NEWSBRIEFS (09/02/01)

NEWSBRIEFS

NATO hails Ukraine's 10th anniversary

BRUSSELS - NATO on August 24 congratulated Ukraine on the 10th anniversary of its independence from the Soviet Union and urged Kyiv to stay on the path of economic and political reforms, Reuters reported. "Since 1991, NATO and Ukraine have made great strides in developing a special relationship in a Europe that has overcome the dividing lines of the past," the Atlantic alliance said in a statement. "NATO will continue to support independent, democratic and market-oriented Ukraine and encourages Ukraine to take the reform process forward, including in the critical field of defense reform," the statement said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poland, France, Germany greet Ukraine

KYIV - On the eve of the 10th anniversary of Ukraine's independence, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland sent a joint letter to the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Polish and Ukrainian media reported on August 21. The letter underscores Ukraine's importance as a European country and expresses support for Ukraine's efforts toward rapprochement with European structures. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Officials tapped for European integration

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has appointed Vice Prime Minister Vasyl Rohovyi as Ukraine's authorized representative for European integration and Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Oleksander Chalyi as state secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry in charge of European integration. Last week Mr. Kuchma issued an edict renaming the Economy Ministry the Ministry of Economy and European Integration Issues. (RFE/RL Newsline)

U.S. wants democratic Ukraine

KYIV - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Elizabeth Jones said in Kyiv on August 24 that support for a democratic and market-oriented Ukraine underlies U.S. policies toward Kyiv, Interfax reported. Ms. Jones said that one of the most important of Ukraine's challenges is to lay foundations for a market economy, including the adoption of tax and land codes, as well as laws to protect intellectual property rights. Ms. Jones also stressed the need for Ukraine to pass a new election law and ensure freedom of speech. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Envoy says U.S. will not employ sanctions

KYIV - U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Carlos Pascual on August 24 said the United States will not introduce trade sanctions against Ukraine over video piracy, Ukrainian Television reported. According to Mr. Pascual, Washington is displeased with the way Kyiv is combating video piracy, but the U.S. government has decided to wait on the measure. Ambassador Pascual noted that if legislators adopt tough copyright laws in September, there will be no sanctions, and terms for Ukrainian imports into the United States will merely be amended slightly. "The U.S. might introduce a duty of up to 3 percent on some types of Ukrainian products. However, this will not take place today, and Ukraine's losses will stand at some $20 million in this case. At the moment, there are more important issues than trade sanctions," the envoy stated. (RFE/RL Newsline)

TV cameraman beaten in Luhansk

LUHANSK - Unidentified attackers on August 27 beat Oleksii Movsesian, a cameraman of the independent Efir-1 television in Luhansk, into unconsciousness, after which he was hospitalized, Interfax reported the next day. Police reportedly arrested several participants in the scuffle. Efir-1 Director Tetiana Kozhanovska suggested that Mr. Movsesian could have been beaten for Efir-1's regular critical reporting on activities of the Luhansk City Council and Luhansk Mayor Volodymyr Landyk. Last week the station showed Mr. Landyk physically assaulting Mr. Movsesian as he shot tape of City Council discussions. Mr. Movsesian later complained to police about the attack. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma: Aleksandrov murder is solved

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma told journalists on August 25 that the investigation into the murder of television journalist Ihor Aleksandrov is nearing completion and that those who killed Mr. Aleksandrov as well as those who ordered the killing are known. Meanwhile, Deputy Procurator General Serhii Vynohradov said the same day that one suspect in the Aleksandrov case has been arrested. Mr. Vynohradov did not name the suspect or the possible motives behind the crime. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Trade union body joins opposition

KYIV - The Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine on August 27 decided to join the anti-presidential Forum for National Salvation, an electoral bloc of the democratic opposition led by former Vice Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, UNIAN reported. The confederation's leader, Mykhailo Volynets, recently appealed to Ukrainian Procurator General Mykhailo Potebenko, Internal Affairs Minister Yurii Smirnov and National Deputy Hryhorii Omelchenko to immediately investigate the shadowing of him and his family. Mr. Volynets said he and his son have been shadowed since May. (RFE/RL Newsline)

80% of Russians back union with Belarus

MOSCOW - According to a poll conducted by the Center of Sociological Research of the National and International Security Foundation and reported by Interfax on August 22, 80 percent of Russians approve of the formation of a union state between Russia and Belarus. Thirty-eight percent would like it to become a union similar to the former USSR, 24 percent favor its development as a confederated state, and 26 percent believe Belarus should be absorbed into the Russian Federation. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainians positive toward Russia

