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Action Ukraine Report

"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 234
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, SATURDAY, November 27, 2004

-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"

1. "FACING DOWN THE BEAR"
EDITORIAL COMMENT, Financial Times
London, UK, November 27 2004 02:00

2. UKRAINE MAKES CLEAR TO PUTIN IT'S LOOKING WESTWARD
Irish Independent, Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Nov 27, 2004

3. UKRAINE: ANTI-SOVIET ICONS OFFER MESSAGES OF SUPPORT
Vaclaw Havel of Czech Republic and Lech Walesa of Poland
Anne Penketh Diplomatic Editor
The Independent, London, United Kingdom, Sat, Nov 27, 2004

4. EU MUST PLAY ROLE IN INFLUENCING OUTCOME
OF CONTEST FOR UKRAINE
WorldView: by Paul Gillespie
Irish Times, Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Nov 27, 2004

5. THREE BALTIC PRESIDENTS SAY UKRAINE MUST BE
MODEL FOR DEMOCRACY
AP Worldstream, Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, Nov 26, 2004

6. JOINT BALTIC AMERICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE URGES
PRESIDENT BUSH TO DENOUNCE UKRAINE ELECTION FRAUD
Joint Baltic American National Committee (JBANC)
Washington, D.C., Thu, November 25, 2004

7. UKRAINE'S AMBASSADOR TO IRELAND SAYS "I STAND
WITH MY PEOPLE, I SUPPORT THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE."
My parents and friends are on the streets of the main square
By Paul Cullen, Irish Times, Dublin, Ireland, Sat, Nov 27, 2004

8. LETTER: EUROPE MUST STAND WITH UKRAINE AGAINST
THE NEW RUSSIAN DICTATOR
Letter to the Editor: from Stefan Terlezki
The Independent, London, United Kingdom, Sat, Nov 27, 2004

9. UKRAINE GETS OFF ITS KNEES
Letter to the Editor: from Roman Zyla
The Guardian, London, United Kingdom; Nov 27, 2004

10. LET EUROPEANS PAY TRIBUTE TO ALL THE UKRAINIANS
WILLING TO REVOLT IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY
Letter to the Editor: By Michael Maltzoff
Financial Times, London, UK, November 27 2004

11. RUSSIAN LIBERAL CALLS ON JOURNALISTS TO REPORT
THE SITUATION IN UKRAINE OBJECTIVELY
Ekho Moskvy news agency, Moscow, in Russian, 26 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service,UK, in English, Sat, Nov 27, 2004

12. PUTIN'S POLICY ON UKRAINE ENDS IN "VIRTUAL
REALITY" ISOLATION - RUSSIAN PUNDIT
By Sergey Buntman
Ekho Moskvy, Moscow, Russia, in Russian, November 25, 2004
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Fri, November 26, 2004

13. "SOLIDARITY HERO JOINS MEN TRYING TO ORGANIZE
A PEACEFUL REVOLUTION"
By Arnold Krushelnycky in Kiev
Belfast Telegraph, Belfast, Ireland, Sat, Nov 27, 2004

14. SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER WANTS 'INDEPENDENT
INVESTIGATION' OF UKRAINE ELECTION
Dagens Nyheter, web site, Stockholm, in Swedish 25 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Fri, Nov 26, 2004

15. UKRAINE POLL "MARRED BY GROSS VIOLATIONS":
SAYS BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT
BTA web site, Sofia, Bulgaria, Fri, 26 Nov 04

16. BORIS TARASYUK, ONE OF UKRAINE'S OPPOSITION LEADERS
CONFERRED IN BULGARIA WITH POLITICAL LEADERS
BTA web site, Sofia, Bulgaria, Fri, Nov. 26, 2004

17. GERMAN COMMENTARY: "DIVIDED UKRAINE"
Die Zeit, Hamburg, in German 26 Nov 04 p 2
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Fri, Nov 26, 2004

18. GERMANY "ACTIVELY INVOLVED" IN PHONE
DIPLOMACY FOR UKRAINE
ddp news agency, Berlin, in German 1146 gmt 26 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service< UK, in English, Fri, Nov 26, 2004

19. BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY JACK STRAW CALLS FOR
CALM IN UKRAINE ELECTION CRISIS
AP Worldstream, London, UK, Fri, Nov 26, 2004
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 234: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
========================================================
1. "FACING DOWN THE BEAR"

EDITORIAL COMMENT, Financial Times
London, UK, November 27 2004 02:00

The tug of war over Ukraine has suddenly brought the west, and the
European Union in particular, face to face with the unpleasant external
aspect of the authoritarianism that President Vladimir Putin has for some
time been displaying inside Russia.

The crisis over the legitimacy of Ukraine's presidential election may well
be settled without the country being torn apart. Indeed EU and Russian
envoys in Kiev appeared yesterday to be trying to pull together in support
of conciliation. The Ukrainian Supreme Court has provided a breathing space
by suspending the decision to declare Viktor Yanukovich, the pro-Russian
candidate, the winner in the face of widespread claims that Viktor
Yushchenko, his more western-leaning rival, was cheated out of victory by
massive ballot-stuffing.

But the whole election campaign, in which Russia intervened heavily on Mr
Yanukovich's behalf, exemplifies a far wider problem - the methods to which
Mr Putin and his siloviki security apparatchiks in the Kremlin are stooping
in order to maintain or regain influence in countries in Russia's "near
abroad".

The process has actually been in train for some time. Moscow has largely
abandoned the global diplomatic ambitions it inherited from the Soviet
Union, only to return to a Soviet-style pursuit of what it sees as its
national interests closer to home. Having once called the break-up of the
Soviet Union a tragedy, Mr Putin seems to want to piece together as much
of it as he can, not as a formal empire but as a sphere of influence. Having
had to accept the disappearance of the Baltic states into Nato and the EU,
and a sort of condominium in central Asia with the US in their common "war
on terror", he has focused on doing what he sees as political battle with
the west along Russia's southern and western rim, from Georgia up to
Belarus.

