Zyuganov takes campaign to Kyiv (03/03/96)

Zyuganov takes campaign to Kyiv

by Marta Kolomayets
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Traveling to Kyiv under the guise of an official parliamentary exchange, two of Russia's leading Communists Gennadiy Seleznyov and Gennadiy Zyuganov, respectively, the chairman of the State Duma and the head of the Communist faction in the Duma, arrived in Ukraine for a two-day visit on February 26.

Within hours of the arrival of the nine-member delegation (which included representatives of other Duma factions), it became clear that the visit was more a campaign stop for Mr. Zyuganov, the Communist Party candidate for Russian Federation president, who is currently leading in the polls, than a friendly visit of representatives from a neighboring Parliament.

During the two days, Mr. Zyuganov managed to not only meet with leaders of Ukraine's Parliament, but also hold a joint press conference with Ukrainian Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko, as well as attend large-scale meetings with members of Ukraine's Communist and Socialist parties - mostly pensioners - at the Ukrainian Home, formerly the Lenin Museum in Kyiv's city center. He also attended a meeting with students of Kyiv's School of International Relations, and visited the Monastery of the Caves, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Antonov Aviation Factory on the outskirts of the city.

Although he soft-pedaled the idea of the rebirth of the Soviet Union, never coming out directly for the notion, the shrewd Mr. Zyuganov told audiences in Kyiv that the "dissolution of ties between the (Russia and Ukraine) is an anomalous phenomenon." He told reporters, pensioners and students, in what seemed to be well-scripted addresses, that Europe is uniting, with countries willing to give up some of their sovereignty to enable their citizens to cross borders freely. "I consider this a normal, natural process of development," he added.

He explained that 83 percent of the citizens of the Belgorod region have relatives in Ukraine; they are limited in their sovereignty when it comes to family ties. There are wonderful children in Ukraine who could study in the great schools of Moscow, which were built by the Soviet Union. He cited many other examples as arguments for closer ties.

Indeed, with more than 10 million ethnic Russians living in Ukraine, many of whom have relatives in Russia, and more than 6 million ethnic Ukrainians living in Russia, Mr. Zyuganov could potentially get the support of these voters - if he delivers the right message to their families in Ukraine.

"Ukraine, within the framework of the union, was absolutely sovereign," he said to the applause of senior citizens. One old man yelled out from the crowd that he was going to make sure Mr. Zyuganov became the president of the Soviet Union.

The Communist leader also assured journalists that, if he were to become the president of the Russian Federation, relations between Ukraine and Russia would be better than they are today.

"We will have greater respect for Ukraine, forge closer ties. Ukraine is one of our chief priorities as regards the development of relations, and they will develop very fast," he noted. "But, there will be no surprises for Ukraine if I am elected," he said, "and nobody is going to hamper Ukraine's political sovereignty."

As the visit progressed, Mr. Zyuganov became more vocal, leaving the rest of the delegation, including Nykolai Ryzhkov, the leader of the People's Power faction, Volodymyr Lysenko of the Russian Regions faction and Sergey Nikiforov of the Yabloko faction, silent.

It became clear that the Russian delegation had come to Ukraine on a personal invitation from Oleksander Moroz, Ukraine's Supreme Council chairman. Deputies of the Parliament Presidium told reporters they were not consulted about the visit, which came just days after the Ukrainian Parliament had failed to pass legislation that would have made it a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.

Tensions between Kuchma and Moroz

The Russian Duma visit was almost unknown to Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who over the past several weeks has expressed his displeasure with Mr. Moroz, and relations between the executive and legislative branches of power.

"I'm all for exchanges between Parliaments and governments," said Mr. Kuchma during a press conference on February 24, "but why is it that Russian deputies tend to come to Ukraine more often than ours go to Moscow?"

"Unfortunately, I found out about this visit of the Duma from the American press, while in Washington," he added, visibly irritated, explaining that neither he nor Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk knew anything about the Russian Duma visit.

