"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"
BELARUS, UKRAINE, RUSSIA
"At a time when freedom is advancing around the world, Aleksandr
Lukashenka and his government are turning Belarus into a regime of
repression in the heart of Europe, its government isolated from its
neighbors and its people isolated from each other. We will work with
our allies and partners to assist those seeking to return Belarus to its
rightful place among the Euro-Atlantic community of democracies.
There is no place in a Europe whole and free for a regime of this kind."
[President George Bush, article one]
"The Russian president is pouring money into Ukraine and is openly
supporting a strongman candidate in its presidential election, scheduled
for Oct. 31. By year's end, Mr. Putin could preside over a de facto empire,
as some 60 million Europeans who became citizens of independent nations
in 1991 find that once again their politics are controlled by the Kremlin."
[The Washington Post, article two]
"Up in Moscow, Vladimir Putin, who rose through the KGB ranks in the
Soviet era, is moving further and further toward Lukashenko-style
authoritarianism. Leonid Kuchma, the Ukrainian leader, has worked hard
to short-circuit political freedoms, as well, but met stiff opposition. The
presidential elections in Ukraine Oct. 31 are hotly contested, and will
determine whether at least one major ex-Soviet state will stay in the camp
of democracies. We can guess what outcome the dictator in Minsk will
be rooting for." [The Wall Street Journal, article three]
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" Year 04, Number 196
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, THURSDAY, October 21, 2004
-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. "BELARUS DEMOCRACY ACT OF 2004" SIGNED INTO LAW
WEDNESDAY BY PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
THE WHITE HOUSE, Office of the Press Secretary
Washington, D.C., Wednesday, October 20, 2004
2. "THE RAPE OF BELARUS"
EDITORIAL, The Washington Post
Washington, D.C., Tuesday, October 19, 2004; Page A22
3. "MINSK-Y BUSINESS"
REVIEW & OUTLOOK: The Wall Street Journal
New York, New York, Tuesday, October 19, 2004
4. "LUKASHENKO LEADS CIS INTO TROUBLE"
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko
Belarus and Russia are clearly a bad influence on each other,
while both have been a bad influence on neighboring Ukraine.
EDITORIAL: The Moscow Times
Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, October 20, 2004. Page 10.
5. "BELARUS SLIDING TO DICTATORSHIP"
COMMENTARY: by Ariel Cohen
The Washington Times, Washington, D.C., Friday, Oct 15, 2004
6. BELARUSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY CONDEMNS OSCE
ELECTION OBSERVERS' REPORT ON RECENT REFERENDUM
AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, Ukraine, in Russian, 20 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Oct 20, 2004
7. U.S AND EU CRITICIZE BELARUS TO DESTROY ALLIANCE
WITH RUSSIA ACCORDING TO STATE SECRETARY OF THE
UNION STATE OF RUSSIA AND BELARUS
Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, Russia, in Russian, Oct 19, 2004
BBC Monitoring Service,UK, in English, Tue, Oct 19, 2004
8. SITUATION IN BELARUS IS COMPLEX AND EXPLOSIVE
A Belarusian Yushchenko vs.a Belarusian Yanukovych?
Interview with Aleksey Makarkin by Olga Redichkina
Gazeta, Moscow, in Russian 18 Oct 04 p 4
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Tue, Oct 19, 2004
9. RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PUTIN TO VISIT UKRAINE AGAIN
60th anniversary of Ukraine's liberation from Nazi troops
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 20 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Oct 20, 2004
10. UKRAINIAN PM YANUKOVYCH SAYS RUSSIAN PRESIDENT
PUTIN'S ELECTION SUPPORT "WOULD BE WELCOME"
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 20 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Oct 20, 2004
11. UKRAINIAN UNIAN IN RUSSIA SAYS RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES
ARE PREPARING VOTE RIGGING IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 20 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Oct 20, 2004
12. RUSSIAN COMMUNISTS URGE SUPPORT FOR THE UKRAINIAN
COMMUNIST CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT PETRO SYMONENKO
Yes For Symonenko, No to Yushchenko, NO, no no!
Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, in Russian, 20 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Oct 20, 2004
13. EYE ON EURASIA: AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN EUROPEAN UNION
The growing influence of Orthodoxy within the EU in turn will open
the way for the Russian Orthodox Church to expand its role there as
well, both on behalf of its own corporate interests and in order to
advance the foreign policy interests of the Russian state.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS: by Paul Goble
United Press International (UPI), Tartu, Estonia, October 5, 2004
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.196: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
Suggested articles for publication in the Report are always welcome
========================================================
1. THE "BELARUS DEMOCRACY ACT OF 2004" SIGNED INTO LAW
WEDNESDAY BY PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
THE WHITE HOUSE, Office of the Press Secretary
Washington, D.C., Wednesday, October 20, 2004
The Belarus Democracy Act of 2004, which I signed into law earlier
today, will help the cause of freedom in Belarus. This bipartisan
legislation demonstrates America's deep concern over events in Belarus
and a commitment to sustain those Belarusians who must labor in the
shadows to return freedom to their country.
