NEWSBRIEFS (11/27/05)

NEWSBRIEFS

President decrees Freedom Day

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko has signed a decree establishing Freedom Day on November 22, the date on which Ukrainians in 2004 launched popular protests known as the Orange Revolution, Interfax-Ukraine reported on November 21, quoting the presidential press service. The decree was signed "with the aim of promoting the ideals of freedom and democracy in Ukraine [and] ingraining the feeling of national pride in citizens, while taking into account the historic experience of events in the autumn of 2004." According to the Labor Code, Freedom Day can become a day off in Ukraine only after the decree is endorsed by the Verkhovna Rada. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tymoshenko seeks Orange unity

KYIV - Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was sacked by President Viktor Yushchenko in September, has appealed to former political allies of the Orange Revolution to unite in order to prevent the possible return to power of former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, Reuters reported on November 19. "I think we can unite before the [March 26 parliamentary] elections or perhaps after them. I will make every effort to unite our forces. ... A counterattack headed by Yanukovych as a possible candidate for prime minister is very real. We must not let down our guard," Ms. Tymoshenko told journalists in Kyiv on November 19. According to a poll conducted by the Razumkov Center among 1,993 Ukrainians on November 3-13, Mr. Yanukovych's Party of Regions is backed by 17.5 percent of voters, the pro-government Our Ukraine Bloc (Our Ukraine People's Union, Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and People's Rukh) by 13.5 percent and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc by 12.4 percent. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Courts rules to reinstate procurator

KYIV - The Shevchenkivskyi District Court in Kyiv ruled on November 18 that President Viktor Yushchenko's decision last month to sack Procurator General Sviatoslav Piskun was illegal, Ukrainian and international news agencies reported. The court also ruled that Mr. Piskun must be restored to the post. Justice Minister Serhii Holovatyi, who represented President Yushchenko in court, commented after the verdict that the president's team "lost the first battle but will win the war," adding that he will appeal the ruling after obtaining its full text. Mr. Piskun, who was appointed procurator general in July 2002, had previously been dismissed by former President Leonid Kuchma and reinstated by another Kyiv district court in December 2004. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kazakh president visits Kyiv

KYIV - President Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan and his Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yushchenko, signed a Kazakh-Ukrainian action plan for 2005-2006 in Kyiv on November 18, Ukrainian media reported. President Yushchenko commented that current Ukrainian-Kazakh relations are "practically cloudless," adding that trade between the two countries now stands at some $1 billion annually and may be increased by one-third in the following two to three years. Mr. Yushchenko also told journalists at a press conference of both leaders that his talks with President Nazarbaev ended with Kazakhstan's agreement to buy seven Ukrainian AN-148 planes. "We export to Ukraine oil and gas, farm goods and other items. There have been no other proposals. And none are needed. Kazakhstan is a sufficiently democratic country," Mr. Nazarbaev said in response to the question as to whether he discussed the Orange Revolution with Mr. Yushchenko. President Nazarbaev, who has been in power since 1989, will run for re-election on December 4. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Campaign begins on November 26

KYIV - The Central Election Commission on November 18 decided that the election campaign for the March 26, 2006, parliamentary election will begin on November 26, Ukrainian media reported. Under the constitutional-reform law of December 2004 and the parliamentary-election law adopted in July 2005, Ukrainians will elect a 450-seat Verkhovna Rada in March for a five-year term under a fully proportional, party-list system and with a 3 percent voting threshold required for parliamentary representation. In 2002 the Ukrainian legislature was elected for a four-year term under a mixed electoral system - 225 deputies were elected from party lists and 225 from one-seat constituencies. The voting threshold for parties in 2002 was 4 percent. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Yushchenko speaks on Belarus

