NEWSBRIEFS (11/14/99)

NEWSBRIEFS

U.S. urges free and fair runoff

MIENSK - The U.S. State Department on November 2 called for Ukrainian officials to ensure a free and fair second round of presidential elections, an RFE/RL correspondent reported. The State Department said such an election would contribute to Ukraine's development as a stable democracy. In other news, ITAR-TASS reported on November 2 that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin telephoned President Leonid Kuchma to congratulate him on his showing in the first round of the election. A press spokesman said the two also discussed bilateral trade matters. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Officials detain suspected assassin

KYIV - The Security Service of Ukraine said on November 2 that it has arrested a man suspected of planning an attack on President Leonid Kuchma, the Associated Press reported. The SSU said the man has admitted to having accomplices. It did not release his name. During the election campaign, several opposition candidates claimed there were plots to assassinate them, but no evidence was produced and such reports were dismissed as an election ploy to gain sympathy from voters. The only attack against a presidential candidate occurred on October 2 against Natalia Vitrenko. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Foreign Ministry opposes Symonenko

KYIV -The majority of the countries of the world are satisfied with the results of the first round of the presidential election in Ukraine, said Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Tkach. He added that if Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko wins the presidential runoff, he and the majority of the staff of the Foreign Affairs Ministry will resign. Voter turnout at polling stations abroad was 24,320 persons, which is eight times higher than in the 1994 presidential election. (Eastern Economist)

Ukrainians stage rival rallies

KYIV - Supporters of President Leonid Kuchma and his opponent in the November 14 presidential runoff, Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko, held rival demonstrations across Ukraine to mark the anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution and to back the presidential bids of both candidates. "In these elections, we should return power to the people ... and change the country's ruinous socio-economic course," Mr. Symonenko told a 3,500-strong crowd of Communist supporters in Kyiv. Speaking on television, Mr. Kuchma said: "Some call [the 1917 revolution] the dawn of a new era and others - a coup marking the beginning of the long rule of dictatorship and violence ... A look at the past should prevent us from repeating tragic mistakes." In Lviv, nationalists threw eggs and bags with paint at Communists and burned the flags of the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Miensk rally marks October Revolution

MIENSK - Some 10,000 people took part in a state-sponsored rally on November 7 to mark the 82nd anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution, which is observed as a state holiday in Belarus, Belapan reported. With the exception of Parliament Chairman Anatol Malafeyeu, a Soviet-era Belarusian Communist leader, no top officials took part in the demonstration. Participants carried placards reading "Long Live Socialism" and "Lenin, Stalin, Lukashenka." At a rally in Homiel, police detained three oppositionists who tried to display slogans other than those officially approved. Other opposition activists, however, succeeded in displaying a quote from Lenin: "Russia Is a Prison of Nations." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine presses right to EU membership

KYIV - First Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Yevhen Bersheda urged the European Union on November 4 to make a clear pledge that Ukraine has the right to become a member of the union, Reuters reported. It is expected that at their summit in Helsinki on December 10-11, EU leaders will unveil a new strategy for Ukraine, similar to that drawn up for Russia earlier this year. Mr. Bersheda said Ukraine wants the strategy to make clear that the country has a future in the EU once Kyiv meets the union's economic and political conditions for prospective members. He added that the first round of the presidential elections in Ukraine proved that Ukrainians want to move toward the West rather than turn back toward Russia. (RFE/RL Newsline)

U.S. Consular Section relocates

KYIV - Effective November 8, the Consular Section of the Embassy of the United States in Ukraine will be moving to a new office located at 6 Pimonenko St. The new facility is a major improvement over the current consular work space and is expected to enhance the ability to serve American citizens and Ukrainian visa applicants. Except for pre-arranged appointments, only emergency services will be provided over the moving period. The embassy will resume normal hours of operation on November 17. (Eastern Economist)

Union treaty draft approved in Belarus

MIENSK - The lower house of the Belarusian National Assembly unanimously passed a draft treaty on a union between Russia and Belarus, Reuters reported. Leonyd Kozyk, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's representative for the union with Russia, said before the vote that "the union treaty ... is a new stage in our relations with Russia, creating the basis for integration." Mr. Kozyk said, however, that Belarus is disappointed by the sluggish pace of integration and that differences remain in customs regulations and trade levies. He added that Russia still refuses to provide Belarus with oil and gas at "domestic" prices. He also noted that Belarusian citizens have been active in discussions of the draft treaty, although he did not say how. (RFE/RL Newsline)