But it has taken the confrontation in Ukraine, once the most populous Soviet
republic after Russia, to awaken the west to the problem. Throughout the
region, Moscow has exploited the discontent of Russian-speaking minorities,
even giving some of them, in parts of Georgia and Moldova, Russian
citizenship that of course provides a further pretext for intervention.

Certainly, Russia has legitimate interests in its neighbours. It has
long-established economic ties with them and a natural desire not to be
totally surrounded by an expanding Nato and EU. The neighbours, too,
have every reason to want to maintain good relations with Russia. This was
recognised even by Mr Yushchenko, who stressed during the Ukrainian
election campaign his desire to maintain links with his fellow Slavs.

But this should not preclude Russia's neighbours having better relations
with the west. What Mr Putin and his siloviki fail to grasp is that there is
no reason for a zero-sum competition between east and west. Rather, Russia
stands to gain if its immediate neighbours grow prosperous through increased
links with the EU; greater prosperity in neighbouring markets should mean
higher demand for Russian goods.

The west should therefore respond forthrightly to Russian complaints of
western encroachment, and remind Moscow that it loses, not gains, if it
tries to surround its territory with barren buffer zones. As it happens, the
Ukrainian crisis has so far brought much-needed unity to EU policy towards
Russia. If the situation in Kiev deteriorates, such unity will be strained -
but all the more necessary. -30- [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring]
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.234: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
========================================================
2. UKRAINE MAKES IT CLEAR TO PUTIN IT'S LOOKING WESTWARD

Irish Independent, Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Nov 27, 2004

BY FAR the most significant political developments of the week that has
just ended are those that have happened in the Ukraine.

The most significant event so far has been a historic ruling by Ukraine's
Supreme Court. The court ruled that the results announced by the Central
Election Commission - still controlled from Moscow - could not be officially
published until it reviewed an appeal from the opposition, which claims that
the vote was rigged.

Obviously the decision could not have been handed down had not the court
considered that the rigging claim had merit. Against that background, it
looks now extremely likely that fresh elections will be ordered by the
court. And President Putin has already indicated that he will respect the
decision of the court, whatever it may be.

At first, it had not been expected that Putin would bow to the court so
easily. At first he had claimed that the elections had been free and fair
and that their outcome had to be respected and enforced.

Having announced that why then did he suddenly cave in, and leave the
decision to the court?

We may never learn definitely the answer to that question. For now,
however, I would offer a guess, but I believe an educated guess. I
think he was told - probably by Colin Powell - that the United States
insisted that genuinely free and fair elections must now be held. Putin
then realised that he could not afford - either metaphorically or literally
- a confrontation with the United States. He therefore caved in,
nominally to Ukraine's Supreme Court, but in reality to Uncle Sam.

However that may be, the main question now has to be, when new
elections have to be held, what are they likely to show?

There seems to be at present a rather widespread assumption that free
elections would show a Ukraine divided between East and West. The
Eastern Ukraine is inhabited by believers in the Russian Orthodox Church,
traditionally subservient to Moscow. The West is inhabited by Uniate
Catholics, in communion with Rome.

If we accept these factors as permanent and dominant, free elections
would show a divided electorate. Western Ukraine would rally to the
Western powers and to NATO. Eastern Ukraine would be faithful to
Moscow, and some implied revised version of the old Warsaw Pact.
And free elections would show these basic patterns as still holding. I
have no doubt that the relevant pattern still applies to Western Ukraine;
that is obviously amply patent. But I very much doubt whether the old
'pro-Moscow' tendency still holds as far as Eastern Ukraine is concerned.

Moscow is impoverished, relative to the West. To turn to the East is to
accept poverty. To turn to the West is to open up a prospect of relative
affluence. I therefore suspect that 'pro-Western' candidates will emerge
before the new elections and will win seats. So a united Ukraine will
already have turned to the West.

Of course democracy is not securely established anywhere in the former
Russian Empire and the territories formerly incorporated in the Warsaw
Pact. If the military didn't like the results of free elections, the
military could effectively cancel those results and install a military junta
in authority.

They could do that but I don't see any commanding reason why they
should. Before the elections occur all candidates are likely to have
asserted their respect for the military. And even before that, the military
have very strong incentives to support a political move towards the
West. Membership of NATO would give them enhanced status, far
better weaponry, assured travel for senior personnel and numerous
other openings and perquisites. So there is no possibility, at any stage,
of initially obstructing the political passage to the West. Quite the
contrary.

So the prospects look good for the Ukraine's incorporation in the
Western alliance. There is always some danger of an unexpected
spanner in the works. But I don't at present see anything that seems
likely to block progress in the desired direction.

On a smaller scale, but still important, is the opening up of progress
towards democracy in Zimbabwe. For many years now, Mugabe has been
tightening up and reinforcing his daft dictatorship. This week for the first
time he has been forced to make concessions. He had excluded a number
of British cricket correspondents from covering the upcoming one-day
internationals against England. Then at the last minute he relented and
admitted all the correspondents after 'further enquiries.'

This change of course, small at it may appear, has significant political
implications. Dictators, who rule by inspiring fear, begin to erode their
power-base once they have been seen to make even the smallest
concession.

Those who have had the courage to resist them are heartened by the
concessions. And those who have been frightened into making concessions
are emboldened into resistance. In short, I think Mugabe's ruinous
dictatorship is beginning to totter towards its end. In this there are signs
that democracy is beginning to emerge.

I wish I could say that similar progress is being made in Ireland but I
can't see it. President Bush this week appealed to both Sinn Fein and the
IRA to make concessions in the cause of peace. He also called DUP leader
Ian Paisley. His appeal can't do any harm but neither, as far as I can see,
can it do any good.

In this area, the real problem is the presence of armed minorities,
regularly threatening the use of force, and occasionally actually applying
armed force, in order to make the threats more credible.

The DUP control no armed forces, so those who appeal to them to make
concessions are actually asking them to make concessions to the lawless
'armies' which continue to threaten them.

Sinn Fein, in theory, controls no arms and so has no capacity to disarm.
All it can do, therefore, is to use its influence with its armed allies, the
IRA, to get them to disarm. Sinn Fein claims to be doing this, but can
make little progress, unless the British Government is prepared to make
the concessions that the IRA requires.