At a time when freedom is advancing around the world, Aleksandr
Lukashenka and his government are turning Belarus into a regime of
repression in the heart of Europe, its government isolated from its
neighbors and its people isolated from each other. We will work with
our allies and partners to assist those seeking to return Belarus to its
rightful place among the Euro-Atlantic community of democracies. There
is no place in a Europe whole and free for a regime of this kind.
On October 17, Mr. Lukashenka claimed victory for referendum results
that swept away constitutional limits on his term in office. The referendum
campaign and concurrent Parliamentary elections were conducted in a
climate of abuse and fear. OSCE and other observers have determined
that this victory was achieved by fraudulent means.
These actions are the latest in a series of measures designed to stifle
independent voices within Belarus. Since 2001, Belarusian authorities have
systematically repressed independent media, trade unions, civic
organizations, and religious congregations. The Lukashenka regime has
repeatedly responded to the peaceful expression of opposition with beatings,
arrests and, in a number of cases, the disappearance of opposition leaders.
The Belarus Democracy Act will help us support those within Belarus who
are working toward democracy. We welcome this legislation as a means to
bolster friends of freedom and to nurture the growth of democratic values,
habits, and institutions within Belarus. The fate of Belarus will rest not
with a dictator, but with the students, trade unionists, civic and religious
leaders, journalists, and all citizens of Belarus claiming freedom for their
nation. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.196: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
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2. "THE RAPE OF BELARUS"
EDITORIAL, The Washington Post
Washington, D.C., Tuesday, October 19, 2004; Page A22
FEW WESTERN observers expected Sunday's elections in Belarus to
be free or fair, so few have reason to be surprised by the results announced
yesterday: a sweep for official parties in the parliament and passage of a
referendum that will allow strongman Alexander Lukashenko to become,
in effect, president-for-life. Mr. Lukashenko, who has been in office 10
years, is widely known in the West as Europe's last dictator. During the
past decade he has repeatedly staged questionable elections while steadily
eliminating free media, independent civic groups and opposition leaders.
In the latest election, these tactics escalated. Before it took place, about
40 percent of the opposition's candidates were removed from the ballot,
most on flimsy technicalities. As a result, not a single opposition
candidate was elected to any of the 107 parliamentary seats decided Sunday.
In addition, Mr. Lukashenko added a referendum to the ballot to remove
the limit on presidential terms. Officials announced that it had passed with
77 percent of the vote, meaning that the 50-year-old president will have
the opportunity to prolong his rule indefinitely through similarly
fraudulent elections.
Western efforts to prevent Mr. Lukashenko's consolidation of power,
including tens of millions of dollars in U.S. funding for democratization
projects and opposition groups, have proved largely ineffective. But one
initiative, an independent poll carried out by the Gallup Organization, was
important: It showed that less than 50 percent of voters actually supported
Mr. Lukashenko's constitutional amendment. This ought to provide the basis
for a unified stance by the Bush administration and European governments.
President Bush this week is expected to sign the Belarus Democracy Act,
which mandates funding for the democratic opposition and tightens sanctions
against Mr. Lukashenko's government; that is a start.
Mr. Bush also ought to take notice of the one government that quickly
endorsed the Belarus election as free and fair: Russia. President Vladimir
Putin probably doesn't care much for Mr. Lukashenko -- who aspires to
someday lead a reconstituted Soviet Union -- but he finds him useful to his
own, parallel strategy of restoring Moscow's political dominion over the
band of countries between Russia and the European Union, including Ukraine
and Moldova as well as Belarus. Thanks to hundreds of millions of dollars in
Russian energy subsidies and his suppression of democracy, Mr. Lukashenko
is utterly dependent on Mr. Putin. The Russian president is pouring money
into Ukraine and is openly supporting a strongman candidate in its
presidential election, scheduled for Oct. 31. By year's end, Mr. Putin could
preside over a de facto empire, as some 60 million Europeans who became
citizens of independent nations in 1991 find that once again their politics
are controlled by the Kremlin.
Mr. Bush may not be able to prevent this, but the Ukrainian election is
being fought on more equal terms and could be swayed by the West's
response to Belarus. Mr. Bush could, at least, take a stand against Mr.
Putin's imperialism. The majority of Belarusans voted against the
consolidation of a dictatorship in their country Sunday. Now they see
Moscow ratifying their oppression. If they hear the American president
say, in response, that he supports their freedom -- from dictatorship and
from foreign domination --they will have reason to hope; what's more, the
other nations of Eurasia will see that there is a clear difference between
the foreign policy of Mr. Bush and that of Mr. Putin. -30-
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43723-2004Oct18.html
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.196: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
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3. "MINSK-Y BUSINESS"
REVIEW & OUTLOOK: The Wall Street Journal
New York, NY, Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Not long ago, Alexander Lukashenko was the isolated, idiosyncratic tyrant of
a small Slavic state on Europe's edge. Today the collective farmer who rules
Belarus looks very much in the mainstream of post-Soviet politics.
