NEWSBRIEFS (05/23/04)

NEWSBRIEFS

Prodi reiterates comments re Ukraine

BRUSSELS - European Commission President Romano Prodi on May 18 reiterated his opinion that Ukraine has no prospects of joining the European Union, Interfax reported. Mr. Prodi was speaking at a joint news conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in Brussels. "We cannot now continue with EU enlargement, but there is a prospect that Ukraine can share everything with us, apart from the participation in EU institutions," Mr. Prodi said. "I consider this to be a colossal step in the right direction," he added. Mr. Yanukovych reportedly expressed the hope that the EU will at last decide on granting Ukraine market-economy status during its summit in The Hague in July. Mr. Prodi responded by saying the obstacles to Ukraine obtaining this status include "firstly, the [country's] pricing policy and, secondly, law on bankruptcy." (RFE/RL Newsline)

PM wants to abandon 'Euromanticism'

KYIV - Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on May 17 said Ukraine should give up "Euromanticism" in its relations with the European Union, Interfax reported. Mr. Yanukovych was commenting on his scheduled visit to Brussels on May 18-19, where he was to lead a Ukrainian delegation attending a meeting of the Ukraine-EU Cooperation Council. "Ukraine has been saying it strives for integration in the EU, but I wish we had found an answer to the question of what this means," Mr. Yanukovych said. "Europe does not need Ukraine with its problems, and we should clearly realize this ... and move away from Euromanticism." (RFE/RL Newsline)

Tatars mark anniversary of deportation

SYMFEROPOL - More than 20,000 people took part in a march in Symferopol on May 18 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the forced deportation of Tatars from Crimea to Central Asia, Ukrainian and international news agencies reported. The deportation, ordered by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who accused Crimean Tatars of collaboration with the Nazis, began on May 18, 1944, and affected some 200,000 people. Crimean Tatars were officially rehabilitated by the Kremlin in 1967, but allowed to return to Crimea only in 1989. Some 250,000 Tatars have returned to Crimea since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Participants in the commemorative march demanded that the Tatar language be made an official one in Crimea and that Tatar returnees be given land plots for settlement. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ukrainian wins Eurovision song contest

ISTANBUL - Ukrainian singer Ruslana (Lyzhychko) won the Eurovision Song Contest held in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 15, with a frenetic performance of her song "Wild Dances," which she sang partly in English and partly in Ukrainian, international news agencies reported. Ruslana's victory means that Ukraine will host the 50th Eurovision Song Contest in May 2005. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Ruslana named "people's artist"

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on May 18 bestowed the title of a people's artist of Ukraine upon Ruslana Luzhychko, who won last week's Eurovision Song Contest 2004 in Istanbul, Interfax reported. "This is not an achievement of one performer, this is an achievement of the entire country," Mr. Kuchma told Ruslana at the award ceremony. Ruslana's victory means that Kyiv will host the 50th Eurovision Song Contest in May 2005. Meanwhile, Kyiv Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko told journalists the same day that the Ukrainian capital currently has no appropriate concert hall with a seating capacity of 15,000 to 20,000 that could accommodate next year's Eurovision event. Mr. Omelchenko added that the largest available hall in Kyiv, in the Palace of Sports, can seat an audience of nearly 10,000, but its interior does not meet "European standards," RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Rada rejects pullout from Iraq

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada on May 19 voted down a motion to pull Ukrainian troops out of Iraq. A day earlier the Rada had supported a proposal to discuss the issue of the deployment of Ukrainian peacekeepers in Iraq in a closed-door session, UNIAN reported. The motion was backed by 230 deputies, mostly from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, Our Ukraine and some pro-government caucuses. Previous attempts to pass a motion calling for such a discussion were defeated. (RFE/RL Newsline, Associated Press)

