IN THE PRESS

Baltic Times on Ukraine, Belarus

RIGA - The Baltic Times, based in Riga, capital of Latvia, published an editorial on February 6 about the "bizarre performance" of Ukraine and Belarus in terms of foreign relations.

"Those Eastern Slavs just don't know what to do. One week they're flirting with the West, the next they're chumming it up among themselves, declaring eternal friendships and establishing monetary unions. In all truthfulness, it all looks like a grand farce, and one can't help but wonder how long the self-delusional circus will go on," The Baltic Times wrote.

The editorial went on to state:

"Cold-shouldered at NATO's Prague summit, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who so earnestly wants to befriend the West, now finds himself an outcast. What does he do? He runs to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and declares undying loyalty, when in the back of his mind he fantasizes about an alliance with Western powers.

"Banned by more than a dozen Western countries and the United States just weeks after he was eschewed by the Kremlin, Belarus' Alyaksandr Lukashenka was forced to grovel on his knees in Moscow lest he become a complete international pariah. The result? Belarus will become part of the ruble zone on January 1, 2005, completing the Eastern union about which so much ink has been uselessly spilled."

"Putin, for his part, is soaking up all the attention the union is getting from Lukashenka and Kuchma and, like a master ventriloquist, he will manipulate them for all they are worth," the newspaper noted.

The editorial concludes with: "It is all a joke. Then there will come a time when Belarus and Ukraine will tire of this arrangement, and they will once again cozy up to the West and the Eastern Slavs will be back to Act I. It is a bizarre performance to watch."

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 16, 2003, No. 7, Vol. LXXI

| Home Page |