victory by a Moscow-favored candidate in
Sunday's runoff vote.
"I have been asked by Kuchma as well as the opposition to come to
Ukraine for discussions and as a mediator. I am ready and willing to do
so," he said. "I am going as the Polish president, but I hope with the
backing of the European Union." Kwasniewski was to leave Friday
for Kiev, the Polish news agency PAP reported.
A new EU member, Poland's heart is clearly with Yushchenko, the
Western-leaning opposition leader who has declared himself the winner
over Viktor Yanukovich, openly supported by Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
With their memories of domination by Moscow during the Cold War,
Poles have an emotional stake in Ukraine's fate because they fear a
strengthened Russia closer to their borders, analysts say. They see their
own struggle to shake off Moscow-backed rule reflected in the struggle
waged by Yushchenko's camp.
Kwasniewski's announcement came as another famous Pole, former
president and Solidarity founder Lech Walesa, visited Kiev and urged
on a massive crowd of opposition supporters to fight for "freedom,
democracy and economic freedom."
Walesa urged Europe and the rest of the world to get involved. "Ukraine
should be helped, because it is a huge nation, very strongly dependent on
communism," Walesa said at a news conference at Yushchenko head-
quarters. "It is not able to shed this dependence on its own, without
economic proposals." "Now, due to this conflict, maybe we will all turn
our attention to Ukraine and begin to cooperate."
Both Kwasniewski, 50, and Walesa, 61, are deeply versed in the clash
between government and opposition _ a conflict they helped resolve in
Poland in the late 1980s. Both played key roles in so-called "round table"
talks that ended communist rule, Walesa as head of the anti-communist
Solidarity trade union movement and Kwasniewski as a young, reform-
minded minister in the communist government of the time.
Poland's parliament on Thursday passed a resolution calling on Ukraine to
"respect free elections." Many lawmakers in the chamber wore ties and
ribbons in orange, the color of Yushchenko's campaign. A day earlier,
thousands rallied in Warsaw and other Polish cities in support of
Yushchenko. About 500 Poles and Ukrainians demonstrated in the
capital's main square, demanding Yushchenko for president and a
Ukraine without Putin."
"A democratic and independent Ukraine is perceived in Poland as a
guarantee against imperial tendencies from Russia _ that there isn't another
Soviet Union," said Tadeusz Falkowski, a Ukraine expert with the Public
Affairs Institute, a Warsaw think tank. "That could also help to make
Russia more democratic."
Hopes for a democratic Ukraine are one reason Poland has pushed the
EU to keep the door open for Ukraine to join one day, although the bloc
has shown little inclination to do so, given Ukraine's backward economy
and reputation for corruption.
"It is hard to justify the fact that the EU is to open membership talks with
Turkey and does not want to draw any time perspectives for Ukraine's
membership," said Zygmunt Berdychowski, an expert with the independent
Institute of Eastern Studies in Warsaw. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.232: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
Suggested articles for publication in the Report are always welcome
=======================================================
9. AUSTRIA MAKES CONCERNS OVER UKRAINE ELECTION
CLEAR TO UKRAINIAN ENVOY
Austrian Foreign Ministry web site, Vienna, in German 24 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service,UK, in English, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
VIENNA - Text of press release by Austrian Foreign Ministry web site on
24 November entitled "Ukrainian charge d'affaires summoned to Austrian
foreign ministry" Vienna, 24 November: At the order of Foreign Minister
Ursula Plassnik and in harmony with the decisions adopted by the EU,
Ambassador Johannes Kyrle, secretary-general in the foreign ministry,
summoned Yuriy Polurez, Ukrainian charge d'affaires, to the Foreign
Ministry on 24 November.
In his conversation with Polurez, Kyrle expressed Austria's great concern
about the course of the presidential election in Ukraine. The OSCE as well
as the international election observer commission noticed that many
international standards had been violated. Particularly dubious are the
atypically high number of remote ballots in some constituencies and the fact
that 5 per cent of the voters were newly registered on election day, Kyrle
pointed out.
