NEWSBRIEFS (05/05/96)

NEWSBRIEFS

Kuchma addresses Council of Europe

STRASBOURG - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, addressing the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly on April 23, said Ukraine aims to become a full-fledged member of the European Union, Reuters reported. Mr. Kuchma also reiterated that NATO should not be enlarged without taking Russia's interests into account, but he added he is not opposed to the alliance's expansion. He noted that creating a nuclear-free zone in Eastern Europe would have a stabilizing effect on European developments. He called upon the international community to help finance the resettlement of minority groups who were deported by Stalin and now want to return to their former homelands in Ukraine. (OMRI Daily Digest)

Court orders "Pisliamova" reinstatement

KYIV - The municipal arbitrage court on April 26 ordered the State Television Company of Ukraine to renew broadcasts of the popular weekly newsmagazine "Pisliamova" on UT-1. The court said the company had breached a contract with Nova Mova, a private television producer. Oleksander Tkachenko, president of Nova Mova, said the court's ruling meant "Pisliamova" should be reinstated to its regular Sunday, 8 p.m., time-slot. However, according to Mr. Tkachenko, this was unlikely, because the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of "Pisliamova" last year involved extralegal influences beyond the court's enforcement powers. (Respublika)

Reports of Yandarbiyev's death were false

KYIV - Previous reports of the death, in clan fighting, of Chechen President Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, by ITAR-TASS and other Russian news media, are totally untrue and merely propaganda, said Maria Bezeliuk, head of the Ukrainian Committee of the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, on April 30. Ms. Bezeliuk told the Ukrainian media she spoke with Mr. Yandarbiyev on April 29 at 7 p.m., well after Russian media had reported his death. "The president of Chechnya is alive and determined to bring the matter of independence to a victorious end," said Ms. Bezeliuk. The Associated Press reported similarly on May 2 that Mr. Yandarbiyev had met with reporters and had given a clandestine television broadcast together with Aslan Maskhadov, military commander of Chechen forces. Russian analysts had predicted a power struggle between the two men following Gen. Dzhokhar Dudayev's death and had seized upon earlier reports of Mr. Yandarbiyev's death in an attempt at proving this theory. Like Gen. Dudayev, Mr. Yandarbiyev has indicated the war cannot end as long as Russian troops remain in Chechnya. (Respublika/The New York Times)

"Shock therapy" outwitted by crafty felons

ODESSA - Local merchants and residents have become so frustrated by a spate of break-ins that some recently decided to take matters into their own hands, local media reported on May 1. One workshop posted a sign on its entrance reading, "Citizen-thieves! The lock is electrified to 220 volts. Utilize every safety precaution, including rubber gloves, while breaking in. The management will accept no complaints." This shocking attempt at deterrence, however, was totally neutralized by the fact that power is cut off locally for one hour daily, during which time local low-lives broke in to the workshop in question and burglarized it. (Svoboda)

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