MOSCOW - Participants in an academic roundtable discussion in Moscow on August 22 said that the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians have a positive attitude toward Russia, ITAR-TASS reported. Pollsters told the scholars that 61 percent of Ukrainian citizens have a positive attitude and 13 percent more have a "more positive than negative" one toward Russia, and that more than a third would like the two countries to reunite. Mykhailo Pohrebinskyi, director of the Kyiv Center for Political Studies, told the group that 60 percent of Ukrainians believe that Kyiv should give priority to developing relations with Russia, while 25 percent say that their government should first focus on ties with Western Europe. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Moldova to be integrated into energy grid

CHISINAU - Now that Ukraine is being integrated into the Russian electrical power system, Moldova will follow, Vremia Novostei reported on August 22. The paper said that Chisinau will gain from this arrangement because of transit fees for the export of power and also because of the enhanced role it will give the central Moldovan government over the breakaway Transdniester region. To secure its place in these arrangements, Moldova will hand over to Russia 76 percent of the shares in its largest electrical power station, Moldovan officials said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Putin, Kwasniewski meet in Kyiv

KYIV - While in Ukraine for celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the country's independence, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared at an August 23 meeting in Kyiv with his Polish counterpart, Aleksander Kwasniewski, that he will pay an official visit to Warsaw in mid-January 2002, Russian and Polish media reported. "Relations between our countries have achieved a new level of quality," Mr. Putin said after the talks, adding that the Russian-Polish trade turnover reached $5.5 billion last year. Sergei Prikhodko, deputy chief of the Russian president's administration, commented after the meeting that Russia and Poland intend to increase cooperation in connection with the exportation of Russian gas to the European Union. The two presidents also touched upon the future role of Russia's Kaliningrad enclave and agreed that further discussions will take place in four-way talks that will include Russia, Poland, Lithuania and the EU. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Warsaw to have Shevchenko monument

WARSAW - In a solemn ceremony in the Polish capital on August 3, the cornerstone was laid for the foundation of a monument to Taras Shevchenko. The monument to Shevchenko will be installed in the center of Warsaw in a public garden bearing its name. The monument was created by Ukrainian sculptor Kusch as a gift from Kyiv to Warsaw; it will be carried to the Polish capital in the near future. Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski sent his greeting to participants of the ceremony. Mr. Kwasniewski said the monument will be a symbol of friendship and mutual understanding between two friendly nations. (UNIAN)

Putin visits grave of Kuchma's father

VELIKII NOVGOROD, Russia - While visiting Velikii Novgorod on August 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin laid flowers at the grave of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma's father, Interfax Northwest reported. President Kuchma's father died during World War II, but his grave was located only in 1996. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Website focuses on Russian-Ukrainian ties

MOSCOW - Gleb Pavlovskyi, who serves as Russian President Vladimir Putin's media adviser, has launched a new Internet site, Ukraine.ru, to promote Russian-Ukrainian relations, Internet.ru reported on August 23. On its opening page, Mr. Pavlovskyi said his main goal is to inform Russians about developments in Ukraine, where he said, "Putin is even more popular than in Russia." He added that President Putin wants both countries to be part of a "united Europe" but not become "copies of the West." He said his site will also seek to overcome obstacles to this among many Ukrainians: the notion of some in the Ukrainian elite that Russia remains a threat and that Ukraine can join Europe without Russia. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma vetoes election bill for fourth time

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma has again vetoed an election bill stipulating that 115 members of the 450-seat Parliament are to be chosen in single-mandate constituencies, while the remainder are to be elected from lists fielded by political parties. It marked the fourth unsuccessful attempt by the Verkhovna Rada this year to change the current election law, which calls for electing 225 deputies in single-mandate constituencies and another 225 deputies from nationwide party lists. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Diasporans eligible for long-term visas

KYIV - Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry has introduced new visa rules allowing ethnic Ukrainians who live abroad to obtain five-year, multiple-entry visas instead of one-entry visas valid for six months, Ukrainian media reported on August 14. Ukrainian Television added that the participants in the Third World Forum of Ukrainians, held in Kyiv on August 18-20, would get their visas free of charge. (RFE/RL Newsline)

MDs accused of stealing human organs

LVIV - Several doctors from the Lviv Regional Clinical Hospital are suspected of trading in healthy body organs, which they allegedly removed from the bodies of living road-accident victims. ICTV Television reported on August 14 that the physicians removed undamaged organs of victims of road accidents and then stated that death resulted from the injuries received. In addition, the station reported that no less than 10 people were released from the hospital after treatment without one kidney. Some of those people have agreed to testify against the doctors. Prosecutors opened an investigation into the alleged crimes, but none of the suspects have been arrested. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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