NEWSBRIEFS

Ukraine's first lady visits U.S.

WASHINGTON - First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko, chairman of the Ukraine 3000 Charitable Fund Supervisory Panel, has begun a working visit to the United States that is scheduled to last through June 4. The goal of the first lady's visit is to muster the support of American business, public and medical circles for the "From Hospital to Hospital" project. The visit has been organized with support from the Genesis Eurasia corporation and Daniel Roscom, in accordance with the Ukraine 3000 Fund's memorandum with the corporation, which was signed in March. The project provides, in particular, for constructing a maternity and childhood health center in Kyiv. Genesis Eurasia CEO Roscom and Mrs. Yushchenko discussed steps to raise funds for financing the project's implementation. Mrs. Yushchenko was to make a speech at the World Affairs Council in Philadelphia and hold a series of meetings with medical, business and public figures. Mrs. Yushchenko was also supposed to make a trip to San Francisco to visit the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital of Palo Alto and the Ronald McDonald House. In Los Angeles the first lady of Ukraine was to visit the Cedars Sinai Medical Center. (Ukrinform)

First ladies meet in Washington

WASHINGTON - Kateryna Yushchenko, chairperson of the Ukraine 3000 Charitable Fund Supervisory Panel, met with U.S. First Lady Laura Bush at the White House on May 31. During their meeting the two first ladies discussed prospects of implementing joint projects, in particular, the project "From Hospital to Hospital." The project provides, in particular, for Ukrainian hospitals' cooperation with medical institutions in Texas and Florida. Mrs. Yushchenko informed Laura Bush about the Ukraine 3000 Fund's plan to construct a medical center in Kyiv aimed at caring for mothers and children. In addition, the first ladies discussed a series of events to commemorate the victims of the 1932-1933 Famine-Genocide. On May 30 Mrs. Yushchenko met with members of the Ukrainian community in Washington and visited Georgetown University. (Ukrinform)

Congress delegation in Ukraine

KYIV - U.S. House of Representatives Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R- Mo.) is leading a congressional delegation to Ukraine, Turkey, Pakistan and Germany from May 28 to June 3. Congressman Blunt is traveling with the House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D- Md.), Democratic Caucus Chairman James Clyburn (D- S.C.), Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) and Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.). The delegation traveled to Ukraine to help strengthen U.S.-Ukraine bilateral relations and bolster ongoing democratic and economic reforms in Ukraine. While in Kyiv on May 29, the congressmen met with President Viktor Yushchenko, other key political figures, American Chamber of Commerce board members, academicians and leaders of non-governmental organizations. (Embassy of the United States in Ukraine)

Protests against U.S. ship in Crimea

FEODOSIYA, Ukraine - Residents of the Crimean port of Feodosiya, along with activists of the Party of the Regions, the Natalia Vitrenko Bloc and the Russian Community of Crimea on May 29 blocked the port in protest against the visit of a U.S. Navy cargo ship that anchored there on May 27, Interfax reported. The USS Advantage has already left the port, after reportedly unloading some small arms, engineering equipment and construction materials. "This is technical aid to Ukraine under an agreement between the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and the U.S. Defense Department. They agreed to bring [construction materials] to Ukraine at their own expense, build facilities here and leave them at our shooting ranges for decades," said Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatolii Hrytsenko. "Any attempt to politicize [this visit] is cheap politics," Mr. Hrytsenko stressed. Meanwhile, on May 29 the Feodosiya City Council held an emergency session and passed a resolution proclaiming the city to be a "non-NATO territory," Interfax reported, quoting the press service of the Natalia Vitrenko Bloc. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Presence of foreign troops denied

