"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"
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO
Before the European Parliament in Brussels
"I am proud to take the floor in the European Parliament. I am happy to
present to you a country that has come up with a powerful symbol in recent
European history. The torn-down Berlin Wall, the Warsaw round table, the
orange Maydan [Independence Square] in Kiev - these are the symbols of
new Europe, symbols of a continent that will never revert to
totalitarianism, ethnic cleansing or famine, symbols of countries that have
rejected lies and defended the truth, symbols of citizens willing to die for
freedom, for the triumph of democracy, for the right to live in a united
and free Europe." [article one]
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" - Number 435
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Washington, D.C. and Kyiv, Ukraine, THURSDAY, February 24, 2005
-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ADDRESSES EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1123 gmt 23 Feb 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, February 23, 2005
2. EU'S SOLANA PUTS FORWARD INITIATIVE TO HOLD AN
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON UKRAINE'S REGIONAL
ROLE AND UKRAINIAN-EU POLITICAL COOPERATION
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 0930 gmt 23 Feb 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, Wed, February 23, 2005
3. A NEW 'LINE HAS BEEN DRAWN IN THE SAND
The bar has been raised to a new level
E. Morgan Williams, Editor, The Action Ukraine Report
Washington, D.C., Thursday, February 24, 2005
4. ROMANIA PLEASED WITH NATO SUMMIT STANCE ON
TIES WITH UKRAINE SAYS PRESIDENT BASESCU
Rompres news agency, Bucharest, Romania, Wed, 23 Feb 05
5. YUSHCHENKO AND SLOVAKIA'S PRESIDENT GASPAROVIC
DISCUSS FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS IN UKRAINE
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, February 23, 2005
6. POLAND SUPPORTS UKRAINE'S EU ASPIRATIONS
PAP news agency, Warsaw, in Polish 1634 gmt 23 Feb 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, February 23, 2005 (16:34)
7. FIRST WORKING VISIT: SHEVCHENKO SITES IN UKRAINE
For Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Premier for Humanitarian Affairs
Taras Shevchenko memorial sites are among the new
Ukrainian government's top priorities
By Nadiya Tysiachna, The Day Weekly Digest In English, #6
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, 22 February 2005
8. AN IRISHMAN'S DIARY: HERE IN LUBLIN, POLAND
Lublin showed support for the Ukrainian opposition, sported orange ribbons
Alan Desmond, Irish Times, Ireland, Feb 19, 2005
9. IN BELARUS AND MOLDOVA, HOPES FOR DEMOCRACY
By Judy Dempsey, The New York Times
International Herald Tribune, Europe, Thursday, Feb 24, 2005
10. BELARUS: JEFFERSON IN MINSK?
COMMENTARY: By Peter Savodnik
The Wall Street Journal, NY, NY, Friday, February 11, 2005
11. PUTIN'S POLITOLOGIST CONSIDERS UKRAINE TO BE
VITALLY IMPORTANT FOR RUSSIA
Ukrayinska Pravda, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, February 23, 2005
Article translated by Natalie Paschynska
12. LAND CONFLICT LOOMS IN UKRAINE'S CRIMEA, TATAR LEADER
Black Sea TV, Simferopol, in Russian 1700 gmt 22 Feb 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, February 22, 2005
13. YUSHCHENKO POISONING INVESTIGATION NEARING CLIMAX
Noose tightens around Russia in Ukrainian poisoning inquiry
By Taras Kuzio, Eurasia Daily Monitor
Volume 2, Issue 35, The Jamestown Foundation,
Washington, D.C., Friday, February 18, 2005
14. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT SAYS TWO WITNESSES IN JOURNALIST
MURDER CASE HAVE BEEN MURDERED
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1130 gmt 23 Feb 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, February 23, 2005 (11:30)
==========================================================
1. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ADDRESSES EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1123 gmt 23 Feb 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, February 23, 2005
KIEV - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has said the country's ultimate
goal is EU membership and that talks on its entry should begin when the
action plans is fulfilled in 2007. Addressing the European Parliament,
Yushchenko said he did not regard the Neighbourhood Policy as an appropriate
basis for further cooperation with the EU and that Ukraine should be viewed
as an "inalienable part of united Europe".
At the same time, he did not rule out improving relations with Russia,
saying he did not see Ukraine's integration with the EU as being
incompatible with closer ties to Russia. He said a stable and democratic
Russia was a key interest for Ukraine that would also guarantee a stable
and secure Europe.
He said he hoped the changes that Ukraine would need to implement would
create a transparent and competitive market economy, making the country more
attractive to inward investment, while rooting out corruption and easing the
tax burden. He also thanked the parliament for its support during the Orange
Revolution, calling its members godfathers of the new democratic Ukraine.
The following is the text of the report by Ukrainian television TV 5 Kanal:
[Yushchenko] Dear Mr President, dear members of the European Parliament,
ladies and gentlemen. It is a great honour and pleasure for me to speak in
this room today. The European Parliament is a symbol of democracy in the
European Union while democracy is the value that unites all of us today.
It is the foundation of the unity, wellbeing and prosperity of each separate
state that has succeeded in protecting its right to free expression and also
of the whole European continent, which has managed to leave war and
animosity behind and to build a union of democratic states and a union of
free citizens.
I am proud to take the floor in the European Parliament. I am happy to
present to you a country that has come up with a powerful symbol in recent
European history. The torn-down Berlin Wall, the Warsaw round table, the
orange Maydan [Independence Square] in Kiev - these are the symbols of
new Europe, symbols of a continent that will never revert to
totalitarianism, ethnic cleansing or famine, symbols of countries that have
rejected lies and defended the truth, symbols of citizens willing to die for
freedom, for the triumph of democracy, for the right to live in a united
and free Europe.
The space of freedom from Lisbon to Warsaw now reaches Kiev, Lviv,
Kharkiv and Odessa, and no-one is capable of defeating the people.
Freedom cannot be stopped - either in Europe or in the rest of the world.
The Orange Revolution has shown that Ukraine is part of European
civilization, not only geographically, but also in terms of values,
politically, spiritually and mentally. [applause]
My country has already seen the second civilized handover of power to a
democratically elected president, not an appointed heir, and not through
bloodshed or violence but in a peaceful, transparent and democratic way.
Democracy has prevailed no matter how much it cost Ukrainians and me
personally.
It became possible only thanks to the birth of a true civil society in
Ukraine, the emergence of a strong middle class, independent politicians and
businessmen, honest judges, civil servants and law-enforcers - thanks to the
birth of a modern political nation in Ukraine.
THANKS EUROPEANS FOR SUPPORTING REVOLUTION
You, European Parliament members, can rightfully consider yourselves
godfathers of the new democratic Ukraine. In the unforgettable days of the
Orange Revolution, the feeling of support from Europeans was among the main
incentives to help us close ranks, overcome the problems and win. The hearts
of true Europeans were beating on Maydan during the cold November and
December days and nights.
Here, within the walls of the European Parliament, you were the first ones
to hear and realize that a new civil society was being born and a new page
in the history of creating the universal space of democracy on the European
continent was being written.
In keeping with a Ukrainian custom, I would like to bow my head in respect
and to thank you sincerely for supporting democracy in Ukraine at the
difficult times of the Ukrainian people's struggle for their freedom.
[applause]
Dear friends, we are together now. Ukraine still has a lot to do to become a
fully fledged member of the European family of nations, but we have achieved
the main thing - we are united by common values and common goals, the
realization of common history and adherence to the idea of building a common
future. This feeling of unity is much stronger than any words, declarations
or rhetoric.