Sadly, it's Mr. Lukashenko who hasn't changed a bit. On Sunday, the
Belarusian president rammed through another "referendum" that gives him an
even freer hand to misrule this flat nation of 10 million. This time, the
president changed the constitution to eliminate term limits, letting him run
for reelection indefinitely.
Not that elections matter, strictly speaking. All votes are presumed to have
been rigged -- except the first in 1994, ironically enough, when an upstart
Soviet nostalgic, the 40-year-old Mr. Lukashenko, came out of nowhere to
claim the presidency. He went on to repress critics -- four prominent
opponents went missing and are presumed dead -- and set up a model
dictatorship.
Sunday's constitutional referendum and parliamentary vote marked a new low.
Up to a third of votes were cast early, without any independent or
opposition monitors present. Independent pollsters were detained by police
on voting day. Nine independent papers were closed. Nearly half of the
opposition politicians were prevented from running for parliament.
Anti-Lukashenko parties were harassed. Posters and billboards against the
referendum were destroyed, while the state television beat the drum for Mr.
Lukashenko and his cronies. And oh yes, surprisingly, the president carried
the day.
In the 1990s, Russians and Ukrainians, fellow eastern Slavs who got to taste
freedom after the fall of communism, looked down on, even laughed at, the
antics in Minsk. But the Belarusian president may yet get the last laugh.
Up in Moscow, Vladimir Putin, who rose through the KGB ranks in the Soviet
era, is moving further and further toward Lukashenko-style authoritarianism.
Leonid Kuchma, the Ukrainian leader, has worked hard to short-circuit
political freedoms, as well, but met stiff opposition. The presidential
elections in Ukraine Oct. 31 are hotly contested, and will determine whether
at least one major ex-Soviet state will stay in the camp of democracies. We
can guess what outcome the dictator in Minsk will be rooting for. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.196: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
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4. "LUKASHENKO LEADS CIS INTO TROUBLE"
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko
Belarus and Russia are clearly a bad influence on each other,
while both have been a bad influence on neighboring Ukraine.
EDITORIAL: The Moscow Times
Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, October 20, 2004. Page 10.
Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, through Sunday's highly
dubious constitutional referendum, has predictably succeeded in removing
the last impediment to his absolute and unlimited rule -- scrapping the
constitutional clause that limits the number of terms he can serve as
president. It is all too easy to write off Belarus as a political basket
case and Lukashenko as a loony dictator, but the repercussions of this
latest move will make themselves felt well beyond Belarus' borders.
There is a pernicious and disturbing tendency for "worst political practice"
in one CIS country to be exported to other CIS countries. In this respect,
Belarus and Russia are clearly a bad influence on each other, while both
have been a bad influence on neighboring Ukraine.
Russia set the ball rolling in 1993, when Boris Yeltsin forcibly dissolved
the Russian parliament and imposed his "super-presidential" constitution by
means of a questionable referendum. Soon after, President Leonid Kuchma
tried to introduce authoritarian amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution,
but with limited success.
Lukashenko, however, soon after coming to power, enthusiastically took
up where Yeltsin had left off. In the fall of 1996, Lukashenko had his own
constitution overwhelmingly approved in a referendum fraught with legal
and electoral violations. Although clearly taking a leaf out of Yeltsin's
book, Lukashenko also threw in a few extra authoritarian touches of his
own devising.
He gutted the judiciary, handed himself the power to appoint all heads of
local government (formally subject to confirmation by local legislatures)
and created an upper chamber of parliament in which he appointed a
number of the senators.
Eight years later, having worked hard to gut most of Russia's political
institutions, President Vladimir Putin is now set to introduce a similar set
of reforms. Legislation has already been submitted to the State Duma that
would make regional governors presidential appointees (also formally
subject to confirmation by the relevant legislatures); while other
legislation put forward by the Kremlin-friendly Federation Council speaker
would further undermine judicial independence.
And despite public assurances that he has no intention of running for a
third term, it would now be depressingly easy for Putin -- following
Lukashenko's lead -- to amend the Constitution and remove the two-
term limit.
So what can break the vicious circle and set these countries on a more
democratic trajectory? Sadly, probably only the bankruptcy of these
regimes that will eventually lead them to self-destruct, just as Eduard
Shevardnadze's regime in Georgia did a year ago. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.196: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
Your comments about the Report are always welcome
========================================================
5. "BELARUS SLIDING TO DICTATORSHIP"
COMMENTARY: by Ariel Cohen
The Washington Times, Washington, D.C., Friday, Oct 15, 2004
President Alexander Lukashenka of Belarus has added a referendum
to the Oct. 17 parliamentary elections.
The referendum will ask Belarusians if they allow Mr. Lukashenko to
participate in presidential elections (in violation of his own tailormade
constitution), and if they accept the constitutional changes to end
presidential term limits.
Thus, Mr. Lukashenka, a former collective farm boss, who is in office
illegally following his 1996 constitutional coup, will take a step to make
himself a president-for-life — an unseemly sight in democratic Europe. He
would not only run for a third term in 2006. By changing the Constitution,
he will permit himself to run again and again.
