28.02.05. Den bil, Gongadze blev fragtet i, er blevet fundet
28.02.05. Ukraine og Tyrkiet kan blive medlemmer af EU inden 2015
25.02.05. Ukraine vil ud af Irak
24.02.05. IMF bekymret over alt for mange sociale udgifter
24.02.05. Jusjtjenko vil ikke trække alle tropperne ud af Irak
23.02.05. 48% af ukrainerne er imod NATO-medlemskab
23.02.05. Ny kold Krig på vej efter Ukraines ny NATO-kurs
23.02.05. Jusjtjenko beroliger investorer
21.02.05. Forsvarsministeren: Ukraine er medlem af NATO inden 2009
20.02.05. Tymoshenko: Firebrand of choice
20.02.05. Yushchenko vs. Putin. Soviet heirs
16.02.05. Nye oplysninger i sagen om forgiftning
10.02.05. Rusland: Ukraine må selv om, hvad det vil i forhold til NATO
10.02.05. SDPU (O) kritiserer udenrigsministerens Ruslands-kurs
10.02.05. Ukraine kan blive medlem af NATO i den nærmeste fremtid
10.02.05. Spielberg vil lave film om jødemassakre i Babi Yar
04.02.05. Yushchenko on CBS 60 Minutes: 'Live and carry on'
02.02.05. CIA og MI6 aflyttede og overvågede den ukrainske ledelse
Efterforskningen af forgiftningen af Viktor Jusjtjenko leder hen til den russiske efterretningstjeneste. Det viser sig nu, at man forsøgte at forgive ham i en hel måned og anvendte ikke et men to dødelige stoffer til formålet, skriver den kendte britiske journalist Tom Mangold i den australske avis "The Age", oplyser Radio Liberty.
Efter rejsen til Kiev er journalisten nået frem til den konklusion, at de udenlandske efterretningstjenesters rolle - såvel den vestlige som den russiske - i den ukrainske orange revolution, kan være større ind hidtil antaget.
Efter Tom Mangolds opfattelse var det netop takket været en koordineret indsats fra SBU (den ukrainske militære efterretningstjeneste, red.), CIA og MI6 (den britiske ydre efterretningstjeneste) det lykkedes at forhindre end væbnet konflikt i at opstå i Ukraine.
Det hele startede med de russiske efterretningstjenester, idet efterforskningen af forgiftningen af Viktor Jusjtjenko efter Tom Mangolds opfattelse fører netop til dem. Det viser sig nu, at man forsøgte at forgifte ham i en hel måned, og at man til formålet anvendte ikke en men hele to dødbringende stoffer.
Den sidste dødelige giftdosis på størrelse med et valmuefrø modtog Viktor Jusjtjenko efter den britiske journalists mening den 5. september under middagen med SBU-generalen Ihor Smeshko og hans stedfortræder Volodymyr Satsiuk.
Ifølge Tom Mangold havde Smeshko ingen mistanke om sammensværgelsen. Den kok og kelner, som serverede middagen, erkendte derimod sammensværgelsen, da de som centrale vidner var blevet ført ud af landet af Jusjtjenkos folk.
I et interview med den britiske journalist siger professor Mykola Polisjtjuk, som er medlem af Verkhovna Radas særlige kommission til efterforskningen af sagen, at plan B var at give Jusjtjenko en dødelig dosis, så han døde dagen efter. Og blev begravet endnu før opløsningen kunne have bevidnet tilstedeværelsen af dioxin og en anden gift - endotoksin - i hans krop. Kun det, at Jusjtjenko på vejen hjem kastede op, reddede han liv, mener professor Polisjtjuk.
Det, at man i Kiev ikke havde tænkt sig at holde et frit og fair valg, havde man i Washington og i London forstået meget tidligere. I begge hovedstæder gentog man hele tiden det samme: vi har ikke noget favoritter blandt kandidaterne, men vi er bekymrede for, om valgets legitimitet.
I midten af sommeren lod de præsident Leonid Kutjma, som på det tidspunkt allerede var under mistanke for mange beskidte sager, samt dennes allierede Viktor Medvedtjuk forstå, hans forsøg på at valgsvindel ville få uheldige følger.
For at man i Kiev skulle forstå, at man mente det alvorligt, undlod USA at udstede visum til en af de forretningsfolk, som stod Kutjma nær. Indenrigsminister og general Mykola Bilokon modtog også en advarsel om, at han ikke ville kunne indrejse til noget som helst vestligt land.
Men det forhindrede imidlertid hverken Kutjma eller hans tilhængere i at give sig i kast med så åbenlys og næsvis en valgfusk, som blev meget let opdaget af hundredvis af uafhængige eksperter.
"De kunne ikke vinde på anden vis", forklarer en af observatørerne i Kiev til en britisk journalist. Ruslands præsident Volodymyr Putin besluttede sig også for at støtte det ukrainske styres kandidat. Men selvom Kreml deltog i forløbet i Ukraine, viste de vestlige efterretningstjenester sig at være mere snarrådige, er den britiske journalists konklusion.
De vestlige efterretningstjenester brugte ifølge Tom Mangold en anden teknologi - de overvågede de ukrainske magthavere ved hjælp af satellitter, aflyttede samtaler og brugte de gode gamle "beskidte kneb".
En central person i det netværk, som omfattede en del af officererne i den ukrainske sikkerhedstjeneste og nogle særlige udsendte medarbejdere fra CIA og MI6, var Oleh Rybatjuk, en nær ven af Viktor Jusjtjenko.
De ukrainske sikkerhedstjenester var oppositionens hovedinformationskilde. De overlod informationerne til Rybatjuk, hvorefter han overbragte dem til den amerikanske og britiske ambassade.
