NEWSBRIEFS (11/16/03)

NEWSBRIEFS

Our Ukraine holds forum in Sumy

KYIV - The Our Ukraine bloc led by Viktor Yushchenko held a forum of democratic forces on a city square in Sumy on November 9 after it was rejected permission to gather in any building in the city, Interfax reported, quoting the Our Ukraine press service. Unidentified youths reportedly set off firecrackers during the rally, pelted its participants with eggs and demolished buses transporting Our Ukraine lawmakers to Sumy. Mr. Yushchenko was not allowed to address Sumy residents on a local television station, while electricity in the editorial office of a local newspaper was disconnected during his meeting there with journalists. A week before, Our Ukraine was prevented from holding a democratic forum in Donetsk. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko condemns attack on bookstore

KYIV - Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko on November 11 condemned an attack earlier the same day on the Otkrytoe Kafe and Russian-language bookstore in Lviv, Interfax reported. Mr. Yushchenko said the attack was a provocation, adding that it might have been organized by "the same political force that is waging an information war against Our Ukraine and wants to turn western Ukraine into a bugbear for eastern Ukraine." According to Interfax, four masked men armed with clubs broke into the store, smashed computers and windows, and destroyed books before fleeing. They left the inscription "This is for Sumy" on the floor, in an apparent reference to the attempt at preventing a forum of democratic forces organized by Our Ukraine in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, on November 9. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Communists want return of USSR

KYIV - Hundreds of Communist Party supporters, pensioners and war veterans took part in a rally in Kyiv on November 7 to mark the 86th anniversary of the 1917 Bolshevik revolution and called on the government to prevent bread prices from rising, Reuters and Interfax reported. Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko told the crowd that Ukraine's possible entry to the World Trade Organization would ruin the country's agro-industrial complex. Mr. Symonenko also spoke against NATO entry for Ukraine. Meanwhile, some 2,000 Communist Party members and supporters in Symferopol called on the Ukrainian authorities to ratify an accord on the creation of a Single Economic Space with Russia, Kazakstan and Belarus as the first step toward restoring the Soviet Union, Interfax reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv to increase military hardware in Iraq

KYIV - Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski agreed with his Ukrainian counterpart Yevhen Marchuk in Kyiv on November 7 that Ukraine should send "several dozen additional" combat helicopters to the Polish-led stabilization sector in Iraq to help protect convoys and patrols, and to lead reconnaissance operations, Polish Radio reported. Mr. Szmajdzinski said neither Poland nor Ukraine envisages sending more troops to Iraq. There are currently some 1,700 Ukrainian and 2,500 Polish troops there. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Opposition cites political terror

KYIV - Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party of Ukraine issued a statement on November 6 charging that "the current authority headed by President [Leonid] Kuchma is acquiring traits of a gangster dictatorship," Interfax reported. The three organizations charge that "the presidential administration, local state administrations, [and] law enforcement bodies have been turned into a repression machine against political opponents." The statement says foiling the planned Our Ukraine congress in Donetsk on October 31 revealed the real face of the "criminal regime" in Ukraine and showed that Donetsk is "outlaw territory" and a "reservation" inhabited by "wretched people without any rights." The statement demands that all officials involved in "the organization of the repression of democratic forces" in Donetsk be dismissed. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Officials to report on Donetsk events

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada will question Internal Affairs Minister Mykola Bilokon and First Deputy Procurator General Serhii Vynokurov about reports that anti-Our Ukraine protesters were "using fascist symbols" and "fomenting ethnic antagonism" in Donets on October 31, Interfax reported on November 7. A formal query was submitted by Our Ukraine lawmaker Mykola Tomenko and communicated at a parliamentary session on November 7 by Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn. The Constitutional Court ruled this week that deputies' interpellations of the state authority or local self-government do not require approval of the entire chamber. The same court decided, however, that voting is required to interpellate the Ukrainian president. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv holds off on ratification of SES

