| alazaro |
Enviado - 20 noviembre 2006 : 22:58:12 |
BLUE-ORANGE RIFT REEMERGES IN UKRAINE
By Jan Maksymiuk
Following a heated debate, the Verkhovna Rada on November 15 opted to postpone a decision on the fates of Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk and Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko. The two presidential appointees were grilled during the parliamentary session by lawmakers from the ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions. They were accused of poor performance and negligence in office, but were spared the indignity of a vote on their dismissal -- at least for two weeks. In the meantime, observers are left to debate whether parliament has the right to dismiss ministers nominated to the cabinet by the president. Foreign Minister Tarasyuk, for one, believes that it cannot, since the constitution does not say anything about such a situation.
"The constitution, which was amended hastily [in 2004], does not stipulate how these ministers [appointed by the president] can be dismissed," he said. "There is a legal collision here, whether the Verkhovna Rada can dismiss the two ministers without a presidential request. I don't think it can, because there is the notion of analogy in law: if the dismissal procedure is not defined while the appointment procedure is, legal analogy must apply and the same procedure should be used."
The debate on the two presidential ministers was just the latest clash in the short but uneasy cohabitation of Yanukovych and President Viktor Yushchenko -- two longtime political rivals who have reinvented their relationship since Yanukovych became prime minister in early August. Cracks began to show in September, when Yanukovych said in Brussels that Ukraine would slow its pace toward NATO membership due to public opposition. Yushchenko rebuked Yanukovych for impinging on the president's constitutional right to shape the country's foreign policy. Simultaneously, Yushchenko reminded Yanukovych that just one month earlier both of them signed the so-called declaration of national unity, in which they pledged to seek NATO membership as one of Ukraine's key foreign-policy priorities.
Yanukovych, however, continued to assert his constitutionally reinforced position by claiming more executive prerogatives. In particular, he refused to implement several presidential decrees, arguing that he did not co-sign them. Yanukovych also questioned in the Constitutional Court the president's right to appoint regional governors without consulting the government.
In October, the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party switched to the opposition, constraining its four ministers in Yanukovych's cabinet to tender their resignations. Then, at a congress last week, the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party adopted a resolution obliging its lawmakers to contest the validity of the 2004 constitutional reform. The decision to question the reform before the Constitutional Court has the potential to spark a serious constitutional crisis.
Ukrainian political analyst Oles Doniy, the head of the Kyiv-based Center for Studies of Political Values, believes that Our Ukraine's move was dictated by the party's intention to save itself from political demise following its withdrawal from the government. "I think this is a graphic example of how Our Ukraine is putting its narrow, party interests above those of national and state ones," Doniy says. "It considers a change of Ukraine's political system depending on whether it is in power or not, thus threatening Ukraine's future in general."
According to Doniy, the potential reversal of the constitutional reform could have a disastrous impact on the stability of the political system as a whole. Since the constitutional reform was adopted as a political compromise to end a presidential-election standoff between Yushchenko and Yanukovych, Doniy argues that questioning the constitutional reform is tantamount to questioning Yushchenko's legitimacy as president. "If we question the amendments to the constitution made in that period, we will analogically have to question all the other things that took place at that time," Doniy says. "No Ukrainian law provides for the third round of a presidential election, but it did take place."
But Ihor Zhdanov, deputy head of Our Ukraine's Executive Committee, says his party does not see any link between the constitutional reform and Yushchenko's election. "The vote for the political reform and the presidential vote in December 2004 were in no way interconnected, since [the third presidential-election round] was legitimized by a ruling of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, which passed it proceeding from the evidence of a mass election fraud in the second round," he says.
Zhdanov argues that in adopting the constitutional reform, the Verkhovna Rada grossly violated the procedure for constitutional amendments by approving a version of the reform bill that was essentially different from the one reviewed and endorsed by the Constitutional Court. So, if now the Constitutional Court heeds Our Ukraine's arguments and rules that the constitutional reform was adopted unlawfully, would this signal that Yushchenko will enjoy the same extensive powers as his predecessor, Leonid Kuchma?
Doniy says that might not necessarily be the case. "There is a collision here. Even if the authorities managed to pressure the Constitutional Court into canceling the political reform, the Constitutional Court's ruling would not automatically mean a change of the constitution," he says. "It would be necessary to vote on constitutional amendments again. At least, this is the opinion of those lawyers who are not prone to official pressure." But it also seems that apart from a headache for lawyers, the controversy over the constitutional reform, if continued, might provoke a major and protracted political upheaval in Ukraine.
Yanukovych said earlier last week that a reversal of the reform would be illegal. Lawmaker Raisa Bohatyryova of the ruling Party of Regions warned Our Ukraine against pursuing its intention of reversing the reform, saying, "Do not stir bees in the hive if you don't know how to gather honey." It is telling that Yushchenko, who in 2005 repeatedly vowed to seek a referendum to reverse the constitutional reform, has recently refrained from asking for more powers and now talks about "improving" the constitutional reform rather than annulling it.
Perhaps Yushchenko has realized that revoking the reform, which in theory made Ukraine's political system more balanced and similar to European-type democracies, would eliminate the only long-term achievement of the Orange Revolution, on which millions of Ukrainians pinned so many hopes and which they became disillusioned with so soon afterward.
(RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service contributed to this report.)
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 10, No. 214, Part II, 20 November 2006. Copyright (c) 2006 RFE/RL, Inc. |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 19 diciembre 2009 : 21:50:57 |
Ukraine: A Democracy at Risk Those longing for strong-armed rule may outnumber those who want to preserve their imperfect democracy
By MYROSLAVA GONGADZE The Wall Street Journal November 23, 2009
Five years ago this month, an orange sea of Ukrainians flooded the streets of Kiev. Protesting the attempt of then-President Leonid Kuchmas' administrative machine to falsify election results, they demanded the right to choose their country's leader. They demonstrated to the world their desire for freedom, justice, and democracy. They brought new leadership to power but it failed to deliver most of the promises given to the people on the frozen Maidan. Disillusioned and discouraged, Ukrainians are coming to the polls once again this January. And now, those longing for strong-armed rule may well outnumber those who want to preserve their imperfect democracy. It's time for the West to take note.