Da det på trods af alle advarsler blev klart, at Viktor Janukovytjs "sejr" var ved at blive sikret af omfattende valgsvindel, bevægede landet sig på randen af en konflikt. Hundredetusinder af mennesker gik på gaden.
De vestlige eksperter mente, at det vigtigste var at forhindre provokationer, og hvis ungdommen holdt stand, så ville hele landet holde stand. Og derfor skulle de trænede aktivister fra "Pora" stå for at sikre den militære disciplin på Uafhængighedspladsen, mens uafbrudte rock-koncerter - efter de vestlige efterretningstjenesters opfordring - sørgede for at dæmpe massernes aggressivitet.
I Kutjma-Janukovytj lejren besluttede man sig for
at provokere Jusjtjenkos tilhængere ved at
at sende kulminearbejdere fra Donetsk til Kiev, men de var så fulde ved
ankomsten, at de ikke engang var i stand til at lave provokationer. I
Janukovytjs stab siger man, at de blev fyldt med vodka efter vestlige
sikkerhedstjenesters rådgivning.
Da det mislykkedes at få vælgerne fra forskellige lejre til at gå løs på hinanden, greb styret til desperate forholdsregler - det besluttede at kvæle demonstrationerne ved hjælp af våbenmagt.
Om aftenen den 28. november blev 13.000 politisoldater fra indenrigsministeriet sat i forhøjet beredskab af et dekret fra indenrigsministeriets general Serhij Popkov. Men selv i dette ministerium var der efterhånden ikke så mange, der var loyale overfor regimet.
45 minutter senere glødede de vestlige diplomaters telefoner med meddelelser om, at tropperne var på vej til Uafhængighedspladsen. På trods af natten og tågen kunne de vestlige satellitter bekræfte, at tropperne var på vej til Kiev.
Ifølge den britiske journalister oplysninger videregav den amerikanske ambassadør oplysningen til USA's udenrigsminister Colin Powell. Denne ringede til Kutjma, som imidlertid ikke tog røret. Så ringede USA's ambassadør til Kutjmas svigersøn Viktor Pintjuk og sagde, at præsidenten ikke vil slippe af sted med at undlade at besvare opkald fra Washington.
Over en række telefonsamtaler samt møder blev det gjort klart for Kutjma, Medvedtjuk og Popkov, at en betydelig del af militæret og SBU ikke længere er under regeringens kontrol. Det afgørende slag mod Kutjma var meddelelsen SBU's generaler om, at de agtede at tage "de uskyldige civile" i forsvar.
Afslutningsvis bemærker Tom Mangold, at den orange revolutions sejr, utvivlsomt, er ukrainernes egen fortjeneste, men at den også bliver fejret af de personer i Vesten, som mener, at demokratiet ind imellem har brug for et forsigtigt skub for at 48 millioner mennesker kan få glæde af det for første gang i deres liv. UP.
Yushchenko: 'Live And Carry On'
Jan. 30, 2005
It's a plot straight out of spy novel. A presidential candidate in the heart of Europe is stricken by a mystery poison that disfigures his face and nearly kills him.
But this is no fiction. It's the story of how Ukraine's new president, Viktor Yushchenko, triumphed over his country's authoritarian rulers, while leading a massive people-power revolution.
For the first time since his inauguration, Yushchenko tells his incredible story to CNN's Christiane Amanpour, on assignment for 60 Minutes.
In Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, the walls of St. Michael's Monastery of the Golden Domes resonate with a painful history. Demolished by Stalin's henchmen, this 12th century cathedral has been rebuilt from scratch, a task almost as monumental as the one faced by Yushchenko, Ukraine's new president.
"It's a huge responsibility," says Yushchenko. "Ukrainians have dreamt of being free for centuries. So no one expected we'd come so close to dictatorship."
And that might have happened if the plot to poison Yushchenko had succeeded. It has completely disfigured him.
"You challenged people about your face," says Amanpour. "You said that your face is everything that is wrong with Ukraine. What do you mean by that?"
"People cry when they see my face, but my country has also been disfigured," says Yushchenko. "Now, we'll bring both back to health."
How does he deal with his disfigurement now? "This Yushchenko," he says, "I'm still not used to."
Six months ago, when he began his campaign to unseat Ukraine's authoritarian rulers, did he have any idea that it would be so difficult and that he would go through such personal hardship?
"I know what kind of country I live in, and who's in charge of the government," says Yushchenko. "But I didn't think they'd be cynical enough to poison me."
Ignored by Ukraine's highly controlled media, Yushchenko's grassroots campaign against government corruption was somehow starting to catch on. He barnstormed the country with his American-born wife, Katherine, often at his side.
"He was a great threat to the old system, where there was a great deal of corruption, where people were making millions, if not billions," says Katherine, whose parents were Ukrainian immigrants to Chicago.
She was used to straddling two worlds, but nothing prepared her for Ukraine's poisoned politics.
"The whole purpose of what they did, I believe now, was to keep him out of the campaign, to knock him out," says Katherine. "They tried to destroy him politically, and I always feared that when they were not successful, they would try to then do something physically."
She also feared that something would happen to her family. And then, suddenly it did. On Sept. 6, Yushchenko fell critically ill, and no one in Ukraine could explain why.
"It was a very, very, very difficult situation," says Katherine. "Many of the doctors told us that they were, that they just had never experienced somebody having so much pain for so many unknown reasons."
He had symptoms like a swollen pancreas, stomach ulcers, and a crippling backache. His family rushed him to a clinic in Austria, but Dr. Michael Zimpfer was just as baffled by his seemingly unrelated symptoms.
"That made us suspicious," says Zimpfer. "We inform the patient that we never saw an identical clinical picture before, and we suspect, don't know yet, but we suspect that there might be an act of bio-terrorism or poisoning behind that."
