NEWSBRIEFS (10/14/01)

NEWSBRIEFS

Patriarch Aleksei criticizes Vatican

MOSCOW - At a press conference on October 5, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Aleksei II said that "the religious expansion of the Vatican in former Soviet republics does not give grounds to the Moscow Patriarchate to hope for improvement of relations with the Roman Catholic Church," ITAR-TASS reported. Aleksei was especially critical of Pope John Paul II's failure to consult with him before traveling to Ukraine and Kazakhstan. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Pope plans to visit Azerbaijan

BAKU - Pope John Paul II has written to Azerbaijan's President Heidar Aliev to inform him of his wish to visit Baku next year, the Turan news service reported on October 5. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma: be cautious on language issue

KYIV - Speaking to a congress of Ukraine's education sector employees in Kyiv on October 8, President Leonid Kuchma warned against administrative and forced methods in expanding the sphere of use of the Ukrainian language. Mr. Kuchma noted that given Ukraine's "significant Russophone population," such methods can only increase opposition to Ukrainianization and polarize society. "We should understand such lessons now when the [parliamentary] elections are nearing. Rival political forces, striving for sympathies of the electorate, are stepping up speculation on the language problem. Political stability in Ukraine will to a high degree depend on our ability to ensure the natural course of the language education process," Ukrainian Radio quoted the president as saying. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Our Ukraine bloc to be formalized.

KYIV - Former Prime Minister Viktor Yuschenko on October 6 announced that the Our Ukraine election bloc he proposed in July will be formalized in the near future, Interfax reported. According to Mr. Yuschenko, Our Ukraine will consist of some 20 political parties and 30 to 40 civic groups and movements. On October 8 five political parties - the National Rukh of Ukraine, Ukrainian National Rukh, Reforms and Order Party, Liberal Party and the Christian Popular Union - initialized a formal accord on the creation of Our Ukraine. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Pro-Kuchma parties form election bloc

KYIV - Four Ukrainian pro-presidential parties - the National Democratic Party, Party of Regions, Agrarian Party and Labor Ukraine - said on October 4 that they are beginning the creation of an election bloc named For a United Ukraine, Interfax reported. Four days later, Agrarian Party leader Mykhailo Hladii said that talks are being conducted on forging an election coalition of For a United Ukraine with the Our Ukraine bloc. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kyiv to return Bach archive to Germany

KYIV - The Ukrainian government has decided to return to Germany a vast archive containing works by Johann Sebastian Bach and other German composers long considered lost in World War II, the DPA and Associated Press reported on September 19. Soviet troops looted the archive from the Berlin Choral Academy in 1945. The archive, which contains nearly 5,120 documents, remained virtually untouched in Kyiv until Christoph Wolff, a Harvard music professor, found it in June 1999 and alerted Ukraine to its historical significance. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukraine's workforce in transition

KYIV - About 100,000 Ukrainians - more than the total population of Yalta - emigrated last year, continuing a trend that, along with low birth rates and shortened life expectancies, could eventually pose a threat to the viability of the nation's workforce. The number of emigrants was partially offset by the 53,712 immigrants, mostly from Russia and CIS countries, who moved to Ukraine last year, according to data from the State Committee for Nationalities. While fewer Ukrainians left for foreign countries last year than during previous years, most of those who did leave were skilled, working-age people, many of whom headed for better employment and living conditions in Israel, Germany and the United States. (Kyiv Post)

PM gives up parliamentary mandate

KYIV - Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh has requested the Verkhovna Rada to relieve him of legislative duties as the Constitution of Ukraine requires from national deputies who choose to work in the government, Interfax reported on October 3. Asked why he waited so long with this request (Mr. Kinakh was appointed prime minister on May 29), the prime minister said that earlier he did not want to divert the Parliament's attention from passing a bill on the Cabinet of Ministers. Parliament Chairman Ivan Pliusch recently filed a lawsuit with the Kyiv City Court against 10 government officials who have not given up their parliamentary mandates. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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