KIEV, Ukraine -- After the collapse of coalition negotiations between Victor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko, both leaders announced they will run for president. Polls also show them leading a crowded field of candidates ahead of the 2010 vote.
After more than a week of intrigues and intensive negotiations behind closed doors on forming a mega-coalition between opposition leader Victor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, talks collapsed amid mutual distrust.Yanukovych on June 7 said the Party of the Regions would never agree to elect Ukraine’s president in parliament. Just such a constitutional change was part of the talks, along with an extension of the current parliament's term until 2014.A disappointed Tymsohenko addressed the nation the same day, blaming Yanukovych for pulling out of the talks “without warning.”A telephone poll conducted among 1,000 Ukrainians on June 7 by the Gorshenin Institute, a Kyiv think tank, showed that 63 percent approved of Yanukovych’s move and supported his argument that the president should be elected by national vote. Both leaders said in their televised addresses to the nation that they would run for president, entering a crowded field as front-runners, according to most polls.A recent poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology finds 34.7 percent favor Yanukovych and Tymoshenko trailing him with 22 percent. Behind them are former Verkhovna Rada speaker Arseniy Yatseniuk with 19.2 percent, Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko with 6 percent and President Victor Yushchenko with just 3 percent.The next presidential election will most likely take place on Jan. 17, 2010. But the date has not been officially set by parliament.Tymoshenko’s leader in parliament, Ivan Kyrylenko, said his faction would continue to push for a popular coalition to combat the economic crisis. “We’re not giving up hope and will not stop [negotiating.] There is no alternative to unification of effort,” Kyrylenko said on June 9.Meanwhile, Ukrainians expressed disgust at the political infighting and gridlock that is stalling government action on a number of issues.
Monday, 15 June 2009
Ukraine Struggles With Euro 2012 Ultimatum
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's preparations to co-host the European Football Championship in 2012 have fallen badly behind schedule.
UEFA, Europe's football governing body, has given the country until 30 November to show significant improvement, or face losing most of the matches to the co-hosts, Poland.In the eastern city of Donetsk, people are riding high on a tide of football fever.In May their team, Shakhtar, won the UEFA cup. Thousands came out onto the streets to celebrate and welcome the players home.The crowd seemed oblivious to the brooding presence of a massive bronze Lenin watching over the proceedings - a reminder of Ukraine's Soviet past.But then Lenin too looked unmoved, almost as if he knew that the party could soon be over.Elusive investorsShakhtar is building a state-of-the-art new stadium in Donetsk, with a capacity of 50,000.It is due to open at the end of August, and when it does, it will be the most technologically advanced in the country.But the new Donbass Arena may never host a match in Euro 2012. Not because there is anything wrong with the stadium itself, but because the other infrastructure simply is not there - the airports, the highways and the hotels.Alexander Rotov is the president of Gerc, one of Ukraine's leading construction companies.He has plans to build a new four-star hotel in Donetsk, in time for the competition.He has got the land, he got the planning permission. But he is having trouble financing the project."We have a letter of support from the government to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the EBRD," he says. "But the EBRD say they will only invest money if there are already Ukrainian investors on board."And Ukrainian investors are proving hard to find, even though the amount of money is relatively small - $30m (£18m).Mr Rotov blames the economic crisis, which has hit Ukraine hard.The country's banking system is under heavy strain, and even those lenders which are not on the brink of collapse are being very cautious with their funds.And then there are the roads.Crumbling infrastructureThe 19th Century satirist, Nikolai Gogol, once said that Russia was a country of "fools and bad roads".Gogol was a Ukrainian (though he wrote in Russian) and Ukraine was at that time part of the Russian Empire.The second half of his blunt assessment certainly applies today to many of Ukraine's highways, which are crumbling and littered with potholes.The country's transport infrastructure is in need of massive investment before it can cope with bus-loads of European football fans, let alone coaches full of footballers and their Wives-and-Girlfriends (WAGs.)In the capital, Kiev, things only get worse.Twice a day, the main artery from the airport into town turns itself into a vast traffic jam.Like a metaphor for Ukraine's preparations for the tournament as a whole, it is paralysed by a combination of economic crisis, political instability, and endemic corruption.Political interferenceAndrei Kapustin is an investigative journalist who runs a website dedicated to tracking Ukraine's preparations for Euro 2012."As soon as it was announced that Ukraine was due to host the competition," he says, "local officials reached for their giant calculators to work out how they could get their hands on this money."There are vast sums of money involved, and important contracts up for grabs to renovate airports, stadiums and other infrastructure.But with a presidential election due before the end of January, Andrei Kapustin says that politics is getting in the way."The whole process is far too politicised. Because in Ukraine, all top managers are also political figures and Euro 2012 has become a political battleground."The Ukrainian authorities agree they are playing for high stakes."Euro 2012 for Ukrainian people is not only a football event," Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Vasiukyk says.Mr Vasiunyk is specifically responsible for Ukraine's preparations to host the competition."It's the biggest political and social project in the 18-year history of independent Ukraine," he adds. "It is one of the very practical steps for integrating Ukraine into the European community.""If we will prepare to the highest standard, it means that we are equal partners, and Ukraine, as Poland, is a European country."DelaysWhen Ukraine and Poland's joint bid to host the competition was declared the winner in Cardiff in 2007, the plan was that matches would be played in four cities in each country.But after their latest assessment in May, UEFA said that so far, only Kiev was on track to host any matches at all.If things stay that way, it will mean more than just a massive embarrassment for the Ukrainian authorities.Kiev's Olympic stadium is undergoing a programme of expansion and renovation that has been beset by delays and disagreements over planning permission and land ownership.Nearby are two football pitches attached to a football academy, where kids hone their ball-skills.Progress in Ukraine's preparations for the competition over the next few months will have a direct impact not only on these children's future sports facilities, but also on the kind of country in which they grow up.