Mr. Lukashenka has also prevented political parties from competing in
parliamentary elections, from having equal access to the media or from
placing, in accord with Belarus law, party observers on local and regional
electoral commissions.
The authoritarian Belarus has become a pariah state in Europe,
especially after Mr. Lukashenka caused several opposition leaders to
"disappear" in the late 1990s. Sources in Minsk confirmed that the
dictator's henchmen murdered them.
U.S. and EU countries jointly agreed on a list of Belarus officials from
Mr. Lukashenka's inner circle who will be denied visas to travel to the
West. This may be a right step in the right direction, but it is not enough.
Mr. Lukashenka now will retaliate by banning U.S. and EU officials from
visiting Belarus.
Russia is also apprehensive about Mr. Lukashenka and does not need a
basket-case economy led by a basket-case dictator as an albatross around its
neck. Moreover, Mr. Lukashenka nurses an ambition to engineer the Anschluss
of his own land so way he can run for the presidency of Russia. A specter of
a certain Austrian corporal who achieved great fame in Germany in the 1930s
apparently makes him jealous. In fact, Lukashenka expressed admiration for
Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin, the latter a Georgian of low origins who made
it big in Mother Russia.
Russians should know that, if integrated, the bacilli of Belarusian
authoritarianism may exacerbate their country's own uneasy relationship with
democracy. And the world's indifference to the Belarus' dictator may
encourage those in President Putin's entourage who advise their boss to
remain in power after 2008, when his term is up.
The United States and Western Europe have many interests at stake in
Belarus, including the possible effect of its democracy's failure on Ukraine
and Russia. Ukraine will elect its next president Oct. 31. Belarus is also
suspected of weapons sales to rogue regimes, such as Iran and Saddam's
Iraq. Anti-Western arms dealers in Minsk may also sell weapons to terror
groups around the world, including those fighting in Iraq. Thus, Belarus
represents an great opportunity for cooperation between Washington,
London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels.
The 2004 Belarus Democracy Act, sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith,
New Jersey Republican, and others, finally passed the U.S. House of
Representatives on Oct. 4. More needs to be done. Both U.S. presidential
candidates should denounce violation of constitution and electoral
procedures by Mr. Lukashenka. The United States and the EU should
declare illegitimate the referendum and parliamentary elections if observers
from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
certify there are election falsifications and other violations.
There should be coordinated criminal investigations into homicide,
money laundering and illegal arms trading within respective jurisdictions
by U.S. domestic and international law enforcement agencies, such as
the Interpol and EU members.
The U.S. Justice Department and its European counterparts should
investigate the disappearance of Mr. Lukashenka's political opponents,
provided a jurisdictional nexus for the United States and/or Europe. The
U.S. and Europe can initiate criminal procedures against those in the
Belarusian president's circle who ordered and participated in murdering
opposition politicians and journalists. Democracies should seize assets of
Mr. Lukashenka and his inner circle around the world through criminal
proceedings against illegal arms sales and money laundering in violation of
U.S. or international sanctions. The United States will be entitled to
enforce such sanctions even if the violation did not occur on American
territory.
According to Scott Horton, a senior partner at Patterson Belknap who
practices European law and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
law, the United States has never recognized an absolute sovereign immunity
defense. America in the past has intervened with allies like Italy and the
United Kingdom in stopping overseas shipments of Ukrainian arms to the
Balkans in violations of international sanctions.
The United States also has investigated leaders from the post-Soviet
states, such as President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine and most of his senior
team, the late President Heydar Aliev of Azerbaijan, and Prime Minister
Pavlo Lazarenko who was convicted by the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of California. The U.S. also apprehended Panamanian
President Manuel Noriega and the former prime minister of Turks and
Caicos Islands.
The United States should fund, together with EU, an international
broadcasting operation from countries around Belarus on the AM band by
opposition radio stations, launch opposition TV broadcasting, and expand
people-to-people and educational exchanges.
Finally, U.S. should consult with Russia regarding a possible political
changes that will make Belarus more democratic and predictable. Such a
shift on Mr. Lukashenka will benefit Russia by making the transit route for
Russian gas to Europe less prone to his interference, and will eliminate the
need to support the Belarusian economy by subsidized natural gas at a cost
of more than $2 billion a year to its neighbor.
Mr. Lukashenko thinks he is here to stay, but the people of Belarus
deserve better. The next Congress and administration will have their
Belarus "in" basket full from Day One. -30-
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Ariel Cohen is research fellow in Russian and Eurasian Studies at the
Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C.
http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20041014-084633-9518r.htm
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.196: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
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6. BELARUSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY CONDEMNS OSCE ELECTION
OBSERVERS' REPORT ON RECENT REFERENDUM AND
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 20 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service,UK, in English, Wed, Oct 20, 2004
KIEV - The Belarusian Foreign Ministry has released a statement
condemning the OSCE observers' report on the recent referendum and
parliamentary elections. Foreign observers said the vote fell short of
democratic standards. In an official statement, the ministry said the OSCE
had prejudged the outcome under pressure from the United States and the
European Union. The following is text of a report by Interfax-Ukraine news
agency:
MINSK - The Belarusian Foreign Ministry has described the assessment
of the parliamentary elections and referendum made by the international
mission of OSCE observers as "clearly biased". The Belarusian Foreign
Ministry issued a statement to this effect on the night of 19 to 20
October.