Dear friends, my country is on the brink of new pivotal changes today. The
process of reforming the country reminds me of the process of baking bread.
Quality ingredients are needed. Painstaking and skilled work is needed. Once
the dough is ready, a mould is needed for the delicious loaf to take shape.
The new president and government of Ukraine have clearly defined the
ingredients and forms for future decisions. These are the norms and
standards of the European Union, its legislation, legal, political, economic
and social culture. European integration is the most effective and, in fact,
the only programme of reforms for contemporary Ukraine.
A lot has been done in recent years to start Ukraine's European integration.
Entry to the European Union has been identified as the main task for state
power bodies and Ukraine's strategic foreign-policy course. But despite some
headway, declarations on integration with Europe have largely remained mere
words.
Authoritarianism, violations of democratic rights and standards, pressure on
the mass media, violations of freedom of speech, persecution of the
opposition, corruption and abuse of power stood in the way. This was
precisely what compelled Ukrainians to take to the streets and squares.
The triumph of democracy has drastically changed my country. Favourable
conditions have been created both for domestic reforms and for progress in
relations with the European Union. Neither Ukraine nor the European Union
has the right to squander this unique chance, in my opinion.
Dear friends, I think highly of your readiness to use the unique chance that
destiny has bestowed upon us. The European Parliament proved its
far-sightedness by adopting a historic resolution on 13 January this year. I
believe that your call for the Council of Europe, the Council of the
European Union, the European Commission and the member states to give
Ukraine a clear European prospect will be heeded and supported. We
positively view the extension of the Ukraine-EU action plan signed the other
day. Ukraine hails any steps to broaden our cooperation in line with new
political reality.
The fulfilment of the plan is an important stage in our cooperation. I would
like to confirm that Ukraine will carry it out in a persistent and resolute
manner. This is one of the most important challenges for my government.
Ukraine will do everything in its power to make sure that, in just one
year's time, a joint analysis of the plan's implementation shows a positive
outcome.
REJECTS NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICY AS BASIS FOR FURTHER RELATIONS
We want the successful implementation of the action plan to open the way for
change to the legal base of our relations. I hope that by 2007 we will
manage to complete talks on Ukraine's entry into the European Union. The
main thing is to start the negotiating process.
I believe that the fulfilment of the action plan will open the possibility
of a European associate membership accord being signed with Ukraine. In the
meantime, I would like to stress that we do not perceive the Neighbourhood
Policy as an adequate basis for further Ukraine-EU relations. The format of
our ties should proceed from the recognition of Ukraine as an inalienable
part of united Europe. [applause]
Dear friends. Allow me to reiterate that we view Ukraine's cooperation with
the European Union within the framework of implementing the action plan
beyond the context of the Neighbourhood Policy. We by no means view such
cooperation as an alternative to dialogue on a new long-term policy of
rapprochement. We suggest that such dialogue should be prepared already
now, defining its goal as giving Ukraine the prospect of membership in
accordance with the EU's statutory documents.
We welcome the position of our partners who propose that the European
Union work out a new prospect for relations with Ukraine. These are
important signals which we regard as support for our plans.
GOAL IS EU ENTRY
Dear colleagues. The aim of my country, the main task of my government and
me personally is Ukraine's entry into the European Union. The final result
of the implementation of the action plan, which we are ready to speed up,
has to be the signing of a new, reinforced accord in the form of a European
associate membership accord.
In order to direct cooperation along these lines, Ukraine is ready to submit
a formal request for membership in the EU, in accordance with Article 49 of
the European Union Treaty. Ukraine is ready to walk the distance to meet the
Copenhagen criteria for EU membership. I would like to state in clear terms
that we realize that the bulk of the work to integrate Ukraine into the EU
has to be done by Ukrainians themselves.
If we fail to carry out quick and effective reforms, the European Union will
not help us. No-one will put our Ukrainian home in order for us. That is why
my government has worked out a five-year action programme aimed at
carrying out a set of reforms needed to obtain EU membership.
A deputy prime minister for European integration has been appointed to the
government to coordinate work to efficiently implement the norms and
standards of the European Union. Also, the changes will be aimed at
completing the process of creating a functioning, transparent and
competitive market economy, increasing Ukraine's attractiveness for
investment, reducing the tax burden and rooting out corruption.
The independence and efficiency of the judiciary will be stepped up. The
full-scale implementation of principles of a law-governed state will be
ensured. During my tenure, no-one will hear of my government violating
freedom of speech, muzzling the mass media or restricting human rights in
Ukraine.
The lofty aims of European integration require the conduct of administrative
reform - [interrupted by applause] The lofty aims of European integration
require the conduct of administrative reform and reinforcement of the
institutional abilities of bodies of state power. It has to be carried out
within the shortest space of time possible and has to adapt our domestic
state bureaucracy to modern requirements and challenges. This has to
ensure the authorities' efficiency in fulfilling their policies, to raise
responsibility for the results of those policies and, finally, to renew
people's trust.
We will do all we can to make the authorities' actions transparent and
understandable and the policies predictable and consistent.
PROMISES SWEEPING REFORM
Another component is all-embracing social reforms - pension reform,
reform of health care and education.
An undoubted priority is the creation of safe conditions for people's
lives - reform of law-enforcement bodies and the army, the fight against
smuggling, drugs trade, trafficking in people and human organs and illegal
migration. We wish our whole system of protection, security, law and order
to work, with EU support, to function in line with European standards -
smoothly and efficiently yet with typically European respect both for human
rights and human dignity.
However, we together should remove the artificial barriers to free
communication between our peoples. I am convinced that there should be
no discrimination there. The borders should be open and transparent to legal
trade and law-abiding citizens, but should be closed to criminals,
terrorists and smuggling.
Ukraine will keep pressing for its citizens' right to free travel in
Europe - a right allowing Ukrainian citizens to directly appreciate the
advantages and achievements of the European Union. We are ready to
confirm the seriousness of the proclaimed intentions by practical everyday
painstaking work.
I would like the spirit of European integration to pervade every internal
decision, be it in the economy or any other area. Not as an exception or an
episode, or a fad, but permanently and persistently. This is my vision of
the European philosophy of my activities and the activities of the new
Ukrainian government.
My government will move from words on European integration to deeds.
However, without political and practical support from the European Union,
the implementation of the European integration course will be much more
complicated, although it will not stop our European-integration choice,
which is final and no subject to revision. But perhaps no-one in this room
will deny that it is the prospect of EU membership that is the best tool
and the most effective incentive both for reforms inside the country and
for rapprochement with united Europe.
Ukrainians have taken a brave and courageous step towards democracy and
the European Union. It is time for a brave and courageous step to be taken
towards Ukraine.
Ladies and gentlemen, European and Euro-Atlantic integration as the biggest
promoter of internal reforms, stronger democracy, the supremacy of the law,
civil society, respect for ethnic minorities and regions and stronger local
government will remain a key foreign-policy priority during my presidential
term.
At the same time, we, like no-one else, are interested in improving
relations with the Russian Federation and other neighbours. Movement towards
united Europe, no matter how fast it may be, is not a problem for Russia. It
will only foster further rapprochement between the European Union and the
Russian Federation.
PLEDGES CLOSER COOPERATION WITH RUSSIA
No-one can or has a right to believe that Ukraine's integration into the
European Union is incompatible with the development of closer cooperation
with Russia. I would like to state openly - do not believe those who claim
that Ukraine's EU integration is not in the interests of Russia, much less,
would isolate Russia from Europe. I am convinced that this is not true.