UEFA, Europe's football governing body, has given the country until 30 November to show significant improvement, or face losing most of the matches to the co-hosts, Poland.In the eastern city of Donetsk, people are riding high on a tide of football fever.In May their team, Shakhtar, won the UEFA cup. Thousands came out onto the streets to celebrate and welcome the players home.The crowd seemed oblivious to the brooding presence of a massive bronze Lenin watching over the proceedings - a reminder of Ukraine's Soviet past.But then Lenin too looked unmoved, almost as if he knew that the party could soon be over.Elusive investorsShakhtar is building a state-of-the-art new stadium in Donetsk, with a capacity of 50,000.It is due to open at the end of August, and when it does, it will be the most technologically advanced in the country.But the new Donbass Arena may never host a match in Euro 2012. Not because there is anything wrong with the stadium itself, but because the other infrastructure simply is not there - the airports, the highways and the hotels.Alexander Rotov is the president of Gerc, one of Ukraine's leading construction companies.He has plans to build a new four-star hotel in Donetsk, in time for the competition.He has got the land, he got the planning permission. But he is having trouble financing the project."We have a letter of support from the government to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the EBRD," he says. "But the EBRD say they will only invest money if there are already Ukrainian investors on board."And Ukrainian investors are proving hard to find, even though the amount of money is relatively small - $30m (£18m).Mr Rotov blames the economic crisis, which has hit Ukraine hard.The country's banking system is under heavy strain, and even those lenders which are not on the brink of collapse are being very cautious with their funds.And then there are the roads.Crumbling infrastructureThe 19th Century satirist, Nikolai Gogol, once said that Russia was a country of "fools and bad roads".Gogol was a Ukrainian (though he wrote in Russian) and Ukraine was at that time part of the Russian Empire.The second half of his blunt assessment certainly applies today to many of Ukraine's highways, which are crumbling and littered with potholes.The country's transport infrastructure is in need of massive investment before it can cope with bus-loads of European football fans, let alone coaches full of footballers and their Wives-and-Girlfriends (WAGs.)In the capital, Kiev, things only get worse.Twice a day, the main artery from the airport into town turns itself into a vast traffic jam.Like a metaphor for Ukraine's preparations for the tournament as a whole, it is paralysed by a combination of economic crisis, political instability, and endemic corruption.Political interferenceAndrei Kapustin is an investigative journalist who runs a website dedicated to tracking Ukraine's preparations for Euro 2012."As soon as it was announced that Ukraine was due to host the competition," he says, "local officials reached for their giant calculators to work out how they could get their hands on this money."There are vast sums of money involved, and important contracts up for grabs to renovate airports, stadiums and other infrastructure.But with a presidential election due before the end of January, Andrei Kapustin says that politics is getting in the way."The whole process is far too politicised. Because in Ukraine, all top managers are also political figures and Euro 2012 has become a political battleground."The Ukrainian authorities agree they are playing for high stakes."Euro 2012 for Ukrainian people is not only a football event," Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Vasiukyk says.Mr Vasiunyk is specifically responsible for Ukraine's preparations to host the competition."It's the biggest political and social project in the 18-year history of independent Ukraine," he adds. "It is one of the very practical steps for integrating Ukraine into the European community.""If we will prepare to the highest standard, it means that we are equal partners, and Ukraine, as Poland, is a European country."DelaysWhen Ukraine and Poland's joint bid to host the competition was declared the winner in Cardiff in 2007, the plan was that matches would be played in four cities in each country.But after their latest assessment in May, UEFA said that so far, only Kiev was on track to host any matches at all.If things stay that way, it will mean more than just a massive embarrassment for the Ukrainian authorities.Kiev's Olympic stadium is undergoing a programme of expansion and renovation that has been beset by delays and disagreements over planning permission and land ownership.Nearby are two football pitches attached to a football academy, where kids hone their ball-skills.Progress in Ukraine's preparations for the competition over the next few months will have a direct impact not only on these children's future sports facilities, but also on the kind of country in which they grow up.
German Foreign Minister To Visit Ukraine
BERLIN, Germany -- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski are to jointly visit Ukraine this week, German government sources announced on Monday.