Over the past five years, the people's desire to see political leaders held accountable for their wrongdoings remains unfulfilled. The promise of justice, which became the mantra of the Orange Revolution, was betrayed in its aftermath. Most of the crimes of Mr. Kuchma's regime remain unpunished, while many of their alleged instigators still enjoy privileged status and material comfort. Some even received awards or promotions from the new authorities. Moreover, Ukraine's current rulers retain immunity from prosecution and engage in corrupt activities with the same sense of impunity as their predecessors. According to a 2009 Transparency International report, Ukraine's corruption level remains on par with Russia, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe, showing no improvement since 2004.
Unrealized reforms and widespread corruption have had a major corrosive effect on the Ukrainian public. According to the last poll by the Pew Research Center, over two-thirds of Ukrainians believe that only a leader with a strong hand can solve the country's problems. By contrast, jonly one in five Ukrainians thinks that democracy is an answer. Even though disappointment with democracy and capitalism shows in most of the countries of the former Soviet bloc, Ukraine still stands out. Only a third of Ukrainians approve of the country moving from a state-controlled to a market economy, and a change to multiparty democracy.
From a once promising democratic leader in the region, Ukraine has transformed into an example of disenchantment for the democratic and civil society activists in neighboring countries. Belarusian activists and Russian opposition can no longer show their followers that effective public protest can bring genuine changes to the country.
Responding to public demand and pursuing their own agenda, the front runners in the 2010 Ukrainian election are promising to restore Putin-style vertical power with centralized political control. Moreover, they lack transparency in decision making and possess a weak commitment to fighting corruption especially in their close circles. They hide their true personal wealth and publicize dubious income declarations that have become the target of many investigative reports.
Day-by-day it is becoming harder for Ukrainian journalists to do their job. Even before the election campaign started, a Ukrainian court barred criticism of one presidential candidate, current Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko The ruling was later revoked after a major outcry from civil society groups. Still, TV reports are not covering the sharpest criticism of the front runners. The main achievement of the Orange Revolution, freedom of the press, is now in danger. Having once managed to reclaim their rights and freedoms in front of the world, Ukrainians risk losing it all over again.
The EU and other democratic nations need urgently to develop a clear constructive and principled policy with regard to Ukraine. Their calls for free and fair elections today will not have much of an effect on the Ukrainian authorities without a real commitment to hold them to their word. Whoever will become the next president of Ukraine needs to be watched closely, and they should get that message now. Another honeymoon with a Ukrainian leader, if similar to the one with Mr. Kuchma in 2000 and with Victor Yushchenko in 2005, could lead to the complete collapse of Ukraine's fledgling democracy.
If the next leaders of Ukraine prove unwilling or unable to bring about change for the country, and instead continue down the path toward their authoritarian past, the only solution for the west will be to focus on the growing civil society and support new emerging leaders. This, at least, will guarantee that the few gains of the Orange Revolution will not be reversed. And even if Ukrainians lose their way today, the basic democratic reforms they have earned will ensure that their destiny will still remain in their own hands.
Ms. Gongadze is a Ukrainian journalist and human rights activist, and the widow of slain Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze.
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704888404574547373765885440.html?mod=googlenews_wsj) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 14 diciembre 2009 : 17:02:19 |
Ucrania desvela los secretos de la URSS Kiev abre los archivos de la época soviética a los investigadores y al público
PILAR BONET - Kiev El País, Madrid 14/12/2009 El Servicio de Seguridad de Ucrania (SSU) ha abierto los archivos de la época soviética al público nacional y extranjero, investigadores o curiosos sin más, que pueden acudir sin trámites a 26 centros de lectura electrónica ubicados en otras tantas ciudades del país.
"Ucrania se está transformando en una meca para los especialistas en la URSS, que vienen a trabajar aquí en vista de que los archivos en Rusia se han cerrado o son cada vez más inaccesibles", afirma Volodymir Viatrovych, el director del archivo estatal del SSU. Entre los historiadores hay también rusos con problemas de acceso a sus propios archivos, puntualiza.
En el centro de lectura electrónica de Kiev, Viatrovych muestra en la pantalla de un ordenador el índice de miles de documentos escaneados. Van de 1919 a 1991 y, entre otros temas, se refieren a la consolidación del poder soviético, la gran hambruna (holodomor, 1932-33), la II Guerra Mundial y el sistema represivo, comenzando con la Cheka y acabando con el KGB. También están los documentos de las organizaciones contra las que luchaban estos órganos, desde las nacionalistas hasta las democratizadoras.
El centro de lectura de Kiev se abrió en otoño de 2008, pero su trabajo se sistematizó, según Viatrovych, tras el decreto del presidente Víctor Yúshenko de enero pasado para impulsar la desclasificación de documentos y dar prioridad a temas como "represión política, hambruna y movimiento de liberación".
La desclasificación se ha acelerado, a contrapelo con la legislación vigente, "orientada hacia un trabajo más lento". Por ahora, Viatrovych lidia con decenas de miles de documentos, pero "tenemos 800.000 tomos que deben ser desclasificados y eso sólo del SSU. Además, están los del Ministerio del Interior y los del espionaje".
El SSU ha creado un grupo de trabajo interno formado por especialistas de los mismos servicios. Este núcleo colabora con un "grupo de historiadores que marca las directrices sobre los temas con especial importancia social", señala. El 90% de los documentos sobre el holodomor han sido ya desclasificados, dice Viatrovych. "Puede que se encuentren más en los archivos de provincias, que son bastante caóticos, porque no fueron creados para los investigadores sino para la persecución y el exterminio de los adversarios del régimen", explica.
Las "lagunas" existentes son más grandes en los últimos años de la URSS, señala, y precisa que cuando el KGB dio orden de destruir documentos en 1990, los funcionarios "empezaron por hacer desaparecer lo que les afectaba a ellos y sus agentes".