Just the opposite, Ukraine in the European Union, just as Ukraine in NATO,
will never allow these structures to be used against the just interests of
the Russian people. A stable, democratic and reformed Russia, integrated
into European economic and political ties is a key interest for Ukraine and
a guarantee of a stable, secure and prosperous Europe.
The development of multifaceted, mutually beneficial cooperation with the
Russian Federation will be complemented by Ukraine's new active regional
policy. Today we have good prospects for stepping up cooperation between
Ukraine and the EU in settling the Dniester problem, new opportunities to
settle other frozen conflicts. Ukraine is ready to come up with new
initiatives as to those issues, but our main mission lies in spreading EU
values, Europe's civic, bureaucratic and legal culture, to this region,
promoting the development of practical aspects of European integration,
transborder cooperation, transport and energy networks and so on.
Regional integration on the basis of European aims and values, the formation
of an area of stability and cooperation from Vitsebsk to Baku, a space as
homogeneous as possible with the European Union represented by countries
that aspire to meet European norms and standards constitute a key goal for
Ukraine. It is this vision that can be the final step towards new Europe.
Esteemed members of the European Parliament. History teaches - our common
values cannot be deemed to be set in stone for ever. It is our duty to
defend them every day and every hour. We should jointly build the walls of
the house in which our peoples live. A divided home cannot survive. Holy
Scripture says that when a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand
long. Europe's strength is in unity.
You witnessed Ukraine enriching Europe's palette with a new orange hue.
New bright colours are yet to come, because there is nothing more creative
or powerful than victorious freedom. It created Europe, and that's where
Europe's future lies. Time has come to gather stones. Time has come to
start the final stage of building a united Europe.
I believe that we are worthy of this truly momentous mission. I know we are
together on this path. That is why I am confident that we are capable of
mastering it. Thank you for your attention. [applause] -30-
==========================================================
2. EU'S SOLANA PUTS FORWARD INITIATIVE TO HOLD AN
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON UKRAINE'S REGIONAL
ROLE AND UKRAINIAN-EU POLITICAL COOPERATION
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 0930 gmt 23 Feb 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, Wed, February 23, 2005
BRUSSELS -The EU high representative for security and foreign affairs,
Javier Solana, has put forward an initiative to hold an international
conference on Ukraine's regional role and Ukrainian-EU political
cooperation. Solana was speaking at a meeting with Ukrainian President
Viktor Yushchenko in Brussels, UNIAN learnt from the Ukrainian
presidential press service.
The meeting was also attended by the secretary of the National Security
and Defence Council of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, the deputy prime
minister for European integration, Oleh Rybachuk, and Foreign Minister
Borys Tarasyuk.
The parties discussed Ukraine's plans as to European integration and
specific steps to implement them, such as securing market status for the
Ukrainian economy, gaining WTO membership, creating a free-trade
area with the EU and easing visa requirements between Ukraine and
the EU. The subject of joint energy projects was also raised, in particular
the security of energy supplies.
Ukraine's role as a guarantor of security in the east European region was
also discussed. Yushchenko said that Ukraine has plenty of opportunities to
settle the Dniester conflict. "There are certain hot spots around Ukraine,
and we would like them to cool down," he said. The president said this also
concerned borders, smuggling and illegal migration.
Solana proposed that an international conference on Ukraine's regional role
and Ukrainian-EU political cooperation should be held. He suggested inviting
representatives of CIS countries, primarily Russia, to the conference to
hold an open discussion of topical issues.
In a comment to journalists, Yushchenko noted that Ukraine appreciates the
attained level of relations with the EU. "We have good initiatives in sight,
and we are thankful to the European side for such a proactive position," he
said, summing up his meeting with the EU top representative. For his part,
Solana gave a positive assessment of the talks and stressed that the EU
supports Ukrainian reforms.
Solana also greeted Yushchenko on his birthday. -30-
==========================================================
3. A NEW 'LINE HAS BEEN DRAWN IN THE SAND
The bar has been raised to a new level
E. Morgan Williams, Editor, The Action Ukraine Report
Washington, D.C., Thursday, February 24, 2005
Washington, D.C. -The announcement below by the Yushchenko family
is an amazing statement in today's world of political sleaze and corruption.
It is certainly tangible evidence of true leadership, of making a complete
break with Ukraine's Soviet and corrupt past, of strong moral and one
could surely say 'enlightened' leadership. This is standing for what is
right, for what is honest and transparent...putting ones words into clear,
decisive and meaningful action.
Take a look at what this announcement says and all of its implications
for Ukrainian government officials, business leaders, for society in
general and for the top leaders of many countries around the world
who do not, in reality, come close to living out the principles and
guidelines set in the Yushchenko's statement.
A new 'line' has been drawn in the sand...the bar has been raised to a
new level. Every one can be proud to have such a leader in Ukraine
who is now on the world stage and who will make such pronouncements.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NO EXPENSIVE GIFTS FOR YUSHCHENKO ON HIS BIRTHDAY
Money saved should be given to museums, hospitals, children's homes
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, February 21, 2005
KYIV - The family of President Viktor Yuschenko is asking people not to
make him expensive gifts for his [51st] birthday on February 23. Yuschenko's
press secretary Iryna Heraschenko reported this to journalists. ''During the
time of Yuschenko's presidency there will be no loud receptions, magnificent
celebrations on birthdays, no car cavalcades, luxurious bouquets and
super-expensive gifts," she said.
At the same time, Yuschenko's family will be glad to receive congratulations
in form of post-cards, telegrams and greeting messages on the personal web
site.
According to Heraschenko, jewelry and other valuable gifts will be
considered as failure to understand the changes that are underway in the
country and in the authority and as failure to feel the new political
culture. She stressed that this request concerns not only this year, but
also all other years of Yuschenko's presidency.
She said that the president's birthday is not the state holiday. "Viktor
Yuschenko's birthday is a great holiday for his family, friends, and close
relatives," Heraschenko said. The press secretary said that Yuschenko and
his wife Kateryna Chumachenko will be glad if the money saved on the gifts
will be channeled to support museums, hospitals, children's homes, other
social and humanitarian goals. "This will be the best gift for the
president," Heraschenko said. -30- [Action Ukraine Monitoring Service]
==========================================================
4. ROMANIA PLEASED WITH NATO SUMMIT STANCE ON
TIES WITH UKRAINE SAYS PRESIDENT BASESCU
Rompres news agency, Bucharest, Romania, Wed, 23 Feb 05
BUCHAREST - As far as Romania is concerned, the NATO summit meeting
in Brussels was a success as it reasserted the need for cross-border
relations to become the solution to preserve security, President Traian
Basescu said on Tuesday 22 February. Romania's President held a press
conference in Brussels to present the conclusions of the Romanian delegation
at the end of the North Atlantic Council convention, the Public
Communication Department of the Romanian Presidential Administration
reports in a press release. [Passage omitted]
The head of state highlighted the need for Ukraine to be extended very
strong support from NATO member states in order to succeed with the
democratization process. This process, he said, is limited by the state
apparatus inherited. [Passage omitted]
Ukraine's future is within the democratic community of the European nations
and Europe will be neither complete nor free until Ukraine, the Republic of
Moldova and southern Caucasus are anchored in the Euro-Atlantic community,
Romanian President Traian Basescu said on Tuesday in Brussels during the
NATO-Ukraine Commission that held debates ahead of the meeting of the
North Atlantic Council.
Basescu explained Romania's position on the NATO-Ukraine relation, stressing
that the exceptional achievement of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko
and the Ukrainian people will forever remain a strong landmark for
supporting a laborious effort for the country's democratic transformation
and the achievement of the major projects of Ukraine.