The doctors struggled to save his life, but they couldn't keep him in bed for long. Eight days later, Yushchenko insisted on going home with tubes dripping painkillers inserted right into his spine.
Did Katherine ever try to dissuade him? "He knew he had to go forward and there was no turning back," she says.
Three days after returning to Kyiv, Yushchenko faced down his political enemies in parliament. They had mockingly attributed his mystery illness to bad sushi or excessive drinking. But no could explain why his face was so horribly swollen.
"Look at my face, this is a fraction of the problems I've had," said Yushchenko in parliament. "This isn't a problem of cuisine; we're talking about the Ukrainian political kitchen, where assassinations can be ordered. You know very well who the killer is. The government is the killer."
But the government brushed off these allegations, until the hard proof came in. Three months after Yushchenko first fell ill, a lab in Amsterdam reported dioxin levels in his blood that was 6,000 times above normal.
"This is the highest we've ever seen, and one of the highest ever reported," says Bram Brouwer, who runs the lab. "And it fits very well with the symptoms that are now observed, with Mr. Yushchenko's face, the chloracne."
The evidence that Yushchenko was poisoned was now irrefutable. Dioxin, one of the world's most toxic chemicals, was responsible for the scarring of his face and threatened his future with cancer. But the question remained. Who carried out this crime?
The attempt to eliminate Yushchenko is as Byzantine as Kyiv's skyline, filled with plots and potential villains. One theory is that he was poisoned by Ukraine's security services, the old KGB, because just before he fell so gravely ill, he had been invited to dinner by the security chiefs. Yushchenko and his hosts shared crayfish, salad and a few beers, and ironically they had been meeting to discuss the death threats against him.
Ukraine's security services deny they had anything to do with the poisoning. Their director had in fact been helping the Yushchenko camp.
Does Yushchenko know who did this to him? "I have no doubts this was by my opponents in the government, that's who would benefit the most from my death," says Yushchenko.
But there is still the question of how it was done. One way to solve it is to trace the poison. And some people in Yushchenko's camp think that it came from a Russian chemical weapons lab.
"Dioxin like this is produced in four or five military labs in Russia, America, and a few other countries," says Yushchenko. "Our security services have informed me how this material got into Ukraine, but that evidence is now with our general prosecutor, who eventually must answer this question."
They must also examine another plot on Yushchenko's life. Ukraine's security services say a powerful car bomb, targeting Yushchenko's headquarters, was discovered during the presidential campaign. Two Russian nationals are being interrogated.
Spokesmen for the Russian security services would not comment on either case, but President Vladimir Putin's role during the election remains controversial. He openly backed the handpicked successor of the previous regime, coming to Kyiv twice to lend his support.
"President Putin supported your opponent during the election. How do you reconcile with him," asks Amanpour.
"I'll give him my hand, and l say, 'Vladimir Vladimirovich, let's forget the past and think of the future,'" says Yushchenko.
This week he did just that, greeting Putin on his first trip abroad after his inauguration.
"Everyone now understands only Ukrainians have the right to choose Ukraine's president," says Yushchenko. "Our president is not elected in Moscow, or anywhere else."
That became apparent when the previous regime tried to steal the presidential election through massive voting fraud. It triggered what became known as the Orange Revolution, a spontaneous revolt of outraged citizens who for weeks besieged their own capital
Democracy was finally taking root in a country where greed and corruption had become the rule of law.
When government troops lined up for what could have ended in an European-style Tiananmen Square, the people's power of persuasion won the battle of the streets and Yushchenko and all those who had believed in him triumph in a bloodless revolution.
"The millions who came out on the street showed that they don't want tyranny," says Yushchenko. "They want freedom."
But what a price for freedom he paid. "Everyone has paid a price," says Yushchenko.
"A lot of people asked me, 'How did you deal with it,' and my answer was always my husband's alive. My children are alive, I'm alive," says Yushchenko's wife, Katherine. "It was such a small episode in a huge revolution. Generations of Ukrainians, you could say centuries of Ukrainians, have dreamed and have fought, and have died for a chance to be right where we are right now."
"When I heard that millions were praying for me, it went straight to my heart," says Yushchenko. "But I also felt an obligation to live. To die is not very original, but to live and carry on -- that's special."
© MMV, CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Shoah doc eyes Ukraine
Spielberg plans docu on Ukraine Holocaust
By
WILLA PASKIN
NEW YORK -- Steven Spielberg and Ukrainian Parliament member Victor Pinchuk will exec produce a docu about the Holocaust in the Ukraine based on survivor testimony recorded by Spielberg's Shoah Foundation.
Using the 3,400 Ukrainian Holocaust survivor and witness video testimonies gathered by the foundation between 1996 and 1999, doc will focus in particular on the Babi Yar massacre.
Project, to be completed over an 18-month period, also will include the creation of a student study guide based on the film.
Pinchuk, who approached the Shoah Foundation with the idea for the documentary, is the founder of Interpipe Scientific and Industrial Production Group.
Spielberg created the Shoah Foundation in 1994 after he finished filming "Schindler's List." Foundation, whose mission is to videotape the testimony of Holocaust survivors, has collected almost 52,000 testimonies from 56 countries.
USA's nye udenrigsminister, Condolezza Rice, går ind for, at NATO skal være åbent for alle Europas demokratiske stater.
"NATO bør være åbent for alle demokratier i Europa", sagde Rice på en pressekonference onsdag i Bruxelles efter mødet mellem de 26 udenrigsministre fra alliancens medlemslande.
På spørgsmålet om, hvorvidt Ukraine kan blive medlem af NATO, svarede Rice, at alliancens lande vil støtte demokratiseringsprocessen i Ukraine.