KYIV - Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk told journalists in Kyiv on May 31 that there are no "foreign military units" on Ukrainian territory, UNIAN reported. Mr. Tarasyuk was referring to some reports claiming that a group of U.S. servicemen has disembarked in the Crimean port of Feodosiya, along with engineering equipment and construction materials brought by the U.S. Navy ship Advantage. Interfax reported on May 30 that 120 U.S. servicemen were staying at a Defense Ministry spa near Feodosiya. The visit of the U.S. ship to Feodosiya on May 27 has sparked anti-NATO protests in the city and a blockade of the port by several thousand people. The Ukrainian naval forces' press service said the Americans are going to build barracks, bathrooms and dining rooms at a training range near Feodosiya. Ukrainian sailors will use these facilities during the upcoming Sea Breeze-2006 military exercise, which will reportedly involve soldiers from some 40 countries. The deployment of foreign troops on Ukrainian territory must be approved by the Verkhovna Rada for each individual case. In February, the previous Verkhovna Rada rejected a bill on staging the Sea Breeze-2006 exercise in Ukraine. The newly elected legislature is scheduled to gather for a session on June 7. Mr. Tarasyuk assured journalists that the government will make every effort to have a bill allowing the deployment of foreign troops passed by the Parliament before the planned exercise. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Coalition principles are disclosed

KYIV - Roman Bezsmertnyi, head of the Our Ukraine parliamentary caucus, said in a television interview on May 25 that coalition talks between Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc and the Socialist Party over the next two weeks will touch upon "the entire set of parliamentary and governmental posts," the Ukrayinska Pravda website reported. "I agree with my colleagues, Oleksander Moroz and Yulia Tymoshenko, who said today that the main thing is not posts, but principles," Mr. Bezsmertnyi added. He explained that, in forming the coalition, Our Ukraine will insist on the principle that "all decisions should be made within the framework of the coalition." He added, "The second principle is obligatory control and counterbalances. That is, if the [parliamentary] committee for economic policy belongs to one faction, the post of economy minister belongs to another." Meanwhile, the daily Ukrayina Moloda wrote on May 26 that Our Ukraine is going to propose Petro Poroshenko for the post of Verkhovna Rada chairman, implying that the party has already accepted the reinstatement of Ms. Tymoshenko as prime minister. "It is interesting that Our Ukraine has not foreseen the return of [acting Prime Minister] Yurii Yekhanurov to the top echelons of the executive branch," wrote Ukrayina Moloda, which is edited by Mykhailo Doroshenko, a presidential adviser and close aide. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Senate endorses new envoy

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate endorsed the appointment of William Taylor as ambassador to Ukraine to replace John E. Herbst, who has been the U.S. envoy to Ukraine since 2003. President George W. Bush nominated Mr. Taylor for the post on May 3. Prior to this appointment Mr. Taylor was a senior consultant to the State Department's coordinator for reconstruction and stabilization. (Ukrinform)

Putin responds to U.S. criticism

SOCHI, Russia - At the European Union-Russia summit in Sochi on May 25, President Vladimir Putin made his first public response to recent criticism of Russian policies by U.S. Vice-President Richard Cheney, Interfax reported. Mr. Putin said that "the United States is one of our biggest partners. We value our relations with this country." He noted that "there are many ... spheres, including the anti-terrorist struggle, where nothing can substitute for the Russian-American partnership." Asked by reporters about Mr. Cheney's criticism of Russian policies toward Ukraine and some other countries, the Russian president replied, "As for our relations with other countries, we will discuss them directly with those countries." He added that Russia sees "how the United States defends its interests and what methods it uses." Mr. Putin argued that Russia similarly "searches for the most acceptable ways of solving its national tasks. I find it strange that someone can misunderstand this." He also said that, "if our Ukrainian partners say they are satisfied with energy agreements with Russia and see them as not just acceptable but as the only right solution, then how can the leaders of other countries say that this is bad?" (RFE/RL Newsline)