"A sustained pace of domestic reforms will intrinsically lead to a stepped
up relation with the Western institutions and NATO in particular. The Annual
Target Plan sets a framework aimed at channelling the dialogue between NATO
and Ukraine in the best possible way and it prepares a solid basis for the
future progress towards a National Accession Plan," he said.
The Romanian president believes Ukraine and its current leaders need firm
and steady support from its neighbours, NATO and EU member countries as
well as from the entire Western community in order to back the country's
project of democratic change and to become a part of the Euro-Atlantic
mainstream.
"Romania, as a neighbouring country, has a real interest in a vigorous
development of Ukraine," Basescu stressed, while voicing readiness to
actively cooperate with the new Kiev leadership.
The Romanian head of state underscored that the developments in Ukraine
and those of a year ago in Georgia have opened the way for the advance of
democracy, security and economic prosperity in the entire Black Sea region
and said he hoped the Republic of Moldova would follow the same democratic
path towards a European future.
"The forthcoming elections will be a democracy test for Moldova. We shall
monitor them closely. Ukraine can play a constructive role in making
progress towards resolving the Transdniester conflict, an acute security
problem at the eastern border of the Euro-Atlantic community," Basescu
pointed out. He hailed Ukraine's recent moves to refuse goods transit at its
border with the Republic of Moldova without an adequate approval from the
Moldovan authorities. Romania, together with other democratic nations,
will stand by Ukraine's side so as to consolidate its democratic successes
and promote its strive for Euro-Atlantic integration, President Basescu
said. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
==========================================================
5. YUSHCHENKO AND SLOVAKIA'S PRESIDENT GASPAROVIC
DISCUSS FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS IN UKRAINE
Ukrainian News Agency, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, February 23, 2005
KYIV - President Viktor Yuschenko and Slovakia's President Ivan
Gasparovic have met in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss foreign investments in
Ukraine. Ukrainian News learned this from the official website of Yuschenko.
Gasparovic told Yuschenko about the experience of his country in this area.
The Ukrainian President noted that its experience is interesting as the
volume of investment in Ukraine per capita is 20 times less than it is per
one citizen in Slovakia.
The Heads of State spoke of the need to step up trade and economic
partnership between their countries. They looked into a possibility of
simplification of the visa regime for residents in the Ukrainian region of
Zakarpattia. Yuschenko and Gasparovic invited each other to visit their
countries. As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Yuschenko left for Brussels
on February 21 to attend a meeting of the Ukrainian-NATO Commission
on February 22. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
==========================================================
6. POLAND SUPPORTS UKRAINE'S EU ASPIRATIONS
PAP news agency, Warsaw, in Polish 1634 gmt 23 Feb 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, February 23, 2005 (16:34)
KIEV - No-one and nothing is going to change Poland's position that Ukraine
is entitled to and should in the future become a member of the European
Union, Sejm [lower house of parliament] Speaker Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz
declared on Wednesday [23 February] in Kiev after meeting Ukrainian Prime
Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko.
"This means a great effort on the part of Ukraine but also the introduction
into the awareness of the EU member states of the fact that such a prospect
should be declared," Cimoszewicz said to journalists after his talks with
the head of the Ukrainian government.
He added that he had tried to explain in the course of the meeting that now,
"when not all of the former members of the European Union are convinced that
the latest expansion by 10 new states was useful, it is hard to expect from
politicians clear declarations about further expansions not planned so far".
The Sejm Speaker said that his talks with Tymoshenko also concerned the
Odessa-Brody oil pipeline. According to him, Prime Minister Marek Belka
will visit Kiev on 3-4 March and the issue will then be discussed in detail.
"Poland is treating this as a strategic project," Cimoszewicz said. He also
expressed the hope that there will be companies, not only Polish and
Ukrainian, who will spot their interests in the implementation of this
undertaking.
Cimoszewicz also referred to the issue of the Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian
parliamentary assembly which he had earlier discussed with the head of the
Ukrainian parliament, Volodymyr Lytvyn.
Cimoszewicz explained that the assembly would be used, among other things,
for an exchange of contacts, especially concerning European problems. He
added that the trilateral assembly would supplement, rather than replacing,
the existing bilateral assemblies which now operate in parliaments of
Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine. -30-
==========================================================
7. FIRST WORKING VISIT: SHEVCHENKO SITES IN UKRAINE
For Mykola Tomenko, Deputy Premier for Humanitarian Affairs
Taras Shevchenko memorial sites are among the new
Ukrainian government's top priorities
By Nadiya Tysiachna, The Day Weekly Digest In English, #6
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, 22 February 2005
Deputy Premier for Humanitarian Affairs Mykola Tomenko paid a working
visit to various Shevchenko sites in Ukraine: the villages of Moryntsi,
Shevchenkove, and Budyshche, located in Cherkasy oblast. He was
accompanied by the governor of the oblast, Oleksandr Cherevko, the
writer Dmytro Pavlychko, and the artist Ivan Marchuk.
In a telephone interview with Liudmyla Shevchenko, manager of the Shevchenko
Homeland Cultural Preserve, The Day asked if the top-level visit had led to
any results. The Day has been a volunteer curator of the museum complex that
includes Moryntsi, Shevchenkove, and Budyshche.
Under the Soviets, Shevchenkove was the site of a literary-memorial museum
that in 1992 was converted into the State Historical and Cultural Preserve
"Batkivshchyna Tarasa Shevchenka" (Taras Shevchenko's Homeland),
incorporating three places connected with the poet's birth, childhood, and
youth.
In 2003 The Day was among the first newspapers to write about the social
problems confronting Moryntsi, Shevchenkove, and Budyshche. Despite the
general reverence for the Kobzar, these villages had no gas and fresh water
supplies. Shevchenkove didn't even have a normal grade school. Liudmyla
Shevchenko revealed this when she visited The Day, noting that every year
some 22,000 people visit the preserve.
The figure is even higher during jubilee years, but there is still no hotel
or even road signs. Visitors must be provided with accommodations, so
that the town can become a true Shevchenko shrine embodying the cultural
grandeur of the Ukrainian nation.
The Day dispatched a reporter to Moryntsi and Shevchenkove. He observed
the conditions in which the people are living and their children studying,
and met with schoolteachers and students, to whom he distributed copies
of the books Ukraine Incognita and Dvi Rusi from our newspaper's
Library Series.
After a series of articles appeared on Shevchenko's birthplace, the
newspaper received thank-you letters from the poet's countrymen, but not
a word from the bureaucrats, although Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr
Lytvyn and President Kuchma ended up visiting the cultural preserve some
time later.
Last year, the long-overdue construction of a primary school was completed
in Shevchenkove, but it still has no sewage and central heating, just gas.
The classrooms were hard to heat with coal, so the children had to sit at
their desks wearing coats or windbreakers. The large-scale construction
project was in debt by more than 200,000 hryvnias, still owed to the
builders and suppliers of materials in Zvenyhorodka, Cherkasy oblast.
The grade school in Moryntsi doesn't have any central heating either,
because there is no boiler room. They also wanted to build a new school. A
foundation was laid and walls were put up, but then the local authorities
decided to renovate the old building rather than give themselves another
headache with a new project that could last for years. The boiler room of
the house-museum in Shevchenkove still has to be connected to the gas
pipeline.
Mykola Tomenko told The Day that he would "undertake to resolve these
important tasks. The restoration of the Shevchenko sites will be among the
priorities of this government's humanitarian policy." Liudmyla Shevchenko
said that the number-one task is to separate the National Preserve in Kaniv
from Shevchenko's Homeland, because the latter actually ceased to exist
after it downgraded to a branch; its bank accounts have been frozen.