Vi går ud fra, fremhævede Rice, at Ukraine og NATO har en konkret samarbejdsplan, og at vi bør opfylde denne plan "for at tilnærme Ukraine til NATO".
NATO's generalsekretær Jaap de Hoof Scheffer sagde på sin side, at han næsten ikke kan vente på det kommende møde den 21. februar i Bruxelles mellem præsident Jusjtjenko og lederne af NATO-landene.
Alliancens generalsekretær påpegede i denne forbindelse, at NATO fører de åbne døres politik i forhold til alle de lande, som opfylder alliancens kriterier. Ifølge ham vil parterne på mødet i Bruxelles drøfte perspektiverne i en demokratisk udvikling i Ukraine. RIA Novosti. UP.
Lederen af partiet SDPU (o), Viktor Medvedtjuk, mener, at de seneste udtalelser fra udenrigsminister Borys Tarasyuks side tager sigte på en afvikling af de ukrainsk-russiske relationer og en annullering af aftalerne omkring Det fælles økonomiske rum. Medvedtjuk har fremsat sin erklæring på sin hjemmeside.
Efter hans opfattelse har udenrigsministeriet med sin ministers udtalelser faktisk "påtaget sig ansvaret for at undergrave det for Ukraine yderst fordelagtige økonomiske samarbejde med Rusland og SNG-landene".
"Dette er en kurs ud i håbløsheden og kan kun følges af uansvarlige politikere", siger formanden for SDPU (o).
"De antirussiske signaler, som i dag udgår fra Mykhaylivska Square kan allerede i morgen gå hen og betyde underskud og tab af arbejdspladser for tusinder af ukrainske virksomheder, en forværring af den økonomiske konjunktur, fastsættelsen af nye toldbarrierer, indførelsen af mere restriktive kvoter og licenser i handelsforbindelserne mellem de to stater, samt en forværring af forholdene for de af vores borgere, som arbejder i Rusland", påpeger Medvedtjuk.
Han minder om, at aftalen om Det fælles økonomiske rum var en følge af "en møjsommelig og langvarig afstemning af deltagernes holdninger" og "modsvarer ukrainsk økonomisk akutte behov."
Medvedtjuk betegner Tarasyuks udenrigspolitiske handlinger som "uafbalancerede" og påpeger, at han med sine erklæringer "har sat spørgsmålstegn ved oprigtigheden i præsident Jusjtejnkos ord om nødvendigheden af at opretholde "gensidigt fordelagtige, venskabelige og stabile" relationer med Rusland". UP.
Den russiske Føderations forsvarsminister Sergej Ivanov siger, at spørgsmålet om Ukraines indtræden eller ikke indtræden i NATO er et suverænt anliggende for landet, og at Rusland ikke har noget at gøre med denne proces, oplyser RIA Novosti.
"Rusland har ikke noget at gøre med denne proces. Ukraine må selv om, hvordan landet vil opbygge sine relationer med alliancen", sagde Ivanov på en pressekonference i Nice efter mødet i Rusland-NATO rådet. ProUA.
Tv-stationen "5. kanal" kan hjælpe rigsadvokaturen i efterforskningen af forgiftningen af præsident Viktor Jusjtjenko.
På tirsdag vil efterforskerne modtage nogle bånd, som har været bragt i udsendelsen "Den lukkede zone", oplyser "5. kanals" hjemmeside. På båndet hører man optagelsen af det der angiveligt er to medarbejdere ved den russiske føderale efterretningstjeneste. I deres samtale taler de om, at ideen om at forgifte Jusjtjenko tilhører den russiske spindoktor Gleb Pavlovskyj.
Disse samtaler blev offentliggjort af "Den
lukkede zone" den 23. december. Ifølge projektets leder, Volodymyr
Arjev, blev båndet simpelthen afleveret på redaktionen. Arjev er meget
sikker på, at båndet er autentisk. Han henviser til en personlig
samtale med en af deltagerne i telefonsamtalen. Indtil videre har han
kun videregivet navnet på denne person til efterforskningen.
Journalisten Arjev fortæller endvidere om en samtale han lige har haft
med rigsadvokat Svjatoslav Piskun, hvis medarbejdere også har været i
"5. kanals" studier.
Lige nu er kredsen af uofficielt mistænkte ret snæver. Den omfatter de
medarbejdere ved Ukraines sikkerhedstjeneste, som Jusjtjenko spiste
middag med den 5. september, den russiske spindoktor Pavlovskyj, som
arbejdede for Viktor Janukovytjs valgstab, samt mindre betydningsfulde
personer, som arbejdede i den daværende premierministers
"skyggestab". UNIAN. UP.
International
Herald Tribune
February
10, 2005
Today, Putin does not seem to get anything right. As one star falls, another rises.
By
Anders Aslund
Director,
Russian and Eurasian Program and Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace
WASHINGTON--What a difference a year can make! A year ago, President Vladimir Putin represented the new trend in the former Soviet Union. He had successfully consolidated political power and won a solid parliamentary majority. Russia had carried out comprehensive market economic reform and judicial reform. Its international standing was high.
Today, Putin does not seem to get anything right. The lawless confiscation of the Yukos oil company has jeopardized his radical tax and judicial reforms. His handling of the bloody Beslan hostage drama showed the weakness of his centralized state. His heavy-handed intervention in the Ukrainian presidential elections provided evidence that he was not only antidemocratic but also anti-Western. The recent popular protests against his social benefits reform have depressed his popularity at home.
As one star falls, another rises. Ukraine's "orange revolution" has lifted the democratic reformer Viktor Yushchenko to the skies. He has set off a new democratic trend in the post-Communist world.