"The election to the Belarusian parliament's House of Representatives and
the nationwide referendum demonstrated convincing support by the Belarusian
people for the course towards strengthening the republic's sovereignty and
independence and further consolidation of its democratic institutions," the
Foreign Ministry statement says. [An overwhelming majority voted in favour
of allowing President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to run for a third term in
office, according to official results.]
By inviting a large number of foreign observers, the Belarusian authorities
sought to emphasize the transparent nature of the election, the statement
says. "The monitoring was proof of the openness. Despite the invitation, the
OSCE mission refused to monitor the referendum citing limited resources,"
the Foreign Ministry statement says.
The ministry added that observers had been given all the necessary legal
and logistic support. "Collaboration with foreign observers was organized
in the spirit of openness and cooperation, which was noted in the reports
by the CIS mission, as well as by the OSCE Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights and the OSCE itself."
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry noted with satisfaction the unbiased and
balanced conclusions and the positive assessments of the election and
referendum results in the reports by the CIS mission and independent
observers.
"Against this background the Foreign Ministry is forced to state, with
regret, that despite a number of constructive findings and recommendations
the report by the mission of the OSCE parliamentary assembly and Office
for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights does not reflect the consistent
efforts by Belarus to improve the electoral process," the document says.
"This assessment is clearly biased," the Foreign Ministry said.
"This is not surprising. Given unconcealed pressure on foreign observers
from the USA and the European Union, the leaders of the mission failed to
overcome their preconceived negative view of the results of the referendum
and the election," the Foreign Ministry said.
The document also says that the results of international observation fully
confirm the timely conclusions made in the statement adopted at the CIS
summit on 3 July 2004, "On the situation in the OSCE". In this document,
the leaders of the Commonwealth states called for a radical review of the
methods and forms used by the Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights and the OSCE, including those during elections.
"Belarus will continue active cooperation with the CIS countries in the
field of reforming the OSCE," says the statement by the Belarusian
Foreign Ministry. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.196: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
Additional names for the distribution list are always welcome
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7. U.S AND EU CRITICIZE BELARUS TO DESTROY ALLIANCE WITH
RUSSIA ACCORDING TO STATE SECRETARY OF THE
UNION STATE OF RUSSIA AND BELARUS
I think before long - very soon, indeed it is already happening - Putin will
come in for mad criticism over the fact that he is restoring the Single
Economic Space (encompassing Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine)
Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, Russia, in Russian, Oct 19, 2004
BBC Monitoring Service,UK, in English, Tue, Oct 19, 2004
MOSCOW - The United States, the European Union and some other
international organizations are trying to divide Belarus and Russia by
criticizing the 17 October referendum in Belarus to enable incumbent
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to seek a third term in office, Pavel
Borodin, the state secretary of the Union State of Russia and Belarus,
told Ekho Moskvy radio on 19 October.
Asked to comment on warnings by Belarusian opposition figures for Russia
not to associate too closely with Lukashenka to avoid provoking anti-
Russian sentiment in Belarus, Borodin said:
"I would like to back the Belarusian opposition's view and the view of Mr
Bush. (President Vladimir) Putin involuntarily gave him his backing lately
and I have great respect for him too. Any dictator has got to know just one
rule, which applies to all other countries that lie outside the territory of
his own state and are thus notional adversaries. That rule is divide and
rule. What is now happening in the Union State of Russia and Belarus is
certainly a terrible thing in the view of American specialists, experts,
envoys and so on. A post-Soviet space is being recreated.
Trade between Russia and Belarus will reach 15.5bn dollars this year. This
means jobs, this means about 350,000-400,000 people on jobs paid from
the union budget alone. This means new technology and competitive goods.
We are building muscle and recovering the economy we used to have.
Perhaps all it produced was tanks, guns, missiles and submarines, but it
was a single economy. Both Lukashenka and Putin and - I am listing them
alphabetically - Yeltsin too, during his time, have been doing everything
they could to restore the post-Soviet space.
I think before long - very soon, indeed it is already happening - Putin will
come in for mad criticism over the fact that he is restoring the Single
Economic Space (encompassing Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine)
and the CIS and doing a lot to revive the post-Soviet space in purely
economic terms. However, to put it bluntly, the European Union and the
United States of America modelled their constitution on that of the Soviet
Union: common borders, common military-technical cooperation, a common
legal tender, a single economy and shared movement of people and capital -
we happen to be getting closer to that in many ways. This is what is scaring
all the westerners now, both the EU people and the Americans.
They benefit enormously from seeing Russia split, so that Georgia, Moldova,
Ukraine, the Baltic states all go their separate ways. Left alone, Russia
would be nothing but an extra source of raw materials. They are very unhappy
about what Putin and Lukashenka are doing on the post-Soviet space."