The two institutions were merged by a cabinet resolution last September,
whereupon the museum complex in Moryntsi, Shevchenkove, and Budyshche
was transferred from the local to the central budget. National museum
status, pending since 2002, was finally granted, although this fact does not
figure in any statutory documents.
After meeting with the deputy premier, Liudmyla Shevchenko is sure that the
problem will be solved in the nearest future, maybe even before March 9.
There is reason for this enthusiasm, as Mykola Tomenko says that he "called
a meeting on this subject the very next day and drafted a resolution stating
that the preserve must be reinstated as a legal entity with national
status."
The museum complex still faces many problems. Owing to lack of funds, the
management hasn't been able to obtain a deed for the land for the past 12
years. This document would certify that Shevchenko's Homeland is the legal
owner of the land, which accommodates various historical and architectural
relics. Officially, this registration costs over 20,000 hryvnias.
Another problem is the construction of a building for the administration
staff of the Moryntsi memorial. The incredibly dedicated employees have been
working outdoors for the past decade. Until recently, the manager of the
museum complex had to make do without a computer and was therefore
unable to establish contact with the world's leading museums.
She hopes that the administration building will have an exhibition hall
where items could be exchanged within the complex itself, among museums in
Cherkasy oblast and elsewhere in Ukraine and the world, and where works
by domestic artists could be exhibited. "I think that writers and artists
would also visit, given adequate accommodations," Liudmyla Shevchenko
said when she visited The Day in January 2003.
Commenting further, Mykola Tomenko said, "We've agreed with Oleksandr
Cherevko, the head of the regional administration, that the bulk of work on
the premises for the museum staff will be completed by March 9. These are
the short-term priorities. However, there are other outstanding matters,
like restoring the village's original name, Kerelivka (renamed Shevchenkove
in 1929 - Ed.). The strategic plans will take at least five years to
implement. By this I mean the attempt to unite Trakhtemyriv, Kaniv,
Moryntsi, Shevchenkove, and Budyshche into a single complex.
I want people who come to visit Shevchenko sites to start by exploring
Shevchenko's Homeland, the place of his birth, where the poetic genius first
began learning about the surrounding world and where he made his first
drawings. His spirit and energy are still alive there. After that, visitors
should be taken to Kaniv to pay their respects at his gravesite on top of
Chernecha Hill. We'll begin by expanding the infrastructure from this
preserve.
In fact, this so-called historical triangle doesn't have a single place
where people can buy coffee or tea, let alone hot meals, and forget about
hotel accommodations." Asked about funding, the deputy premier replied,
"We will be using the principle of multilevel funding - in other words,
contributions from the budget of the region where a given project is being
carried out, from private business and investments, and finally from the
central budget."
This first and, in a way, symbolic visit of the newly appointed minister and
other government officials is being closely followed by the general public.
Their attitude to Ukraine's national shrines is a kind of test that will
show whether these dignitaries are suitable for the people of this country.
Time will show whether these trips are productive. -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.day.kiev.ua/132824
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTE: The information in the above article is very welcome and
exciting news. Ukraine has many wonderful historical sites, museums,
and other places of special interest that need considerable attention
from the new government. President Yushchenko, with his life-long
interest in Ukrainian history, folkart, and village life is just the person
needed to revive and enhance Ukraine's historical heritage. It is
important to let President Yushchenko and Mykola Tomenko, Deputy
Premier for Humanitarian Affairs know we appreciate their interest
and commitment to substantially improve the Taras Shevchenko
memorial sites. Morgan Williams, Editor, The Action Ukraine Report
==========================================================
8. AN IRISHMAN'S DIARY: HERE IN LUBLIN, POLAND
Lublin showed support for the Ukrainian opposition, sported orange ribbons
By Alan Desmond, Irish Times, Ireland, Feb 19, 2005
Here in Lublin, Poland, heavy snowfalls have usually begun by the end of
December with the city remaining heavily blanketed until at least the end of
March. In residential areas one often wakes early at this time of year to
the crack and scrape of shovels against the pavement, writes Alan Desmond.
For the most part, though, the favoured weapon in the struggle against the
snow is not the shovel but sand. Rickety motorised contraptions that pass
for trucks spew it onto the roads and shabbily dressed men amble along the
footpaths digging fistfuls of sand from a bucket, scattering it haphazardly
about.
This snow-sand mixture is as difficult to negotiate as is a beach of dry
sand. So it is little wonder that a common topic of conversation among the
denizens of Lublin this January was the absence of any snow. Much was
made of the fact that instead of - 10, temperatures were closer to 10
degrees Celsius.
By the end of the month, though, the snow had fallen thick and fast and
temperatures sank to the freezing levels that winter in this part of Poland
usually brings.
Such factors count for little, however, with an appreciable number of Polish
young women who, regardless of weather, will pull on knee-high boots and
knee-length skirts.
Standing less than 200 kilometres south-east of Warsaw and just 100
kilometres west of the Ukrainian border, Lublin is the biggest city in
eastern Poland with a population of 400,000. Despite its inhospitable
climate, it has much to recommend it. The city has a youthful and vibrant
feel, thanks largely to its five third-level colleges. In one of these, the
Catholic University of Lublin (KUL), Irish has been taught since 1984. KUL's
most celebrated former employee is Karol Wojtyla, who was professor of
ethics there until his election as Pope in 1978. Under Communism the
university was a stronghold of Catholic intellectual opposition; it
currently numbers among its staff two MEPs.
Students of the five-year English Philology MA course are obliged to take
either Irish or Welsh for three hours a week during their third and fourth
years. This is as great a surprise to many students as it might be to their
Irish counterparts. There is, however, a genuine appreciation of this
unusual opportunity. Classes are sometimes attended by students from
neighbouring universities, student-run Irish dancing classes are held weekly
and an annual Celtic Days festival is organised in April, with lectures on
Celtic history and culture and workshops on Irish and Welsh, all culminating
in a night of Celtic-flavoured conviviality.
The highlight of Lublin is without doubt its old town, which contrasts
sharply with the surrounding residential tower blocks that dominate the
landscape as far as the eye can see. With its cobbled streets and fading
facades, the old town gives a sense of authenticity and faded grandeur. One
can imagine without much difficulty how life might have looked during its
heyday as a commercial and cultural centre in the 16th century.
During summer months the area spills over with the outdoor furniture of its
many cafes and restaurants as Lublin's inhabitants re-emerge from their
homes, having first made sure that winter has definitely bade them farewell.
The old town also holds the seemingly obligatory Irish pub. Apart from its
higher than average prices, there is little about the place that brings
Ireland to mind. It is, nevertheless, frequented by Lublin's trendy and
moneyed sets as well as by the city's small Irish community.
A number of plaques around the old town serve as a reminder that before the
second World War Lublin was one of the most important Jewish centres in
Poland. It is probably for this reason that the suburb of Majdanek was
chosen as the site for a notorious Nazi death camp.Though numbering nearly
40,000 before the war, Lublin's Jewish population is barely in evidence
today. The city is, however, being visited by increasing numbers of Western
Jews.
Given the city's proximity to Ukraine it is not surprising that the recent
political convulsions there were matched here by smaller but equally sincere
shows of support for the Ukrainian opposition. Many people sported orange
ribbons and a few hundred gathered on Plac Litewski, one of the main city
squares, to form a "chain of Polish-Ukrainian solidarity".
One of the joys of Lublin for someone acquainted with the Irish cost of
living is the cheapness of everyday goods. A half-litre of Polish beer is
the equivalent of just over a euro while a main course in a top restaurant
can be had for about Euro 5. Of course, on a Polish salary matters quickly
take on a different complexion - it is said that the average Polish doctor
would earn more by picking strawberries in Sweden.