Both Russia's current malaise and Ukraine's democratic revolution are taking place in the midst of an economic boom. Last year, Russia's economy grew by 7 percent, Ukraine's by 12 percent. So the issue is politics, not the economy.
The focus lies on the generators of the boom. In the mid-1990s, young people took on the challenge of transforming the seemingly moribund Soviet smokestacks. They succeeded beyond any expectations. Alas, as Herbert Hoover once said, "The trouble with capitalism is capitalists." Some of the new owners became hugely and conspicuously rich. Since their property rights were weak, the "oligarchs" reinsured their property rights by buying up politicians, judges and other officials.
Both Russian and Ukrainian politics are now driven by a popular urge to defeat this corruption. The United States faced a similar challenge with the "robber barons" of the 19th century.
Putin's response was to pioneer a strategy of political centralization, enhanced state control and mild authoritarianism, relying on the secret police. He argued this was necessary in order to restore order, reduce corruption, boost economic growth and promote social equity.
Today, these policies seem to have rendered the Russian state more dysfunctional. The reinforcement of state power and secrecy appear only to have boosted high-level corruption. Far-reaching centralization of power has reduced both the capacity and the quality of government decision-making. And as the media have been muzzled, the government has become subject to its own disinformation.
Although Russia's economic growth remains high, it was lower than that in most former Soviet countries last year. Now Putin's secret-police friends are called the new oligarchs. Putin's authoritarianism no longer looks like a solution.
In Ukraine, President Yushchenko has thrown down an ideological gauntlet with his democratic revolution. Like Putin, Yushchenko is raging against corruption and oligarchs, but he prescribes the opposite cure. As he stated at his inauguration, "Only a democratic state values human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity." Yushchenko's commitment to freedom and democracy is being reinforced by his calls for European integration, while Putin reminiscences about the "vast and great" Soviet Union.
The economic programs of the two presidents are remarkably similar. Both advocate a free but social market economy. Both countries have a flat personal income tax of 13 percent. Ukraine needs to catch up with Russia in market economic legislation, but with rising authoritarianism, the role of the state is growing in Russian business.
The critical issue is the property rights of the oligarchs. Putin has given up much of his initially good economic policies by ruthlessly going after one oligarch, leaving the property rights of others in doubt. Yushchenko must avoid repeating his mistake. Yet he campaigned for the re-privatization of Kryvorizhstal, the last, biggest and most controversial privatization in Ukraine. Having been bought by Ukraine's two wealthiest oligarchs (Rinat Akhmetov and Viktor Pinchuk), it is a palatable political target. The challenge to Yushchenko is to limit re-privatization to the politically necessary and then sanctify property rights. For economic growth, Ukraine needs more privatization rather than re-privatization.
Ukraine's "orange revolution" has made democracy look modern again. Yushchenko's challenge now is to balance calls for social justice with the need for secure property rights.
by Ivan Lozowy
By naming Yulia Tymoshenko prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko has shown he is not afraid of strong personalities in his government, in tacit recognition of the difficult task ahead.
KYIV, Ukraine--If politicians are supposed to speak softly but carry a big stick, then Ukraine's newly inaugurated president, Viktor Yushchenko, has made no secret of whom he has chosen as his stick. The day after his inauguration on 23 January, Yushchenko designated the firebrand politician Yulia Tymoshenko as acting prime minister. On 4 February Ukraine's parliament confirmed Tymoshenko in the post by a resounding and unprecedented 373 votes out of a possible 450.
DISARRAY ON THE FLANKS
The overwhelming vote for Tymoshenko reflects just how resounding was the defeat of former President Leonid Kuchma and his handpicked successor Viktor Yanukovych following the heady events of the "Orange Revolution."
The former government's supporters are in complete disarray. Political groupings that provided close support to Kuchma, such as the Party of Regions and the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (United), have been bleeding members of parliament profusely. Since November, the Party of Regions has lost 12 parliamentarians out of 66, and 17 deputies have left the SDPU(o) faction, which once numbered 50. The Workers' Ukraine party, headed by Yanukovych's former campaign manager Serhiy Tyhipko, collapsed entirely after losing 43 deputies, then revived through a merger with the People's Democratic Party. That failed to stem the losses, however; the united faction has since lost four out of 18 parliamentarians.
Following a meeting of the SDPU(o)'s governing council on 25 January, party chairman Viktor Medvedchuk announced it was going into opposition, the only party to formally do so. During the 4 February vote on Tymoshenko, however, 18 of the 23 SDPU(o) members present voted to confirm her as prime minister.
Medvedchuk has his task cut out for him, because apart from the vote and a rash of parliamentary defections, over the past several weeks two ministers from the previous cabinet left his party and the head of the State Reserve Committee resigned from its governing council.
Yushchenko's own faction, Our Ukraine, remains the largest with 101 deputies; Tymoshenko's eponymous party has 18; and another Yushchenko supporter, Socialist Party chairman Oleksandr Moroz, controls 21. New parliamentary elections, together with local elections, are due in just over a year's time, and much of what Tymoshenko's government does until then will help draw the contours of the new parliament.
A DRIVING PERSONALITY
Most observers agree that Tymoshenko's strong personality and high ambition will drive the current government and its initiatives.
Tymoshenko has been a steadfast supporter of Yushchenko's bid for the presidency since the two signed a cooperation agreement entitled "Power of the People" on 2 July 2004.
Educated in the eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk as an economist, Tymoshenko went into business very early and by the mid-1990s took control over close to a quarter of Ukraine's entire economy by monopolizing the supply of natural gas to the heavily industrialized eastern regions and the shipment of gas from Russia's Gazprom through Ukraine to Western Europe. Her company, United Energy Systems, was granted the monopoly by then-Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, another Dnipropetrovsk native. In 2003, Lazarenko was convicted on 29 counts of extortion and money laundering in the United States.