Asked about plans for introducing a single currency for Russia and Belarus,
which have reportedly stalled lately over disagreements between the two
countries, Borodin said these plans will go ahead and the new currency will
be introduced in 2006. He went on to play down suggestions of tensions
between Lukashenka and Putin.
"I want to speak about the attitude and relationship between Vladimir
Vladimirovich Putin and Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka. There are some
problems, that's a fact, it would be silly to say that there aren't any
problems. Nevertheless, they always manage to come to an agreement. That is
the only way to normally govern any state, any group, any alliance - to sit
down at the table and to negotiate a deal. Believe me, I have been at those
negotiations between Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Alyaksandr Ryhoravich
Lukashenka. Sometimes they would have a bit of a row, sometimes they would
have a dig at one another, but nevertheless they have always eventually come
to an agreement, for four years now, for the benefit of the interests of
their peoples," said Borodin. -30- [Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 196: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Letters to the editor are always welcome
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8. SITUATION IN BELARUS IS COMPLEX AND EXPLOSIVE
A Belarusian Yushchenko vs. a Belarusian Yanukovych?
Interview with Aleksey Makarkin by Olga Redichkina
Gazeta, Moscow, in Russian 18 Oct 04 p 4
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Tue, Oct 19, 2004
MOSCOW - Russian pundit noted in an interview to the newspaper
Gazeta that situation in Belarus is not only complex but also explosive.
Increasingly, the population of Belarus is dissatisfied with the
deteriorating living conditions in the country, which may bring about
a serious political crisis.
Russian policy, according to the pundit, is short-sighted: it supports
Lukashenka as if 'he is going to last forever' instead of building a solid,
pro-Russian base in the country. Text of the report, published on 18
October, follows.
Aleksey Makarkin, deputy general director of the Political Technologies
Centre, believes that the Russian authorities will accept, albeit "with
pursed lips", the referendum results that will enable Alyaksandr Lukashenka
to run for the presidency for a third time. Read about this in his interview
by Gazeta observer Olga Redichkina.
[Redichkina] The Belarusian people have allowed the Father [Lukashenka's
popular nickname] to run for a third term. The West is unequivocally and
fiercely opposed. What about Russia?
[Makarkin] Russia will keep silent. Lukashenka announced his wish to hold
a referendum after his meeting with Putin in Sochi. It is unlikely that the
Father did not put his Russian counterpart in the picture. Putin reacted
indifferently: "Let the citizens decide."
[Redichkina] Will Russia accept the referendum results without criticism?
[Makarkin] We will express our solidarity with the opinion of CIS observers,
who will find no particular violations. The results will be accepted
reluctantly but without any particular comments. OSCE observers will do
some digging but they will not unearth exhaustive proof of violations during
the referendum either.
[Redichkina] The West will announce yet again that Lukashenka is
illegitimate but will we continue to be friends with him?
[Makarkin] According to Gallup calculations, Lukashenka's rating is 26.32
per cent. This indicates a fall in his popularity. But his main rival -
Frolov - has only 1.6 per cent. The Father has bled the opposition white.
We do not like Lukashenka and his Russian clones - governors Kondratenko
and Nazdratenko - were removed long ago. The West will patronize the
opposition and wait for a suitable candidate to appear, and finally for a
suitable situation for legitimate regime change to develop.
[Redichkina] Given the characteristic patience of the Belarusian people,
will we have to wait for another 20 years?
[Makarkin] Not at all. The situation in Belarus is more complex than it
seems from Moscow. Gallup Institute polls show that people are dissatisfied
with the living standard and are convinced that it is falling; they consider
unemployment one of the most alarming factors. Moreover, dissatisfaction is
being expressed not only by young people but also by middle-aged groups,
who were expecting the formation of a Union state, that is to say the
re-creation of the USSR and a return to past prosperity. In other words,
there may be an explosion in Belarus but I cannot say when.
[Redichkina] Will the Russian authorities be prepared for such a turn of
events?
[Makarkin] If the West backs the opposition candidate, seeks (and tries to
create) a "Belarusian [opposition presidential hopeful in Ukraine, Viktor]
Yushchenko", then we may once again fail to back "our own [government
presidential candidate in Ukraine, Viktor] Yanukovych". In Belarus, just as
in most CIS countries, we have not taken the trouble to form a pro-Russian
centre, thinking, for some reason, that Lukashenka will last forever. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.196: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
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9. RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PUTIN TO VISIT UKRAINE AGAIN
60th anniversary of Ukraine's liberation from Nazi troops
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 20 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Oct 20, 2004
KIEV - Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed in a telephone
conversation with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma that he is going to
take part in the celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Ukraine's
liberation from Nazi troops, the Ukrainian president's press service said
today. Kuchma and Putin also discussed topical issues of bilateral relations
[again].