These concessions include the withdrawal of British forces from Northern
Ireland, and compensation for the previous presence of the forces in
question. The British, according to Sinn Fein, will be responsible for any
further violence, caused by their continued presence in Northern Ireland.

It seems rather obvious that no peace, acceptable to a majority in Northern
Ireland, can be achieved on that basis. The present 'peace talks', including
the DUP and Sinn Fein, can therefore only continue to turn in circles,
accompanied by a continual flow of ingenious double-talk from Sinn Fein.
No breakthrough is now in sight.

Can a breakthrough towards a real and lasting peace in Northern Ireland be
eventually achieved, and if so how? I shall be considering these questions
in further articles. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letters: independent.letters@unison.independent.ie
Website: http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.234: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
========================================================
3. UKRAINE: ANTI-SOVIET ICONS OFFER MESSAGES OF SUPPORT
Vaclaw Havel of Czech Republic and Lech Walesa of Poland

Anne Penketh Diplomatic Editor
The Independent, London, United Kingdom, Sat, Nov 27, 2004

LONDON - THE ICONS of the peaceful revolutions that threw off the Soviet
yoke two decades ago have reappeared in Ukraine to urge the former Soviet
republic to follow their lead.

Vaclav Havel, the former playwright who became president of the Czech
Republic after he spearheaded the 1989 Velvet Revolution in Prague, was the
first to issue a message of support to Viktor Yushchenko.

On Wednesday, as Ukrainians took to the streets to protest against the
alleged ballot-rigging that had denied the opposition leader the presidency,
he said in a message: "All respected domestic and international
organisations agree that your demands are justified. Therefore I wish you
strength, endurance, courage and fortunate decisions."

On Thursday, it was the turn of Lech Walesa, the leader of Poland's
independent trade union Solidarity, who made his way to Independence
Square in Kiev to receive a rapturous welcome from the waiting crowds.

Yesterday, the Presidents of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia issued a joint
statement saying that Ukraine was "seeking to build and strengthen the
country in line with a model of European democracy" and could "always
count on the solidarity of the Baltic states". -30-
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.234: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
========================================================
4. EU MUST PLAY ROLE IN INFLUENCING OUTCOME
OF CONTEST FOR UKRAINE

WorldView: by Paul Gillespie
Irish Times, Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Nov 27, 2004

WorldView: Ukraine is one of the world's pivotal states, in the language of
geopolitics. Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a Euro-Asian empire.
With it, that option is kept open for Vladimir Putin writes Paul Gillespie

However much the Ukrainian people resist being categorised in terms of east
or west, and seek to retain their autonomy, this crisis forces such choices
on them, by virtue of the involvement in it of Russia, the European Union
and the United States.

Since such geographical realities continue to determine Ukraine's politics
it is worth looking back at how such theorising arose and how it remains
influential.

The term geopolitics was coined in 1899 by a Swedish geographer and
political scientist, Rudolf Kjellan. It rapidly became popular, meeting a
felt need to match geographical realities to political power when Germany
was breaking into the system of imperial states. The German geopolitical
writer, Karl Haushofer, defined it in the 1920s as "the dependence of all
political events on the enduring conditions of the physical environment". He
worked closely with Hitler, elaborating the notion of lebensraum (living
space), involving German expansion eastwards towards Ukraine and Russia,
and relating "politics to the soil".

Such states and regions were identified as central to the imperial power
system by the British geographer Halford Mackinder in a famous essay
published in 1904: "The Geographical Pivot of History". He defined the pivot
area of world politics as "that vast area of Euro-Asia which is inaccessible
to ships, but in antiquity lay open to horse-riding nomads, and is today
about to be covered with a network of railways". Russia "occupies the
central strategical position held by Germany in Europe", he wrote. With
remarkable insight, he went on: "Nor is it likely that any possible social
revolution will alter her essential relations to the great geographical
limits of her existence".

Mackinder returned to these themes after the first World War in an effort to
influence the Versailles negotiations. From the British point of view it was
necessary above all to prevent an alliance between Germany and Russia - or
one conquering the other. In a celebrated passage he renamed Euro-Asia the
"World-Island", and the "pivot area" the "Heartland", and wrote: "Who rules
East Europe commands the Heartland; Who rules the Heartland commands
the World-Island; Who rules the World-Island commands the World".

That these are not only historical points is readily clear from current
events. There is an abiding suspicion of US intentions among the Russian
foreign policy elite, especially about the idea that Ukraine would join
NATO.

In both Moscow and Washington geopolitical thinking, which was revived
during the Cold War by military and political strategists, still influences
policy-making.

Two of the most influential geopolitical theorists of US hegemony, Zbigniew
Brzezinski and Samuel Huntingdon, put Ukraine at the centre of their work.
Huntingdon's book, The Clash of Civilisations says a "civilisational
faultline" runs through the country.

Brzezinski's Polish father was born in Lvov in 1918, before the region was
ceded to Ukraine after the second World War and its population transferred
to Wroclaw, formerly Breslau, in southern Poland to replace the Germans
expelled from there. Ukraine's future is a centrepiece of his book, The
Grand Chessboard, American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives,
published in 1997. He has been a regular celebrity visitor to Kiev ahead of
the elections this year and was the principal speaker at a conference on
Ukraine's future in Washington this autumn.

He says Ukraine "is a geopolitical pivot because its very existence as an
independent country helps to transform Russia". Without it Russia would
become a predominantly Asian imperial state. With it Poland would once
again be transformed "into the geopolitical pivot on the eastern frontier of
a united Europe".

Brzezinski salutes Ukraine's achievements since it achieved independence
in 1991 (except for a brief three years after the Bolshevik revolution it
was under Russian rule from 1654 when the Cossack leader Bohdan
Khmelnytsky sought help from there for his rising against Polish rule).
But he says it will be up to Ukrainians themselves to make the progress
required to join up with an enlarged EU (including Turkey) over the
next generation.