In 1999, the newly appointed Prime Minister Yushchenko, who had not yet aroused Kuchma's ire, appointed her a deputy prime minister in charge of fuel and energy, but in 2001 Kuchma removed her from the post. She was arrested in 2001 on charges of tax evasion but was soon released; she then initiated an impeachment drive against Kuchma. The party she founded, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, did well in parliamentary elections in 2002, winning 7.2 percent of the vote.
On 4 February, the same day parliament approved Tymoshenko as prime minister, Yushchenko appointed 21 ministers by drawing heavily on the coalition of political forces that supported his candidacy during the presidential elections.
Though there were few surprises, the new cabinet represents a departure from business as usual.
Out of four deputy prime ministers, only Anatoly Kinakh, who joined Yushchenko's campaign after the first round of presidential voting last October, once occupied a high government post (as prime minister in 2001-2002). The other three come from Yushchenko's inner circle: Oleh Rybachuk, who is responsible for European integration, Roman Bessmertny, in charge of administrative reform, and Mykola Tomenko in the humanitarian policy slot.
Borys Tarasiuk, who has strong pro-Western leanings, returns to head the Foreign Ministry for the second time.
The Socialists received three ministries: agriculture, education, and interior. The new interior minister, Yuriy Lutsenko, was one of the leaders of the anti-Kuchma campaign in 2000-2001, when he faced Interior Ministry troops across barricades on a regular basis. Now he is in charge of them.
The Defense Ministry will be headed by Anatoliy Hrytsenko, formerly head of a think tank called the Razumkov Center.
Tymoshenko's close aide, Oleksandr Turchynov, only a lieutenant by rank, was appointed head of the Security Service.
Yushchenko named businessman Petro Poroshenko, Tymoshenko's chief challenger for the premiership, to head the Council on National Security and Defense, a position that will be upgraded under the new president. While in the past the council was used occasionally to push through unpopular personnel changes, Yushchenko has indicated that it will serve as his principal policy-making body.
Oleksandr Zinchenko, Yushchenko's campaign manager, was named state secretary and head of the presidential secretariat. For the last two years of Kuchma's term, the office was headed by Medvedchuk and was a constant source of discontent and controversy. Medvedchuk was held to be the author of the ***temnyky,*** or secret instructions to the media on how to cover, or not cover, news events. He was also widely believed to have stood behind numerous attempts to pressure politicians around Yushchenko and Tymoshenko by instigating tax investigations and other forms of legal pressure.
THIS LADY'S NOT FOR PLACATING
If Tymoshenko's past statements are any indication, she will work energetically to clean up a government machine that was a source of intense and prolonged pressure against her and other opposition figures, including Yushchenko himself.
Prior to her appointment, Tymoshenko stated repeatedly and forcefully that Ukraine needed to be "cleansed" of the corruption of the past.
In this Tymoshenko has been supported by Moroz, who said on 27 December on Ukrainian television that "the most important and most difficult task for Yushchenko's team will be the return of the people's trust in government. The guarantee for this should be the cleansing of the oligarchs [wealthy businesspeople] from the government."
Tymoshenko has already coupled words to deeds. At its first meeting, on 5 February, her cabinet voted to return to government ownership the Krivorizhstal steelworks, source of 20 percent of Ukraine's steel exports, and to conduct a new privatization. In the original privatization, Krivorizhstal was bought by a consortium of Ukraine's two richest men, the Donetsk-based Renat Akhmetov and Kuchma's son-in-law, Viktor Pinchuk. That deal is under scrutiny in several cases now making their way through the courts.
The prime minister, who herself made a fortune on trading in gas during the 1990s, then put even more pressure on the oligarchs, saying at a press conference that all of the government's decisions on property-related issues since 1991 would be reviewed.
Following last week's whirlwind tour to Russia, Poland, Strasbourg, and Davos, Switzerland, Yushchenko is due to meet U.S. President George W. Bush during a NATO summit on February 22. While off on foreign visits, the president can be sure that at home the fires are being stoked by his determined new prime minister.
Ivan Lozowy is a TOL correspondent and also runs an Internet newsletter, the Ukraine Insider.
Forsvarsminister Anatolij Hrytsenko regner med, at Ukraine træder ind i NATO inden 2009. Udtalelsen faldt i Tv-programmet "Detaljer med Dmitrij Kiselev" på kanalen ICTV, søndag den 20. februar.
Ministeren fremhævede, at Ukraines indtræden i NATO involverer 2 aspekter: et militært og et ikke-militært. Han gjorde opmærksom på, at NATO's vigtigste indvendinger mod Ukraine vedrørte det ikke-militære aspekt, som indebærer udviklingen af demokrati i landet. Samtidig gør Ukraines militære potentiale ifølge ministeren det muligt at regne med en indtræden i NATO allerede om en 2-3 år.
Som tidligere nævnt, har udenrigsminister Borys Tarasyuk udtalt, at Ukraines vej til Den europæiske Union via NATO er en uomgængelig vej. "Ukrajinski Novyny". ProUA.
Ukraines præsident Viktor Jusjtjenko har udelukket en generel revidering af tidligere privatiseringer, og det vil uden tvivl berolige mange investorer, som havde frygtet det værste, efter at premierminister Julia Tymoshenko i sidste uge truede med at gå tilbage og se på omkring 3000 privatiseringer, der har været gennemført siden Sovjetunionens fald. Den reformvenlige Jusjtjenko blev i december valgt som præsident. Reuters.