The tripartite talks are to focus on the global economic crisis, which has hit Ukraine particularly badly, a foreign ministry spokesman said.Further subject for discussion was Ukraine's 'internal political stalemate,' the spokesman added. Coalition attempts by Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and the pro-Russian opposition Party of the Regions recently failed.Ukraine's economy has been particularly hard-hit by the world financial crisis, and is the recipient of a multi-billion-dollar IMF rescue package.Germany and Poland agreed on a joint initiative to support Ukraine during a European Union (EU) foreign ministers' council in April.
The tripartite talks are to focus on the global economic crisis, which has hit Ukraine particularly badly, a foreign ministry spokesman said.Further subject for discussion was Ukraine's 'internal political stalemate,' the spokesman added. Coalition attempts by Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko and the pro-Russian opposition Party of the Regions recently failed.Ukraine's economy has been particularly hard-hit by the world financial crisis, and is the recipient of a multi-billion-dollar IMF rescue package.Germany and Poland agreed on a joint initiative to support Ukraine during a European Union (EU) foreign ministers' council in April.
Ukraine: Living On Borrowed Time And Russian Gas
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine paid its May gas bill to Russian gas giant Gazprom in full, avoiding a new gas crisis, for now.
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine paid its May gas bill to Russian gas giant Gazprom in full, avoiding a new gas crisis, for noMoscow had expressed concern repeatedly that Ukraine would have trouble paying its bills and had warned it might seek full payment from Kiev in advance. “This could very well be a monthly or a more frequent event,” Chris Weafer, chief strategist at Moscow’s UralSib bank, told New Europe, reminding that Ukraine is in a dire economic situation.But the most important issue, apart from paying the monthly bill, is that Ukraine needs to find the cash to rebuild its gas storage before the winter because Ukraine’s Naftogaz used pretty much the entire storage of gas for Ukraine during the first quarter of 2009, Weafer said.Robert Shetler-Jones, chief executive of Group DF that holds Ukrainian billionaire Dmitry Firtash’s business assets, agreed. “The actual issue of paying for gas used now is not as big a problem as the fact that they do not have sufficient funds to buy additional gas that needs to be put in storage,” he said.Russia has urged Brussels to loan Ukraine money to pay for gas deliveries in order to avoid possible cutoffs, hopping the EU will consider the proposal at a summit on June 18. The EU Commission last week sent a fact-finding mission to Moscow and Kiev to shed light on their gas payment dispute.Russia is making a point in that if there is no gas in storage it will affect Europe. But Shetler-Jones said it would affect the EU only indirectly. The gas that is sent to Europe is different gas designated for export that transits Ukraine. “Assuming the Russians keep pumping that, there is no reason why that gas should not flow. However, what Russia does seem to be worried about is that the pipeline capacity will not be able to handle on one side their exports of gas to Europe and on the other side the increased demand Ukraine will have,” he said.But for now, Ukraine appears more preoccupied by meeting in monthly payments, which are higher than previous years following the January contact agreed between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko.Ukraine pins its hopes on the IMF. “They are talking a huge gamble in printing money in order to pay the May bill. They can’t do that two months in a row without pushing the economy absolutely over the brink,” Weafer said.And, at this point, Russia is all too willing to push them over the edge, threatening Ukraine as every payment deadline nears. The Russian government appears to have the Ukrainian election in mind in some form or another. “Elections are coming up in autumn in Ukraine and certainly the Russian government would very much like to have either (Viktor) Yanukovych or Tymoshenko as the next president. They are easier for them to deal with. So it could it well be that Russia is pushing the gas situation to the brink and then negotiate a solution with its favourite candidate,” Weafer said.Russia would also like the EU to become involved in some sort guarantor role. It would make Russia’s life a lot easier and then would bring the EU into the process. “Every month they do this it must make Brussels that bit more nervous and therefore they may try to be part of the solution,” Weafer said.But above all, Gazprom would still like to get greater control of gas assets in Ukraine, ideally to have some equity involved in the pipeline that crosses Ukraine’s territory. “That option is on the table,” Weafer said. “Every time Ukraine can’t pay I’m sure someone from Gazprom is saying: ‘Well, look, give us some assets and we’ll convert the debt into that.’”w.
KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine paid its May gas bill to Russian gas giant Gazprom in full, avoiding a new gas crisis, for noMoscow had expressed concern repeatedly that Ukraine would have trouble paying its bills and had warned it might seek full payment from Kiev in advance. “This could very well be a monthly or a more frequent event,” Chris Weafer, chief strategist at Moscow’s UralSib bank, told New Europe, reminding that Ukraine is in a dire economic situation.But the most important issue, apart from paying the monthly bill, is that Ukraine needs to find the cash to rebuild its gas storage before the winter because Ukraine’s Naftogaz used pretty much the entire storage of gas for Ukraine during the first quarter of 2009, Weafer said.Robert Shetler-Jones, chief executive of Group DF that holds Ukrainian billionaire Dmitry Firtash’s business assets, agreed. “The actual issue of paying for gas used now is not as big a problem as the fact that they do not have sufficient funds to buy additional gas that needs to be put in storage,” he said.Russia has urged Brussels to loan Ukraine money to pay for gas deliveries in order to avoid possible cutoffs, hopping the EU will consider the proposal at a summit on June 18. The EU Commission last week sent a fact-finding mission to Moscow and Kiev to shed light on their gas payment dispute.Russia is making a point in that if there is no gas in storage it will affect Europe. But Shetler-Jones said it would affect the EU only indirectly. The gas that is sent to Europe is different gas designated for export that transits Ukraine. “Assuming the Russians keep pumping that, there is no reason why that gas should not flow. However, what Russia does seem to be worried about is that the pipeline capacity will not be able to handle on one side their exports of gas to Europe and on the other side the increased demand Ukraine will have,” he said.But for now, Ukraine appears more preoccupied by meeting in monthly payments, which are higher than previous years following the January contact agreed between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko.Ukraine pins its hopes on the IMF. “They are talking a huge gamble in printing money in order to pay the May bill. They can’t do that two months in a row without pushing the economy absolutely over the brink,” Weafer said.And, at this point, Russia is all too willing to push them over the edge, threatening Ukraine as every payment deadline nears. The Russian government appears to have the Ukrainian election in mind in some form or another. “Elections are coming up in autumn in Ukraine and certainly the Russian government would very much like to have either (Viktor) Yanukovych or Tymoshenko as the next president. They are easier for them to deal with. So it could it well be that Russia is pushing the gas situation to the brink and then negotiate a solution with its favourite candidate,” Weafer said.Russia would also like the EU to become involved in some sort guarantor role. It would make Russia’s life a lot easier and then would bring the EU into the process. “Every month they do this it must make Brussels that bit more nervous and therefore they may try to be part of the solution,” Weafer said.But above all, Gazprom would still like to get greater control of gas assets in Ukraine, ideally to have some equity involved in the pipeline that crosses Ukraine’s territory. “That option is on the table,” Weafer said. “Every time Ukraine can’t pay I’m sure someone from Gazprom is saying: ‘Well, look, give us some assets and we’ll convert the debt into that.’”w.
Thursday, 11 June 2009
Kremlin's Crimes - Is Russia Determined To Repeat Its History?
As European democracies celebrate the 20th anniversary of their liberation from communism and the Soviets, Moscow seeks to restore its dominance over former satellites. Rewriting Russian history is part of this plan. The Putinist notion of a progressive Soviet system in the past is designed to provide justification for Russia's current assertiveness in the region.
Take Moscow's annual May 9 parade, which celebrates the "victory over fascism" on the anniversary of Nazi Germany's surrender to the Allies. The entire exercise is based on a monumental national delusion fostered by the Kremlin.Although Russia was one of the victorious powers at the end of World War II, Moscow continues to disguise the historic record that the Soviet Union itself helped launch the war in close alliance with Nazi Germany. Through the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, Stalin schemed with Hitler to carve up Eastern Europe.Russia has recently intensified its revisionist campaign, claiming that it voluntarily gave up communism and the Soviet Bloc and that the Cold War ended in a draw with the West. Russia's state propagandists maintain that the USSR never occupied its neighboring states after World War II, but rather liberated them from tyranny.And they minimize the Kremlin's imposition of a totalitarian system over the region that stifled its political and economic progress for almost half a century. Unlike post-war Germany, Moscow has never paid reparations for Soviet crimes and expropriations in Central and Eastern Europe.Moscow also disguises the fact that Stalin murdered more Russians and other Soviet citizens than Nazi Germany. Its official figure of 27 million war dead includes several millions of Stalin's victims during Soviet civilian deportations and military purges.Instead of admitting that it was a perpetrator and an opportunist in the destruction of Europe, Russia, as the successor state to the Soviet Union, depicts itself as a victim and a victor.Moscow took another step to revise its history last month when it formed a presidential inter-departmental commission to promote the Soviet version of history and to tackle alleged "anti-Russian" propaganda that damages the country's international image. The commission's mandate is to formulate policy options to "neutralize the negative consequences" of what they consider to be historical falsifications aimed against Russia.This is in particular a response to steps by neighboring governments in Estonia, Poland, Ukraine, and elsewhere to talk openly about Soviet repression and to remove monuments that glorify the Soviet occupation.The committee has no independent historians, and is comprised of bureaucrats from government ministries, representatives from military and intelligence agencies, several pro-Kremlin spin-doctors, and nationalistic lawmakers.The chairman of this "historic truth" commission, Sergei Naryshkin, is chief of staff in President Dmitry Medvedev's administration and a loyal supporter of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. As Russian liberals have pointed out, this commission bears an eerie resemblance to Soviet institutions that established a monopoly over scientific and scholarly truths.Additionally, legislators from the ruling United Russia Party have proposed amendments to the penal code that will make the "falsification of history" a criminal offence. If passed by the Duma, this could result in mandatory jail terms for anyone in the former Soviet Union convicted of "rehabilitating Nazism."This draft bill is not designed to fight neo-Nazis or fascist ideology. Instead, it would allow the criminal prosecution of individuals who question whether the Soviets really "liberated" Eastern Europe toward the end of the war or whether countries such as Georgia welcomed their annexation by the Czarist Empire.This would open the door to possible legal campaigns against political leaders in neighboring countries, including Ukraine, Georgia, and the three Baltic states, who challenge Russia's distorted version of history.Last month's parade, where soldiers in Czarist-style uniforms carried the red flag with the yellow hammer and sickle across the Red Square, was an almost exact reenactment of Soviet-era self-glorification. The spectacle sent an unmistakable message to all formerly occupied territories that Russia remains the strongest military continental power and continues its Czarist and Soviet traditions.During the May display President Medvedev warned unnamed adversaries who were supposedly contemplating "military adventures" against Russia -- a thinly veiled threat to keep Ukraine and Georgia out of NATO. The Kremlin's new historiography of Russia as a proud, virtuous neighbor to those in its sphere helps provide an intellectual underpinning for such posturing.Western countries, including the former Soviet satellites, can take steps to expose Russia's historical revisionism by sponsoring international conferences and symposia, by opening up all pertinent state archives to scholars, by educating the younger generation about communist crimes, and simply by talking openly about the Soviet era.As Russia glosses over its dark past and flexes its muscles, the fear is that those who rewrite history may also be determined to repeat it.