One thing that can't be gainsaid, though, is the quality of the food. A
particular favourite is ruskie pierogi - filled with cheese and potato. A
pleasure that even the heaviest snow cannot diminish. -30-
==========================================================
9. IN BELARUS AND MOLDOVA, HOPES FOR DEMOCRACY
By Judy Dempsey, The New York Times
International Herald Tribune, Europe, Thursday, Feb 24, 2005
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - The popular uprisings in Georgia and Ukraine
have raised the morale of the small opposition movements in Belarus and
Moldova, and they said Wednesday that they were more determined than
ever to continue the struggle for democracy.
.
"It will take time, but it will come," said Andrei Safonov, a political
analyst and journalist from Transnistria, a separatist and internationally
unrecognized enclave in eastern Moldova that is ruled by an authoritarian
group backed by Moscow.
.
Civil society groups attending a conference in Bratislava on Wednesday, the
day before President George W. Bush was to meet with President Vladimir
Putin of Russia, said they had learned a huge amount from the movements that
had peacefully overthrown authoritarian regimes in Slovakia, Serbia, Georgia
and Ukraine. A crucial lesson, they said, was in using the Internet as a
powerful tool to defeat state-controlled media.
.
The conference, organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States
along with the Slovak Foreign Policy Association and the Institute for
Public Affairs, tried to analyze how the experiences from those nonviolent
uprisings influenced each other.
.
Although civil society groups from Belarus and Moldova said they had no
illusions about what it would take to organize movements and a clandestine
information system to coordinate the opposition, they were increasingly
confident that democracy would succeed, despite Russia's attempts to
prevent it.
.
"If it can happen in Georgia and Ukraine, then it can happen in Belarus,"
said Irina Krasovskaya, president of We Remember Foundation, which she
established in Belarus in 1999 after her husband, Anatoly Krasovsky, and the
vice president of Parliament, Victor Gonchar, disappeared. They have never
been found.
.
Bush, on the last leg of his five-day trip to Europe, is expected to urged
Putin on Thursday to cease his support for authoritarian governments in
Belarus and Moldova and to stop meddling in Georgia. More than 16 months
ago, the nonviolent "Rose Revolution" in Georgia ousted Eduard Shevardnadze
from power.
Nevertheless, Russian troops remain in the country and continue to support
separate movements that undermine Georgia's territorial integrity and
stability. Since the changes in Georgia, and earlier in Slovakia and Serbia,
two of Russia's traditional allies, Putin has witnessed extraordinary
changes in his country's borders.
.
The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, once under
Moscow's control, joined NATO in April and the European Union a month later.
At the same time, Poland and the other former communist countries of Central
Europe also joined the EU. Then, despite Putin's open backing in November
for the incumbent Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovich, in his bid to seek
re-election, the opposition ousted the pro-Russian government and voted in
the pro-European Viktor Yushchenko.
.
"Putin is becoming isolated and even paranoid," said Carl Gershman,
president of the U.S National Endowment for Democracy. "The lessons of
Ukraine have not been learned. Russia's reaction is to dig in."
.
This response by Russia gives the U.S. a crucial role, not only in terms of
financial support but political as well, according to these civil society
groups. For them, Bush's State of the Union address last month in which he
spelled out his vision for spreading democracy was a psychologically
important signal to them.
.
"Bush is a big supporter of democracy and in our part of the world as well,"
said Andrei Sannikov, a former Belarusian deputy foreign minister who is the
co-founder of the civil initiative Charter '97 and a staunch critic of
President Alexander Lukashenka, who has intensified his crackdown on
opposition and independent media.
.
Yet many of those interviewed also said that financial support and political
backing by the U.S. or the EU had not been sufficient to oust the
authoritarian regimes in Slovakia and Serbia, and in future, Belarus and
Moldova.
.
"Aid cannot do it alone," said Ivan Vejvoda, a founder of the Democratic
Forum in Belgrade that helped galvanize civil society for the eventual
overthrow of former President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. "If you don't
have the people, all the aid in the world cannot do it for you," he said.
.
Instead, the participants said there were common threads running through the
civil society movements that helped them overthrow authoritarian rulers.
When the Slovak opposition ousted President Vladimir Meciar from power in
1998, they had two things working in their favor. One was the immense lure
of joining the EU and NATO. The other was the Internet as a powerful tool
used by opposition groups to coordinate, inform and organize.
.
Serhiy Yevtushenko, head of the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Integration in
Kiev and adviser to Ukraine's new foreign minister, said the opposition in
his country had learned lessons from the Slovak, Serbian and Georgian
experiences. "We talked to each other about our experiences. We used the
Internet. We taught journalists. We created networks. We coordinated," he
said. "No authoritarian regime can continue in power when millions of people
are mobilized, motivated and demonstrate," added Yevtushenko, 29.
.
What the changes in these countries showed, said Pavol Demes, who helped
organized the opposition to Meciar and then went on to advise the opposition
in Serbia and Ukraine, was that "soft tools for change can work." -30-
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/23/news/slovak.html
==========================================================
10. BELARUS: JEFFERSON IN MINSK?
COMMENTARY: By Peter Savodnik
The Wall Street Journal, NY, NY, Friday, February 11, 2005
VILNIUS -- Ukraine 's orange revolution has ignited hopes of former Soviet
states falling, domino-like, into the arms of the democratic West. From
Kyrgyzstan, which holds elections later this month, to Moldova, where
students are said to be sporting orange caps and scarves, freedom appears,
as Americans are wont to say, to be on the march.
Before anyone gets too intoxicated with visions of "Europe" stretching from
Dublin to the Mongolian steppe, it's worth considering the cold, hard
calculus of post-Soviet politics. A meeting here late last month of
Belarussian democratic activists hoping to topple their dictatorial
president, Alexander Lukashenko, shows just how tortuous the road from
authoritarian backwater to Jeffersonian republic can be -- with or without
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and his fellow reformer, Georgian
President Mikhail Saakashvili, cheering from the sidelines.
The 30 or so Belarussians who drove an hour and a half from Minsk
to Vilnius understand what they are fighting: a regime that is Stalinist and
surreal, held together by fear and hunger and driven by no discernible
ideology other than a cult of personality. As long as there is Mr.
Lukashenko,
with hisathletics suits and gruff, collective farmer's patois, there will be
a
dictatorship. What's more, the Belarussians are painfully aware that
comparisons between Ukraine and Belarus, while tempting, are often
misplaced. As U.S. officials have put it, the "raw materials" for a
democratic uprising don't exist in Belarus.
Unlike Ukraine , with its independent Channel 5 broadcasting democratic
heresies to the hundreds of thousands of shock troops who descended on
Kiev's Independence Square to force a new election, Belarus has no real
fourth estate. Also, Belarus lacks a diaspora like the Ukrainian-Americans
who flocked to the mother country after the revolution broke out, and none
of Belarus's leading reformers comes from the establishment, as was the case
with Mr. Yushchenko, a former prime minister.
Mr. Lukashenko, meanwhile, has all but destroyed the private sector, keeping
his people poor and dependent on him for their meager salaries and pensions
while depriving the opposition of a possible source of material support.
While Minsk has but a smattering of privately owned restaurants and Internet
cafes, downtown Kiev resembles a Western capital, with its subway system,
chic malls, foreign corporations and beautifully maintained churches. On top
of this are persistent fears in Washington and European capitals that there
are no obvious candidates to take on Mr. Lukashenko in 2006, when he will
seek a third five-year term.