El archivo que dirige Viatrovych colabora con instituciones semejantes en Polonia, República Checa y Lituania. Con los archivos del Servicio Federal de Seguridad (SFS) de Rusia la cooperación es limitada. "Esta primavera le propusimos al SFS un acuerdo de colaboración como el que tenemos con los polacos o los checos, para intercambiar experiencia de desclasificación y copias y también hacer publicaciones conjuntas. Nos contestaron que consideran suficientes los acuerdos existentes entre ambos servicios de seguridad", explica.
"No imponemos ninguna interpretación de la historia", exclama, y califica de "casi cómica" la relación entre los archivos ucranios y rusos. "Nosotros desclasificamos documentos sobre uno u otro tema, e inmediatamente, como respuesta, los rusos desclasifican otros que indican otra cosa".
Abordando su materia desde una perspectiva de "misión" nacional, Viatrovych dice haber encontrado "muchos documentos interesantes sobre las operaciones llevadas a cabo [por los órganos de seguridad soviéticos] para comprometer a activistas del movimiento nacional ucranio y hacerlos aparecer como colaboracionistas con los nazis, antisemitas y héroes negativos". "Ucrania continúa el trabajo de desenmascaramiento del régimen estalinista que iba en paralelo al proceso de democratización a fines de los ochenta en la URSS. En los noventa, Rusia juzgaba el totalitarismo e iba a la cabeza del proceso de desclasificación y publicación de documentos, pero ahora Rusia ha dado marcha atrás, mientras Ucrania ha recibido un nuevo impulso", opina.
"Comparto la opinión de que una parte de los materiales se sacaron de Ucrania en 1990 y 1991 y puede que estén en Rusia. Una prueba indirecta es que el último dirigente del KGB de Ucrania, Nikolái Golushko, se convirtió en jefe del SFS de Rusia".
(http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Ucrania/desvela/secretos/URSS/elpepuint/20091214elpepiint_8/Tes) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 29 noviembre 2009 : 21:39:03 |
El presidente y la primera ministra de Ucrania se culpan por muertos por gripe
AFP 11/11/2009
KIEV — El presidente ucraniano, Viktor Yushchenko, y su primera ministra, Yulia Timochenko, se autoinculparon por la mala gestión de la epidemia de gripe y dificultades respiratorias agudas que ha causado 189 muertos, a casi dos meses de las elecciones presidenciales.
Se han detectado unos 80 casos de virus H1N1, de los que 17 figuran entre las víctimas mortales, afirmaron responsables del ministerio de Sanidad citados por la agencia Interfax. Más de un millón de ucranianos enfermaron desde finales de octubre, según estadísticas del ministerio.
Dentro de este contexto, Timochenko criticó la negativa de Yushchenko de promulgar la ley que prevé el desembolso de 1.000 millones de grivnias (unos 830 millones de euros) para la lucha contra la gripe.
La primera ministra calificó la posición del presidente de "sabotaje" para poder instaurar el estado de emergencia en el país, lo que traería consigo el aplazamiento de las elecciones presidenciales previstas para el 17 de enero, en las que Timochenko parte como una de las favoritas y Yushchenko apenas tiene posibilidades de ser reelegido, según las encuestas.
"No hay que hacerme chantaje, es mi derecho como presidente", le respondió Yushchenko, quien asegura que el país, muy afectado por la crisis, no puede permitirse financiar gastos extras.
(http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jUidZPEjjng1RB6dsUy4vstQRnRg) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 22 noviembre 2009 : 00:47:52 |
Ascienden a 135 los muertos por la epidemia de gripe, que podría aplazar elecciones
EPA / Agencia EFE 07/11/2009
Kiev, 7 nov (EFE).- Las autoridades sanitarias ucranianas confirmaron hoy la muerte de 135 personas debido a la epidemia de gripe que sacude este país desde mediados de octubre y que podría obligar a aplazar las elecciones presidenciales de enero próximo.
En las últimas 24 horas 25 personas murieron por neumonía y otras afecciones respiratorias, según el ministerio de Sanidad, citado por las agencias ucranianas.
En total, 871.037 personas han resultado enfermas -más de cien mil en la última jornada-, de las que casi cuarenta mil se encuentran hospitalizadas, 317 en reanimación.
La región más afectada por la epidemia sigue siendo la occidental de Lvov, en la que se registraron otros doce muertos, y la de Ivano-Frankovsky con cinco.
Debido a la rápida propagación de la epidemia por casi toda la geografía nacional, la Presidencia de Ucrania ha advertido sobre el posible aplazamiento hasta mayo de 2010 de las elecciones presidenciales previstas para el 17 de enero próximo.
"Si el gobierno no consigue hacerse con el control de la situación con la epidemia de gripe, no se puede descartar la imposición del estado de emergencia y el aplazamiento de los comicios", señaló la víspera Ígor Popov, subjefe del secretariado de la Presidencia.
El funcionario considera que la epidemia "ha cambiado radicalmente la marcha de la campaña electoral" y "ha puesto en duda la igualdad de oportunidades entre los candidatos y los derechos de los electores".
"La cuarentena está vigente en las regiones de un color político y no está en vigor en otras. La prohibición de actos de masas perjudica más a los opositores, ya que los candidatos oficialistas pueden visitar las regiones en cuarentena, reunirse con la prensa, con lo que otros candidatos se sienten discriminados", dijo.
El presidente de la Rada Suprema (Legislativo), Vladímir Litvín, también candidato a la Presidencia, respaldó el aplazamiento de la votación.
El presidente ucraniano, Víctor Yúschenko, ha criticado en varias ocasiones la gestión de la crisis por parte de la primera ministra, Yulia Timoshenko.
La epidemia de gripe que afecta a la mitad de las regiones de este país de 47 millones de habitantes ha paralizado ya, de facto, la campaña electoral, ya que todos los partidos han suspendido sus actos electorales.
El líder opositor Víctor Yanukóvich incluso propuso suspender la campaña electoral, pero nadie hasta ahora ha abogado por posponer la votación.