Court rejects second official language

KYIV - The Constitutional Court of Ukraine on May 17 rejected a request by 165 lawmakers that it rule whether their bill of proposed constitutional amendments, including one that would introduce Russian as an "official" language in Ukraine, is constitutional, Interfax reported. The proposed amendment in question reads: "Citizens have the right to use Ukrainian as the state language and Russian as the official language in the process of managing state matters and in self-government bodies." In rejecting the request, the court said amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution's Chapter 1, titled "Basic Principles," should be supported by at least 300 deputies. According to the court, the proposed amendment relates to Article 10 in Chapter 1 of the Constitution, which establishes Ukrainian as the state language in Ukraine. Moreover, the court cited a December 1999 ruling that the terms "state language" and "official language" are synonymous. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Deputies see Medvedchuk's hand

KYIV - Anatolii Matvienko, a member of the ad hoc parliamentary commission that investigated the controversial mayoral election in Mukachiv in April, told the Verkhovna Rada on May 12 that presidential administration chief Viktor Medvedchuk organized and coordinated the falsification of that ballot. The Ukrainian Parliament was hearing reports on the results of official investigations of the Mukachiv election. "The election in Mukachiv became a rehearsal of the [upcoming] presidential election for the regime," Mr. Matvienko said. "Medvedchuk wanted to show to both the president and the prime minister that only he is able to secure their victory in the presidential election." Also on May 12, Verkhovna Rada passed a resolution calling on President Leonid Kuchma to fire some local officials over the Mukachiv controversy, but failed to introduce an amendment urging President Kuchma to sack Mr. Medvedchuk as well. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Russia seeks free-trade zone with Ukraine

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in the Kremlin on May 15 that Russia is ready to create a "full-fledged free-trade zone" between the two countries, RIA-Novosti and polit.ru reported the same day. Mr. Putin admitted that Russia may initially suffer economic losses, but said they could be compensated for by increasing the volume of bilateral trade. Mr. Putin also said that he will meet with the presidents of Kazakstan, Ukraine and Belarus in the Crimea in the "nearest future" to finalize an accord on the Single Economic Space. Meanwhile, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov announced on May 15 after meeting with Prime Minister Yanukovych that in two or three weeks Moscow and Kyiv will sign a protocol abolishing taxes and duties within the free-trade zone. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Kuchma sacks pro-European official...

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma on May 14 dismissed Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Oleksander Chalyi, Ukrainian news agencies reported. Mr. Kuchma's decree stated that the dismissal was requested by Mr. Chalyi, who wants to return to his former scientific and educational work. Mr. Chalyi, 50, was widely believed to be a staunch supporter of Ukraine's European integration while serving in Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's Cabinet of Ministers. (RFE/RL Newsline)

... reaffirms pro-European course

KYIV - President Leonid Kuchma issued a message to compatriots on Europe Day, which is observed on May 15, Interfax reported, quoting the presidential press service. "Ukraine is firmly determined to move down the European road, the road of reform," the message read. "We will be consistent in continuing market transformations, strengthening the principles of democracy, and maintaining high living standards. ... The course along which Ukraine is moving corresponds to the very deep strivings of the Ukrainian nation, which has always realized its historic belonging to the family of European nations." The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology and the Democratic Initiatives Fund found in a poll conducted in April that 51 percent of Ukrainians believe that their country should not join the EU at all and should keep "open borders" with Russia, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported on May 14. (RFE/RL Newsline)

Turchynov on U.S. court decision

KYIV - Oleksander Turchynov, a lawmaker from the opposition Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, told the Verkhovna Rada on May 14 that the "campaign of repression" unleashed against Ms. Tymoshenko by law enforcement bodies in Ukraine has collapsed, Interfax reported. Mr. Turchynov was commenting on U.S. Judge Martin Jenkins' May 7 decision to dismiss 23 of 53 counts of the indictment against former Ukrainian Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko, who is currently on trial in San Francisco. Notably, Judge Jenkins dropped all charges relating to Unified Energy Systems of Ukraine, which was headed by Ms. Tymoshenko in 1996-1997. The prosecution in San Francisco alleged that entities controlled by Ms. Tymoshenko's company gave Mr. Lazarenko bribes in the sum of $217 million. Mr. Turchynov added that now the entire world understands that the campaign to malign and persecute Ms. Tymoshenko was launched at the behest of President Leonid Kuchma. (RFE/RL Newsline)

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