Den ukrainske ledelses erklæringer om, at landet agter at træde ind i NATO truer med at få Den kolde Krig til at blusse op på ny, skriver den britiske avis "Times" i dag onsdag, oplyser BBC's ukrainske afdeling. Avisen begrunder sit synspunkt med, at Ukraine i sin tid var hjertet i Sovjetunionens militær-industrielle kompleks.
Ukraines indtræden i en alliance med USA i spidsen vil betyde, at en stor del af det tidligere Sovjetunionens militære kompleks samt Den russiske Sortehavsflådes base på Krim vil komme i alliancens hænder, som vil brede sig ind til Ruslands sydvestlige grænser, påpeger avisen.
"Times" fremhæver, at præsident Viktor Jusjtjenko, da han fremsatte sin udtalelse om, at han agter at tilslutte sig de 26 NATO lande, betonede, at Kievs valg ikke er rettet mod Rusland, og at han betragter Rusland som en strategisk partner.
Avisen påpeger, at Kreml endnu ikke helt har fattet, at dets forsøg på at forhindre Viktor Jusjtjenkos sejr ved præsidentvalget mislykkedes. I Moskva anser man Kievs bevægelse mod NATO for at være en trussel mod Ruslands nationale interesser ikke alene pga. bekymringen over den russiske Sortehavsflådes skæbne, men også fordi Ukraine er en stor producent og eksportør af våbenteknologier og våbentyper, herunder missiler, som også anvendes i Rusland, skriver avisen.
Desuden påpeger "Times", at Rusland har kontrolleret Ukraine i 300 år og har udtalt sig meget kraftigt imod langt mindre vigtige ex-sovjetrepublikkers indtræden i NATO. Avisen fremhæver, at Ukraine har opnået USA's støtte i sine bestræbelser på at træde ind i NATO, og henviser til Bush's erklæring i Bruxelles om, at USA principielt støtter Ukraines integration i EU og NATO, hvis Ukraine gennemfører de nødvendige reformer.
Desuden fremhæver "Times", at NATO har offentliggjort, at man vil etablere en fond, som skal hjælpe Ukraine med at gennemføre militære reformer og skaffe sig af med omkring halvanden million enheder af lettere våben samt 133.000 tons forældet ammunition.
Ifølge avisen er NATO interesseret i, at de tilbageværende våben ikke kommer i fjendtlige staters eller terroristiske organisationers hænder, skriver avisen. "Times" citerer nyhedsbureauet UNIAN's oplysninger om, at ukendte gerningsmænd lige inden topmødet i Bruxelles fra et våbenlager i Ukraine stjal lige netop de jord-til-luft missiler, som fremkalder bekymring i Vesten, fordi de kan blive brugt af terroristerne.
Man mindes også Hryhorij Omeltjenkos erklæring fra sidste måned om, at der blev anholdt seks våbenhandlere i Ukraine, som står mistænkt for at sælge ukrainske atombårne missiler til Iran og Kina. "Times" fremhæver, at Ukraine sikkert vil få en massiv støtte fra de tidligere sovjetrepublikker, som det er lykkedes at komme ud af Ruslands sfære.
Således citeres eksempelvis Letlands udenrigsminister Antanas Valionis ifølge hvem Vestens bekymring over Ruslands holdning ikke bør forhindre NATO i at optage nye medlemmer af alliancen fra rækken af tidligere sovjetrepublikker.
Hr. Valionis mener, at NATO anerkender nødvendigheden af at samarbejde med Rusland, men samtidig har suveræne stater ret til at vælge deres egen vej til demokrati, og at NATO bør støtte dem i virkeliggørelsen af deres valg. UP.
Flertallet af ukrainerne går ind for et medlemskab af Den europæiske Union, men ønsker ikke at træde ind i NATO, viser en landsdækkende meningsmåling, som er gennemført af fonden "Demokratiske initiativer" og Kievs internationale sociologiske institut i dagene fra den 4. til den 15. februar 2005.
På spørgsmålet "Hvis der blev holdt en
folkeafstemning den kommende søndag vedrørende et medlemskab af
EU" svarede de adspurgte således: "44% - for et medlemskab af
EU, 28% - imod et medlemskab af EU, mens 28% enten ikke har besluttet
sig eller ikke ville deltage i en folkeafstemning.
På spørgsmålet "Hvis der blev holdt en folkeafstemning den
kommende søndag vedrørende et medlemskab af NATO", svarede de
adspurgte som følger: 48% - imod et medlemskab af NATO, 15% - for et
medlemskab af NATO, mens 36% enten ikke har besluttet sig eller ikke
ville deltage i en folkeafstemning.
Direktør for fonden "Demokratiske initiativer" Ilko Kutjeriv mener, at resultatet skyldes, at 2/3 ikke ved noget om EU og NATO og har brug for at blive orienteret om disse organisationer.
I alt deltog 2040 personer i undersøgelsen og den statistiske usikkerhed (uden design-effekten) udgør 2,2%. UP.
Ukraines kommunistiske parti udtrykker en resolut protest i anledning af præsident Viktor Jusjtjenkos udtalelser i Bruxelles om nødvendigheden af at beholde en del af de ukrainske tropper i Irak som en led i USA's besættelsestropper angiveligt for at "forsvare Ukraines nationale interesser". Det oplyser KPU's pressetjeneste ifølge LIGABiznesInform.
"Vi kræver af præsident V. Jusjtjenko, som ustandseligt taler om styrets "åbenhed og gennemskuelighed", at han ved navns nævnelse oplister dem, hvis interesser han identificerer med Ukraines interesser", hedder det i erklæringen fra det ukrainske kommunistparti.
KPU kræver, at præsidenten "omgående opfylder Ukraines Verkhovna Radas resolution og ikke mindst sine løfter fra valgkampen og inden maj måned helt og holdent trækker de ukrainske tropper ud af Irak og tilbage til den fædrene jord. Så de soldater, som den daværende præsident Kutjma ved hjælp af den nuværende præsident Jusjtjenko har sendt til en fremmed krig, kan markere 60-året for Den store Sejr sammen med deres familier".
