NEWSBRIEFS (10/31/04)

NEWSBRIEFS

Russian president to visit Ukraine

KYIV - Russian President Vladimir Putin started a visit to Ukraine on October 26, five days ahead of the presidential election scheduled for October 31, Ukrainian media reported. At 8 p.m. local time Mr. Putin was scheduled to take part in a question-and-answer session that will be broadcast live on Ukraine's three television channels, UT-1, 1+1, and Inter. Mr. Putin and other CIS leaders are expected on October 28 to participate in official celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from Nazism. The military parade will be the final main event in Viktor Yanukovych's election campaign and Mr. Putin's presence is considered by Russian and Ukrainian commentators as the culmination of the Kremlin's open support for Mr. Yanukovych. Meanwhile, Russia's ambassador to Ukraine, Viktor Chernomyrdin, said on October 24 that Russia "is not intervening in Ukraine's elections, but only worries about its results," utro.ru reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko warns Putin of 'provocations'

KYIV - Opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko said in an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Ukrainian authorities are planning "provocations" against Mr. Putin during his current visit to Ukraine, the Ukrainska Pravda website reported on October 27. "According to our information, [Ukraine's] ruling team wants to transform your visit into a dirty and dangerous show and attribute responsibility for its own provocative actions to the opposition," Mr. Yushchenko said. Mr. Yushchenko assured President Putin that Power of the People, the coalition of forces that back his presidential bid, is in favor of mutually advantageous, friendly and stable relations with Russia. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Experts cite Russia's sphere of interests...

MOSCOW - Speaking on Vladimir Pozner's ORT talk show "Vremena" on October 24, Duma CIS Committee Chairman Andrei Kokoshin (Unified Russia) said that Moscow is very interested in Ukraine's presidential election "because Russia's foreign policy doctrine defines the CIS and Ukraine as spheres of Russian strategic and vital interest in all areas: political, economic and military." Another reason Moscow would like to have a "friendly president" in Kyiv is the importance of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex for the development of Russia's own defense sector, especially the aerospace industry, Kokoshin added. Effective Politics Foundation head Gleb Pavlovsky said on the same program that Russia's goal is to prevent a situation in which "Ukraine can be used by the West for an anti-Russian game or can block Russia's drive for integration into Europe." He added: "Since 1914 Europe is split and it cannot be reintegrated only from one end, Brussels. To be united, Europe should have at least two centers of unification - Moscow and Brussels." Federation Council International Relations Committee Chairman Mikhail Margelov commented on the same program that there is nothing wrong with Russia openly backing Viktor Yanukovych. "The West no less actively supports [opposition leader] Viktor Yushchenko," he said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... warn about 'Chestnut Revolution'

MOSCOW - On the same ORT program on October 24, Gleb Pavlovsky said he believes that two options are most likely in Ukraine: a Yanukovych victory or a "Chestnut Revolution" by Viktor Yushchenko's supporters. Viktor Yanukovych's supporters are "hypnotized" by their candidate's rising poll ratings, while the Ukrainian opposition is not inclined to trust the official electoral system and suspects the government will rig the election, he said. "I am afraid that events in Ukraine could go toward the Yugoslav variant [where President Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown by popular protests] or the Georgian 'Rose Revolution' that overthrew Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze," Mr. Pavlovsky said. Speaking on "Vremena," Mykhail Pogrebynsky, the director of the Kyiv Center for Political and Conflict Studies, said that he shares Mr. Pavlovsky's concern. However, Serhii Tyhypko, Mr. Yanukovych's campaign manager, said on the program that the situation in Ukraine is very different from that in Yugoslavia and Georgia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has been a pocket of stability within the CIS, he said, with almost no social disturbances, riots or terrorist acts. Also, unlike in Georgia and Yugoslavia, there is substantial economic growth and a rising standard of living in Ukraine. "Everything will go peacefully," he concluded. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma congratulates Lukashenka

