NEWSBRIEFS (05/02/04)

NEWSBRIEFS

Deputy reports on ballot falsification

KYIV - Anatolii Matvienko of the opposition Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc said on April 26 that the results of the bitterly contested mayoral election in Mukachiv on April 18 were distorted by an exchange of 12 polling-station protocols when they were on their way to the city election commission after the conclusion of the ballot. Mr. Matvienko was a member of a legislative commission that investigated the election controversy. According to Mr. Matvienko, Our Ukraine candidate Viktor Baloha won the election with 19,385 votes, while rival Ernest Nuser, who was supported by the presidential administration, garnered 13,895 votes. The falsified protocols reportedly gave Mr. Nuser 17,416 votes and Mr. Baloha 12,297 votes. Our Ukraine claims to have the official copies of polling-station protocols from Mukachiv. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada rejects idea of dismissals

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on April 21 rejected an opposition-sponsored bill asking President Leonid Kuchma to sack presidential administration chief Viktor Medvedchuk, Internal Affairs Minister Mykola Bilokon, and Zakarpattia Oblast Chairman Ivan Rizak for their alleged involvement in illegal activities during the controversial mayoral election in Mukachiv on April 18, Interfax reported. The bill was supported by 214 deputies, 12 votes shy of the majority needed for approval. Meanwhile, some 10,000 people took part in an unauthorized rally in Mukachiv the same day to support Our Ukraine mayoral candidate Viktor Baloha who, according to the opposition, was robbed of a decisive victory in the election. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada orders probe into Mukachiv election

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on April 22 voted 250-52 to approve a resolution instructing the Internal Affairs Ministry, the Procurator General's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine to investigate all circumstances around the controversial mayoral election in Mukachiv on April 18 and submit relevant reports to the legislature, Interfax reported. The resolution was proposed by the pro-government coalition following an abortive motion by the opposition to request that President Leonid Kuchma sack his presidential administration chief, the internal affairs minister and the chairman of the Zakarpattia Oblast. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian troops to stay in Iraq

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma pledged on April 22 that the Ukrainian contingent in Iraq will remain there until the conclusion of its mission, Interfax reported. "Ukraine went to Iraq on a peacekeeping mission," Mr. Kuchma said. "We are ready to fulfill our duty until the end. We will not run away." He added that there are no plans to increase the size of Ukraine's 1,650-strong contingent in Iraq. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Chornobyl veterans march in Kyiv

KYIV - Thousands of veterans of the clean-up operation following the Chornobyl nuclear accident of 1986 took part in a march in Kyiv on April 25 to mark the 18th anniversary of the disaster and to demand compensation for their hard labor and ailing health, ICTV Television reported. "It is important for Ukraine to adopt a national program for minimizing the results of the Chornobyl disaster," Ukraine's Chornobyl Union head Yurii Andreyev said. "Now we see that the opposite is happening. The revenues side of the budget is growing, but the spending on Chornobyl is decreasing from year to year." United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has called on the world community to provide moral and financial aid to the victims of the Chornobyl accident, Interfax reported on April 26. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Belarusians rally on Chornobyl date

MIENSK - About 1,000 mostly young people took part in a march and rally organized by the political opposition in Miensk on April 26 to mark the 18th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear accident, Belapan reported. Speakers at the rally urged the authorities to ban food production in the contaminated areas and restore state benefits to victims of the disaster. After the rally, police officers handed summonses to its organizers ordering them to report to a police station the next day. The next day a district court in Miensk jailed Ales Mikhalevich, deputy chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front, for 10 days and imposed a fine of some $2,000 on Liudmila Hraznova, a member of the United Civic Party's Political Council, for the organization of the unauthorized march to mark the Chornobyl anniversary, Belapan reported. The court also jailed Andrei Kozel, a member of the United Civic Party, for seven days. Mr. Kozel was not among the official organizers of the banned demonstration, but police concluded that he was its instigator. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian, Russian presidents hail accords

YALTA - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in Crimea on April 23 to exchange ratification documents of the Ukrainian-Russian border treaty and an accord on the joint use of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait, Ukrainian media reported. Both agreements were ratified last week by the Verkhovna Rada and the Russian legislature. Messrs. Kuchma and Putin called the accords - along with a recently ratified agreement on a Single Economic Space that comprises Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and Kazakstan - crucial events that open new opportunities for developing political dialogue as well as economic and cultural cooperation. Mr. Putin said the agreement on the Single Economic Space should now be developed into "an economic-cooperation charter to regulate the procedures for our joint work in the areas of transport, tariffs, communications, [and the] movement of people and goods." (RFE/RL Newsline)

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