Groysman pledges more reforms
KYIV – Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman says his government will continue to implement reforms in 2017. Addressing a press conference in Kyiv on April 11, five days before the first anniversary since his appointment to the post, Mr. Groysman said he and his team were now focused on reforms in the pensions system, education and medical-services sector. In the field of energy security, he said Kyiv was seeking opportunities to buy coal from different countries to get rid of Ukraine’s dependence on Russian coal. Kyiv is also looking at ways to increase production of electricity by the country’s nuclear plants and hydropower stations, Mr. Groysman said. Calling Russia “an aggressor country,” the prime minister noted that Ukraine was no longer dependent on Russian natural gas. Mr. Groysman said he supported the acceleration of the unbundling of the state-owned Naftohaz oil and natural-gas company and reforms in the gas market. He also announced he did not plan to take part in the 2019 presidential election. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by UNIAN, Ukrayinska Pravda and Interfax)
U.S. notes Russia’s ‘campaign of aggression’
VIENNA – Speaking at the Special OSCE Permanent Council Meeting on Russian Aggression against Ukraine on April 5, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Kate M. Byrnes stated, “As Secretary [of State Rex] Tillerson said at NATO, we note with alarm the escalating violence along the line of contact and the repeated targeting of civilian infrastructure by Russia-led separatist forces. We call on Russia to exercise its influence over the separatists to put a stop to the violence, end the campaign of attacks and intimidation against OSCE monitors, and facilitate the access they need to do their job.” She underscored: “Colleagues, we must not allow ourselves to fall into the trap of moral equivalency. Ukraine is defending itself against a campaign of aggression by Russia. Ukraine has lost over 1,600 square kilometers of territory since combined Russian-separatist forces signed the Minsk Package of Measures in 2015. Combined Russian-separatist forces continue to make claims on territory beyond the line of contact. As Secretary Tillerson said at NATO, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has shaken the very foundations of security and stability in Europe, and compromises our shared vision of a Europe that is whole, free and at peace.” Ms. Byrnes also told the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe: “The United States affirms its staunch support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally-recognized borders. We do not, and will not, accept Russian efforts to change the borders or territory of Ukraine. …U.S. sanctions will remain in place until Russia reverses the actions that triggered them.” (U.S. Mission to the OSCE)
Poroshenko: secure Ukraine, secure Europe
OTTAWA – Speaking at the Kyiv Security Forum, which took place April 6-7, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko said the “crisis in Europe is a fight of two opposite ideas of Europe: freedom or tyranny. And only one of these ideas will prevail in the end.” The president went on to note: “Ukrainians always looked at the world through the lens of universal ideas of liberation, freedom, human dignity and the rule of law. We still do. This is how we see our future – the European one. And that is the difference between Ukraine and Russia. Russia seeks its future in its imperial past. …In the past of oppression and imperial expansion. That is what they practiced before. That is what they practice now. …” He cautioned: “We have to take a proactive approach, instead of reacting to another provocative step of Moscow. …We have all tools in our disposal to restrain Russia’s aggressive behavior. The price of aggression has to grow, until Moscow respects international rules. Sanctions is the very instrument to contain Kremlin and reverse its behavior. …As well as, we need our resolve to tighten sanctions every time Russia crosses another red line. Russia has already dispelled the illusions about its good will.” Mr. Poroshenko also pointed out that “today a secure Ukraine means a secure Europe, and … a secure trans-Atlantic community.” Therefore, he continued, “A stronger defense alliance with Ukraine should be our joint response. Improving defense capabilities of Ukraine equals strengthening the West itself. Providing Ukraine with modern equipment, including radio-electronic and anti-radar systems, is investment in our common security… Today our struggle is not only a fight for Ukraine’s independence but for the future of the Free World. He also cited the fact that “just a few days ago, Ukraine and Canada signed a defense cooperation agreement that sets a framework for joint research and production – the right step in the right direction, in the right time, in the right place.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
EuroParliament OKs visa-free travel
BRUSSELS – The European Parliament has approved visa liberalization for Ukraine, a crucial step toward enabling Ukrainians to travel to the European Union without obtaining visas. The measure passed on April 6 by a vote of 521 to 75, with 36 EU lawmakers abstaining. EU member states must also approve visa liberalization for Ukraine before the measure enters into force. Ambassadors representing the 28 EU member states are expected to approve the deal when they meet in Brussels on April 26, and EU sources have told RFE/RL that EU ministers are expected to rubber-stamp the decision on May 11. The deal would be sealed in a signing ceremony expected shortly after that. Diplomats have expressed hope that the visa-free regime will enter into force in mid-June. The decision will apply to all Ukrainian citizens who have biometric passports, including residents of the areas of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia-backed separatists and of Crimea, the Ukrainian region that Russia illegally annexed in 2014. Many in Ukraine, which saw Russia seize Crimea in 2014 and has been mired in a deadly conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the east for three years, see the visa deal as a symbol of closer ties to the EU. Ukrainian citizens who have biometric passports will be able to enter most EU member states for up to 90 days during any 180-day period. Visa-free travel to the EU for citizens of Georgia, another former Soviet republic under pressure from Russia, began on March 28. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels)
Tornado Battalion verdicts to be appealed