Under these circumstances, Austria, just like the EU presidency, has
justified doubts that the preliminary results, which the Central Election
Commission of Ukraine has announced, properly reflect the will of
Ukrainian voters.
Like all other EU states, Austria emphatically urges the Ukrainian
authorities to review the entire election process and the election results
together with the OSCE and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights (ODIHR), Kyrle stressed.
Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik is in constant contact with the director
of ODIHR, Austrian Ambassador Christian Strohal, who was in Kiev for
the entire election. The foreign minister reminded the Ukrainian Government
that in these days it will also depend, in particular, on its behaviour to
make sure that there will be no lasting, deep break in the Ukrainian
society.
"It is in the government's interest to seek dialogue with Viktor Yushchenko
and the other representatives of the democratic opposition and to maintain
it with peaceful means," Plassnik stressed.
Plassnik emphasized that, in principle, Ukraine has the potential to become
a strategic partner of the EU. "However, it is clear that the quality of our
continuing cooperation will depend very decisively on what is going to
happen in Ukraine over the next few days," the foreign minister concluded.
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 232: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
Letters to the editor are always welcome
=======================================================
10. FORMER CZECH PRESIDENT VACLAV HAVEL SENT SECOND
MESSAGE TO UKRAINE'S OPPOSITION CALLING FOR
PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATIONS, URGED JOURNALISTS TO
REPORT FAIRLY AND TRUTHFULLY
AP Worldstream, Prague, Czech Republic, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
PRAGUE - Former Czech President Vaclav Havel sent another message
to Ukraine's opposition, calling on the protesters to keep their
demonstrations peaceful.
"I wish ... that your protest remain peaceful," Havel said in a message sent
late Wednesday from Taiwan, where he was on an Asian trip, and placed
on his Web page Thursday. "I know from my own experience how
important it is not to let oneself be provoked to violence," Havel said.
Tens of thousands have been demonstrating in Kiev for the fourth day
Thursday against the results of the presidential elections in Ukraine.
The country's Central Election Commission said Kremlin-backed Prime
Minister Viktor Yanukovych won 49.46 percent of the vote and opposition
candidate Viktor Yushchenko 46.61 percent. Yushchenko, the Western-
leaning reformist leader, has claimed his victory had been stolen through
fraud and has asked for international support.
In his message, Havel also appealed to Ukrainian journalists to report
fairly about the developments in the country. "Don't let yourself be
intimidated and write the truth about what is happening in your country,"
Havel said.
It was the former president's second message to the Ukraine's opposition.
In his first message on Tuesday, Havel demanded the results of the
elections be overturned. Havel, 68, was a dissident playwright when he
led the 1989 Velvet Revolution that peacefully toppled communism in his
country.
He became president of then-Czechoslovakia in December 1989, and
served as Czech president from January 1993, after the country split
into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, until February last year. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 232: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
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11. THREE CENTRAL ASIAN PRESIDENTS CONGRATULATE
UKRAINIAN PM YANUKOVYCH ON HIS ELECTION
Interfax-Ukraine, Kiev, in Russian 1645 gmt 25 Nov 04;
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1808 gmt 25 Nov 04;
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1808 gmt 25 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
The presidents of the Central Asian states Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan have sent congratulations to Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor
Yanukovych following the official declaration of his election victory by
Ukraine's Central Electoral Commission, Ukrainian news agencies have
reported.
Interfax-Ukraine quoted a message from Kazakh President Nursultan
Nazarbayev as saying: "Your victory testifies to the Ukrainian people's
choice of national unity, a democratic path of development and economic
progress."
"On behalf of the Kyrgyz people and myself please accept my heartfelt
congratulations on your election to the high post of president of Ukraine,"
read a telegram from Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev quoted by
UNIAN news agency.