Anatoly Lebedko, a former member of parliament who is probably his country's
best bet to challenge Mr. Lukashenko, is more sanguine, arguing that the
revolution in Belarus, when it comes, will shock everyone -- the same way
everything unfolded in Ukraine . "Last spring, it was the same thing in
Ukraine ," Mr. Lebedko, 43, said in between roundtable discussions at the
Karoline Hotel, a five-minute walk from the infamous television tower where
Red Army troops killed 14 Lithuanian protesters in January 1991. "When the
campaign started, one of Mr. Yushchenko's advisers called me, and I asked
him, 'How's the campaign going?' and he said, 'Actually, I haven't figured
out yet where I'm going to emigrate to.'"
Andrei Vardomatsky, a Belarussian pollster who has surveyed voters for the
International Republican Institute, an American-funded agency dedicated to
bringing democracy to Belarus, said between 55% and 60% of Belarussians are
open to a new leadership. The only way Mr. Lukashenko has been able to hold
onto power has been to manipulate the information flow, saturating
Belarussians with propaganda and marginalizing or maligning opposition
leaders from the democratic Five-Plus Coalition.
"If we just ask voters, 'Who would you vote for for president?' there is a
huge gap between Lukashenko and anyone else," Vardomatsky explained. "
But if you give them a list of other names, other possible candidates, the
numbers immediately go up."
Mr. Lebedko, for one, is hardly unaware of whom he's dealing with: On Oct.
18 last year, the day after Belarus's rigged parliamentary elections and
constitutional referendum, security-service agents dragged him into a pizza
parlor across the street from October Square in downtown Minsk and beat him
until he was unconscious. Like the other democratic activists gathered in
Vilnius -- professors, journalists, former nomenklatura and others -- Mr.
Lebedko is convinced that another orange revolution is coming to his
country.
But the fact that the Belarussians -- many of whom expected the KGB to be
waiting at their apartments in Minsk when they returned home -- felt
compelled to meet in a foreign country, free of wire taps and government
infiltrators, underscores how far they still have to go. Vygaudas Usackas,
the Lithuanian ambassador to the U.S. and one of the most vocal supporters
in Washington of the Belarussian opposition, cast doubt on the reformers'
prospects in 2006 but added that he "wouldn't rule out" a democratic
victory.
Other Lithuanian diplomats contend that it has been difficult (to put it
diplomatically) to persuade European Union bureaucrats to play an active
role in the former Soviet Union. They speculate that many EU higher-ups
would have preferred Viktor Yanukovych, Mr. Yushchenko's government-
backed rival, to the new president: True, this would have left Ukrainians
with a corrupt, oligarch-run regime, but it would have meant western
Europeans didn't have to worry about 50 million eastern Europeans
clamoring to join the club.
Now that Belarus borders three EU countries -- Lithuania, Latvia and
Poland -- Lithuanian officials say there is growing pressure within the
organization to help the opposition. In March, for example, Vilnius will
host a donors conference for the Belarussian opposition. But there remains
deep-seated reluctance to getting too enmeshed in the Russian "near abroad."
And of those three new EU member-states, only Lithuania has aggressively
worked to help the Belarussians. Polish officials have warned against
alienating Mr. Lukashenko; the Latvians simply have less aid to give.
Perhaps the most hopeful sign is that the U.S. is paying greater attention
to Belarus. Recently, the U.S. Congress passed the Belarus Democracy Act.
There is talk that at least one senior Republican on the House
Appropriations Committee has promised the Congress will set aside more
money this year for the opposition. And as anyone with a television set
knows, Condoleezza Rice, in her secretary of state confirmation hearings,
identified Belarus as one of six "outposts of tyranny."
Of course, the real battle for democracy is a battle for a new
consciousness, a radically reconceived idea of what it means to be a
Belarussian. Neither Congress nor the Pentagon nor any Eurocrat can effect
that sort of metamorphosis. Not even the orange revolution, with all its
hope and possibility, can ensure success. That must come from within.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. Savodnik is the political editor at The Hill newspaper in Washington.
He traveled to Vilnius on a grant from the German Marshall Fund of the
United States.
==========================================================
11. PUTIN'S POLITOLOGIST CONSIDERS UKRAINE TO BE
VITALLY IMPORTANT FOR RUSSIA
Ukrayinska Pravda, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wed, February 23, 2005
Article translated by Natalie Paschynska
The President of the Russian National Civil Council of International
policies, Serhii Markov considers Ukraine to be vitally important for
Russia. This thought has been stated by the politologist on Tuesday on RIA "
Novosti" during the live-broadcast between Washington and Moscow.
From his words, without cooperation with Ukraine, it would be as hard for
Russia, as it could be for the United States without cooperation with
Canada. "We are utterly interested in such collaboration both in the
economic and humanitarian spheres. We have tens of thousands of
economic ties and millions of human", - Markov highlighted.
He expressed the thought that the free no visa regime should be created
between Ukraine and Russia. "Tens of millions of people want this", -
politologist stressed.
"No cooperation with Ukraine can cost tens of millions of dollars for
Russia", -Markov marked. At the same time, he marked that there is a big
mutual understanding between Moscow and Kyiv. "We should explain our
positions to each other more and in a better way", - he said.
Serhii Markov stressed that it would be reasonable for the Russian language
to obtain official status here in Ukraine. "If the number of people, who
speak Russian equals to Ukrainian, and that is 45% here in Ukraine, than to
count Russian as the language of the national minority is undemocratic", -
Russian politologist emphasized. "Ukraine is the sphere of our life
interests. We have lived for thousand years with Ukraine, this is the cradle
of Russian civilization", - Markov stated.
"If 75% of Ukrainian population speaks for relations with Russia to be
developed not as with regular country, but as with the closest neighbor,
than the Ukrainian leaders should take this thought into the consideration"
- the President of the Russian National Civil Council of International
policies emphasized. Markov is considered to be the politologist, close to
the Russian President, Putin. -30- [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring]
==========================================================
12.LAND CONFLICT LOOMS IN UKRAINE'S CRIMEA, TATAR LEADER
Black Sea TV, Simferopol, in Russian 1700 gmt 22 Feb 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, February 22, 2005
SIMFEROPOL - [Presenter] A wave of conflicts over land is about to flood
the [Crimean] peninsula soon. The Crimean Tatar Majlis [ethnic assembly]
has once again brought up the pressing issue - Crimean Tatars should be
permitted to settle on the Crimea's south coast and receive land plots
there. [Crimean Tatars were forbidden to resettle on the Crimean south
coast, an expensive resort area, when they returned from exile en masse in
1990s].
At an extended Majlis session, leaders said that they would do their utmost
to help landless Crimean Tatars occupy land plots [without permission] if
the new Ukrainian leadership does not address their problems and start
redistributing land which has been, as the Majlis say, illegally sold to
Ukrainian and foreign businessmen and officials.
[Correspondent Oleksina Dorohan] The authorities are still ignoring the land
rights of Crimean Tatars who were deported from their homes on Crimea's
south coast, Majlis members believe. The Majlis hopes, however, that the new
Ukrainian president [Viktor Yushchenko] will change the situation for the
better.
[The Majlis leader Mustafa Dzhemilyev, speaking over a phone line] All
illegal deals on the sale and allocation of land plots to top government
officials of Russia and Ukraine should be revised. Strictly speaking, this
is Yushchenko's strategy. If this strategy could be pursued, then everything
will be alright. Firstly, the problem of Tykha Bukhta [should be resolved].
They [authorities] have been promising to resolve the problem [and allow
Crimean Tatars to settle there] for a long time, for over a year now. Then,
land plots in Simeyiz and Massandra on the south coast of Crimea [should be
allocated to Crimean Tatars].