Mientras, Timoshenko asegura que la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) "ha valorado altamente" las medidas tomadas por su Gobierno.
Una delegación de la OMS llegó esta semana a Kiev para estudiar la situación epidémica sobre el terreno y asesorar a las autoridades sanitarias locales sobre las medidas a tomar.
(http://www.google.com/hostednews/epa/article/ALeqM5gG4mK6NCMBN_lzSOH-QHrCwwU0Rw) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 20 noviembre 2009 : 00:15:01 |
L’emergenza nazionale in Ucraina
di Gianluca Fatone Ragionpolitica.it Mercoledì 04 novembre 2009
Con una dichiarazione rilasciata ai media nazionali, il Primo Ministro Ucraino, Julia Timoshenko, ha dichiarato lo «stato di emergenza» per l'intero Paese procedendo, inoltre, ad applicare una forma di «quarantena provvisoria» per le nove regioni maggiormente colpite dall'ondata di contagi. Le nove regioni in questione sono ubicate nella zona occidentale del Paese, quella cioè compresa tra la Bielorussia a Nord e la Romania a Sud. All'interno di quest'area si trovano i centri urbani di L'viv (Leopoli), Ivano-Frankivs'k e Ternopil molto importanti sia da un punto di vista economico che demografico. Come parte integrante di questo provvedimento, il Premier ucraino ha ordinato la chiusura immediata di scuole ed università in tutto il territorio nazionale unitamente alla proibizione di eventi pubblici quali concerti, manifestazioni e assembramenti per un periodo di almeno 3 settimane. Per ora l'esecutivo ucraino ha deciso di non applicare ad-litteram il protocollo previsto dallo «status di quarantena» (blocco dei mezzi e delle vie di comunicazione, chiusura dei confini nazionali, presidio dei luoghi pubblici affidato all'Esercito e al Dipartimento per le Emergenze, limitazioni alla libertà personale). Tuttavia questa ipotesi non è stata accantonata dalle autorità ucraine che hanno fatto intendere che, qualora la situazione dei decessi e del numero dei contagi dovesse crescere sensibilmente, potrebbero trovarsi costretti ad adottare tale misura.
Per mitigare i rischi di un allargamento del contagio, il governo della Bielorussia ha ordinato l'intensificazione del controllo sul confine con l'Ucraina per quanto riguarda il traffico di persone in ingresso nel Paese. Al fine di contenere il numero dei contagi, le autorità di Kiev hanno quindi richiesto ai cittadini ucraini di limitare al minimo gli spostamenti da e verso le regioni interessate dal principale focolaio virologico. Lo scoppio dell'epidemia in Ucraina è avvenuto circa tre settimane fa e, a distanza di questa data, l'influenza ha causato già più di 60 decessi, 7.500 ricoverati (di cui circa 120 in terapia intensiva) e 191.000 malati. Il nodo della questione, come portato alla luce dal Ministro della Salute Vasily Knyazevich, risiede nelle difficoltà riscontrate da parte delle strutture ospedaliere e di laboratorio ucraine nell'analizzare tutte le richieste di diagnosi presentate a causa di un sottodimensionamento sia in termini di mezzi che di personale delle strutture preposte a rispondere alle necessità avanzate dalla popolazione.
In particolar modo, il numero totale degli infetti dal virus H1N1 (influenza suina) risulta essere di molto inferiore a quello degli infetti dalla comune influenza stagionale ma, come accaduto in altri Paesi, l'H1N1 sarebbe causa di decessi nei soggetti considerati a rischio a causa di fattori endemici quali la giovanissima età e l'abbassamento del livello di anticorpi a causa di malattie pregresse (tumori, malattie cardio-respiratorie) nonché per la mancanza di cure appropriate. Facendo riferimento a quest'ultimo fattore, il governo ucraino è stato senz'altro carente nel portare avanti con successo un'adeguata campagna di prevenzione sia da un punto di vista informativo che da un punto di vista organizzativo nel non predisporre un adeguato numero di vaccini (tamiflu) e nel non aver provveduto per tempo all'allocazione di fondi straordinari per consentire alle strutture preposte di dotarsi dei mezzi e dei materiali necessari ad affrontare una situazione di prevedibile calamità.
Avendo preso coscienza della gravità della situazione, il governo ucraino ha deciso di ricorrere all'aiuto della comunità internazionale sia per voce del Primo Ministro Timoshenko sia attraverso una lettera indirizzata dal Presidente Yushenko agli Usa, all'Ued, alla Nato ed ai Paesi confinanti con il territorio ucraino. Anche la Russia, sebbene non sia stata sollecitata dall'esecutivo di Kiev, ha provveduto di propria iniziativa ad offrire il proprio aiuto. Oltre all'appello internazionale l'Ucraina ha provveduto, seppur tardivamente, allo stanziamento di una somma pari a circa 2,5 milioni di dollari per l'acquisto dalla Svizzera di circa 300 milioni di dosi dell'unica medicina che appare essere efficace contro il virus H1N1, il Tamiflu. A margine di questo preoccupante scenario di carattere umanitario, occorre notare come il premier Timoshenko abbia voluto introdurre un preciso risvolto politico della questione, dichiarando che l'attuale scenario di crisi unitamente all'esplosione del panico tra la popolazione ucraina sarebbero il frutto «dell'azione incosciente di soggetti e forze politiche ucraine». Tale accusa delinea con precisione il terreno dello scontro che vedrà le forze politiche del Paese darsi battaglia nei prossimi mesi.
Nonostante l'emergenza che il Paese sta attraversando, tutte le fazioni politiche restano determinate nel voler proseguire il cammino elettorale che porterà la Nazione ad eleggere il nuovo Presidente nel prossimo mese di gennaio. Il fatto che l'emergenza riguardi principalmente la regione occidentale del Paese, cuore dell'elettorato politico filo-europeista che ha portato all'elezione sia del presidente Yushenko che del Primo Ministro Timoshenko, rappresenta un fattore di preoccupazione per i due ex promotori della «Rivoluzione Arancione». Nonostante i due siano ora politicamente antagonisti nella corsa alla Presidenza del Paese, sarà estremamente rilevante mantenere un reciproco livello di cooperazione nella gestione dell'attuale crisi attraversata dal Paese se vorranno evitare di spianare la strada al «vecchio rivale», Viktor Yanukovich, nella vittoria finale delle prossime elezioni.
