NEWSBRIEFS (02/23/03)

NEWSBRIEFS

FATF withdraws call for sanctions

PARIS - The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) has decided to withdraw the recommendation of countermeasures against Ukraine for that country's insufficient efforts to combat money laundering, the FATF website (http://www1.oecd.org/fatf/) reported on February 14. The Paris-based international organization said its move was prompted by Ukraine's recent enactment of "comprehensive anti-money-laundering legislation." The FATF added, however, that Ukraine will remain on its list of "non-cooperative countries and territories" until Kyiv has efficiently implemented this legislation. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Washington seeks Kyiv's help in Gulf

KYIV - U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Carlos Pascual told journalists in Kyiv on February 18 that he delivered a note from the U.S. government to President Leonid Kuchma and Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko inquiring about the possibility of sending a Ukrainian antinuclear-, anti-biological-, and anti-chemical-warfare (NBC) battalion to the Persian Gulf, Interfax reported. The diplomat noted that such a unit need not take part in any military operations and could be put into action only in the event that weapons of mass destruction are used in any possible conflict. Mr. Kuchma has recently signaled that Ukraine might contribute an NBC unit to a United Nations-authorized mission targeting Iraq. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma wants cooperation with U.S.

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on February 17 met with U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual, UNIAN reported, quoting the presidential press service. The meeting marked the first time that the U.S. ambassador has met with Mr. Kuchma since the Kolchuha allegations surfaced. "We are interested in broad cooperation with the United States," President Kuchma said. "The program of our cooperation is undergoing changes - it has become more realistic," he added. "Ukraine is extremely worried about the situation around Iraq. We understand that there are serious reasons to suspect the Iraqi regime of hiding mass-destruction weapons," Mr. Kuchma noted. "Ukraine is ready to take part in a U.N. mission on the territory of countries neighboring Iraq by assigning to the U.N. authority an anti-chemical, anti-bacteriological and anti-nuclear battalion," the Ukrainian leader pledged. Some Ukrainian media have suggested that President Kuchma recently adopted a more pro-Washington stance with regard to Iraq. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Leftists protest possible war on Iraq

KYIV - Some 1,500 Kyiv residents on February 15 took part in a "March for Peace" organized by the Progressive Social Party of Ukraine, the Communist Party of Ukraine, the Green Party, the Russian Bloc and other groups to protest a possible U.S. military action in Iraq, Interfax reported. Some 300 people held a similar protest in Symferopol that same day. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Warsaw, Kyiv agree on visa regime ...

IVANO-FRANKIVSK - Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski on February 13 offered Ukrainians visas at no fee under a new border regime that will be introduced on July 1, in line with European Union demands, Ukrainian and Polish news media reported. "The Polish side announces that it will introduce the most liberal visa regime for Ukrainian citizens while meeting the demands of the European Union and the Schengen agreement. It will include free visas for Ukrainians," said a joint statement issued after President Kwasniewski's talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Leonid Kuchma, in Ivano-Frankivsk, western Ukraine, earlier the same day. Speaking to journalists after the talks, President Kuchma said Polish citizens will not need visas to visit Ukraine after July 1. "A joint decision on the visa regime between our countries - free Polish visas for Ukrainian citizens and a visa-free regime for Polish citizens - is the Polish president's personal achievement, I want to emphasize this," Mr. Kuchma noted. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... commemoration of 1943 events

IVANO-FRANKIVSK - President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Leonid Kuchma also decided that Poland and Ukraine will organize - in Volyn, northwestern Ukraine - a joint commemoration of the massacre of Poles by Ukrainian nationalists in 1943. Mr. Kuchma spoke in favor of clarifying all the circumstances of the tragedy. "Crimes against humanity cannot be justified. Let it be the last such 'celebration' in our relations," PAP quoted Mr. Kuchma as saying. The joint statement stresses that it is "extremely essential to make the commemoration of the anniversary [of the 1943 massacre] a significant step toward overcoming divergences in understanding mutual history." The commemoration is slated for July. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Poland seeks apology for 1943 massacre

WARSAW - Marek Siwiec, head of the National Security Bureau, said on February 13 that Poland expects Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma to issue an official apology for crimes committed by Ukrainian nationalists against Poles in 1943 in Volyn in northwestern Ukraine, Polish Radio reported. Mr. Siwiec added that Poland will not pressure Ukraine for such an apology. He recalled that Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski had apologized to the Ukrainians for Akcja Wisla (Operation Vistula), during which Ukrainians were forced by Polish communist authorities to resettle to Polish territories regained from Germany after War World II. Mr. Siwiec noted that apologies with regard to those crimes should be treated separately. "For us an apology will be a very natural and honest thing to do. The initiative is to be taken by Ukraine, though," Mr. Siwiec said. According to Polish sources, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) massacred 60,000 to 70,000 Polish civilians in Volyn in 1943. (RFE/RL Newsline)

EDITOR'S NOTE: According to "Ukraine: A History" by Dr. Orest Subtelny (University of Toronto Press, 1988, 1994, 2000), during the years 1942-1945 "both Ukrainian and Polish armed units engaged in wholesale slaughter, bringing to a bloody climax the hatred that had been increasing between the two peoples for generations." The historian writes: "... Ukrainian integral nationalists were determined to drive the Poles (many of whom were colonists from the inter-war period) out of areas where Ukrainians were a majority. For its part, the Polish nationalist underground army, the Armija Krajowa (AK), was just as determined to retain control of lands that had been part of the Polish state. The result was a murderous struggle - often encouraged by the Germans and provoked by Soviet partisans - between Ukrainian and Polish forces for territory and to settle old scores."