KYIV - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has urged caution against the isolation of Belarus in the international arena, Interfax-Ukraine reported on November 16. Mr. Yushchenko was addressing a meeting of politicians and business people in Paris on November 15, during his two-day official visit to France. "Belarus should not be left in isolation, we need to have contacts and to render help to Belarus on the way to democracy," the Ukrainian president said. "Europe will be making a mistake if it encloses Belarus in a cocoon," he added. On November 16 in Miensk, Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatolii Hrytsenko and his Belarusian counterpart, Leonid Maltsau, signed a cooperation plan for 2006 between the Belarusian and Ukrainian armed forces. (RFE/RL Newsline)

UOC seeks ecumenical patriarch's help

WASHINGTON - The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. called upon Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople "to defend" Ukraine from "the machinations" of the Moscow Patriarchate, according to cerkva.org.ua, which posted the news on October 24. "We call upon the high pastor to take strict measures to guarantee sovereign Ukraine the opportunity to enjoy the blessings of a national Church, free from external Church control and interference, despite possible threats and machinations of the Moscow Patriarchate," reads the text of the resolution by the Metropolitan Council of the UOC-U.S.A., which is under the jurisdiction of Constantinople. The text of another resolution adopted by the same council says that "the united church in Ukraine," the creation of which our hierarchs should work on, is to be built "under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate." They also call upon the hierarchs to influence "the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko." The council also gave a positive assessment to the statement of Archbishop Vsevolod (Majdanski) of the UOC-U.S.A. after his meeting with President Yushchenko in early 2005. He underlined that the Patriarch of Constantinople "recognizes the borders of the Moscow Patriarchate the way they were when this Patriarchate was recognized by world Orthodoxy in 1593." At that time the Kyiv Metropolitanate was part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, as the authors of the document report. The UOC U.S.A. consists of 100 parishes and missions, according to its website. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

New national TV chairman is named

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko congratulated Vitalii Dokalenko on his appointment as chairman of the National TV Company. The presidential press service told Ukrinform on October 27 that Mr. Yushchenko noted that, while holding negotiations and interviews with likely candidates to the position, he made sure that a person who knows the modern TV journalism and media management, and who is not politically engaged, must chair the company. Before the appointment Mr. Dokalenko chaired the TONIS TV channel. While introducing the National TV Company's new director Presidential Secretariat Chief Oleh Rybachuk stressed that National TV Channel UT-1 should become the first Ukrainian channel to disseminate objective and qualitative information. According to Mr. Rybachuk, under former UT-1 Director Taras Stetskiv the channel had experienced significant improvements. It started broadcasting critical topics and objective information, but a lot remains to be done to bring the channel to European standards. Mr. Dokalenko noted that he is ready for a constructive dialogue with journalists. He also said that he would try to save the channel's staff. "We will not disregard UT-1's capable journalists," he said. (Ukrinform)

Three peacekeepers injured in Iraq

KYIV - Three Ukrainian peacekeepers, on their regular engineer patrol of a road in the vicinity of the Iraqi town of An Numania, were slightly injured as a result of a land mine explosion on the roadside, it was reported on October 27. The Ukrainian peacekeepers' health condition was reported as satisfactory. Under a resolution by the president of Ukraine, the Ukrainian national peacekeeping contingent in Iraq will be withdrawn by the end of 2005 - between December 20 and 30. The withdrawal plan has been adjusted after consultation with all parties. (Ukrinform)

Antonov aircraft highly appraised by U.S.

KYIV - A delegation from the U.S. Department of Defense recently visited the Antonov aircraft design bureau to familiarize itself with the bureau's operations and the capabilities of its Antonov airplanes, it was reported on October 27. Members of the delegation inspected the AN-225 Mria airplane, which has the world's largest cargo capacity of 250 tons, the AN-124-100 Ruslan airplane, the AN-70 military transport airplane, and the AN-148 regional jet. The successful use of Antonov airplanes in NATO operations was particularly stressed. An AN-124-100 Ruslan airplane was recently used to transport equipment and humanitarian cargo to Pakistan following the recent earthquake in the country. NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also spoke about cooperation with Antonov during a recent official visit to Ukraine. (Ukrinform)

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