(http://www.ragionpolitica.it/cms/index.php/200911042111/russia-/-ex-csi/lemergenza-nazionale-in-ucraina.html) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 14 noviembre 2009 : 09:29:52 |
Un experto UE examinará junto a la OMS la evolución de la gripe A en Ucrania
ADN.es / EFE 04.11.2009
La Comisión Europea (CE) ha anunciado hoy el envío de un experto médico comunitario a Ucrania para examinar junto a un equipo de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) la evolución de la gripe A en ese país, donde se han confirmado 250.000 contagios y 70 muertes por esa enfermedad.
El Ejecutivo comunitario ha recibido una evaluación del riesgo de la situación en Ucrania del Centro europeo de Prevención y Control de Enfermedades (ECDC), que concluye que todos estos casos "se deben a la pandemia de gripe A", según dijo hoy la portavoz comunitaria de Sanidad, Nina Papadoulaki, en rueda de prensa.
El ECDC ha decidido enviar un experto a Ucrania, que se unirá a la delegación de la OMS que llegó anoche a Kiev para estudiar la situación epidémica sobre el terreno y asesorar a las autoridades sanitarias locales sobre las medidas a tomar.
No obstante, la Comisión "espera aclaraciones e información adicional de la Organización Mundial de la Salud" sobre la evolución de la pandemia en Ucrania, añadió la portavoz.
La CE "está coordinando de forma estrecha" la asistencia sanitaria a Ucrania junto con las autoridades del país y con los estados miembros, recalcó.
Bruselas puso en marcha el Centro Europeo de Supervisión e Información (MIC, por sus siglas en inglés) para seguir la situación en Ucrania y coordinar los envíos de ayuda de los Estados miembros el pasado 31 de octubre.
A través de este mecanismo, Austria, Polonia, Rumanía, Hungría y Eslovaquia han ofrecido el envío de material médico y profiláctico -como desinfectante de manos y superficies, mascarillas y guantes protectores o máscaras de oxígeno-, mientras que Francia y Estonia han propuesto la incorporación de expertos médicos al equipo de la OMS.
(http://www.adn.es/internacional/20091104/NWS-1663-OMS-UE-Ucrania-evolucion-examinara.html) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 05 noviembre 2009 : 21:22:43 |
El presidente de la Rada Suprema se presenta a la presidencia de Ucrania
ESPAÑA RUSA 27.10.2009
La Comisión Electoral Central de Ucrania registró como candidato en las elecciones a la presidencia, el 26 de octubre, al presidente de la Rada Suprema, Vladímir Litvin, informa UNIAN. Los miembros de la comisión no han encontrado errores en los documentos de solicitud y votaron por unanimidad.
De este modo, la CEC ha registrado a cinco candidatos a la presidencia: además de Litvin está el abogado Oleg Riabokon, el líder de la “posición ciudadana”, Anatoli Gritsenko, el líder del “Partido por el cambio” Arseni Yatseniuk, y el presidente del Partido Comunista de Ucrania, Piotr Simonenko (éste era el único candidato de las fuerzas de izquierda y de centro-izquierda).
Litvin ha sido nombrado como candidato por el “Partido Popular”. Tras ser elegido casi por unanimidad en una reunión del partido el 21 de octubre, el presidente de la Rada no pudo contener las lágrimas. Se ha informado de que Litvin, al dirigirse al escenario, no pudo contenerse y lloró durante unos minutos.
El Partido Socialista de Ucrania, el Partido de las Regiones y el Blog de Julia Timoshenko también han designado a sus propios candidatos a la presidencia. El presidente del país, Víktor Yushenko tiene la intención de presentarse a las elecciones como independiente.
(http://www.espanarusa.com/article.sdf/es/news/35418) |
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Enviado - 05 noviembre 2009 : 18:48:42 |
Ukraine, China sign cooperation agreements
INTERFAX-UKRAINE, Kyiv 27.10.2009
The Ukrainian and Chinese governments have signed an agreement to develop cooperation in the sphere of construction infrastructure.
The document was signed in Kyiv on Monday, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported.
Ukrainian Regional Development and Cooperation Minister Vasyl Kuybida signed the document on behalf of Ukraine, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Fu Ziying signed it on behalf of China.
In addition, the Ukrainian Economy Ministry and the Commerce Ministry of China signed a memorandum of mutual understanding to develop trade and economic cooperation. The memorandum was signed by Ukrainian Economy Minister Bohdan Danylyshyn and Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Fu Ziying.
Moreover, the sides signed a memorandum of cooperation on the L-15 aircraft. First Deputy Industrial Policy Minister Oleksandr Pinsky signed the document on behalf of Ukraine, President of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) Lin Zuoming signed it on behalf of China.
The sides also signed an agreement to expand cooperation in the sphere of optoelectronic infrared systems. The document was signed by Oleksandr Zinchenko, the director general of the National Space Agency of Ukraine, and the general manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
Besides, the sides signed a protocol of intent between Ukrainian state-owned company Chornomornaftogaz, a 100% subsidiary of NJSC Naftogaz Ukrainy, and China National Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation. It was signed by Volodymyr Chuprun, the deputy head of Naftogaz's board, and the director of the Chinese National Industrial Group.
The official signing ceremony was attended by Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and China's Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, who is currently on a visit to Ukraine.
(http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/22987) |
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Enviado - 04 noviembre 2009 : 01:00:26 |
Timoshenko entra en la carrera presidencial por la puerta grande
EURONEWS 25/10/2009
Yulia Timoshenko entró anoche en la carrera presidencial ucraniana con una impresionante puesta en escena. Entre 80.000 y 200.000 personas acudieron a la plaza de la Independencia de Kiev para apoyar a la primera ministra ucraniana.
