Month: January 19, 2018 11:09 am

A court in Ukraine’s Russia-controlled Crimea region has sentenced pro-Kyiv activist Volodymyr Balukh to three years and seven months in a high-profile retrial on a weapons- and explosives-possession charge.

The Rozdolne District Court on January 16 also ordered Mr. Balukh to pay a 10,000-ruble ($175 U.S.) fine.

EDMONTON, Alberta – The Edmonton branch of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Canada on December 13, 2017, sponsored a presentation by Marianna Novosolova on the topic “In Search of Their New Selves: Reflective Essays by Victims of the War in Eastern Ukraine.” This open lecture was arranged in conjunction with the University of Alberta’s Department of Modern Languages and Culture Studies (MLCS) and Ukrainian Language Education Center (ULEC) at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, as well as the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Where there is bureaucracy and waste, inevitably there has been the opportunity for ongoing corruption. And such a situation is…...

Ukraine missed some chances to improve the domestic situation last year, with the fight against corruption not as efficient as…...

TORONTO – The Ukrainian World Congress is calling on Ukrainians around the world to join the international flash mob #UnitedUkraine marking Ukrainian Unity Day (Den Sobornosty) on January 22.

Organized by the community organizations Ukrainians and Batkivschyna Moloda, this fourth “United Ukraine” flash mob welcomes the participation of every individual who supports Ukraine, and aspires to its unity and the end of the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

…From the Revolution of Dignity came a call for government to stamp out corruption. Once elected, officials, led by President [Petro] Poroshenko and former Prime Minister [Arseniy] Yatsenyuk, courageously established independent, corruption-fighting institutions, including the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) and the National Agency for Preventing Corruption (NAPC). Landmark reform required public asset declarations by public officials. ProZorro, the new electronic procurement system, increased transparency and reduced graft. …

And yet, four years after the Maidan, the question lingers:  is the courage to move Ukraine forward faltering? Political attacks on NABU and SAP have hampered their ability to dismantle networks of public sector corruption. Like the Ukrainian people, we remain deeply concerned that, despite over 100 major corruption cases sent to the courts by NABU and SAP, not a single significant judgment has been handed down. As long as corrupt judges can defer justice indefinitely, establishing an Anti-Corruption Court is imperative. Moreover, the public servant asset declaration rules adopted last year have been turned against the very activists who are fighting high-level corruption.   Those who expose corruption are heroes, yet they are targeted by elements of Old Ukraine.

…Ukrainians frequently rank corruption as the key issue preventing progress. Overwhelming majorities believe politicians pursue their private interests over the public good. Ukraine’s security and sovereignty depend not just on defeating foreign aggression, but on the internal struggle to defeat corruption, without which no country can develop institutions resistant both to foreign meddling and domestic manipulation. …

– U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, in an op-ed titled “Courage to Move Forward,” posted on January 3 on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine (For the full text see https://ua.usembassy.gov/op-ed-ambassador-marie-yovanovitch-courage-move-forward/).

The church coffee room – that democratic, egalitarian forum where all the world’s great problems are solved – is filled…...

Since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly four years ago, I have found a tendency by many to view U.S. governmental assistance…...

With the new administration of President Donald J. Trump coming into office in January, a group of 17 decision-makers and public figures from countries across Central and Eastern Europe sent a letter on January 9 to the president-elect warning him about any potential “new grand bargain with Russia.” According to a news story in The Washington Post, they wrote: “Have no doubt: Vladimir Putin is not America’s ally. Neither is he a trustworthy international partner. Both of the presidents who preceded you tried in their own ways to deal with Russia’s leadership in the spirit of trust and friendship. Big mistake: Putin treated their good intentions as opportunities.”

Canadian-Ukrainian relations received a huge boost at the start of 2017 when Chrystia Freeland – the Ukrainian Canadian star in…...

TORONTO – The life and work of Rhea Clyman – one of the few journalists to witness and report on…...

TORONTO – The Holodomor Research and Education Consortium (HREC), a project of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the…...