"I am firmly convinced that your actions in this high post would serve
further strengthening of Ukraine's independence and its international
reputation, prosperity and well-being of the Ukrainian people," said the
message from Uzbek President Islom Karimov carried by UNIAN. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 232: ARTICLE NUMBER TWELVE
Letters to the editor are always welcome
=========================================================
12. CHINA RESPECTS UKRAINIAN PEOPLE'S 'CHOICE' VIKTOR
YANUKOVICH IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
AFX Europe (Focus), Beijing, China, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
BEIJING (AFX) - China said it respects "the choice of the Ukrainian
people" after pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich was
announced the winner of the country's controversial presidential poll.
"The election is Ukraine's internal affair. We have noted that the election
committee has announced the election result and we respect the choice
of the Ukrainian people," said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman
Zhang Qiyue.
"We sincerely hope that Ukraine can maintain its stability, economic
development and well-being of its people," she told a regular briefing,
according to Agence France-Presse.
Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko claims the weekend election was
stolen by the state in favour of Yanukovich, who was yesterday officially
declared the winner by the central election commission.
Yushchenko, bolstered by Western leaders who say the vote was riddled
with fraud, refuses to recognize the result and has called a general strike.
Thousands of protesters camped overnight in Independence Square in
Ukraine's capital Kiev, demanding the result be overturned. vy/mp/dv/cas
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 232: ARTICLE NUMBER THIRTEEN
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13. MOLDOVAN OPPOSITION PARTIES CALLS ON UKRAINIAN
AUTHORITIES TO ACCEPT YUCHCHENKO VICTORY
AP Worldstream, Moldova, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
The two main opposition parties in Moldova called on Parliament to
adopt a statement urging Ukrainian authorities to avoid the use of force
against peaceful demonstrators and accept a transfer of power to
opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko.
The leader of the right-wing Popular Christian Democratic Party, Iurie
Rosca, proposed the declaration, telling lawmakers that "the massive
electoral fraud has caused a natural revolt of the democratic opposition
in Ukraine after authorities stole Yushchenko's victory."
Rosca said possible international sanctions against Ukraine would also
affect Moldova. "The neighboring country risks being isolated, and this
isolation can affect the national interests of Moldova."
Another opposition leader, Dumitru Braghis, who heads the centrist
"Moldova Nostra" alliance, said: "Moldova cannot be indifferent to what
is happening in the neighboring country because a similar situation can
take place in Moldova by the defrauding of elections." Moldovan will
hold parliamentary elections next year.
The ruling Communist Party said it opposed adopting the declaration.
Victor Stepaniuc, leader of the majority in the Moldovan parliament,
called the initiative "stupid."
He said that by passing such a declaration about the Ukrainian elections
the Moldovan Parliament "would interfere in the domestic business of the
Ukraine." The Communists control 70 of 101 seats in Parliament. They
voted against the declaration, defeating it. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 232: ARTICLE NUMBER FOURTEEN
Letters to the editor are always welcome
=========================================================
14. KAZAKHSTAN OPPOSITION MEMBERS LEAVE FOR
UKRAINE TO SUPPORT COUNTERPARTS
Channel 31 TV, Almaty, in Russian, 1500 gmt, 25 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
ALMATY - Members of the Kazakh opposition have left for Kiev,
the Kazakh Channel 31 TV reported on 25.
"Member of the Kazakh opposition left for Kiev today [25 November].
Members of the coordination council of democratic forces [of
Kazakhstan] are going to support the Ukrainian opposition," the report
said.
Asylbek Kozhakhmetov, a member of the coordination council of
democratic forces, says that he finds the events in Ukraine more
staggering than Georgia's rose revolution of a year ago.
He is going to Ukraine to support his counterparts and at same time will
learn from their experience of a political struggle there, the TV said.