“Nuestro camino es el camino hacia la comunidad europea. Ucrania, que tiene las raíces cristianas y europeas más fuertes, no puede ser excluida de Europa”, dijo Timoshenko.
De celebrarse hoy los comicios presidenciales, Timoshenko obtendría un 19% de los votos.
El favorito a alzarse con el triunfo en la cita del 17 de enero es el ex primer ministro pro-ruso Victor Yanukovich, líder del opositor Partido de las Regiones, que lograría casi un 29% de los sufragios.
“La prioridad de mi política exterior será la restauración total de la asociación con Rusia y también el desarrollo de la cooperación mutua con Estados Unidos, Europa y todos los países clave del G20”, dijo Yanukovich durante la presentación oficial de su candidatura a la presidencia, el viernes. Un acto mucho más modesto que el de su principal rival, Yulia Timoshenko.
(http://es.euronews.net/2009/10/25/timoshenko-entra-en-la-carrera-presidencial-por-la-puerta-grande/) |
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Enviado - 02 noviembre 2009 : 22:56:47 |
Ucrania dispuesta a reanudar diálogo al máximo nivel con Rusia
RIA NOVOSTI, Moscú 23/ 10/ 2009 Moscú, 23 de octubre, RIA Novosti. - El ministro de Exteriores de Ucrania, Pyotr Poroshenko, manifestó hoy de visita en Moscú que su país desea reanimar el diálogo con Rusia al máximo nivel.
"Ucrania está dispuesta a reanudar el diálogo a todos los niveles, incluido el más alto", aseguró Poroshenko al reunirse con su homólogo ruso, Serguei Lavrov.
El canciller ucraniano resaltó que la relación entre ambos países tiene "un potencial enorme" y es posible aprovecharlo sin necesidad de "relanzar" los contactos.
El jefe de la diplomacia rusa, por su parte, expresó la confianza de que el encuentro de hoy impulsará el desarrollo de la cooperación sobre una base del pragmatismo y el respeto recíproco de los intereses nacionales.
Poroshenko señaló a su vez que Rusia es el vecino más próximo y un socio estratégico para Ucrania.
(http://sp.rian.ru/onlinenews/20091023/123643799.html) |
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Enviado - 27 octubre 2009 : 12:15:59 |
Lviv, confins d'Europe en quête d'avenir Splendeur fanée à l'ouest de l'Ukraine, la ville berceau de la «révolution orange» rêve de l'Union européenne, mais sans grandes illusions
Arielle Thedrel, envoyée spéciale à Lviv LE FIGARO.fr, Paris 21/10/2009
À Lviv, les balcons sont entrés dans la rubrique des faits divers. Ils s'affaissent et parfois s'écroulent au risque de blesser des passants. Il y a beaucoup de balcons à Lviv, très fatigués pour la plupart. Comme les façades des immeubles Renaissance ou Art nouveau qui essaiment dans tous les coins de la ville. Comme les innombrables tramways d'occasion, rachetés à l'Allemagne, qui sillonnent les rues pavées du centre. La splendeur intacte mais fanée de Lviv éblouit. Plus qu'une ville, c'est un horizon mythique. Ukrainienne, mais dans une Europe centrale dont elle marque mélancoliquement les confins oubliés. Tantôt polonaise, tantôt austro-hongroise, Lviv, alias Lvov ou Lemberg, ex-capitale de la Galicie orientale, n'est devenue une colonie russe qu'en 1939 tandis que l'est de l'Ukraine appartenait depuis plusieurs siècles déjà à l'empire des tsars puis des soviets. Lviv parle ukrainien, Donetsk, la grande ville du pôle oriental, ne connaît que le russe. L'une regarde vers l'Union européenne, l'autre vers Moscou. À Lviv, les églises gréco-catholiques font le plein. À Donetsk l'orthodoxe, la ferveur religieuse serait plus tiède. Et puis il y a les préjugés. Tenaces, à en croire Vardeks Arzumassian, conseiller municipal : «Lviv se plaît à voir Donetsk comme un bastion politico-mafieux, tandis que Donetsk persifle en racontant qu'à Lviv, on fusille tous ceux qui ne parlent pas ukrainien.»
Un système soviétique
Lorsque la grande famine orchestrée par Staline décima six millions de paysans en 1933, Lviv, qui était alors polonaise, fut épargnée. Et quand des touristes venus de l'Est pénètrent aujourd'hui dans un salon de thé pour déguster un strudel noyé dans la crème anglaise, c'est comme s'ils débarquaient sur une autre planète. Deux histoires, deux langues, deux cultures qui cohabitent tant bien que mal selon que les politiques les instrumentalisent ou non pour leurs ambitions personnelles.
La Russie s'est toujours méfiée de Lviv l'Occidentale. Elle avait bien raison. Lviv fut l'un des fers de lance de la «révolution orange», son inspiratrice, son bras armé. Cinq ans plus tard, l'espoir a cédé la place à la désillusion. À en croire Vira Nanivska, qui dirige l'Institut de développement de la ville, l'Ukraine «vit toujours dans un système soviétique». La plupart des réformes sont restées lettre morte, les lois ne sont pas appliquées et faute de contrôle du service public, la corruption demeure endémique.
Certes, ajoute l'ancien journaliste Yurko Nazaruk, la presse s'est libérée, «mais pour retomber aussi vite dans les filets des oligarques», ces hommes d'affaires qui ont profité du chaos économique du début des années 1990 pour faire main basse sur le pays. Ils sont tout-puissants en Ukraine. Les cinquante principaux oligarques du pays détiendraient aujourd'hui une fortune équivalente à 85% du PIB.