Language association created in Europe

KYIV - The European Congress of Ukrainians has decided to create a European Association of Ukrainian Language and Literature and organize an international Ukrainian-language camp for youth, Ukrinform's correspondent in Budapest reported on May 29. The decision was made at a meeting of the presidium of the European Congress of Ukrainians, which took place in the Hungarian capital. Ukraine's ambassador to Hungary, Dmytro Tkach, attended the meeting. The European Congress of Ukrainians unites 29 European organizations. The main task of the association will be to draft and implement a uniform system for studying the Ukrainian language in the diaspora, organize a process for studying the Ukrainian language as a foreign language, retrain teachers of Ukrainian language and literature, and share scholarly research in the area of Ukrainian studies. The international Ukrainian language camp for 150 children from the countries in which the European Congress of Ukrainians has operations will take place on the Greek island of Evia on September 1-10. (Ukrinform)

Petliura monument to be erected

KYIV - By Ukrainian Independence Day, which Ukraine will mark on August 24 for the 15th time, a monument will be erected in the capital city to Symon Petliura, an outstanding figure of the 1917-1921 liberation movement aimed at securing Ukraine's statehood. The Petliura monument will be located near the Mykhailo Hrushevsky monument, in the vicinity of the Teacher's Building, where in 1918 the Ukrainian National Republic's Central Rada was headquartered. According to the Ukrainian National Republic's last president in exile, Mykola Plawiuk, commemorating Petliura, who was assassinated 80 years ago in Paris by an NKVD (the KGB's precursor) agent, will be an act of historical justice and a statesmanlike approach to restoring pages of Ukraine's modern history that were deliberately distorted by the totalitarian regime. (Ukrinform)

New Verkhovna Rada is sworn in

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada of the fifth convocation, which was elected on March 26, gathered for its first session in Kyiv on May 25, Ukrainian media reported. Newly elected deputies took the oath of office, which was administered by the oldest parliamentarian, Ivan Herasymov of the Communist Party. (RFE/RL Newsline)

President sets out principles for Cabinet

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko addressed the inaugural session of the newly elected Verkhovna Rada on May 25, Ukrainian media reported. Mr. Yushchenko said he will endorse the candidacy of a new prime minister proposed by a parliamentary coalition if a future Cabinet sticks to several "principles." According to Mr. Yushchenko, Ukraine's new Cabinet should work toward safeguarding the country's development based on "European values," consolidating the nation, boosting economic reforms, and securing the observance of human rights and freedoms. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Trade unions protest price hikes

KYIV - An estimated 10,000 people turned out for a protest meeting organized by the Trade Union Federation of Ukraine in Kyiv on May 24 against the government's increase in tariffs for electricity and public services earlier this year, UNIAN and Reuters reported. Participants in the meeting adopted a resolution demanding that the government compensate people for the tariff hikes. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Institute of National Memory created

KYIV - The Institute of National Memory will be presided over by Academician Ihor Yukhnovskyi, President Viktor Yushchenko said on May 22 at the Bykivnia forest on the outskirts of Kyiv during commemorations of the victims of the totalitarian regime. Before that, Mr. Yukhnovskyi was co-chief of the Temporary Special Parliamentary Commission on Monitoring the Elections Law. On instructions of President Yushchenko, the government passed a resolution on the establishment of the Institute of National Memory. According to the Cabinet of Ministers' decision, the newly established institute will be engaged in a number of activities, including realization of state policy in the sector of restoration and preservation of the national memory of the Ukrainian nation and the repressions of various periods, as well as dissemination of impartial information on the history of Ukraine. The committee will be also involved in efforts to commemorate victims of famines and political persecutions, as well as participants in the liberation movement. (Ukrinform)