A parade is planned in Kiev to mark the 60th anniversary of Ukraine's
liberation from Nazis on 28 October. The parade of veterans will be opened
by a famous tank of the Great Patriotic War, the T-34, with the victory
standard painted on its sides. Three Gaz-AA and Zis lorries will also go
along Khreshchatyk. [Passage omitted: WWII standards will be followed by
veterans and military bands.] -30- [Action Ukraine Monitoring Service]
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.196: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
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10. UKRAINIAN PM YANUKOVYCH SAYS RUSSIAN PRESIDENT
PUTIN'S ELECTION SUPPORT "WOULD BE WELCOME"
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 20 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Oct 20, 2004
SUMY REGION - The Ukrainian prime minister and presidential candidate,
Viktor Yanukovych, would be grateful to Russian President Vladimir Putin
for supporting his presidential bid in case the Russian leader decides to
make a statement to this effect.
"If there is support I will be always grateful for it," Yanukovych told
journalists in Sumy Region when asked whether or not Putin's visit to
Ukraine on 28 October is a form of support for Yanukovych's presidential
bid.
Yanukovych said that invitations to take part in festivities on the 60th
anniversary of Ukraine's liberation [from Nazi occupation] had been sent to
all heads of the former Soviet republics.
"Many people were liberating Ukraine, perhaps all peoples of the Soviet
Union. It was the great victory of the great Soviet Union," he said.
"We should remember this and be grateful for this. For this reason we have
invited everyone to these festivities. We will see who comes and will be
glad to see everyone," Yanukovych said. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.196: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
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11. UKRAINIAN UNIAN IN RUSSIA SAYS RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES
ARE PREPARING VOTE RIGGING IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Source: TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 20 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Oct 20, 2004
KIEV - The head of an ethnic Ukrainian union in Russia, Valeriy
Semenenko, says that the Russian authorities are preparing vote
rigging at the Ukrainian presidential election scheduled for 31 October.
He is concerned over plans to open up to 650 polling stations for
Ukrainians living in Russia.
The Ukrainian opposition earlier quoted the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry
as saying that only 200,000 people are eligible to vote in the Ukrainian
presidential election in Russia. The following is the text of report by
pro-opposition Ukrainian television channel 5 Kanal on 20 October:
[Presenter] Representatives of Russian Ukrainians are surprised over the
opening of additional 650 polling stations in Russia. They said that less
than 10 polling stations worked in Russia at the last Ukrainian presidential
election. The head of the Union of Ukrainians in Russia, Valeriy Semenenko,
believes that this 100-fold increase is linked to a possible vote rigging.
He said that very few Ukrainians who are now in Russia would be able to
vote. A majority of those who want to vote sympathize with [Ukrainian
opposition candidate] Viktor Yushchenko, he said.
[Semenenko] We do not see any legitimate reason. However, it is our
impression that very serious forces have got involved in this game. The
whole of the Russian state authorities have got involved in this game.
Moreover, I believe there are specific agreements to open these additional
polling stations between the Ukrainian and Russian authorities. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.196: ARTICLE NUMBER TWELVE
Additional names for the distribution list are always welcome
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12. RUSSIAN COMMUNISTS URGE SUPPORT FOR THE UKRAINIAN
COMMUNIST CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT PETRO SYMONENKO
Yes For Symonenko, No to Yushchenko, NO, no no!
Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, in Russian, 20 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, Oct 20, 2004
MOSCOW - [Presenter] And now on to the upcoming election in Ukraine.
Russia's Communists are not indifferent to what's happening and today they
gathered outside the Ukrainian embassy to support the [Ukrainian] Communist
Party's candidate for president of Ukraine, Petro Symonenko. Asya Dolina has
the details:
[Correspondent] Despite the bad weather, about 100 people gathered for a
rally outside the Ukrainian Embassy in Leontyevskiy Pereulok. They included
the regulars at events organized by the CPRF - nostalgic pensioners and
young people who, as they told me themselves, are very concerned about the
future of the fraternal people of Ukraine. They were all holding red flags
and posters in support of candidate Petro Symonenko and against his
opponent, Viktor Yushchenko.
In addition, they'd brought along a cartoon of Yushchenko, depicting him in
a tracksuit bearing the letters USA and holding a bag full of dollars. The
participants chanted so loudly that people in nearby flats looked out of
their windows in surprise. [Unidentified speaker, through loud-speaker]
Fraternal greetings to the working people of Ukraine. For Symonenko.
No to Yushchenko. No, no, no!
[Correspondent] Or to put it differently:
[Second speaker] Long live the friendship of the peoples of Ukraine and
Russia. Symonenko, Symonenko [the chant is taken up by the crowd].
[Correspondent] Senior communists, members of the CPRF addressed the
meeting. State Duma Deputy Lyubov Shvets, for example, told the
demonstrators that she was from Ukraine herself and that Viktor Yushchenko
should not and must not become president of the country because he doesn't
really know the people who live there.
[Shvets] Why does the world community back Yushchenko so zealously?
Why is everything being done so that he wins the election? Someone who
basically has nothing at all in common, even through his wife [a US citizen
of Ukrainian descent], with the Ukrainian people and doesn't know how to
communicate with them.
[Correspondent] Another [CPRF] faction member Ivan Melnikov read the
participants in the rally a statement which urges Ukrainians to vote for
Petro Symonenko even though political scientists doubt he will win.