À Lviv, assure Vira Nanivska, «il n'y a que de très petits oligarques». La cité était un fief de Viktor Iouchtchenko. Il y a cinq ans, le président ukrainien, un «patriote», dit-on ici, s'était engagé à dissocier la vie politique et les intérêts économiques. Il n'a pas tenu ses promesses. Pire, il coopère lui aussi à son tour avec ces clans qui continuent de faire la pluie et le beau temps en Ukraine. En 2004, Lviv avait voté à 80 % pour Iouchtchenko. Selon un sondage récent, le chef d'État ukrainien n'y obtiendra que 7 à 8 % des suffrages lors de la présidentielle du 17 janvier prochain. «Iouchtchenko n'a aucune chance, reconnaît Olexandr Starovoït, du parti Notre Ukraine, la formation du président. Il n'a pas su s'entourer. Il a fait preuve de faiblesse». Mykola Lakhomov, son adversaire du Parti des régions, dit tout haut ce que tout le monde pense tout bas: «Iouchtchenko a trahi».
Belle au bois dormant
Lviv a fait son deuil de la «révolution orange» et de ses héros. Sans baisser les bras pour autant. La ville déborde de vitalité. Les murs de Lviv sont très anciens, mais sa population est formidablement jeune grâce à ses universités, les plus prestigieuses du pays, qui accueillent 140 000 étudiants. Le maire, Andriy Sadovyy, n'a que 41 ans. «Si Lviv n'existait pas, dit-il, l'Ukraine ne resterait pas indépendante bien longtemps.»
Andriy Sadovyy rêve de réveiller la Belle au bois dormant et peut-être un jour - car il est ambitieux - l'Ukraine tout entière. Sous sa houlette, souligne Olexandr Starovoït, «la ville est devenue plus propre, les routes sont réparées et il n'y a presque plus de coupures d'eau courante». Mais, ici comme ailleurs, la gestion de la ville manque cruellement de transparence. Candidate à l'Euro 2012 de football, Lviv mise sur cet événement sportif pour attirer l'attention des Occidentaux et stimuler les investissements, en baisse d'environ 30 % à cause de la crise mondiale et plus encore de l'immobilisme de l'État. La ville se dépêche de faire peau neuve et un stade en mesure d'accueillir plus de 30 000 spectateurs est en cours de construction. «Les façades sont rénovées, confirme Luba Maksymovitch, qui conseille les PME, très nombreuses à Lviv. Mais derrière, rien n'a changé, tout se fissure et il y a beaucoup de pauvreté.» Lviv, ville Potemkine?
Au cimetière Lytchakovski, inscrit au patrimoine mondial de l'Unesco, 70 % des tombes sont celles de Polonais. Une forêt de tilleuls, de marronniers et de pins centenaires qui couvre quarante hectares. Une bonne partie de l'intelligentsia polonaise du XIXe siècle repose dans ce musée à ciel ouvert. La «révolution orange» a forgé des liens de solidarité entre la Pologne et l'Ukraine. Mais Lviv n'a pu se délivrer d'un complexe d'infériorité à l'égard de l'ancienne puissance tutélaire. «Lviv a été fondée en 1256 par un prince ukrainien, rappelle Bogdan, l'un des deux guides du cimetière. Elle est devenue polonaise en 1340, puis austro-hongroise en 1772, puis de nouveau polonaise en 1918.» Une guerre (de 1918 à 1919) et quelques atrocités de part et d'autre ont laissé une tache indélébile.
Assumer son passé
En 1939, la moitié de la population de Lviv était polonaise et plus d'un tiers était juive. Selon Emil Legowicz, qui préside l'Association des Polonais de Galicie, il reste 800 000 Polonais en Ukraine, mais la communauté se réduit comme peau de chagrin. «Tous ceux qui peuvent obtenir la double nationalité s'en vont, les jeunes partent étudier en Pologne et y restent. Bientôt, il n'y aura plus de Polonais en Ukraine.» Longtemps laissés à l'abandon, les palais des princes polonais commencent à être restaurés. Grâce à des fonds polonais. Il y a un an, le maire, d'un nationalisme sourcilleux, a interdit aux guides polonais d'exercer dans sa ville par crainte, dit-on, «d'une lecture trop unilatérale de l'histoire».
Les juifs, eux, ont totalement disparu, exterminés par les nazis avec la collaboration active des milices de l'Organisation des nationalistes ukrainiens (OUN) de Stepan Bandera. Sur les quelque 330 000 juifs de Lviv, moins d'une centaine a survécu, raconte Ada Dianova. Ada, une ancienne actrice au visage las, dirige le Centre socioculturel juif de Lviv, une petite villa anodine avec un rez-de-jardin envahi d'herbes folles. Une seule des quarante synagogues de la ville a survécu. Les 5000 juifs qui vivent aujourd'hui à Lviv viennent tous des ex-républiques soviétiques. «Ils sont venus après la guerre pour trouver du travail», explique Ada. Le centre reçoit des aides de l'étranger. «L'État ne nous aide pas. L'an dernier, un parti politique (Svodoba, «Liberté») nous a intenté un procès pour interdire les programmes d'éducation sur l'Holocauste que nous menions dans les écoles.» Un film, notamment, montrant des jeunes filles ukrainiennes vêtues du costume national accueillant les Allemands avec des fleurs. Le parti Svoboda a gagné le procès. Stepan Bandera, qui a sa statue à Lviv, est considéré comme un héros.
«Les Ukrainiens, admet Emil Legowicz, ont du mal à assumer leur passé.» Le connaissent-ils seulement? «Les juifs? Ils sont partis en Israël, s'exclame Natalya, qui travaille à l'Alliance française. Ils ne se sentaient pas bien ici.» À Zhovkva, un bourg proche de Lviv, réputé pour son manoir polonais du XVIe siècle et sa synagogue fortifiée du XVIIe, nul ne sait ce qu'abritait un bâtiment transformé en abattoir par les Soviétiques. «Chaque année, des pèlerins juifs le visitent, raconte Ivanna, guide à Zhovkva. Mais ils refusent de nous révéler ce que c'était.» Alors, Lviv préfère parler de Léopold von Sacher-Masoch, natif de la région, de la cathédrale arménienne âgée de 645 ans ou de l'hôtel George, où séjournèrent Balzac et Jean-Paul Sartre.
