NEWSBRIEFS

Students demand Kuchma's imprisonment

LVIV - Some 3,000 students marched in Lviv on March 13, calling for the imprisonment of President Leonid Kuchma, the sacking of Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Kravchenko and the release of protesters arrested during the March 9 anti-presidential rally in Kyiv, Interfax reported. The march took place without any reported violence. Last week, agencies reported that the Kyiv police arrested some 100 students, primarily from Lviv and other western Ukrainian cities, while they were gathering at a railway station to return home from the anti-Kuchma rally and the founding congress of the All-Ukrainian Public Resistance Committee "For the Truth!" (RFE/RL Newsline)

Deputies differ on accord with government

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko is currently discussing a draft accord between the government and the parliamentary majority on mutual responsibilities and obligations, Interfax reported. The need for such a document has been questioned by both pro-government and opposition parliamentary groups. Socialist Party leader Oleksander Moroz said the accord is unnecessary, adding that the Constitution of Ukraine is sufficient for regulating relations between the government and the legislature. Oleksander Zinchenko, head of the Social Democratic Party (United) caucus, criticized the draft as "extremely raw" and "full of contradictions." Mr. Yuschenko's intention to sign an accord with the parliamentary majority is seen by some Ukrainian commentators as a move to prevent his possible ouster next month. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ombudswoman warns of civil war

KYIV - Ombudswoman for human rights Nina Karpachova has called on politicians to come to the negotiating table in order to "constructively resolve" the current political unrest in Ukraine, Interfax reported on March 12. Ms. Karpachova made her appeal while visiting hospitalized policemen who suffered injuries in the March 9 clashes with demonstrators in Kyiv protesting against President Leonid Kuchma. "All should be aware of the threat of civil war [in Ukraine]," Mr. Karpachova said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma cites "brown plague"

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on March 10 said tolerating the activities of radical nationalists within the ranks of his opponents is similar to the 1938 Munich agreement accepting Hitler's expansionist policies before the outbreak of World War II, Reuters reported. "Let people see with their own eyes the signs of just such a brown plague that could just develop in Ukraine given a situation of this sort. We should be careful, as things start from small beginnings," he noted. And in last week's interview with the German magazine Focus, the Ukrainian president said people take to the streets in Ukraine for money. "Just look at this circus with the demonstrations. People have been paid to take part. For many students it's a real business," the Associated Press quoted Mr. Kuchma as saying in the interview. (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM: Cabinet remains loyal to Kuchma

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko told journalists on March 7 that his Cabinet "has no ministers opposing the presidential course," Interfax reported. Mr. Yuschenko said the Cabinet constructively cooperates with the president and implements the "directives and political concepts that were laid down by the president in his annual message [to the Parliament] last year." Mr. Yuschenko seems to have reacted to President Leonid Kuchma's demand that all state officials publicly renounce ties to the opposition or leave their posts. The same day, the prime minister introduced Stanislav Stashevskyi, the new energy minister appointed by President Kuchma to replace Serhii Yermilov. Mr. Yermilov said no one has told him why he was dismissed. (RFE/RL Newsline)

New anti-Kuchma group emerges

KYIV - An All-Ukrainian Public Resistance Committee "For the Truth!" was founded in Kyiv on March 9. Interfax reported that the initiators of the committee included leaders of the student hunger strikes on Kyiv's Independence Square in 1990. "[Our main goal] is not simply to replace one president with another, but to fully reconstruct the entire system of political, economic and social relations in Ukraine," the agency quoted Volodymyr Chemerys of the committee's leadership as saying. Mr. Chemerys was hospitalized on March 11 with a brain concussion suffered in the March 9 clashes at the presidential administration building. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tymoshenko warns of totalitarianism

KYIV - Former Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is now in prison, published a letter in the March 14 Financial Times, which said that President Leonid Kuchma is consciously building a totalitarian state in Ukraine. Ms. Tymoshenko said Kuchma has blocked all reforms and anti-corruption efforts by the government in the energy sector. She noted that the president routinely ignored her requests to investigate and prosecute individuals involved in stealing large amounts of money in the energy sector. She added that the president also ignored the government's privatization efforts in the sector and is now preparing accords to hand energy enterprises over to Russia in exchange for political support for his regime. "My only 'crime' has been to fight the corruption, shadow economy and totalitarianism that have been created by this president of Ukraine," Ms. Tymoshenko concluded in the letter. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rally demands Tymoshenko's release

KYIV - Some 1,000 activists of the political association Ukrainska Pravytsia staged a rally at a Kyiv prison on March 8 to demand the release of former Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and "all political prisoners" Interfax reported. "Yulia Tymoshenko has proved through her life that she is capable of leading the country and even taking a solitary stand against the criminals that have divided the country among themselves," lawmaker Oleksander Turchynov from Tymoshenko's Fatherland Party told the crowd. Ms. Tymoshenko was placed in solitary confinement on January 13, and is facing charges of bribery, smuggling, tax evasion and document forgery. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President calls for help to flood victims