[Correspondent] The Crimean parliament speaker, Borys Deych, says that he
had already discussed the land problem with Yushchenko. So far, Crimean
authorities refuse to comment on the situation with land plots mentioned by
Dzhemilyev. But they say that yesterday [21 February] a working group was
created in the Crimean parliament. The members have already started working
on the problem of Crimea's south coast. [Passage omitted: Deych says that
Crimean cabinet is trying to solve the problem] -30-
==========================================================
13. YUSHCHENKO POISONING INVESTIGATION NEARING CLIMAX
Noose tightens around Russia in Ukrainian poisoning inquiry
By Taras Kuzio, Eurasia Daily Monitor
Volume 2, Issue 35, The Jamestown Foundation,
Washington, D.C., Friday, February 18, 2005
During a February 15-16 visit to Lviv, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko
optimistically predicted that the investigation into his near fatal
poisoning in September 2004 would soon be finalized. "There is greater
optimism now on this issue," he said. "I don't think it's a complicated
case," Yushchenko told journalists two weeks earlier. "The circumstances are
very specific, very obvious. The prosecutor-general said yesterday that they
are narrowing the scope of the investigation" (Moscow Times, January 31).
While in Lviv Yushchenko revealed that the tapes secretly recorded by the
Security Service in one of former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych's
election headquarters contained incriminating evidence. One tape contains a
conversation between a Russian Security Service (FSB) officer in Moscow and
an informant in Kyiv (maidan.org.ua/static/news/1108574010.html). Russian
"political technologist" Gleb Pavlovsky, who worked for Yanukovych's "dirty
tricks" squad, features prominently in the conversation. This particular
tape was passed to the Channel 5 investigative program "Zakryta Zona"
(Closed Zone), which aired it on December 23 (5tv.com.ua/pr_archiv/136/).
A transcript also has been posted on the Maidan website.
The Kyiv FSB agent tells his Moscow FSB controller that Pavlovsky is "the
author of the idea. The author of the idea and its organizer"
(maidan.org.ua, February 16). The Moscow FSB controller then asks
surprisingly, "What? This bright spark thought up such an idea?" The Kyiv
FSB agent replied, "Yes, absolutely." Next, the FSB controller asks if there
are individuals who can confirm Pavlovsky's involvement. The Kyiv FSB agent
responds, "Yes, there are those who can confirm this. Not in the media but
through evidence in the Prosecutor-General's office" (maidan.org.ua,
February 16).
Pavlovsky immediately denounced this new development. Channel 5, he argued,
is a "miniscule untruthful television channel that operates in the regime of
propaganda and counter-propaganda" (Ukrayinska pravda, February 16). He
claimed that the audiotape had been manufactured to inflame anti-Russian
opinion and to be used as a bargaining chip with Russia over its accusations
of corruption against Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
More information about the poisoning has slowly been released since
Yushchenko's inauguration on January 23. One month earlier, the Viennese
international clinic that had treated him concluded its tests and announced
that the poison was dioxin. The internationally recognized British science
magazine Nature had already pointed to dioxin as the likely toxin based on
the damage done to Yushchenko's face (November 23, 2004).
Four other factors are also now known.
Source. Yushchenko revealed that the SBU knows the origins of the dioxin,
which is produced in only four or five military laboratories in Russia, the
United States, and other countries (CBS, January 31). Russia is known to be
able to produce the enhanced typoe of dioxin that affected Yushchenko. The
founder of the Russian Institute of Chemical and Biological Physics, Yendel
Lippmaa, recalls colleagues' research into increasing the potency of dioxin
by a thousand times. Their findings were published in April 1999 in the
proceedings of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FEBS Letters, Ukrayinska
pravda, February 1).
Although Yushchenko has been diplomatic and not directly pointed a finger at
Russia, he clearly was not referring to the United States or other nuclear
powers with chemical and biological weapons programs. The fact that
Pavlovsky is now suspected of masterminding the poisoning does point to
Russia and its executive, as Pavlovsky is close to President Vladimir Putin.
Transit. The SBU had already advised Yushchenko and the Prosecutor-General's
office on how the dioxin had arrived in Ukraine (Ukrayinska pravda, January
31). The authorities are holding an "official" who allegedly brought the
dioxin to Ukraine from Russia. The Ukrainian authorities are also holding
two Russian nationals who were arrested with plastic explosives in November
when attempting to bomb Yushchenko's headquarters.
Administration. Prosecutor-General Svyatoslav Piskun has not ruled out that
the dioxin may have been mixed with Yushchenko's food during the dinner he
had on September 5 with the chairman and deputy chairman of the SBU.
Yushchenko himself has long held this view, as he became ill only hours
after dinner. Yushchenko believes he is still alive only because he did not
eat everything that was served to him and because he was sick on the way
home.
Who Did It? When Yushchenko returned from his first visit to the Viennese
clinic in late September 2004, he accused the "authorities" (vlada) of being
behind his poisoning. Piskun has now confirmed, "There is no doubt, that
this was a planned act, in which some individuals from the government were
maybe involved" (Ukrayinska pravda, February 9). The government at that time
was led by Yanukovych, Yushchenko's main rival for the presidency.
The authorities also know which parliamentary deputy masterminded the
poisoning. Besides Pavlovsky, the audiotape also implicates Eduard Prutnik,
an adviser to Yanukovych, and Andriy Kluyev, head of Yanukovych's shadow
campaign.
The MP's name will not formally be released before the Prosecutor-General's
office files charges and then officially requests parliament to lift the
suspect's immunity as a prelude to his arrest. The prosecutor-general has
only twice requested parliament to lift immunity. In early 1999 parliament
lifted Pavlo Lazarenko's immunity, but he fled abroad before he could be
arrested. The second request, regarding Yulia Tymoshenko, repeatedly failed
between 2002 and 2004.
When the first charges are filed in this case, the issue will inevitably
affect Russia's relations with Ukraine and with the West. It is difficult to
see how Russia can present itself as an ally in the international campaign
against terrorism when it itself exports such tactics. -30-
==========================================================
14. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT SAYS TWO WITNESSES IN JOURNALIST
MURDER CASE HAVE BEEN MURDERED
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1130 gmt 23 Feb 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Wed, February 23, 2005 (11:30)
KIEV - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has said that two witnesses
in the Heorhiy Gongadze case have been murdered. Yushchenko said this
at a news conference in Strasbourg in response to a question on the
prospects of solving the murder of Heorhiy Gongadze, the Ukrayinska
Pravda web site reports.
"I have information which makes me optimistic that we will be able to close
this case... [ellipsis as received] A lot of water has gone under the
bridge, a lot of things have been destroyed, and two of the four main
witnesses have been killed," Yushchenko said, not going into any detail.
Yushchenko said the biggest problem in the Gongadze case is to be able to
preserve all the case materials which can point to those guilty of killing
the journalist.
"I regard the investigation of the death of Gongadze as a matter of honour
for me and my team", Yushchenko said. He said that after his meeting with
Lesya Gongadze [the mother of the deceased] "a special investigation group
was formed consisting of branches of the Interior Ministry and the Security
Service of Ukraine which comes under the authority of the Prosecutor-
General's Office and is used for effective investigation of the case"
Yushchenko added that "there are currently two cases, which do not have a
direct, rather an indirect connection to the death of Gongadze, have been
passed by the Prosecutor-General's Office to a court". [Heorhiy Gongadze's
body was found in Kiev Region several weeks after he disappeared in
September 2000. Those responsible for Gongadze's murder have not been
found.] -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
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