Preferably this would be in tandem with the US, so that Russia's
constructive engagement with both could be guaranteed, closing off its
imperial option. If this fails, Ukraine could repeat in the 21st century
Poland's fate in the 18th, to be partitioned between competing powers.

In Moscow geopolitics has also enjoyed a renewal in the last 10 years, as
its strategists came to terms with the end of the USSR. Clearly Putin is not
reconciled to such a foreclosure. One faction close to him has suggested
rewriting Mackinder's formula as follows: "Who controls the heartland
possesses an efficient means to command world politics, by maintaining the
geopolitical balance and the balance of power in the world. Stable peace is
unthinkable without it."

EU leaders have a huge responsibility and opportunity to modify and mediate
US-Russian competition by engaging constructively with Ukraine and Russia
through this crisis. This year they launched a European Neighbourhood Policy
to tackle relations with their "near abroad" following EU enlargement. It is
being implemented variously with Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Ukraine
and Moldova. It has a stronger political emphasis on democracy, good
governance and human rights, than on the economic and developmental goals
previously involved.

Ukraine refused to sign the action plan last July, saying it did not go far
enough, influenced by Putin's new para-imperial activism. Besides, the
implication they are not European is resented, when many of them want to
join the EU eventually.

This crisis should force EU leaders to think beyond such a structure towards
a selective sharing of sovereignty and new institutions stopping short of
full EU membership with Ukraine - and with Russia. Otherwise events will
outpace their capacity, and that of a young Ukrainian democracy, to chart
the way towards a stable and peaceful Euro-Asian heartland. -30-
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Paul Gillespie at pgillespie@irish-times.ie.
WEB: http://www.ireland.com
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.234: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
========================================================
5. THREE BALTIC PRESIDENTS SAY UKRAINE MUST BE
MODEL FOR DEMOCRACY

AP Worldstream, Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, Nov 26, 2004

VILNIUS - Presidents of the three Baltic states on Friday said Ukraine's
people have their support as the political crisis there escalated amid
allegations of electoral fraud.

The presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, meeting at their annual
mini-summit in Vilnius, said in a joint statement that Ukraine, a country of
48 million people, was "seeking to build and strengthen the country in line
with a model of European democracy" and could "always count on the
solidarity of the Baltic states."

The meeting between Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Estonian
President Arnold Ruutel and Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, was
cut short because of the situation in Ukraine.

Adamkus left the meeting and flew to Kiev to help mediate talks between
the government and the political opposition, led by Viktor Yushchenko.
"We want that consolidation of democracy to be achieved in a fair and just
way," Adamkus told reporters before he left.

The three heads of state toured a NATO facility near Siauliai in northern
Lithuania that houses the contingent of troops and pilots who patrol the
Baltics' airspace.

They also discussed improving roads and transportation through the three
states, as well as border security with neighboring Russia.

All three countries joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the
European Union earlier this year. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all regained
their independence amid the 1991 Soviet collapse and have maintained a
strong pro-West tack. -30- [Action Ukraine Monitoring Service]
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.234: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
Your comments about the Report are always welcome
========================================================
6. JOINT BALTIC AMERICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE URGES
PRESIDENT BUSH TO DENOUNCE UKRAINE ELECTION FRAUD

Joint Baltic American National Committee (JBANC)
Washington, D.C., Thu, November 25, 2004

WASHINGTON - The Joint Baltic American National Committee,
Inc. (JBANC) has written to President Bush urging the United States to
"continue to make clear that the fraud that accompanied the Ukrainian
presidential elections is not acceptable."

JBANC further states that this is a "key moment" in the post-Soviet
era and that the gains made in the past ten years in the region may be
in jeopardy.

Copies of letters to the President were also sent to the Secretary of
State, the National Security Council, and Members of Congress.
JBANC urges Baltic American groups and individuals to write similar
letters to the President and Members of Congress.

JBANC represents the Estonian American National Council, Inc., the
American Latvian Association, Inc. and the Lithuanian American
Council, Inc.

Text of JBANC letter: November 24, 2004
The President, The White House, Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

On behalf of the Joint Baltic American National Committee, Inc.
(JBANC), representing one million Baltic Americans, we urge you to
continue to make clear that the fraud that accompanied the Ukrainian
presidential elections is not acceptable. In addition, it should also be
evident that the Russian Federation should not be interfering in the
internal affairs of sovereign nations.

This is an especially critical moment in the post-Soviet era. Given its
size and population, the course that Ukraine chooses, whether to
embrace the West or East, will have a profound effect on the entire
region. The gains the region has made in the last ten years may be in
jeopardy if Ukraine chooses the wrong path. The United States must
continue to make its voice heard on this matter.

Sincerely, Karl Altau, Managing Director
JOINT BALTIC AMERICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE, INC.
400 Hurley Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850
E-Mail: jbanc@jbanc.org; Net: http://jbanc.org
-30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.234: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
Your comments about the Report are always welcome
========================================================
7. UKRAINE'S AMBASSADOR TO IRELAND SAYS "I STAND
WITH MY PEOPLE, I SUPPORT THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE."
My parents and friends are on the streets of the main square

By Paul Cullen, Irish Times, Dublin, Ireland, Sat, Nov 27, 2004

Ukraine's ambassador in Ireland has sided with the opposition in his
country, which claims there was massive fraud in last Sunday's election. "I
stand with my people. I support the Ukrainian people and I share their
concerns," Mr Yevhen Perelygin declared yesterday.

"I am a human being. I have my soul and my heart and they are in Kiev with
my parents and my friends, who are on the streets of the main square with
the majority of Ukrainian people."

Mr Perelygin described the crisis as a "watershed between the past and the
future". People were choosing a democratic and European path rather than
going back to the heritage of the Soviet Union. "I'm not for or against any
candidate in the election, but I will always be for a democratic solution."
Mr Perelygin described the election, which prime minister Mr Viktor
Yanukovich claims to have won, as "stolen". "The people were defrauded
by someone. Someone is trying to steal my choice."

He said his parents in Kiev were "very worried" at events there but
expressed confidence that a peaceful, negotiated settlement would be
found to the crisis.