Take Moscow's annual May 9 parade, which celebrates the "victory over fascism" on the anniversary of Nazi Germany's surrender to the Allies. The entire exercise is based on a monumental national delusion fostered by the Kremlin.Although Russia was one of the victorious powers at the end of World War II, Moscow continues to disguise the historic record that the Soviet Union itself helped launch the war in close alliance with Nazi Germany. Through the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, Stalin schemed with Hitler to carve up Eastern Europe.Russia has recently intensified its revisionist campaign, claiming that it voluntarily gave up communism and the Soviet Bloc and that the Cold War ended in a draw with the West. Russia's state propagandists maintain that the USSR never occupied its neighboring states after World War II, but rather liberated them from tyranny.And they minimize the Kremlin's imposition of a totalitarian system over the region that stifled its political and economic progress for almost half a century. Unlike post-war Germany, Moscow has never paid reparations for Soviet crimes and expropriations in Central and Eastern Europe.Moscow also disguises the fact that Stalin murdered more Russians and other Soviet citizens than Nazi Germany. Its official figure of 27 million war dead includes several millions of Stalin's victims during Soviet civilian deportations and military purges.Instead of admitting that it was a perpetrator and an opportunist in the destruction of Europe, Russia, as the successor state to the Soviet Union, depicts itself as a victim and a victor.Moscow took another step to revise its history last month when it formed a presidential inter-departmental commission to promote the Soviet version of history and to tackle alleged "anti-Russian" propaganda that damages the country's international image. The commission's mandate is to formulate policy options to "neutralize the negative consequences" of what they consider to be historical falsifications aimed against Russia.This is in particular a response to steps by neighboring governments in Estonia, Poland, Ukraine, and elsewhere to talk openly about Soviet repression and to remove monuments that glorify the Soviet occupation.The committee has no independent historians, and is comprised of bureaucrats from government ministries, representatives from military and intelligence agencies, several pro-Kremlin spin-doctors, and nationalistic lawmakers.The chairman of this "historic truth" commission, Sergei Naryshkin, is chief of staff in President Dmitry Medvedev's administration and a loyal supporter of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. As Russian liberals have pointed out, this commission bears an eerie resemblance to Soviet institutions that established a monopoly over scientific and scholarly truths.Additionally, legislators from the ruling United Russia Party have proposed amendments to the penal code that will make the "falsification of history" a criminal offence. If passed by the Duma, this could result in mandatory jail terms for anyone in the former Soviet Union convicted of "rehabilitating Nazism."This draft bill is not designed to fight neo-Nazis or fascist ideology. Instead, it would allow the criminal prosecution of individuals who question whether the Soviets really "liberated" Eastern Europe toward the end of the war or whether countries such as Georgia welcomed their annexation by the Czarist Empire.This would open the door to possible legal campaigns against political leaders in neighboring countries, including Ukraine, Georgia, and the three Baltic states, who challenge Russia's distorted version of history.Last month's parade, where soldiers in Czarist-style uniforms carried the red flag with the yellow hammer and sickle across the Red Square, was an almost exact reenactment of Soviet-era self-glorification. The spectacle sent an unmistakable message to all formerly occupied territories that Russia remains the strongest military continental power and continues its Czarist and Soviet traditions.During the May display President Medvedev warned unnamed adversaries who were supposedly contemplating "military adventures" against Russia -- a thinly veiled threat to keep Ukraine and Georgia out of NATO. The Kremlin's new historiography of Russia as a proud, virtuous neighbor to those in its sphere helps provide an intellectual underpinning for such posturing.Western countries, including the former Soviet satellites, can take steps to expose Russia's historical revisionism by sponsoring international conferences and symposia, by opening up all pertinent state archives to scholars, by educating the younger generation about communist crimes, and simply by talking openly about the Soviet era.As Russia glosses over its dark past and flexes its muscles, the fear is that those who rewrite history may also be determined to repeat it.