EU concerned with Belarusian rights

MIENSK - A European Union mission on a visit to the capital said on November 2 that it is "concerned about the over-all unsatisfactory record of human rights in Belarus," the DPA news agency reported. EU delegation head Rene Nyberg said "the inability of the authorities to shed light on disappeared [members of the opposition] is of particular concern." Hugues Mingarelli, the European Commission service head, said "our common objective is a free and just 2000 election." The EU also announced that Belarus has agreed to accept EU funding to support free media and independent unions. It is the first major agreement between the EU and Belarus since Brussels curbed cooperation with Miensk two years ago because of its poor record on human rights. The EU program earmarks $5.5 million for media and unions in Belarus. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Belarus releases opposition leader

MIENSK - Mikalay Statkevich, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party, was released from detention on October 31, the Associated Press reported. Mr. Statkevich was arrested and charged with organizing mass demonstrations last month following clashes between police and protesters. He said he was let go only after signing an agreement not to leave the country, adding that he was freed "because of the growing international solidarity for [the] liberation of political prisoners in Belarus." In other news, Belapan reported on November 1 that the pre-trial detention of former Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Chyhir has been extended for one month. Mr. Chyhir, a candidate in the opposition's parallel presidential election in May, was arrested in April. He is now awaiting trial on charges of abuse of power and criminal negligence. (RFE/RL Newsline)

IAEA pledges more aid to Belarus

VIENNA - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) pledged on October 31 to increase its aid to Belarus for alleviating problems resulting from the Chornobyl nuclear disaster, Reuters reported. Jihui Qian, IAEA vice-president, said "Belarus badly needs our assistance ... there is nothing more important [here] than combating the consequences" of the disaster. Mr. Jihui made his announcement after a tour of the most affected areas. Some 25 percent of the country remains affected by radiation released by the 1986 explosion. The IAEA is involved in two programs in Belarus, one aimed at reducing radiation in homes and property, the other providing funds for the construction of a plant in the south that would produce safe cooking oil. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Hryvnia headed for floating rate

KYIV -In the year 2000 the National Bank of Ukraine is most likely to abandon the currency exchange rate corridor and switch to a floating rate for the hryvnia, according to the head of the NBU's currency regulation department, Serhii Yaremenko. According to the NBU official, the floating exchange rate for the hryvnia is more suitable for the NBU as it allows the bank to cut down on unnecessary expenditures and save its foreign currency reserves. Mr. Yaremenko said, "We shall do everything to prevent any sudden fluctuations in the hryvnia rate by monetary methods. The rate may change for a couple of days, but then must return to its previous level." He stressed that the possible refusal to maintain the currency exchange rate corridor does not mean that the hryvnia is going to devalue uncontrollably. The NBU had switched to the floating rate back in April, when the currency market was liberalized, said the NBU official. Then the NBU had managed to keep the situation under control. Mr. Yaremenko expects that in 2000 the hryvnia exchange rate will be based on the rate of inflation, but this dependence "will not be rigid and directly proportional," he explained. (Eastern Economist)

Russia to pull troops from Baltic borders?

MOSCOW - The first deputy chief of the Russian armed forces' General Staff, Gen. Valerii Manilov, said in an article published in the October 25 issue of Vremia MN that Russia may pull its troops away from the borders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in an effort to persuade NATO to reject membership applications by the three Baltic countries, according to BNS. Gen. Manilov claimed that such a withdrawal "would deprive NATO of the least excuse to consider Russia a threat." Commenting on the Baltics' bids for NATO membership, Gen. Manilov stressed Moscow's official policy that, while each country has the sovereign right to decide which bloc to join, Russia reserves the right to take countermeasures. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma worried about Islamic extremism

SYMFEROPOL - Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma said in Crimea on October 23 that Ukraine is facing a threat of Islamic extremism and called on security officials to protect the country. "It's a fact that this problem exists today, the question is only to what extent," the Associated Press quoted Mr. Kuchma as saying. The president's remarks followed an unconfirmed press report that Chechen militants are trying to establish themselves in Crimea. Meanwhile, a congress of Chechens living in Ukraine on October 24 condemned the Russian military campaign in Chechnya and called for international intervention "to stop the Russian aggressor." (RFE/RL Newsline)

U.S. restricts visas for Russian citizens

NEW YORK - The New York Times reported on October 24 that the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has sharply reduced the number of visas issued to Russians, including many students and scholars wanting to travel and study in the United States. According to the newspaper, after the 1998 economic collapse, Embassy officials, fearing that students from impoverished Russia would try to settle permanently in the United State, increased scrutiny of visa applications. As a result, about 40 percent of Russian students hoping to study in the United States have been refused visas, which is about double the rejection rate of previous years. In the summer of 1998, 83 percent of all "F" type (student) visa applications were granted, compared with an acceptance rate of 62 percent during the same period this year, the daily reported. (The New York Times, RFE/RL Newsline)

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