KYIV – Ukrainian prosecutors and defense lawyers have both vowed to appeal the verdicts and prison sentences handed down to former members of the disbanded Tornado battalion. On April 7, a court in Kyiv convicted 12 former battalion members of committing crimes including beatings, torture and sexual assault against residents in the eastern Luhansk region in early 2015. Eight defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from eight to 11 years, and four were handed suspended five-year terms. After a trial that lasted over a year, both sides are dissatisfied with the rulings. Prosecutors say the sentences were too mild, while the defense contends they were too harsh. The investigation was launched after the battalion was disbanded following allegations that members were illegally incarcerating and torturing residents in the Luhansk region, where government forces have been fighting Russia-backed separatists since 2014. (Crimean Desk, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Ukraine rejects call to lift entry ban
KYIV – Ukraine has strongly rejected calls from the organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest for Kyiv to lift an entry ban on Russia’s entry in this year’s competition. “It is unprecedented and unacceptable to demand such extraordinary decisions from Ukraine for the sake of Russia,” Deputy Prime Minister Vyacheslav Kyrylenko said in a radio interview that he posted on his Twitter account on April 1. Mr. Kyrylenko also reiterated that Russia can take part in Eurovision in Kyiv “only if their participant is someone who has not violated Ukrainian law.” The comments came after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) urged Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman to lift the “unacceptable” ban on the Russian singer. In a letter to Mr. Groysman on March 31, EBU head Ingrid Deltenre warned that “several” unspecified countries have said they would consider boycotting the competition in Ukraine if Kyiv insists on barring Russia’s entry. She also warned that Ukraine’s public broadcaster UAPBC “might be excluded from future events.” Russia selected singer Yulia Samoilova as its contestant earlier this month. But Ukraine says she is barred from entering the country because she violated Ukrainian law by performing in Crimea in 2015. Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014. Russia slammed Kyiv’s ban, saying Ukraine has “a regime infected with Russophobic paranoia.” On March 24, Russia rejected a compromise offered by the EBU under which Ms. Samoilova would have been allowed to compete via satellite link. Ukraine won the right to host the Eurovision contest, the final of which is set for May 13, by winning last year with its entry, a song by Crimean Tatar performer Jamala about the 1944 deportation of Crimean Tatars by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AFP and Interfax)
Poroshenko appoints Gaidar as adviser
KYIV – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has appointed Maria Gaidar, a former politician and activist in Russia, as an adviser. Mr. Poroshenko’s March 28 decree on Ms. Gaidar’s appointment was posted on his website on April 5. Ms. Gaidar, 34, is the daughter of the late Yegor Gaidar, an economic reformer who was acting prime minister under Russian President Boris Yeltsin in 1992. Ms. Gaidar is a lawmaker in Ukraine’s Odesa region, where she served as acting deputy governor from July 2015 to May 2016. She obtained Ukrainian citizenship in 2015. She resigned as deputy governor in May 2016 after a new law barring regional lawmakers from simultaneously holding state posts took effect, but she remained in the oblast administration as an adviser to then-Governor Mikheil Saakashvili. Ms. Gaidar, a vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is a former deputy governor of Russia’s Kirov region. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by UNIAN and TASS)
Ban of Mejlis challenged in court
OTTAWA – The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG) reported that “Russia’s ban on the Crimean Tatar Mejlis has been formally challenged at the European Court of Human Rights, with the Mejlis represented by prominent Ukrainian and Russian human rights groups and the European Human Rights Advocacy Center [EHRAC].” Russia’s ban on the self-governing body of the indigenous people of Crimea, which it called “extremist,” has been described as an act of war against the entire Crimean Tatar people and internationally condemned. “Mere expressions of indignation are, however, insufficient, when Mejlis leaders have been banished from their homeland, jailed or facing criminal charges for opposing annexation,” the KHPG noted. “The Mejlis has therefore turned to the court in Strasbourg, citing a number of rights which Russia’s ban violates.” The Mejlis and its leaders will be represented by the British-based EHRAC, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union and the Russian Memorial Human Rights Center, which have considerable experience in successfully representing applicants before the court. The KHPG further reported that the Mejlis will be arguing that its designation as an extremist organization and the suspension of its activities is a violation of the right to freedom of association, under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR); and that it has been banned – and its members persecuted – to punish them for their political position (in violation of Article 18). They also complain that Russian courts disregarded their status as a representative body of the indigenous people of Crimea, violating the prohibition of discrimination (Article 14). They further allege that they did not have access to a fair trial (Article 6), and they could not have anticipated that their activities would be in violation of anti-extremist legislation (Article 7). The KHPG noted: “The Mejlis made its opposition to Russian occupation of Crimea clear from the outset, and the repressive measures began soon after it called on all Crimeans to boycott Russia’s pseudo-referendum on March 16, 2014.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Belarus expels evangelical activists
MINSK – Three Ukrainian Evangelical Christian activists who served 15 days in a Belarusian jail are being deported to Ukraine. Ukraine’s consul in Minsk, Oleksandr Novosyolov, told RFE/RL that Ukrainian nationals Vladyslav Yermolov, Leonid Nemerchuk and Ashot Sarkisian were released from custody on April 6 and were set to be expelled the same day. They were detained in Minsk on March 22 and sentenced to 15 days in jail after a court convicted them of swearing in public. The lawyer of a Protestant Christian group in Minsk, Syarhey Lukanin, said the conviction was obtained on the strength of false testimony. The three were detained on the same day they had planned to conduct public Bible studies in Minsk. (RFE/RL’s Belarus Service)