How 1989 Fanned Flames In Ukraine
KIEV, Ukraine -- As the 1989 revolution swept through the countries of Central Europe, tremors went right across the Soviet Union. At that time, in the Baltic states as well as in Ukraine, the prospects of independence suddenly looked very real.
In a richly decorated office in central Kiev, Leonid Kravchuk is happy to talk about 1989. Then a senior functionary of the Ukrainian Communist Party, he says it was totally unprepared for grassroots protests."We were in a full session of the Central Committee one day," he tells the BBC, "when someone ran up and said, 'There are two women with a placard outside!' My God, we stopped the session and I was sent down to investigate."It turned out they wanted money for a rail ticket," he laughs. "And so had decided to attract attention in this manner. I gave them 40 roubles, but the whole Central Committee was spooked by two women with one placard. There was fear because no-one ever stood against the Party."It was the time of glasnost, of openness in the media which the then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev introduced. Poet Ivan Drach took it very seriously.He says he knows exactly how many people could fit into the hall at the Writers' Union headquarters in the leafy part of Kiev: 167."When we spoke here about the need for change, the hall was always full," Drach says. "And soon we needed bigger halls, but they were also not large enough."No easy rideSo in smoky rooms, writers like Drach decided the time was right for bigger things - and they founded Rukh, or "Movement" in Ukrainian.At first Rukh's aims were to support Gorbachev's reforms against the die-hard regional party elites, but very quickly it became clear that the authorities in Moscow were neither controlling the situation nor capable of grasping what they had unleashed."Gorbachev decided to let a little bit of genie out of the bottle," laughs Ivan Drach. "But you cannot let out just a little bit. It is just like toothpaste - once you squeeze it out, you cannot put it back into the tube."What had started as a loyal grassroots group in time evolved into a political movement demanding full independence. This frightened quite a few people, even those who had opposed the Soviet regime for years.Semyon Gluzman spent 10 years in gulag camps and exile for exposing the abuses of Soviet psychiatry. In his tiny office at Kiev's main psychiatric hospital with all kinds of awards and accolades displayed on the walls, he says he had genuine fears."I will be honest, I thought this country could be more repressive, more anti-Semitic and the party machine here could create its own independent fiefdom and run it the way they wanted. I am glad I was wrong, and Ukraine is more democratic and freer than I thought it would be."Yet, independence was not an easy ride. The communist authorities wanted to keep power, by force if necessary.Phone warningThreats and intimidation were nothing unusual. "I could write a book about them," says Ivan Drach. "And the threats were really nasty. As soon as I spoke sharply about the need to break away from Moscow, my son was badly beaten."Even high rank did not provide immunity. Leonid Kravchuk, later elected the first president of independent Ukraine, tells of his and Boris Yeltsin's escape from a hunting lodge in Belarus in December 1991, where they discussed the break up of the Soviet Union with their Belarussian host Stanislav Shushkevich."Boris Yeltsin took me to one side," reminisces Kravchuk, "and told me that we should fly home immediately. We got into our cars, boarded our planes and took off, but did not tell the air traffic control of our routes. Simply, Boris Yeltsin got a phone call from Moscow warning him of danger."Of course people in Ukraine were watching events in countries like Poland closely. Writer Andrei Kurkov travelled there at the time, mostly to the mining areas in Silesia."I envied the Poles," he says over tea at his dacha outside Kiev. "I thought they were 10 years ahead of us. But then things in Ukraine took off really quickly."Many in Ukraine argued that it was much easier for the Poles: one nation, one language, one religion, its own Pope and fairly recent memories of freedom.Ukraine was and still is a more diverse if not divided country. Ukrainian and Russian compete for linguistic dominance, eastern and western regions compete for power and there are all sorts of ecclesiastical splits that would take ages to explain.'Small steps'Yet, there was one powerful, uniting factor for all Ukrainians: Chernobyl.The degree of lies, secrecy and disregard for people's lives after Chernobyl critically undermined whatever was left of trust in the authorities.A powerful Green Movement was formed. It could easily bring tens of thousands of people out onto the streets and the authorities could do nothing about it.Very quickly the Green demands merged with those of Rukh - a better, freer and cleaner Ukraine in every sense of the word.Yuri Scherbak, a doctor, a writer and later a diplomat was one of the key figures of the Chernobyl movement."It was such an amazing time," he tells me in his top floor flat where his desk is adorned with pictures of him with US presidents and other top politicians."We were romantics, we believed we would change the world quickly. Of course it was an illusion."Indeed, it was naïve to believe Ukraine would become a European democracy overnight, but in terms of freedom, according to Semyon Gluzman, it is doing much better than most other ex-Soviet states."What we need is small steps", he says. "In fact, I am a specialist in small steps."There have also been big leaps in Ukraine over the past 20 years: it may still be building its identity as a nation, but it has a functioning state, relatively free media and, even though it is still a poor country, there have been marked improvements in the standard of living.The global crisis is hitting Ukraine very hard, and an IMF pledge to help with $16bn (£10bn) may not be enough to put its export-based economy back on track.In 1991, two years after Leonid Kravchuk's Central Committee meeting was disturbed by those two women with a placard, I was standing in what is now Independence Square in central Kiev. Next to me was a huge statue of Lenin - but a Lenin with a difference.Daubed in red paint, with the word "hangman" written across him, he did not survive long.A week or so later a crane lifted the Lenin off the pedestal and transported him into oblivion.Over the years Ukraine has travelled a long way, but looking now at the challenges facing it - in the economy and, crucially, in sorting out its messy politics - I keep feeling that winching away Lenin was actually the easy bit.