Som tidligere oplyst, sagde Viktor Jusjtjenko på en pressekonference i Bruxelles, at han går ind for at trække de ukrainske fredsbevarende styrker ud af Irak efter konsultationer med samtlige partnere. ProUA.
Den internationale Valutafond advarer mod, at det ukrainske budgetunderskud i år kan komme op på 6% og anbefaler at reducere det til 3%. Denne anbefaling kommer fra fondens mission, som afsluttede sit arbejde i mandags, oplyser radio Liberty.
IMF udtrykker også bekymring for det store ukrainske budgetunderskud, som opstår pga. den lave skatteopkrævning og høje socialudgifter. "Hvis man fastholder underskuddet på det nuværende niveau, vil den indenlandske gæld vokse i forhold til BNP, og det vil fremkalde en destabilisering i økonomien", mener eksperterne fra IMF's europæiske departement, som har været i Ukraine i 10 dage.
Samtidig udtrykker IMF støtte til den ukrainske regering og er parat til at styrke samarbejdet, men advarer mod faren ved det stigende underskud på statsfinanserne i Ukraine.
Ifølge IMF's beregninger kan statsunderskuddet vokse til de farlige 6%, hvis regeringen overholder sine løfter om at øge overførselsindkomsterne - såvel sine egne løfter som dem, den har overtaget fra Janukovytj-regeringen. Og dette kan på sin side fremkalde en stigning i inflationen i 2005.
Derfor anbefaler fonden at reducere statsunderskuddet til 2-3% via en reduktion af udgifterne og en revision af visse planlagte stigninger i tilskud samt en udvidelse af skattegrundlaget.
At dømme ud fra ukrainske regeringstalsmænd har regeringen sandsynligvis tænkt sig at lytte til fondens anden anbefaling og søge efter muligheden for at balancere budgettet ved at øge indtægterne. Efter den ukrainske præsidents opfattelse bør budgettet være afbalanceret, men socialt: "Regeringen vil ned til den sidste øre lade hele budgettet komme folk til gode...."
Om onsdagen tredoblede regeringen pengeudbetalingerne til soldater og kursister og ophævede samtidig 29 resolutioner om skattefritagelser for virksomheder, som den forrige regering havde indført. Blandt andet afskaffes de særlige skattefri tariffer for el for visse virksomheder indenfor nonferroindustrien. Takket være dette tiltag kan budgettet ifølge premierminister Julia Tymoshenko få yderligere 100 mill. Hryvna ind.
Ifølge vestlige analytikere er Ukraine indtil videre ikke truet af finansiel ustabilitet, selvom det endnu er langt til en virkelig finansiel stabilitet.
Ifølge Ed Parker, der er analytiker ved det anerkende rating-agentur Fitch, er det ikke alene vigtigt at rette op på statsfinanserne "der er blevet svækket af valget", men også finde ud af, hvad der i virkeligheden sker. "Der er en vis usikkerhed omkring statsfinansernes virkelige tilstand. Derfor burde man vedtage et realistisk budget, inden man går i gang med at opfylde løfterne", hævder han.
Det forventes, at det nuværende budget vil undergå en alvorlig revision. Og den nye finansminister Viktor Pynzenyk lover ikke et budget uden underskud, men tror på, at underskuddet vil kunne holdes indenfor 2% af BNP. UP.
EU's polske kommissær for regionalpolitik, Danuta Hübner, mener, at Ukraine og Tyrkiet kan tilslutte sig EU omkring år 2015. Denne prognose kom fru Hübner med under sin tale på det britiske universitet i Sussex, oplyser BBC med henvisning til den polske avis "Gazeta Wyborcha".
Samtidig sagde Danuta Hübner, at Ukraines og Tyrkiets tilslutning til EU vil kræve en ændring i fundamentet for de europæiske institutioners funktioner.
Fru Hübners udtalelse blev en af de første offentlige udtalelser af sin art i forhold til Ukraines indtræden i EU fremsat af et medlem af EU-kommissionen. UP.
I Gongadze-sagen har man øjensynligt fundet den person, som så, hvordan journalisten blev sat ind i en bil "bestilt af politiet", samt selve bilen. Dette oplyste indenrigsminister Jurij Lutsenko i et interview med Tv-stationen ІCTV. "Vi har klart fastslået, hvem det var, der satte Georgij ind i bilen. Denne bil er ligeledes i vores varetægt", sagde ministeren.
Lutsenko udtrykte på ny, at han er overbevist om, at politiet ikke alene vil finde dem, som tilbageholdt Gongadze, men også dem, som stod bag disse personer. "Det bliver sværere, men vi skal nok finde frem til dem", tilføjede ministeren.
Han bekræftede i denne forbindelse, at ikke alle de politifolk, som "overvågede, aflyttede og satte ham ind i bilen" er forbrydere, da de blot udførte ledelsens ordrer, uden at vide at ordrerne var strafbare.
"Hvis det kræves, at man fastholder anonymiteten, eller måske endda udlover en dusør for opklaringen af denne sag, så er vi parat til det. Fordi dette lige nu er en af de mest omtalte sager i verden", tilføjede Lutsenko. UP.
Kommentar: Den radikale ukrainske journalist Georgij Gongadze forsvandt den 16. september 2000. Sagen om hans forsvinden eksploderede den 28. november 2000 i forbindelse med oppositionsleder Moroz' offentliggørelse af angiveligt hemmelige båndoptagelser fra daværende præsident Kutjmas kabinet. Nyhedernes dækning i sagen findes i arkivet.