There was no division in Ukraine over language or religion, he said,
although some people had a "nostalgia" for the Soviet era. "However, there
is no alternative now to following European norms and standards in public
life."

The Ukrainian embassy in Ballsbridge has been flooded with e-mails from
Irish people concerned at events in Kiev, according to the ambassador.
"When I came here eight months ago as Ukraine's first resident ambassador,
people knew very little about my country, except to say it used to be in the
USSR. Now Irish people will be much clearer and will know we are a
European, democratic nation."

Earlier this week, Ukrainians living in Ireland protested outside the
embassy. "They asked me to speak to them, and I did. They started with
accusation, but we finished in agreement. Afterwards, I was sent a big
bouquet of roses." Mr Perelygin says he doesn't fear being recalled to Kiev
over his stance. "I will do my job representing Ukraine and if someone
decides I should go back, I will. However, I'm sure the ministry of foreign
affairs will not give me such an instruction. Their instructions so far have
been very honest."

Earlier this week, the Government conveyed it views on the elections to Mr
Perelygin, who also attended a Dail debate on the issue on Thursday. About
3,500 work permits were issued to Ukrainians last year; with dependants and
other immigrant categories, the embassy believes the community here may be
as large as 9,000. Asked if he thought Ukraine could split in two as a
result of the turmoil, Mr Perelygin replied: "No, never. My country will be
as one after this, united and stronger than before." -30-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: enquiries@irish-times.com; news@irish-times.com
WEB: http://www.ireland.com
[The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.234: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Your comments about the Report are always welcome
=========================================================
8. LETTER: EUROPE MUST STAND WITH UKRAINE AGAINST
THE NEW RUSSIAN DICTATOR

Letter to the Editor: from Stefan Terlezki
The Independent, London, United Kingdom, Sat, Nov 27, 2004

Sir: I was born in western Ukraine when it was ruled by Poland. In 1939,
we were told that the Russians were our liberators but we were soon
subjected to the full horrors of Stalinist rule, including political
oppression, collectivisation and transportation to Siberia.

The Russians also held a rigged election with bribery and intimidation, in
order to secure a bogus mandate for our forcible incorporation into the
Soviet system. Now the former KGB officer Vladimir Putin has employed
the same methods as his NKVD predecessors, at least in those parts of
Ukraine where his stooges still operate.

Since 1948 I have lived in Wales and made full use of the political freedom
we enjoy in Britain. I sometimes think that we take our freedom so much for
granted that we forget how precious it is. When I visited the European
Parliament last year to lobby for my homeland's right to take its place as a
free European nation, I received a polite but cautious reception.

Now the countries of the European Union and the rest of the free world have
awoken at the 11th hour to the threat to democracy in Ukraine, the largest
country wholly in Europe and at the very centre of our continent.

The Ukrainian people have demonstrated for centuries that they will stand
up for their freedom and fight for it if necessary. I hope that this time
the price of liberty will not be paid in blood, though it may yet come to
that.

Like the rest of the Ukrainian community in Britain, I am wholeheartedly
behind Viktor Yushchenko, who is a staunch supporter of the EU, Nato
and above all a democratic Ukraine. I hope that all European nations will
now stand four-square behind him and not appease the Moscow dictator
Putin.

STEFAN TERLEZKI, Cardiff
-30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.234: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
Suggested articles for publication in the Report are always welcome
=========================================================
9. UKRAINE GETS OFF ITS KNEES

Letter to the Editor: from Roman Zyla
The Guardian, London, United Kingdom; Nov 27, 2004

As someone who has made a complete hash of an internal conflict, it
seems strange that Vladimir Putin is taken as a credible commentator.
Can his current veiled threats indicate that Ukraine could become the
target of a Chechen-styled foreign policy? It is odd that as the EU met
with Russia in Brussels this week, there is not more focus on the EU
position.

It is becoming clear that the majority of Ukrainians are supporting
Yushchenko, and there appears to be global consensus that the election
was rife with fraud.

So why is Putin being given all this attention? Why is the global community
not giving him a lesson in democracy building by telling him to stay out of
Ukraine's affairs and thus jeopardising Europe's interest of having a strong
democracy on its borders?

Roman Zyla, Kiev, Ukraine
-30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 234: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
Letters to the editor are always welcome
=========================================================
10. LET EUROPEANS PAY TRIBUTE TO ALL THE UKRAINIANS
WILLING TO REVOLT IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY

Letter to the Editor: By Michael Maltzoff
Financial Times, London, UK, November 27 2004

Sir, I do not believe that the situation in Ukraine has been sufficiently
well described in the west. The five main issues, in my view, are as
follows:

FIRST, this revolution is not about west Ukraine versus east Ukraine or
the European sphere of influence versus the Russian one. It is a conflict
between freedom and institutionalised criminality. For the past 10 years or
so, Ukraine has had a quasi-democracy and a quasi-free economy. It really
has been a case of the rule of law for the people but complete freedom (to
pillage Ukrainian industry) for the politicians and businessmen around
President Leonid Kuchma. These same people have controlled the law
courts and the police. I am a partner of a business group with very
significant assets in Ukraine that suffered greatly at the hands of these
very people.

SECOND, the will of the pro-Yushchenko people on the streets will not be
broken. I have seen impoverished elderly women giving up their warm clothes
for the men sleeping in tents in the snow on the main street. The supporters
on the streets (from all over Ukraine) are being fed and morally supported
by all of Kiev. Mr Yanukovich's supporters, brought to Kiev by bus and train
from Donetsk and other towns, are alone. The Ukrainians, as a nationality,
are unbelievably passive in the face of hardship. But the powers that be
miscalculated badly when they decided to steal the right of a fair election.

The THIRD main issue is the interplay of the very high potential for
violence on the streets with the apparent disintegration of the government's
power structures. In my view, the government does not have the support of
the military (which is completely apolitical) or even the police in Kiev.
What is worrying, however, is that a few thousand thugs and Yanukovich
supporters from east Ukraine have been dumped into the centre of Kiev.
They are drunk and violent. It will be a miracle if the next few days pass
by peacefully without loss of life. West Ukraine was the last bastion of
resistance against the Soviet Communists, and will not let the Ukraine
election be stolen without a fight.