Pastor recalls mayor's first visit

KYIV - Pastor Sunday Adelaja, founder of the Pentecostal Embassy of God Church, explained how he became acquainted with new Kyiv mayor, Leonid Chernovetskyi, in a news item posted by ura.inform on May 10. "Leonid Chernovetskyi came to us for the first time 10 years ago," said Pastor Adelaja. "As he told me later on, he visited our sermons because a great number of people gathered for them. At that time he was a candidate for deputy and he came to receive the votes of our parishioners. But, after listening to my sermon, he told me his tongue had not returned to him to ask me for support, and he left." According to the pastor, Chernovetskyi became one of his parishioners, but since that time, though he attends the Embassy of God, he has never paid the tithe. "All the parishioners of our Church pay a tithe, though we do not make them do this," said Pastor Adelaja. "For 10 years I haven't received a single penny from Leonid Chernovetskyi. He and I agreed not to discuss two issues: politics and finances. I do not want the Embassy of God to become somebody's pocket Church when I am in Ukraine." According to the pastor, after their discussions Mr. Chernovetskyi created a civic organization, Social Partnership, which provides the poor with food and, in this way, brings its offering to God. Pastor Adelaja refused to answer a question about his organization's annual revenue, though he said that among Kyivan parishioners 30 percent pay the tithe. He added that in Kyiv the Church has 20,000 faithful, though approximately 250,000 consider themselves parishioners. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Ministry to oversee penitentiaries

KYIV - According to Justice Minister Serhii Holovatyi, the Cabinet passed a resolution on May 17 to turn Ukrainian penitentiary institutions over to the Justice Ministry. Commenting on the decision, Mr. Holovatyi said it was aimed at making inmates' conditions more humane. There are 180 penal institutions in Ukraine, including 131 colonies, 19 settlement-colonies, 11 penal institutions for juveniles, 33 custodial facilities, five medical-labor corrective facilities and 21 hospitals, in which about 200,000 citizens are being kept. Subordinating Ukraine's penitentiary system to the Justice Ministry was among the nation's commitments in joining the Council of Europe. (Ukrinform)

Courts have final say on language

KYIV - The issue of whether some city and oblast councils' resolutions to grant Russian the regional language status are legitimate rests with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, said Mykola Poludennyi, an adviser to President Viktor Yushchenko and head of the Presidential Secretariat's main service for legal policies. The authorities, he said on May 31, do not intend to use forcible means to solve the language problem. As reported earlier, resolutions granting the Russian language regional status were passed by the Kharkiv, Sevastopol, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk city councils, and the Donetsk, Mykolaiv and Luhansk oblast councils. (Ukrinform)

Black Sea region news agencies unite

KYIV - Major news agencies from a dozen European nations established the Black Sea Association of National News Agencies (BSANNA) in Kyiv on May 30. The constituent conference's participants adopted a declaration on creating the BSANNA and adopting the association's charter. The BSANNA, which is designed to overcome informational barriers and to create a common information space in the Pontic Region, incorporates Azertadj (Azerbaijan), ATA (Albania), Armenpress (Armenia), BTA (Bulgaria), Kavkaz-press (Georgia), Moldpress (Moldova), ITAR-TASS (Russia), Rompress (Romania), TANYUG (Serbia and Montenegro), ANA (Greece), ANADOLU Agency (Turkey) and Ukrinform (Ukraine). The Ukrainian national news agency, Ukrinform, initiated the BSANNA's establishment. Ukrinform Director General Viktor Chamara has been elected as the BSANNA chairperson. BTRA General Director Maksim Minchev has been elected the BSANNA's vice-chairperson. The BSANNA will hold its next session in Bulgaria in 2007. (Ukrinform)

YTB for three languages in Crimea

KYIV - It is essential to introduce three official languages, including Ukrainian, Russian and Tatar in Crimea, said the leader of the Crimean chapter of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (YTB), Andrii Senchenko. Speaking on May 16, he said a typical village in Crimea has Ukrainian, Russian and Tatar populations, which means that three different schools should be built there. Ukrainian authorities failed to jump at the chance to solve the language problem in Ukraine, Mr. Senchenko said. Thus far, the Luhansk and Donetsk oblast councils as well as the city councils of Kharkiv, Sevastopol, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk have passed resolutions on granting Russian the status of a second regional language. (Ukrinform)

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 4, 2006, No. 23, Vol. LXXIV

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