"This is a shining example of the kind of cooperation we have between the legislative and executive branches. I never know where Moroz goes, or why," he explained.

"I am pleased about one thing - Oleksander Moroz has finally revealed his true colors; from the Presidium of the Supreme Council he tried to show that he is a social-democrat. But now things are clear. He is the leader of the Socialist Party; unfortunately he uses his position as chairman to voice his party's views," said Mr. Kuchma.

Although the Ukrainian leader said that he would not want to see this Parliament disbanded - for both political and economic reasons - he did express his dissatisfaction with the legislature's work.

"Parliament should create a fundamental legislative base. But if it decides when to sow crops, it will no longer be a Parliament but a plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and its presidium, the Politburo," said Mr. Kuchma in a recent interview.

Addressing a press conference on February 24, he emphasized, "We have one big problem with the Communists today: they want to build a Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and I want to build a civilized, lawful state.

"I think we have every reason today to say Ukraine has chosen its track and is not going to leave it," President Kuchma had said during a meeting with U.S. business executives at the Overseas Private Investment Corp. in Washington last week.

And, although President Kuchma sees good relations with Russia as an important component of Ukraine's foreign policy, he views U.S. support of Ukraine as a guarantee of peace and stability in Europe. As a matter of fact, while on vacation in western Ukraine on February 26, President Kuchma did have a telephone conversation with President Yeltsin, to discuss details of Mr. Yeltsin's April state visit to Ukraine. President Kuchma also briefed the Russian leader on the results of his Washington visit.

With President Kuchma away from Kyiv on a working vacation, Prime Minister Marchuk held a brief meeting with State Duma Chairman Seleznyov on February 27, before the delegation departed for Moscow. Both sides agreed that a large-scale treaty between Ukraine and Russia should be signed as soon as possible.

Although Mr. Seleznyov told reporters that in Kyiv the Russian delegation felt it was "among friends and brothers who understand each other," he did express regret that the deputies did not meet with President Kuchma. "I understand he is unwell," noted Mr. Seleznyov.

Mr. Moroz appears to be banking on the victory of Communist forces in the Russian presidential elections in June.

While national democrats protested the visit of Mr. Zyuganov, meeting him at Boryspil airport with signs (in English and Russian) reading "Zyuganov, Go Home," Mr. Moroz called for a strengthening of relations between the two countries. Later, national democrats burned a red Soviet flag outside the Ukrainian Home, while Mr. Zyuganov held a press conference jointly with Mr. Symonenko.

Members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists issued a statement protesting the delegation's visit, which they said was motivated by the fact that "Moscow is seriously concerned with Ukraine's current orientation toward Europe and Ukraine's ever-increasing role as a geopolitical factor in world politics." Although the bulk of the statement protested against the politics of "big brother," the Ukrainian nationalists also objected to the policies of three leaders they called "Ukraine's traitors" - Mr. Moroz, Oleksander Tkachenko and Mr. Symonenko.

During a February 27 press conference he hosted, with the participation of some members of the Russian delegation, including Messrs. Seleznyov and Zyuganov, the Ukrainian Supreme Council chairman said: "We view this first official visit of the new State Duma as an expression of the Parliament's high regard for our state. The development of relations with the Russian Federation on all levels is a priority of Ukraine's foreign policy."

Mr. Moroz, who turned 52 on February 29, in opening remarks at the press conference said: "Let's be frank. There are certain circles in both our countries that are interested in strained relations between our two countries. This is a particularly narrow-minded policy, especially on the eve of President Boris Yeltsin's visit to Kyiv during the preparation of a large-scale treaty on friendship and cooperation between Ukraine and the Russian Federation."

The leaders of the two legislatures also signed a joint communiqué in which they stressed the importance of "building equitable interstate relations on the basis of common goals, the striving of two fraternal peoples for friendship, good-neighborly relations and well-being."

Mr. Moroz thanked the Russian delegation for its support of his idea to hold an international conference on European security this year in Kyiv.

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