FOURTH Ukraine desperately needs continued support from western
leaders. It is vital that the five or six individuals who are controlling
the Yanukovich camp, and who apparently orchestrated the election-rigging,
be in no doubt as to Europe's outrage at this attempt to kill democracy in
Europe's biggest country. I urge western leaders to make their support
vocal and to make it every day.

FINALLY, all Europeans must look with pride at the willingness of
Ukrainians to revolt in the name of democracy. The politico-economic
system here was rotten to the core, and had to be broken by the people.
The great uncertainty at this stage is how ugly this showdown will become.

Michael Maltzoff, Partner, Energy Standard Group, Kiev, Ukraine
-30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 234: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
Letters to the editor are always welcome
=======================================================
11. RUSSIAN LIBERAL CALLS ON JOURNALISTS TO REPORT
THE SITUATION IN UKRAINE OBJECTIVELY

Ekho Moskvy news agency, Moscow, in Russian, 26 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service,UK, in English, Sat, Nov 27, 2004

[No dateline, as received] Grigoriy Yavlinskiy, the leader of the Yabloko
party, has called on Russian journalists to report the situation in Ukraine
objectively. "The situation in Ukraine is very serious and dangerous. The
media's every word is very significant, so distortion and manipulation are
completely unacceptable," Yavlinskiy told Ekho Moskvy radio.

"If you compare the information that is being broadcast by Russian state
channels about events in Ukraine with what eye-witnesses and independent
sources are saying, you can conclude that there is very significant
distortion, propaganda of just one position, suppression of the point of
view of Russian semi-official media and a lack of objectiveness,"
Yavlinskiy said.

"People in Ukraine are interested in the Russian media, especially in the
east, but they can see how real events differ from what is shown on
television and this may put people off Russia and the Russian media for
a long time," Yavlinskiy said.

Speaking about the situation in Ukraine, Yavlinskiy stressed that it was
necessary to exert all acceptable political efforts to gain the real results
of the election. Yabloko observers say that [opposition leader Viktor]
Yushchenko won the second round of the presidential election and
"methods that are commonly used in Russia, such as ballot stuffing, were
used to change the final result".

"It is necessary to gain the real results. It mustn't become like the
situation in Russia where we have spent nearly a month in the Supreme
Court trying to stand up for the results of elections that were held a long
time ago," Yavlinskiy said. -30- [Action Ukraine Monitoring]
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 234: ARTICLE NUMBER TWELVE
Letters to the editor are always welcome
=========================================================
12. PUTIN'S POLICY ON UKRAINE ENDS IN "VIRTUAL REALITY"
ISOLATION - RUSSIAN PUNDIT

By Sergey Buntman
Ekho Moskvy, Moscow, Russia, in Russian, November 25, 2004
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Fri, November 26, 2004

Russian President Vladimir Putin's policy on Ukraine has left it sitting in
a virtual world, while other nations are called in to try and clear up his
mess, liberal Russian pundit, Sergey Buntman, has said. The following is
the text of Buntman's comments on Russian-Ukrainian relations published
by Russian news agency Ekho Moskvy on 25 November:

25 November, Putin has congratulated [Viktor] Yanukovych for the second
time and for the second time he has said that the Ukrainian people have
chosen stability and all that jazz. And for the second time, the Russian
president had to congratulate his Ukrainian favourite from foreign parts,
this time from the Netherlands, just like Peter the Great. For, like the
carpenter-tsar, Putin went to The Hague to knock up a Russian-European
house. But it was suggested to him that, instead, he do some smaller jobs -
repair the stools that he has broken in Ukraine.

So, it is very convenient for the head of the Russian state to adopt a
formal position and ignore all reality, apart from the statements of the
Ukrainian Central Electoral Commission. Furthermore, one may now say
with every justification that the West is interfering, and Russia is not. Of
course, the West is interfering. How can one not interfere when half the
country and, behind them, half the world is crying foul about the violations
and falsifications, when people have gone out onto the streets and it is not
clear what is keeping them in check?

The West is interfering now because it is necessary to find a way out of the
(real) situation. While Moscow thinks that it can sit back and express its
indignation, because the situation in Ukraine is perfect, the mission has
been accomplished. They got it into their heads that Russia cannot live
without a Yanukovych presidency, and now they have accomplished the
mission of dragging Yanukovych through the election.

It is just a shame that this is very far from reality. Russia is like a man
sitting in a police interrogation room getting up to God knows what,
while the world sits on the other side of a one-way mirror looking in
and marvelling.

President Putin wants people to respect and even fear him, to listen to
him carefully, let him join in their grown-up games and sit at a grown-up
political table. And they let him join and gave him a chair at the table.
No-one has received so many overtures from the West apart, perhaps,
from [former Soviet leader Mikhail] Gorbachev, in his time.

But to desire respect and serious partnership, and then to behave like a
too-clever-by-half teenager, is, at the very least, naive and short-sighted.
So, now we have the interim result of the Ukrainian operation: Russia is
sitting in its virtual reality world, but to repair the stools and glue
together the broken pots, they invite not Russia, they invite Poland, they
invite Lithuania - they invite Lyakhs [historical name for Poles].
And it's rare for the bull to be invited back into the china shop a second
time. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 234: ARTICLE NUMBER THIRTEEN
Letters to the editor are always welcome
=========================================================
13. "SOLIDARITY HERO JOINS MEN TRYING TO ORGANIZE
A PEACEFUL REVOLUTION"

By Arnold Krushelnycky in Kiev
Belfast Telegraph, Belfast, Ireland, Sat, Nov 27, 2004

Yuriy Kostenko's dark Toyota limousine slid along the sometimes steep,
snow-covered streets of the Ukrainian capital. His driver, Volodya, grumbled
in the back seat. Mr Kostenko (50) is in a rush these days and often jumps
into the driver's seat before Volodya can stop him. He is leader of the
People's Party and one of the closest political allies of the pro-democracy
opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, the man whose supporters believe
is now the rightful president of Ukraine.