In a richly decorated office in central Kiev, Leonid Kravchuk is happy to talk about 1989. Then a senior functionary of the Ukrainian Communist Party, he says it was totally unprepared for grassroots protests."We were in a full session of the Central Committee one day," he tells the BBC, "when someone ran up and said, 'There are two women with a placard outside!' My God, we stopped the session and I was sent down to investigate."It turned out they wanted money for a rail ticket," he laughs. "And so had decided to attract attention in this manner. I gave them 40 roubles, but the whole Central Committee was spooked by two women with one placard. There was fear because no-one ever stood against the Party."It was the time of glasnost, of openness in the media which the then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev introduced. Poet Ivan Drach took it very seriously.He says he knows exactly how many people could fit into the hall at the Writers' Union headquarters in the leafy part of Kiev: 167."When we spoke here about the need for change, the hall was always full," Drach says. "And soon we needed bigger halls, but they were also not large enough."No easy rideSo in smoky rooms, writers like Drach decided the time was right for bigger things - and they founded Rukh, or "Movement" in Ukrainian.At first Rukh's aims were to support Gorbachev's reforms against the die-hard regional party elites, but very quickly it became clear that the authorities in Moscow were neither controlling the situation nor capable of grasping what they had unleashed."Gorbachev decided to let a little bit of genie out of the bottle," laughs Ivan Drach. "But you cannot let out just a little bit. It is just like toothpaste - once you squeeze it out, you cannot put it back into the tube."What had started as a loyal grassroots group in time evolved into a political movement demanding full independence. This frightened quite a few people, even those who had opposed the Soviet regime for years.Semyon Gluzman spent 10 years in gulag camps and exile for exposing the abuses of Soviet psychiatry. In his tiny office at Kiev's main psychiatric hospital with all kinds of awards and accolades displayed on the walls, he says he had genuine fears."I will be honest, I thought this country could be more repressive, more anti-Semitic and the party machine here could create its own independent fiefdom and run it the way they wanted. I am glad I was wrong, and Ukraine is more democratic and freer than I thought it would be."Yet, independence was not an easy ride. The communist authorities wanted to keep power, by force if necessary.Phone warningThreats and intimidation were nothing unusual. "I could write a book about them," says Ivan Drach. "And the threats were really nasty. As soon as I spoke sharply about the need to break away from Moscow, my son was badly beaten."Even high rank did not provide immunity. Leonid Kravchuk, later elected the first president of independent Ukraine, tells of his and Boris Yeltsin's escape from a hunting lodge in Belarus in December 1991, where they discussed the break up of the Soviet Union with their Belarussian host Stanislav Shushkevich."Boris Yeltsin took me to one side," reminisces Kravchuk, "and told me that we should fly home immediately. We got into our cars, boarded our planes and took off, but did not tell the air traffic control of our routes. Simply, Boris Yeltsin got a phone call from Moscow warning him of danger."Of course people in Ukraine were watching events in countries like Poland closely. Writer Andrei Kurkov travelled there at the time, mostly to the mining areas in Silesia."I envied the Poles," he says over tea at his dacha outside Kiev. "I thought they were 10 years ahead of us. But then things in Ukraine took off really quickly."Many in Ukraine argued that it was much easier for the Poles: one nation, one language, one religion, its own Pope and fairly recent memories of freedom.Ukraine was and still is a more diverse if not divided country. Ukrainian and Russian compete for linguistic dominance, eastern and western regions compete for power and there are all sorts of ecclesiastical splits that would take ages to explain.'Small steps'Yet, there was one powerful, uniting factor for all Ukrainians: Chernobyl.The degree of lies, secrecy and disregard for people's lives after Chernobyl critically undermined whatever was left of trust in the authorities.A powerful Green Movement was formed. It could easily bring tens of thousands of people out onto the streets and the authorities could do nothing about it.Very quickly the Green demands merged with those of Rukh - a better, freer and cleaner Ukraine in every sense of the word.Yuri Scherbak, a doctor, a writer and later a diplomat was one of the key figures of the Chernobyl movement."It was such an amazing time," he tells me in his top floor flat where his desk is adorned with pictures of him with US presidents and other top politicians."We were romantics, we believed we would change the world quickly. Of course it was an illusion."Indeed, it was naïve to believe Ukraine would become a European democracy overnight, but in terms of freedom, according to Semyon Gluzman, it is doing much better than most other ex-Soviet states."What we need is small steps", he says. "In fact, I am a specialist in small steps."There have also been big leaps in Ukraine over the past 20 years: it may still be building its identity as a nation, but it has a functioning state, relatively free media and, even though it is still a poor country, there have been marked improvements in the standard of living.The global crisis is hitting Ukraine very hard, and an IMF pledge to help with $16bn (£10bn) may not be enough to put its export-based economy back on track.In 1991, two years after Leonid Kravchuk's Central Committee meeting was disturbed by those two women with a placard, I was standing in what is now Independence Square in central Kiev. Next to me was a huge statue of Lenin - but a Lenin with a difference.Daubed in red paint, with the word "hangman" written across him, he did not survive long.A week or so later a crane lifted the Lenin off the pedestal and transported him into oblivion.Over the years Ukraine has travelled a long way, but looking now at the challenges facing it - in the economy and, crucially, in sorting out its messy politics - I keep feeling that winching away Lenin was actually the easy bit.