KYIV - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma called his Belarusian counterpart, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, on October 22 to congratulate him on his victory in the October 17 referendum, Belapan reported, quoting Belarusian presidential spokeswoman Natallya Pyatkevich. Mr. Kuchma invited Mr. Lukashenka to attend celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazi occupation, which are to be held in Kyiv on October 28. (RFE/RL Newsline)

U.S. denies visa to Surkis

KYIV - The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said on October 22 that the U.S. authorities have denied a visa to Hryhorii Surkis, head of Ukraine's football federation, the Financial Times reported on October 23, quoting an Embassy spokesman. Mr. Surkis is also a political and business partner of presidential administration chief Viktor Medvedchuk. The Embassy spokesman said Mr. Surkis was denied a visa under a U.S. presidential order that authorizes immigration officials to withhold visas from foreigners suspected of "corruption ... that has or had serious effects on U.S. national interests." A State Department official who asked not to be named told Reuters: "We are obviously worried about the election but we didn't want to take a shotgun approach. This helps sends a message that we are not against Ukraine as a whole, or even for that matter all of the government, but we are targeting individuals." (RFE/RL Newsline, Reuters)

Yushchenko against adopting budget now

KYIV - Opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko said at a meeting with some 15,000 voters in Kryvyi Rih on October 21 that the Verkhovna Rada should not adopt a national budget for 2005 before the presidential election, as this law will be implemented by a different Cabinet and a different president, Interfax reported. The presidential ballot is slated for October 31, while the runoff, if necessary, is scheduled for November 21. The rally in Kryvyi Rih was opened by Yushchenko ally Yulia Tymoshenko because his arrival was delayed after the city airport barred his plane from landing, forcing him to travel by car. Streets lamps were reportedly switched off on the city's main thoroughfare as Mr. Yushchenko's car was approaching the rally. "[Your presence here] testifies that Ukraine lives not in the time of fear but in the time of courage," Mr. Yushchenko said in greeting the crowd. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Reporters Without Borders take a stand

PARIS - The Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has called on a Ukrainian court to reverse a ruling that froze the accounts of Ukraine's Channel 5, the television station owned by Petro Poroshenko, a political ally of Yushchenko. "[The case] is completely political," Soria Blatmann of Reporters Without Borders told RFE/RL on October 20. "It is so amazing and strange that two weeks before the elections this only [opposition] channel is going to close. It's an anomaly." The court ruling came as the result of a libel suit brought by lawmaker Volodymyr Sivkovych against Mr. Poroshenko. Earlier this month, Mr. Poroshenko accused Mr. Sivkovych of lying in a report on the findings of the parliamentary commission investigating the alleged poisoning of opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko. The court reportedly blocked the Channel 5 accounts to make Mr. Poroshenko apologize. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma against Channel 5's closing?

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma is "categorically against" stripping the Channel 5 television station of its license, UNIAN reported on October 22, quoting presidential administration deputy chief Vasyl Baziv. Channel 5 is the only station in Ukraine supporting opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko's presidential bid. It is also widely praised for balanced coverage of the ongoing election campaign. A district court in Kyiv recently ruled to freeze Channel 5's bank accounts in a libel suit against the channel's owner, thus raising fears that the channel will soon be taken off the air. Lawmaker and oligarch Oleksander Volkov warned deputies of the pro-government coalition from the Verkhovna Rada rostrum on October 21 that Channel 5's closure could backfire against Viktor Yanukovych's presidential bid. Mr. Volkov reminded them of the closure of the Gravis television channel during the 1994 presidential campaign, which in his opinion contributed to Mr. Kuchma's victory over incumbent President Leonid Kravchuk. "So you'd better think what the [expletive deleted] you're doing," the Ukrainska Pravda website quoted Mr. Volkov as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Bush signs Belarus Democracy Act