Kostenko's days are manic. The opposition is preparing for power and
a possible revolution. After days of escalating public demonstrations
throughout Ukraine, the tide appears to be turning in their favour.

Ukraine's Supreme Court has blocked the inauguration of prime minister
Viktor Yanukovych, winner on Wednesday of what most people regard
as a rigged presidential poll. On Monday, the court will begin examining
allegations that results were falsified. In a bold move yesterday,
protesters prevented Mr Yanukovych from entering his prime ministerial
offices in Kiev. The opposition's tails are up.

Yuriy Kostenko's days are now so intense he sometimes drives off without the
hapless Volodya. "I know it annoys him a bit but, right now, driving myself
is the only way I have to relax for a few minutes." The drive took him to
his office in parliament which is lined with photographs of mountains and
climbers. Mr Kostenko is an accomplished mountaineer, having tackled the
Alps, the Andes and the Caucasus.

The fitness that climbing demands probably gives him the reserves of energy
to keep going. He has had less than four hours' sleep each night since
Saturday. The next stop, a building used by the opposition in the old city
near one of Europe's first universities, the Kiev Mohyla Academy. Here, the
atmosphere crackled as young volunteers worked furiously. Mr Kostenko
greeted them all with affection.

Next, he made for a meeting with the Polish Solidarity leader, Lech Walesa,
in Kiev to lend support. With Mr Yushchenko and other close aides, they
discussed the unfolding drama which Mr Walesa said he hoped would lead to
Ukrainian democracy.

On the move, Mr Kostenko fielded calls from all around Ukraine as local
opposition organisers looked for news. At that stage, government-run
television channels and newspapers were saying little about the political
turmoil. According to Mr Yanukovych, "nothing unusual" was happening.

Mr Kostenko, who studied engineering, was a prominent member of Ukraine's
independence movement in the 1980s. He became a minister a decade ago in a
government run by outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma, who nominated Mr
Yanukovych as his successor. He was responsible for talks to rid Ukraine of
the nuclear arsenal it inherited from the Soviet Union. Eventually he could
no longer bear to work for Mr Kuchma and resigned.

Kostenko drove on and smiled as a phone call confirmed that another local
administration had declared it would only recognise him as president. "You
can see that the people, all ages, all walks of life, are with us. Ukraine
has been waiting for this moment for a long time and they are not going to
lose the opportunity for real freedom and real dignity."

Next stop was at a former union building on Khreschatyk Street, where the
political council chaired by Mr Yushchenko was meeting. After several hours,
Mr Kostenko, who is married with a son, said he needed a break: "I think I
can meet my wife for 15 minutes." -30- [Action Ukraine Monitoring]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: writeback@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
LINK: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=586896
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 234: ARTICLE NUMBER FOURTEEN
Letters to the editor are always welcome
=========================================================
14. SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER WANTS 'INDEPENDENT
INVESTIGATION' OF UKRAINE ELECTION

Dagens Nyheter, web site, Stockholm, in Swedish 25 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Fri, Nov 26, 2004

Text of report by Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter web site on 25
November Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds believes that it is
too early to demand a new election in Ukraine. "At the present time it
is enough to demand an independent investigation of the election result,"
she told Dagens Nyheter .

Laila Freivalds stresses that the important thing is for the EU's member
countries to move forward together, step by step. "Today we are agreed
on the issue of Ukraine and it is important to make sure that no single
member country rushes ahead on its own."

On Wednesday [24 November] she had the opportunity to discuss the
situation in Ukraine with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in
the context of a meeting of the Arctic Council on Iceland. "I said that
we would like to see an independent investigation of the election result,"
she says.

And what was his response? "He said that he also took the view that
there had been irregularities in the election, but that it was up to Ukraine
to take responsibility for the actual investigation."

Moderate Unity Party leader Fredrik Reinfeldt believes that the future of
the Ukraine is hanging in the balance. On one hand he sees freedom and
the market economy and on the other a Russian-influenced regime in which
corruption is allowed a free hand.

He therefore wants to see a tougher EU making demands for a new election.
"We must mobilize all our forces to give opposition candidate Yushchenko
our support," he says.

Fredrik Reinfeldt is now calling for the government to exert pressure to
persuade the EU to take joint action and demand a new election.
The Moderate Unity Party leader also thinks that the EU should offer the
resources that are needed for a new election to be held in Ukraine in the
right way.

"Laila Freivalds has said that there has been election fraud and this is a
good thing. But now she must also point towards a direction that must
be now taken."

Environment Party spokesman Peter Eriksson also thinks that the
government has not been clear enough in its criticism. "The election fraud
is so obvious that I think it ought to be possible to be tougher. "The
opposition has won a landslide victory and what is important now is to
get the old regime to understand that it must hand over power."
-30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 234: ARTICLE NUMBER FIFTEEN
Letters to the editor are always welcome
=========================================================
15. UKRAINE POLL "MARRED BY GROSS VIOLATIONS":
SAYS BULGARIAN PARLIAMENT

BTA web site, Sofia, Bulgaria, Fri, 26 Nov 04

SOFIA - The National Assembly joined the critical comments
on the presidential election results in Ukraine, said a declaration adopted
by 146 MPs, with no abstentions, on Friday [26 November]. The
declaration was opposed by the Union of Democratic Forces [SDS],
the United Democratic Forces [ODS] and the Popular Union [NS].

The right-wing opposition called the document "bland" as it did not state a
clear-cut, categorical position. Seeing their proposals for a declaration
rejected, they walked out and did not vote on the draft document proposed
by the Simeon II National Movement [SND], the Movement for Rights and
Freedoms [DPS] and the Coalition for Bulgaria. The New Time parliamentary
group did not take a vote on the final declaration, either.