"This did not happen even in Georgia. I have been to Georgia. And I'd
like to compare it [the Georgian events] with Ukraine," Kozhamketov
told the TV. Opposition members, Bulat Abilov and Oraz Zhandosov,
have joined Kozhakhmetov on his trip to Ukraine, the TV said.
Meanwhile, a group of Kazakh independent observers returned home
on 25 November, the TV said. "We have given our assessment of the
elections: the elections were not fair and democratic," the TV said
quoting Dos Koshim, a Kazakh independent observer. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 232: ARTICLE NUMBER FIFTEEN
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15. LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT ADAMKUS READY TO HELP
SETTLE SITUATION IN UKRAINE
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, November 25, 2004 (17:40)
KYIV - Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus is ready to help
Ukraine settle the situation that has formed after the run-off voting
of the presidential elections.
The presidential press service informed Ukrainian News of the
telephone conversation between Kuchma and Adamkus, during
which this statement was made.
According to the press service, Kuchma accepted his proposal. In
general, their conversation was focused on bilateral relations and the
post-election situation in Ukraine.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Javier Solana, the European
Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy,
has expressed his readiness to participate in a roundtable between the
parties involved in the political conflict in Ukraine. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 232: ARTICLE NUMBER SIXTEEN
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16. SENIOR RUSSIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT SAYS U.S.
STAND ON UKRAINE "DESTRUCTIVE"
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1103 gmt 25 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Tue, Nov 25, 2004
MOSCOW - The present situation in Ukraine "is simply being used by
the West to force through its preferred candidate, namely Viktor
Yushchenko", chairman of the State Duma committee for international
affairs Konstantin Kosachev told ITAR-TASS today.
"We can see that the assessment of the election depends on who won
rather than on how it was held," he noted. "For some reason the West
now categorically denies the legitimacy of the Central Electoral
Commission and in no way suggests the use of other legal levers to settle
the situation,"
Kosachev noted. At the same time he pointed out that "absolutely
unlawful and unconstitutional actions by Viktor Yushchenko and the
leadership of several regions of Ukraine, which simply refuse to obey
the central authorities", are not attracting any comments.
He described as destructive the stand taken by the US secretary of state,
who had refused to recognize the results of the election in Ukraine as
legitimate. "This approach can only plunge Ukraine into a deepest crisis
from which it would be impossible to emerge. It is an extremely dangerous
and counterproductive statement," he said. Kosachev said he hoped the
USA would "change its stance".
"The position of the West in general is astonishing because Ukraine is,
according to all recent international assessments, a normal civilized
democratic state with the rule of law. Until the current conflict, no-
one in the world cast any doubt on that," Kosachev noted.
"The consolidated position of the international community - and here a
coincidence of views of Russia, the USA and the EU is required - should
be that the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine is only possible through
procedures prescribed by the law," Kosachev said. "Any other actions
will tear the country asunder, at least into two halves," Kosachev warned.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTE: The statement by Konstantin Kosachev that, "Ukraine is,
according to all recent international assessments, a normal civilized
democratic state with the rule of law," is utter nonsense. [Editor]
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 232: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVENTEEN
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17. PUTIN CONGRATULATES UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER
YANUKOVYCH WINNING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
AP Worldstream, Moscow, Russia, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin on Thursday congratulated
Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych a day after election officials
named him the winner of a presidential election that Western governments
said was marred by fraud.
Putin had already congratulated Yanukovych even before the release
Wednesday of full official results declaring him the victor over the
Western-leaning opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.
In another telegram of congratulations sent Thursday, the Russian president
said that Yanukovych's election would help "bring the Russian-Ukrainian
strategic partnership to a new level."
"Citizens of our nations, linked by common historic and cultural links, are
becoming even closer to each other," Putin said in the telegram, released
by the Kremlin.
Ukraine's presidential election runoff has been denounced by the Western
observers as tainted with heavy-handed official interference and fraud. The
United States and the European Union have said they couldn't accept the
results and warned of "consequences" for their relations with Ukraine.