KYIV - Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Kostyantyn Gryshchenko told journalists in Kyiv on November 6 that Ukraine will consider the ratification of an agreement on the formation of a Single Economic Space (SES) with Russia, Kazakstan and Belarus only after resolving the dispute over the construction of a dam in the Kerch Strait by Russia, Interfax reported. Mr. Gryshchenko asserted that Ukraine is interested in determining the status of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait as soon as possible on the basis of international law. Asked if Russians have to pay large fees for passing through the Kerch Strait, Mr. Gryshchenko said the Ukrainian state does not apply any duties, as all fees go to the Kerch port authority. He said the fees are not large, adding that the issue is not serious enough to be raised in talks with Moscow. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada members comment on dispute

KYIV - "Tuzla symbolizes a fundamental crisis in our relations [with Russia]. We have never discussed so actively the possibility of an armed conflict even when we were dividing the Black Sea Fleet," Reuters quoted Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko, a likely presidential candidate next year, as saying. Our Ukraine lawmaker Yurii Yekhanurov said during debate in Parliament that Ukraine needs to restore its nuclear arsenal. "Naturally, we cannot afford an arms race, but our country is not too poor to create anew a small nuclear arsenal that would be able to serve as a factor of deterrence for some 'excessively friendly' neighbors," Interfax quoted him as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Deputy says dispute will be resolved

MOSCOW - Duma Deputy Dmitrii Rogozin, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the conflict over the Russian dam being built near Tuzla Island is "the result of Ukraine's ambitions to join NATO," RTR and NTV reported on October 22. Ukraine claims that the Tuzla islet is its territory and that it is threatened by the dam. "In fact, there is no Tuzla islet at all," Mr. Rogozin said. "It is merely the above-water part of a seabed sand spit that reaches far out into the Kerch Strait." He added that if Russia and Ukraine are unable to agree on the status of the Azov Sea, it could acquire the status of international waters and other countries, including NATO countries, could gain the unrestricted use of it. "I am sure that President [Vladimir ]Putin has levers to deal with this problem," Mr. Rogozin said. "I am sure he can just call Leonid Kuchma and say a few words. President [Leonid] Kuchma understands Russian better than Ukrainian," he added. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv seeks to work on satellite system

ASHGABAT - Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Konstyantyn Gryshchenko, on an official visit to Ashgabat, told his Turkmen counterpart, Rashid Meredov, on November 5 that Ukraine would like to work with Turkmenistan on developing a satellite-communications and radio-broadcasting system, Interfax-Ukraine reported. Mr. Meredov replied that Ashgabat is interested in involving Ukrainian firms in large-scale projects in Turkmenistan. Ukraine is already involved in various natural-gas projects in Turkmenistan as partial payment for annual gas supplies to Turkmenistan. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv, Moscow discuss sea border

KYIV - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Viktor Kaliuzhnyi met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksander Motsyk, in Kyiv on November 5 to discuss the contentious issue of the border delimitation in the Kerch Strait and the Azov Sea, Interfax reported. They agreed that government-level talks on the issue will be held every month. Mr. Motsyk told journalists that the Ukrainian side presented the Russian one with a package of documents confirming that the Tuzla Island in the Kerch Strait belongs to Ukraine. "We have some documents saying that this [island] belonged to Russia or Krasnodar [Krai]," Mr. Kalyuzhnyi responded, promising to pass them to Kyiv so that during the next meeting, scheduled for December 5, "both sides will have something to speak about." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Opposition disrupts Rada session

KYIV - Lawmakers from Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party blocked the parliamentary rostrum and brought a Verkhovna Rada session to a halt for the second consecutive day on November 6, Interfax reported. The opposition protest followed an unsuccessful attempt to support a motion to hear government officials report on the foiled Our Ukraine congress in Donetsk on October 31. The motion was supported by 219 votes, seven short of the number required for approval. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President urges political reform

KYIV - Speaking at a forum of business representatives from Ukraine and Serbia and Montenegro in Kyiv on November 5, President Leonid Kuchma warned of negative consequences for Ukraine if it fails to adopt constitutional reform, Ukrainian Television reported. "There are no checks between the executive and legislative branches of power," Mr. Kuchma said. "There is no mutual responsibility. Tell me, please - I don't want to offend anyone among the deputies - but isn't there anybody there whose head is hurting because Parliament is not working today." Mr. Kuchma added that if political reform is not implemented now, the next president will never make it happen. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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