The declaration says the National Assembly and the Bulgarian public have
been informed by international observers of Ukraine's elections,
representing a number of international institutions, that the second round
was marred by gross violations of the international standards. Parliament
shares this view and is confident that the complicated political situation
after the elections will be resolved and will not have a serious adverse
effect on the democratic development of Ukraine, which Bulgaria considers
a friendly country. The declaration expresses hope that the Ukrainian
authorities, jointly with the international institutions, will take the
necessary steps to resolve the crisis situation quickly and peacefully.
-30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 234: ARTICLE NUMBER SIXTEEN
Letters to the editor are always welcome
=======================================================
16. BORIS TARASYUK, ONE OF UKRAINE'S OPPOSITION LEADERS,
CONFERRED IN BULGARIA WITH POLITICAL LEADERS

BTA web site, Sofia, Bulgaria, Fri, Nov. 26, 2004

SOFIA - Visiting here Ukrainian opposition leader Boris Tarasyuk
conferred with National Assembly Chairman Ognyan Gerdzhikov
and representatives of the parliamentary-represented forces on Friday
[26 November].

Tarasyuk familiarized his interlocutors with the situation in Ukraine,
Gerdzhikov told journalists. Bulgaria and Ukraine have had good
relations for centuries and Bulgaria is concerned with the develop-
ments in Ukraine, the parliament chairman also said.

Taking a question on what the Ukrainian opposition would do, if the
Supreme Court comes up with a ruling on the elections that would be
unacceptable for it, the guest replied that the opposition would insist
on continuation of the peaceful protests and civil disobedience. "We
have filed over 1,000 electoral claims about cheating at the polls with
different courts and until these courts pronounce themselves we cannot
have official results of the elections," Tarasyuk said.

At his talk in parliament he presented the position of the Ukrainian
democratic coalition. He voiced hope that as holding the chairmanship
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),
Bulgaria would help settle the crisis in Ukraine.

Also on Friday Bulgarian non-governmental organizations handed
Tarasyuk a declaration in support of Ukraine's democracy and European
future, one of the signatories, the Centre for the Study of Democracy, said.
The other organizations having signed the declaration are the Centre for
Liberal Strategies, the Open Society Institute, the Atlantic Club in
Bulgaria, the Euro-Atlantic Civil Foundation, the European Institute, the
Institute of Market Economy, the Centre for Economic Development, etc.
-30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 234: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVENTEEN
Letters to the editor are always welcome
=========================================================
17. GERMAN COMMENTARY: "DIVIDED UKRAINE"

Die Zeit, Hamburg, in German 26 Nov 04 p 2
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Fri, Nov 26, 2004

Text of commentary by Christian Schmidt-Haeuer entitled "Divided Ukraine"
published by German newspaper Die Zeit on 26 November:

The corrupt gang of forgers at the head of Ukraine and their godfather Putin
have overdrawn the bow. The capital city and many parts of the country have
rebelled - as in Belgrade before, where Milosevic manipulated the elections
in the same bold manner, as in Georgia, where Shevardnadze's entourage was
similarly corrupt. Will the state power in Kiev, too, lay down its arms in
the end, confronted with the call for democracy by hundreds of thousands of
voices?

The revolution in the name of the rose must not deceive as to the fact that
Ukraine is not loved for itself by any of its current wooers. Despite all
the lip service, the EU does not want to take on the poor house as another
burden. The Americans would very much prefer to fob off the geostrategic
country to the Europeans, to weaken the EU and to expand NATO. Neo-
Soviet man Putin is pushing it under Moscow's wings to counteract
Washington's reaching for the Euro-Asian areas and the resources with the
economic union of Russia/Belarus/Ukraine/Kazakhstan.

The superpowers had long been involved in the Ukrainian election campaign.
The Russians in a bold and open manner, the Americans with a big but
inconspicuous network, which had linked already the Georgian opposition
members.

No matter what the outcome of the desperate protests by the cheated people,
Ukraine, with its Russian population in the east, will remain a divided
country - unfortunately, probably not a country with which one can do what
its best minds would like it to do. -30- [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring]
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 234: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHTEEN
Letters to the editor are always welcome
========================================================
18. GERMANY "ACTIVELY INVOLVED" IN PHONE
DIPLOMACY FOR UKRAINE

ddp news agency, Berlin, in German 1146 gmt 26 Nov 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Fri, Nov 26, 2004

BERLIN/KIEV: The Federal Government is actively involved in the
current "shuttle-and telephone diplomacy" to settle the political crisis
in Ukraine.

A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stated in Berlin on Friday [26
November] that Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Alliance 90/Greens,
has already talked to outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and opposition
leader Viktor Yushchenko.

The spokeswoman emphasized that a "peaceful and generally accepted
solution" had to be found. She noted that in Germany's view, this will
require a review of the controversial outcome of the presidential election
by, for example, the OSCE. She added that a political solution could
definitely not be achieved without a national consensus in Ukraine. -30-
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 234: ARTICLE NUMBER NINETEEN
Letters to the editor are always welcome
========================================================
19. BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY JACK STRAW CALLS FOR
CALM IN UKRAINE ELECTION CRISIS

AP Worldstream, London, UK, Fri, Nov 26, 2004

LONDON - Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Friday he was encouraged
that violence had not broken out after Ukraine's disputed presidential
election, and called on all sides to resolve the crisis peacefully.

Straw said he was following events "closely and with great concern." "It is
a great relief that the situation has remained peaceful so far," Straw said
in
a statement. "I urge the authorities to continue to show restraint, and call
on all in Ukraine to continue to express themselves in a nonviolent manner."

Western governments have claimed that Sunday's election runoff between
Russian-backed Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych and former Prime
Minister Viktor Yushchenko was marred by widespread fraud.

Yanukovych was declared the winner, but after protests by tens of
thousands of Yushchenko supporters, Ukraine's Supreme Court has
ordered election officials not to publish the results until an appeal is
heard next week.

Straw welcomed talks between the two sides and backed efforts by
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and other European
envoys to resolve the crisis.

"Yesterday's announcement by the Supreme Court banning official
publication of the results to allow opposition challenges to be heard was
a significant step," Straw said. "It is now crucial that time is given to
investigate allegations of fraud and malpractice, following due legal
processes." -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
========================================================
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