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush on October 20 signed the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004, which was passed by the U.S. Congress earlier this month, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported. The legislation authorizes necessary assistance for pro-democracy activism in Belarus and proposes to prohibit the extension of U.S. government loans and investment to the Belarusian government, except for the provision of humanitarian goods and agricultural or medical products. "This bipartisan legislation demonstrates America's deep concern over events in Belarus and a commitment to sustain those Belarusians who must labor in the shadows to return freedom to their country," President Bush said in a statement accompanying the signing of the act. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Emergency session of NSDC sought

KYIV - The parliamentary caucus of opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc has called on the National Defense and Security Council (NSDC) to hold an emergency meeting devoted to the deteriorating situation in the country, Interfax reported on October 20. "The authorities have launched a terror campaign against people who have their own views and are in political opposition [to the government]," Our Ukraine National Deputy Mykola Tomenko said in the Verkhovna Rada. "Every day police arrest student activists and other active Ukrainian citizens for their opposition to the government-supported [presidential] candidate, [Viktor] Yanukovych." Mr. Tomenko also demanded that Internal Affairs Minister Mykola Bilokon be dismissed. "We have signals from policemen that a strong-arm scenario of developments is being prepared," Mr. Tomenko said. "In particular, we have information about the formation by the Kyiv police department of a special unit called 'Ninja' that will use chemical weapons against the civilian population." (RFE/RL Newsline)

President meets Greek-Catholic bishops

KYIV - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma met with the bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC) on October 11. The problems of the UGCC were discussed during the meeting. The president was informed of the results of the recent meetings of the UGCC Synod. Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, head of the UGCC, expressed his gratitude to the president for his support in organizing the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ukraine in 2001. He also stressed that "the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in independent Ukraine can develop, work freely and peacefully, support and encourage the faithful to do good." The president said, "I meet with the clergy regularly and am well aware of all the problems the Church is facing today," adding, "I would like to affirm the partnership of Church-state relations, based on the common striving for cooperation and problem solving Church life in Ukraine is characterized by stability and diversity." The president also noted that "The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church has come back to a position in society it was once brutally removed from. As a social institution it has become an indispensable part of spiritual life, a subject of Ukrainian history, enjoying full rights. The presence of your Church is felt in many spheres of society's existence The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church has become an important factor of society's development, its morals and responsibility before present and future generations." (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Romania seeks clarification

BUCHAREST - The Romanian Foreign Ministry on October 21 summoned a representative of the Ukrainian Embassy in Romania, demanding that Kyiv "clarify" reports in the Romanian media the previous day that said Ukraine has granted drilling rights to foreign companies in the vicinity of Serpents Island in the Black Sea, Mediafax reported. The ministry stressed that under the 1997 basic treaty between the two states the sides pledged to refrain from exploiting mineral resources around the island until they reach agreement on the delimitation of the continental shelf. The ministry also noted that the case is pending before the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and that according to international practice the sides should refrain from drilling in the area until the court rules on the case. (RFE/RL Newsline)

States to negotiate Danube borders

BUCHAREST - Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana said on October 22 that Romanian and Ukrainian experts reached an agreement last week to negotiate a border delimitation agreement on the Danube River, Mediafax reported. Mr. Geoana said the agreement was reached on October 21, at a meeting in Ismail, Ukraine. In the meantime, the sides agreed to take measures to prevent a repetition of the friction that occurred last month. Meanwhile, Traian Basescu, presidential candidate for the opposition National Liberal Party-Democratic Party alliance, on October 24 accused Mr. Geoana of artificially inflating the dispute with Kyiv on the construction of the Bystraya Canal, Mediafax reported. Mr. Basescu said Mr. Geoana "mixed up" the canal with the Chilia branch of the Danube delta. Mr. Basescu said nothing worth noting has taken place on the branch and the Bystraya, which would facilitate Ukrainian access to the branch, is within Ukraine's territory. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Nearly half mistrust politicians

KYIV - The UNIAN news service reported on October 27 that its sociological service found in a poll conducted earlier this month in Kyiv among more than 1,500 respondents that 48.7 percent of them said they do not believe any Ukrainian politician. A similar poll in October 2003 found that this indicator of distrust stood at 35.7 percent. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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