Rada discusses 1932-1933 Famine

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on February 12 held a hearing devoted to the catastrophic Famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933, which claimed millions of lives, Ukrainian media reported. Parliament Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn called for compiling a list of all victims of the famine and erecting a monument to them in Kyiv. Parliamentary Human Rights Committee head Hennadii Udovenko said the committee recommends that the Verkhovna Rada address the United Nations with a request to recognize the Great Famine as a genocide perpetrated against the Ukrainian nation by the Communist regime. Vice Prime Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk concurred, saying recognition of the Famine as an act of genocide will be of "principal significance for the stabilization of socio-economic relations in Ukraine." According to the artukraine.com website, Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko addressed the legislature with the most "controversial" speech, in which he denied the artificial nature of the 1932-1933 famine and blamed it on disastrous weather conditions and poor harvests in the two previous years. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Symonenko against single candidate

KYIV - Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko told journalists in Kyiv on February 18 that "the idea of putting forward a single candidate from the opposition forces in the future presidential election is fallacious," the UNIAN news service reported. According to Mr. Symonenko, both Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc are "bourgeois parties" that represent "rightist-bourgeois and nationalist-bourgeois forces" in Ukraine. "One needs to take a realistic look at things: It's impossible to propose a single candidate from such different forces," Mr. Symonenko said. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Birthrate up for first time in 15 years

KYIV - The birthrate in Ukraine in 2002 grew by 3 percent, Interfax reported on February 12, quoting the Justice Ministry. The birthrate in Ukraine had fallen consistently since 1987. Nevertheless, there were nearly twice as many deaths as births in the country last year (754,915 versus 392,524). (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russia passes law on state language

MOSCOW - Russian State Duma deputies on February 5 passed the law on Russian as a state language in its third and final reading, Russian news agencies reported. The vote was 248 in favor, with 37 against and one abstention, the RosBalt news service reported. The law is designed to strengthen the right of citizens to use Russian as the state language. It prohibits the use of foreign words or expressions that have Russian-language equivalents in public documents or in civil, criminal or administrative court proceedings, the agency reported. The Moscow Times reported earlier that since the Duma approved the bill in its first reading last June, deputies have eased proposed restrictions on journalists and television personalities, who would be able to use otherwise prohibited language if it is "an integral part of an artistic concept." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Part of Christ's cross to travel to Ukraine

LVIV - Orthodox Patriarch Irynei of Jerusalem and Metropolitan Volodymyr Sabodan, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), decided that a part of what they call "the life-giving cross of Jesus Christ" will come to Kyiv from Jerusalem. The Cross of Jesus Christ is preserved in the Church of the Nativity of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, where it was found in 326. Today, the two sides are negotiating on the date when the relic will arrive in Ukraine. The news was reported by the press service of the UOC-MP on February 4. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

Churches may become legal entities

LVIV - Viktor Bondarenko, head of the National Committee on Religious Matters of Ukraine, announced at a press conference on February 4 that "the time has come for the Church to receive the status of a legal entity." He also spoke about the problems connected with a new edition of the law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations." According to Mr. Bondarenko, "the time has come for the Church as a social institution to receive the status of a legal entity, because the Soviet practice of considering the state and religious community as two different parties still remains." In addition, he emphasized that making improvements to legislation should be a continuous process and reflect the state of religious life and Church-state relations in Ukraine. He also noted that all proposals, remarks and claims from religious organizations have been taken into consideration in the new edition of the law. "We would never take the liberty of restricting the rights of religious organizations in the area of religious freedom in defiance of the Constitution or, for instance, introduce new provisions without prior agreement with religious organizations," Mr. Bondarenko stressed. The current law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" was passed 11 years ago. Many new normative acts, in particular, the Constitution of Ukraine, have been adopted since then. Ukraine has joined a number of international agreements and conventions which call for certain amendments to the law on religion. These include granting the Church the status of a legal entity, the return of religious property to churches and communities, religious instruction in public schools and higher educational institutions, protection from "new destructive cults" and prevention of terrorist or business activities by organizations that disguise themselves as religious groups. (Religious Information Service of Ukraine)

BP to invest $6.75 B in oil sector

MOSCOW - British Petroleum and the Russian financial-industrial concerns Alfa Group and Access/Renova have announced the biggest business partnership in Russia's post-Communist history, RTR and other Russian news agencies reported on February 12. The partners will create a new company that will merge all the oil-sector assets of the three participants on the territory of Russia and Ukraine. According to the deal, 50 percent of the still-unnamed new company will belong to BP, and 50 percent will belong to the Russian partners. Alfa Group and Access/Renova control oil majors Tyumen Oil Company (TNK) and Sidanko. The new company will be the third-largest player in the Russian oil sector, following Yukos and LUKoil. BP will invest $3 billion in cash and $3.75 billion in BP shares in the venture. Alfa Group CEO Mikhail Fridman said the deal would not have been possible without the support of the Russian government. He said the new company will serve as "a locomotive to pull the Russian economy," nns.ru reported. Speaking to reporters during his trip to Paris, President Vladimir Putin said the deal demonstrates the growing attractiveness of the Russian economy. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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