[Melnikov] We, the Communists of Russia, call on you not to ignore the
opinion polls and to express your hope for a just life by supporting the
Communist Party of Ukraine candidate, Petro Symonenko. Standing here
outside the Ukrainian Embassy we demand that the Ukrainian authorities
ensure the votes are counted honestly and prevent any falsification of the
result.
[Correspondent] The event lasted about half an hour. Then it began to pour
with rain and the participants in the meeting had to abandon their
improvised spot near the Ukrainian embassy.
[Presenter] I should add that the Communists who took part in the meeting
intend to deliver their statement to the media today so that the media in
turn can relay it to the Ukrainian people. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.196: ARTICLE NUMBER THIRTEEN
Checks to support The Action Ukraine Report are always welcome
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13. EYE ON EURASIA: AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN EUROPEAN UNION
The growing influence of Orthodoxy within the EU in turn will open
the way for the Russian Orthodox Church to expand its role there as
well, both on behalf of its own corporate interests and in order to
advance the foreign policy interests of the Russian state.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS: by Paul Goble
United Press International (UPI), Tartu, Estonia, October 5, 2004
TARTU, Estonia -- After its most recent expansion, the 25-nation European
Union now has four member states with predominantly Orthodox Christian
populations, compared to only one before, as well as five more members
with significant Orthodox diasporas.
That expansion of the Orthodox presence in Europe challenges Samuel
Huntington's ideas on the "clash of civilizations": He suggested that
Orthodox Greece was "an anomaly" in Catholic and Protestant Europe. It
has also led to discussions about the ways in which the world's Orthodox
believers and churches are likely to try to influence EU policy.
The Moscow Patriarchate appears to be taking the lead in these discussions.
In its journal "Tserkovniy vestnik" last month, Bishop Ilarion of Vienna and
Austria, whose see is part of the Patriarchal Church, considered the
implications of the increased presence of Orthodoxy within the European
Union and the ways in which the Patriarch might be able to take advantage
of this development.
In an article entitled "Orthodoxy in the New Europe: Problems and
Perspectives," Ilarion notes that 94 percent of the world's Orthodox
Christians live in Europe. But until recently, the only Orthodox country to
be an EU member was Greece, a situation which limited the influence of
Orthodoxy and its ideas on European Union thinking about a wide variety
of topics.
The EU's recent expansion has changed that fundamentally. There are now
three more Orthodox countries -- Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus -- and five
countries with significant Orthodox diaspora minorities -- Poland, Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia -- inside the EU. As a result, Ilarion
writes, the EU now has tens of thousands of Orthodox communities and tens
of millions of Orthodox believers.
The Vienna-based bishop acknowledged that it is certainly not correct to
view all of these people as a single community with a single set of ideas.
There are both religious and political divisions within it, and many of the
Orthodox hierarchies remain very much at odds with each other.
But Ilarion argues that now, "when the identity of the new Europe is just
being formed, when basic legal documents are being drawn up which will
define the face of the European Union, Orthodox believers need to take an
active part in the dialogue with European political structures."
That is particularly the case, he says, because at present there is "a real
threat that Western liberal ideology will be declared the only legitimate
model of social development in a unified Europe." That ideology, Ilarion
continues, does not foresee an active role for the church and religious
organizations in social and political life. Instead, it views religion as a
purely personal affair of individuals.
"Such an understanding," he continues, "contradicts" the fundamental
understanding of Orthodoxy and must be opposed. It is critically important,
he continues, that the church be willing to confront and oppose this liberal
European ideology and thereby to defend not only the specific teachings of
the church on such issues as abortion and same-sex marriage but also ensure
that the Church as such will play a major role in helping to direct
political and social life throughout the European Union.
Ilarion concludes with the following paragraph: "The Russian Orthodox Church
observes with interest the development of the 'European project' and through
its Brussels Representation at the European Union takes a most active part
in the discussion. Being a supranational Church represented on the territory
of the European Union by several eparchies, hundreds of parishes and
hundreds of thousands of believers, the Moscow Patriarchate attaches great
importance to the process of European integration which in our opinion must
lead to the creation of a multipolar Europe where the rights of religious
communities will be respected. Only in that event will Europe become a
genuine home for the Church and for religious groups, including the
Orthodox Church."
That the Moscow Patriarchate intends to do more than just watch this process
is clear not only from the bishop's article but also from the remarks of
Patriarch Aleksii II and Metropolitan Kirill to the Church Council meeting
in Moscow this week. Both church leaders used their speeches at these
sessions to underscore their concerns about Church affairs in Europe and to
recommit their church to working with the Russian government to promote
common interests on the continent.
In this sense then, Bishop Ilarion is completely correct: the European Union
is rapidly becoming a "new Europe," a place where many old assumptions
are no longer valid. Orthodox Christians are an important part of this
change, and they seem certain to play an expanded role in EU policy making.
The growing influence of Orthodoxy within the EU in turn will open the way
for the Russian Orthodox Church to expand its role there as well, both on
behalf of its own corporate interests and in order to advance the foreign
policy interests of the Russian state. -30-
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Paul Goble teaches at the EuroCollege of the University of Tartu in Estonia.
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