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has called on authoritative bodies, political and public organizations, and all citizens to help the residents of Zakarpattia, which has been flooded by the rising rivers Tysa and Latorytsia, Interfax reported on March 8. The flood inundated some 200 settlements, forced nearly 13,000 people to leave their homes and killed six people. Some 40,000 people on both sides of the Ukrainian-Hungarian border are working to repair damage and prevent the situation from worsening. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russia to help flooded region

MOSCOW - The Emergencies Ministry told ITAR-TASS on March 12 that the Russian government has decided to dispatch 150 tons of foodstuffs and other supplies to flood-ravaged regions of western Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Duma: Kyiv must accept Russia's claims

MOSCOW - Sergei Shishkarev, the vice-chairman of the Duma International Relations Committee, told ITAR-TASS on March 11 that Ukraine can secure the restructuring of its debts to the Paris Club only after recognizing Russia's right to all Soviet property abroad. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia assumed all former Soviet debts in return for acknowledgment by non-Russian republics of Russia's ownership of Soviet property abroad, but despite that accord, Mr. Shishkarev said, Ukraine has continued to make claims on some of that property. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Georgia acclaims Ukraine's mediation

TBILISI - After meeting in Tbilisi on March 7 with visiting Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko, President Eduard Shevardnadze characterized Kyiv's participation in international efforts to resolve the Abkhaz conflict as equally important as those of the group of countries known as Friends of the U.N. Secretary-General, ITAR-TASS reported. He said that during their talks Mr. Zlenko had made "interesting proposals" on how to resolve the conflict. Mr. Zlenko said that during its chairmanship this month of the United Nations Security Council, Ukraine will devote special attention to the Abkhaz conflict, to which a special session will be devoted on March 21. Mr. Shevardnadze further expressed appreciation for Ukraine's willingness to host a confidence-building meeting between Abkhaz and Georgian delegations in Yalta on March 16-18. After his meeting with President Shevardnadze, Minster Zlenko traveled with U.N. Special Representative for Abkhazia Dieter Boden to Sukhumi, where the two met with Abkhaz Prime Minister Vyacheslav Tsugba. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Patriarch promises to protect Russians

MOSCOW - Moscow Patriarch Aleksei II told a group of Russians from the former Soviet republics that "you are flesh of flesh and blood of blood of our people," adding that "we see it as our duty to take part in all actions aimed at consolidating the unity of our compatriots living abroad," Interfax reported. The patriarch also condemned efforts to separate Orthodox congregations in Estonia and Ukraine from the Russian Orthodox Church and said that it is not yet time for Pope John Paul II to visit Ukraine, the news agency reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Patriarch notes conditions for papal visit

MOSCOW - In an interview published in the newspaper Segodnia on February 15, Patriarch Aleksei II said that Pope John Paul II could eventually visit Russia, if the leaders of the two denominations could agree on the division of Church property and a ban on Catholic missionary activities in Russia. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Soviet passport holders now stateless

MOSCOW - As of March 1, individuals who have only Soviet passports and who have arrived in the Russian Federation from former Soviet republics are to be considered stateless and must seek residence permits and undergo naturalization procedures, Izvestia reported on February 28, citing a Foreign Affairs Ministry announcement. Meanwhile, Russian and Georgian diplomats continued to discuss visa arrangements between the two countries, Tribuna reported the same day. Approximately 300,000 Georgians want to remain in Russia and most will do so illegally, the paper said, noting that "Russia doesn't need 300,000 illegal aliens." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russian census to ask ethnic question

MOSCOW - The special commission charged with conducting the all-Russian census in 2002 has confirmed the program for that process, Interfax reported on February 28. The basic census will include 14 questions, including native language, citizenship and nationality. An additional eight questions will be given to every fourth Russian family. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian ship detained with arms cargo

KYIV - The Ukrainian-registered vessel Anastasia, which sails under the Georgian flag, was detained by Spanish customs close to the Canary Islands on February 27 with an undeclared cargo of 640 tons of arms and ammunition, Caucasus Press reported on February 28. According to Georgia's Transport and Communications Minister Merab Adeishvili, Georgia cannot be held responsible as the vessel does not belong to the Georgian merchant marine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

More on failure to oust Potebenko

KYIV - National Deputy Anatolii Matvienko, leader of the opposition Sobor Party, said he believes the failed attempts on February 22 to pass a vote of no confidence in Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko testify to the fact that an "oligarchic majority" has been formed in the Verkhovna Rada. Addressing the Parliament on February 22, Mr. Matvienko congratulated Rada Chairman Ivan Pliusch on the formation of that majority. "I warn you against a threat of losing [our] independence. The hundred [lawmakers] who voted [for Potebenko's ouster] are part of the [real] opposition and pro-Ukrainian force," Mr. Matvienko added. The no confidence resolutions were either boycotted or opposed by the pro-presidential caucuses Labor Ukraine, Revival of Regions, Solidarity, the Social Democratic Party (United) and the National Democratic Party, as well as by the Greens and Yabluko. The Communist Party caucus also refused to vote. Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko commented: "We do not intend to defend Potebenko, but we will also not participate in settling scores between clans." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, March 18, 2001, No. 11, Vol. LXIX

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