Russian MP Returns From Ukraine After Detention On Aircraft
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine -- A Russian lawmaker who is blacklisted from entering Ukraine has returned from the country after a failed attempt to attend a Russian language festival, Russia’s consulate in Simferopol said on Tuesday.
Konstantin Zatulin was declared persona non grata by Ukraine last July over his “anti-Ukrainian” statement that the Crimea should be returned to Russia.Zatulin flew from St. Petersburg to the Crimean city of Simferopol on Saturday, but was prevented from leaving the plane. After waiting on board for several hours, he complained of high blood pressure, and was admitted to a local hospital.After arriving in Moscow, the lawmaker told reporters that Ukraine’s security officers refused to give a satisfactory explanation for refusing to admit him, and said he had been let into the country on January 31 this year.“I understand that Ukraine can deny access to its territory if it wants to, but it should give reasons for such a move,” he said.Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) says that Zatulin’s ban on entering Ukraine remains in force.However, Zatulin said that the last document on the issue that he received from the Ukrainian authorities was the August 7, 2008 note from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, granting him free entrance to Ukraine.“They have not notified me that I’m banned from entering Ukraine since them,” he said, adding that he and the Russian Foreign Ministry notified Ukraine of the visit in advance.As well as his controversial comments on the Crimea, where the Russian Black Sea Fleet still has a base, Zatulin angered the Ukrainian government with his participation in anti-NATO protests. He earlier appealed his ban with a Ukrainian Court.He stood by his statement, saying: “The main thing I want to say is that Crimea, of course, wants to come home… The Ukrainian authorities, which do not want to see us on their territory, could easily resolve this problem by returning the Crimea to Russia.”Russia’s consulate in Simferopol has protested over the incident, while Russia’s Foreign Ministry has called Ukraine’s continued blacklisting of the lawmaker “unfriendly.”Vladimir Pashedko, Russia’s senior consul in the Crimean city, said Zatulin will continue to work to have the ban lifted. “Zatulin is known for his positive feelings to Ukraine and Ukrainians - this is a fraternal love to a brotherly nation,” Pashedko said.The Crimea was part of the Russian empire and of Soviet Russia until Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev handed it in 1954 to Soviet Ukraine. After the Soviet Union’s breakup in 1991, the peninsula became part of independent Ukraine.
Konstantin Zatulin was declared persona non grata by Ukraine last July over his “anti-Ukrainian” statement that the Crimea should be returned to Russia.Zatulin flew from St. Petersburg to the Crimean city of Simferopol on Saturday, but was prevented from leaving the plane. After waiting on board for several hours, he complained of high blood pressure, and was admitted to a local hospital.After arriving in Moscow, the lawmaker told reporters that Ukraine’s security officers refused to give a satisfactory explanation for refusing to admit him, and said he had been let into the country on January 31 this year.“I understand that Ukraine can deny access to its territory if it wants to, but it should give reasons for such a move,” he said.Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) says that Zatulin’s ban on entering Ukraine remains in force.However, Zatulin said that the last document on the issue that he received from the Ukrainian authorities was the August 7, 2008 note from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, granting him free entrance to Ukraine.“They have not notified me that I’m banned from entering Ukraine since them,” he said, adding that he and the Russian Foreign Ministry notified Ukraine of the visit in advance.As well as his controversial comments on the Crimea, where the Russian Black Sea Fleet still has a base, Zatulin angered the Ukrainian government with his participation in anti-NATO protests. He earlier appealed his ban with a Ukrainian Court.He stood by his statement, saying: “The main thing I want to say is that Crimea, of course, wants to come home… The Ukrainian authorities, which do not want to see us on their territory, could easily resolve this problem by returning the Crimea to Russia.”Russia’s consulate in Simferopol has protested over the incident, while Russia’s Foreign Ministry has called Ukraine’s continued blacklisting of the lawmaker “unfriendly.”Vladimir Pashedko, Russia’s senior consul in the Crimean city, said Zatulin will continue to work to have the ban lifted. “Zatulin is known for his positive feelings to Ukraine and Ukrainians - this is a fraternal love to a brotherly nation,” Pashedko said.The Crimea was part of the Russian empire and of Soviet Russia until Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev handed it in 1954 to Soviet Ukraine. After the Soviet Union’s breakup in 1991, the peninsula became part of independent Ukraine.
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