NEWSBRIEFS (03/24/02)

NEWSBRIEFS

Shevchenko statue unveiled in Warsaw

WARSAW - The foreign ministers of Poland and Ukraine, respectively, Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz and Anatolii Zlenko, unveiled a statue of Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko in Warsaw on March 13, PAP reported. The statue by Ukrainian sculptor Anatolii Kuscha stands on the square bearing the poet's name near the former presidential Belweder Palace. A metal plaque on the plinth carries a line from Shevchenko in both Polish and Ukrainian: "Pole, brother, give me your hand, give me a place in your heart, and we will regain our happiness, in the name of Christ, a quiet Eden!" (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma sees his bloc in control

KYIV - Leonid Kuchma said on March 19 that he believes a parliamentary majority in the new Verkhovna Rada will be created around the For a United Ukraine election bloc led by presidential administration chief Volodymyr Lytvyn, UNIAN reported. "I do not see any other political force around which a majority could be created in the future Parliament, regardless of whether someone likes this or not," Mr. Kuchma noted. He said the state should be run by professionals, adding that "the time when the state was governed by female cooks has passed." The president also voiced the need for amending the law on political parties in order to prevent their "cloning" and noted that "having 140 parties in the country is an absurdity." He also spoke in favor of introducing a higher voting barrier - around 7 percent - for blocs of parties seeking parliamentary mandates. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Symonenko warns of Kuchma majority

KYIV - In an election campaign broadcast on Ukrainian Radio on March 13, Communist Party Chairman Petro Symonenko told viewers that authorities want to create a pro-presidential majority of at least 300 deputies in the Verkhovna Rada by using administrative resources and vote rigging in the March 31 ballot. This majority, according to Mr. Symonenko, is expected to amend the Constitution in order to allow President Leonid Kuchma to remain in office for a third term, "or perhaps for a lifetime." Mr. Symonenko also suggested the existence of a sinister plan under which Ukraine is to be divided into three parts "in line with [former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew] Brzezinski's instructions": right-bank Ukraine run by Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc, left-bank Ukraine "influenced" by the pro-Kuchma For a United Ukraine bloc, and Crimea. Mr. Symonenko did not divulge who would run Crimea, but added that "extremist-minded elements in Crimea among the Crimean Tatar population are being used by Our Ukraine to stir up society." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko cites Russian interference

IVANO-FRANKIVSK - Our Ukraine election bloc leader Viktor Yushchenko said on March 19 on local radio and television in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast that the statements of some Russian officials are "unfriendly" and constitute "direct interference in Ukraine's internal affairs and electoral process," UNIAN reported on March 20. Mr. Yushchenko was apparently referring to a recent pronouncement by Russian presidential administration chief Aleksander Voloshyn, who reportedly said that For a United Ukraine, the Social Democratic Party (United), and the Communist Party of Ukraine are the blocs that promote strengthening Russian-Ukrainian relations. "Unfortunately, [Our Ukraine] includes political forces that have overtly anti-Russian positions," UNIAN quoted Mr. Voloshyn as saying. Mr. Yushchenko stressed that Our Ukraine is not a radical bloc and does not harbor anti-Russian sentiments. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Activist cites anti-Western hysteria

KYIV - Roman Bezsmertnyi, a political coordinator of the Our Ukraine bloc, has said some Russian politicians and spin doctors are trying to influence the election campaign in Ukraine by provoking anti-Western sentiment, UNIAN reported on March 20, quoting the Our Ukraine press service. "They have steered toward stopping Ukraine's advance to Euro-Atlantic structures by artificially fanning anti-Western hysteria," Mr. Bezsmertnyi noted. According to Mr. Bezsmertnyi, "short-sighted political forces" in Ukraine allow Russian spin doctors "to use some [Ukrainian] television channels to implement their long-term geopolitical plans." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Newspaper accuses U.S. of interfering

KYIV - Fakty i Kommentari, the Kyiv-based pro-presidential daily tabloid, has accused the U.S. of leading an effort to boost the election chances of Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine and opposition parties, as well as of sponsoring some 300 NGOs in order to obtain an election result that would suit Washington. "As for longer-term plans ... the Americans seem to continue cherishing the hope of fragmenting Ukraine by strengthening breakaway and extreme movements ... The U.S. used this scenario more than once in neighboring post-socialist countries. Therefore, the U.S. attempts, direct or indirect, to create a system of alternative public and political centers that could 'intercept' power amid 'crisis development' seem quite logical," the newspaper wrote on March 16. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Campaigner reportedly beaten by police

SUMY - Citing the press service of the Ukrainian Popular Rukh, UNIAN reported on March 18 that Oleksandra Kravchenko, a campaign activist of Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine election bloc, was harshly beaten by two policemen in Sumy on March 12. According to the press service, she was attacked by members of the Velyko-Pysarivskyi District police department in Sumy Oblast: Oleksander Poliakin, the deputy head of the department, and Serhii Kornienko. Ms. Kravchenko has appealed to the prosecutor's office for protection. (RFE/RL Newsline)

City recognizes Halychyna Division vets

IVANO-FRANKIVSK - The City Council of Ivano-Frankivsk has recognized veterans of the Halychyna (Galicia) Division as participants in combat for the freedom and independence of Ukraine, UNIAN reported on March 18, quoting a source in the city administration. The Halychyna Division was formed in German-occupied Ukraine in 1943, following a proposal from the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists faction led by Andriy Melnyk. The OUN-M viewed the division as the nucleus of a Ukrainian army necessary for winning Ukrainian independence. More than 80,000 young Ukrainians volunteered for the division, and some 13,000 of them became soldiers. The Ivano-Frankivsk authorities granted combatant status to 24 Halychyna Division veterans living in the region, most of whom are disabled former prisoners of the Soviet gulag. Under the council's resolution, they are now entitled to a pension increase and benefits in paying for public utilities. UNIAN added that the Russian community of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast has protested the council's resolution, arguing that the Halychyna Division could not contribute to the defense of Ukraine since it fought a battle against Soviet troops in the summer of 1944. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Deputy says bloc plans to rig election

KYIV - Lawmaker Oleksander Yeliashkevych publicized documents on March 15 that allegedly contain a plan by the pro-government For a United Ukraine election bloc to rig the March 31 parliamentary election, UNIAN reported. Mr. Yeliashkevych told journalists that an employee of the presidential administration, who preferred to remain anonymous, passed to him a letter carrying a signature very similar to the one of Ivan Kyrylenko, the head of For a United Ukraine headquarters, and addressed to For a United Ukraine leader Volodymyr Lytvyn. The letter was supplied with a note containing a detailed plan of measures to discredit representatives of competing blocs and cancel their registration, to falsify results of the election by members of electoral commissions, and to use opinion poll agencies and the media to pass off falsified results of the election as genuine. Mr. Lytvyn commented on March 16 that Mr. Yeliashkevych's documents are totally fabricated. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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