But Putin, who had made two visits to Ukraine in the run-up to the elections
to back Yanukovych, has bristled at the Western observers' criticism of the
vote, calling it biased.
Moscow considers Ukraine part of its sphere of influence and a buffer
between Russia and NATO's eastern flank. Putin has remained adamant in
his support for Yanukovych even though it threatened to worsen Moscow's
relations with the West. "The continuation of our active dialogue will
undoubtedly help expand the bilateral cooperation for the sake of well-being
of two brotherly people," Putin told Yanukovych in Thursday's telegram.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTE: President Putin continues to show his true colors and
stripes. In this case Putin immediately recognizes a person who won
an election whose outcome was distorted because of major fraud. Putin
knows this as much as anyone because of his personal involvement. This
says much about a person and it is not good. Putin is not a man to be
trusted or respected. We hope more U.S. top officials will understand
this soon. [Editor]
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 232: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHTEEN
Letters to the editor are always welcome
=========================================================
18. EU ANGER AT PUTIN'S ROLE IN UKRAINIAN ELECTION:
DIPLOMACY TURMOIL HIGHLIGHTS SIMMERING
TENSIONS WITH RUSSIA
Ewen Macaskill, Nick Paton Walsh in Kiev
The Guardian, London, United Kingdom, Thu, Nov 25, 2004
KIEV - The European Union piled pressure yesterday on the Russian
president, Vladimir Putin, for interfering in the discredited Ukrainian
poll.
The Netherlands, which holds the EU presidency, signalled its concern by
announcing that it is to send an EU envoy to speak to the Kremlin-backed
candidate, Viktor Yanukovich, who was yesterday declared the winner.
Speaking before the result was announced, Javier Solana, the EU foreign
policy spokesman, said: "We will not accept elections that are fraudulent."
The election has brought to the fore tensions between the EU and Russia.
European leaders have become disenchanted over the past year with Mr
Putin, whom they see as trying to maintain control over what he regards
as Russia's spheres of influence, such as Ukraine.
Mr Putin will face further EU pressure today at an EU-Russia summit in The
Hague, an annual event fixed long before the election. The row threatens to
disrupt negotiations on trade and security. The EU president, Jose Manuel
Barroso, said he would register EU annoyance over Russia's role in Ukraine
with Mr Putin at the summit. "It is our duty to say we are not satisfied
with the way the election took place in Ukraine . . . in order to avoid
deterioration of the situation and violence occurring," he said.
Backing up the EU yesterday was Nato, which called in its envoy in Kiev
to register disapproval at the conduct of the election, and the Organisation
for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The Nato secretary general, Jaap
de Hoop Scheffer, said the election had to be reviewed.
Although the EU governments demonstrated a rare united front in expressing
concern over the election, there was no unanimity on whether the election
should be rerun, or any other course of action. The Dutch foreign minister,
Bernard Bot, said he would send a former diplomat, Niek Biegman, to Kiev
to see Mr Yanukovich, and the outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma.
On Tuesday the Russian foreign ministry, responding to initial comments
from Mr Bot about the conduct of the election, accused the EU of behaving
recklessly by encouraging the Ukrainian opposition.
Mr Putin sounded more emollient in talks with the German chancellor,
Gerhard Schroder, yesterday. A spokesman for Mr Schroder, Thomas
Steg, said the two leaders had "agreed that the conflict must be solved
within the legal framework and everything must be done to avoid violence".
During the campaign, Moscow sent advisers to aid the Yanukovich
campaign, and Mr Putin repeatedly praised and met Mr Yanukovich.
A pro-opposition analyst, Markian Bilynskyj, said the Kremlin "thought
an eyeball-to-eyeball show of strength would work, but they got it wrong,
particularly in Kiev. "The Yanukovich camp are now floundering at what
to do as they were totally subordinated to Russian advisers." -30-
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