Un «nouveau rideau de fer»
Andriy Sadovyy, le maire, s'inquiète du «nouveau rideau de fer» que l'Union européenne a érigé entre elle et l'Ukraine. Il évoque son «humiliation» de devoir faire la queue pour obtenir un visa, s'irrite de l'indifférence des Européens, de la France surtout «qui ne comprend rien à l'Ukraine», tout en admettant que son pays «est trop grand pour intégrer l'UE». Bien sûr, c'est injuste, concède Yuri Rashkevych, vice-recteur de l'École polytechnique. Après tout, «l'Empire austro-hongrois était un prototype de l'UE et Lviv en était l'une des capitales». «Si l'Europe se désintéresse de l'Ukraine, ajoute-t-il, la Russie n'en fera qu'une bouchée.» Mais le problème, poursuit Yuri, vient surtout des Ukrainiens eux-mêmes. «Sont-ils capables de bâtir une identité nationale? Le veulent-ils seulement?»
À Lviv, on dit que les Ukrainiens ont mûri, qu'ils sont plus réalistes, conscients désormais que «la démocratie ne s'importe pas comme du Coca-Cola». La ville semble s'être résolue à demeurer provisoirement entre deux mondes. Et pour cacher son désenchantement, elle s'évertue à chercher, comme le reste du pays, un nouveau texte pour l'hymne national. L'ancien - L'Ukraine n'est pas encore morte - était vraiment trop pessimiste.
(http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2009/10/22/01003-20091022ARTFIG00006-lviv-confins-d-europe-en-quete-d-avenir-.php) |
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Enviado - 27 octubre 2009 : 11:52:11 |
EEUU negocia con Ucrania uso de radares ucranianos en su escudo antimisiles
UNIVISION.com 15 de Octubre de 2009
KIEV, 15 Oct 2009 (AFP) - Estados Unidos y Ucrania iniciaron negociaciones para un posible uso de radares ucranianos en el dispositivo antimisiles estadounidense en Europa, declaró este jueves el embajador ucraniano en Washington, Oleg Chamchur.
"Estamos en la fase de conversaciones de trabajo, y éstas se encuentran más bien en una fase inicial", dijo Chamchur, citado por la agencia Interfax-Ucrania.
Las negociaciones se centran en el uso de radares en Ucrania y sobre la cooperación técnico-militar, precisó.
El presidente ucraniano, Viktor Yushchenko, declaró el 9 de octubre que Kiev no había recibido ninguna propuesta de Washington al respecto.
Rusia, que ya se oponía al proyecto inicial de escudo antimisiles elaborado durante el mandato del presidente estadounidense George W. Bush y que preveía componentes en Polonia y la República Checa, dijo estar preocupada ante estos contactos.
"Decir que estas informaciones nos tranquilizan sería exagerado. Estamos preocupados", declaró el viceministro ruso de Relaciones Exteriores, Serguei Riabkov, citado por las agencias rusas.
En septiembre, la Casa Blanca decidió renunciar a su proyecto inicial de escudo antimisiles en Europa del Este, que estaba centrado en una amenaza de disparos de misiles iraníes de largo alcance, y sustituirlo por un sistema que protege principalmente contra los disparos balísticos de corto y medio alcance.
(http://www.univision.com/contentroot/wirefeeds/noticias/8061327.shtml) |
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Enviado - 22 octubre 2009 : 22:23:58 |
Ukraine Readies for Fourth Round of IMF Loan Talks
By JAMES MARSON The Wall Street Journal Tuesday, October 13, 2009
KIEV - An International Monetary Fund mission arrived in Ukraine on Monday for talks before deciding whether to recommend disbursement of a fourth loan tranche desperately needed to support the recession-battered country.
Negotiations are expected to be tough, with political leaders are at loggerheads in the run-up to a presidential election in January.
President Viktor Yushchenko's office has expressed concern that the loan may not be allocated, blaming the government for failing to carry out a number of measures agreed with the IMF. Deputy Prime Minister Hryhoriy Nemyria, a close ally of Mr. Yushchenko's rival, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, accused the president and the opposition, which is blocking parliament, of "political sabotage" by preventing necessary steps from being taken.
"There is total political gridlock in parliament due to the upcoming presidential elections," Mr. Nemyria said in an interview Monday. "The president vetoes everything possible and the opposition is blocking parliament and supporting populist measures."
Ukraine's economy - one of the hardest hit in Europe - suffered an estimated 18 percent contraction in the first half of the year after demand for its main exports, steel and chemicals, plunged. Attempts to combat the crisis have been hampered by intense political infighting ahead of the contentious presidential election. President Viktor Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko are quarrelling over key policies, and lawmakers from the opposition Party of Regions, led by Viktor Yanukovych, a leading presidential candidate, have been physically blocking the work of parliament for several weeks demanding a rise in social spending.
Mr. Nemyria said parliament's approval last week of the first reading of a bill to raise the minimum wage was an "irresponsible" act taken with an eye on elections, and could undermine economic stability.
The IMF has already handed out almost $11 billion in loans to Ukraine since approving a $16.4 billion standby loan last fall, helping to prop up wobbly banks, plug holes in the budget and support the national currency, the hryvnia.
While the economy is seen to have bottomed out, the continuation of the IMF program is critical to cover a widening budget deficit. An attempt at the end of September to fill government coffers by privatizing a major chemical plant collapsed in farce when the government refused to recognize the winner of the auction - which went ahead despite a presidential decree banning the sale - claiming collusion between the bidders to keep the price low.
Mr. Nemyria said continued IMF support was a "lifeline" that would bring confidence to the markets and "underpin the real economic recovery that we are beginning to see." He added that agreement with the IMF could help secure a loan of between 200 and 600 million euros from the European Union, which the government is currently negotiating.
But Ukraine has failed to carry out a number of measures promised to the IMF, including raising gas prices and passing banking legislation, since the last review in June. The gas price rises are seen as crucial to secure the shaky finances of state natural gas company Naftogaz, which announced on Friday it had agreed restructuring terms with 92 percent of note holders on a $500 million Eurobond that matured at the end of September.
The president's office has repeatedly blasted the government's budget policy and accused it of failing to meet conditions agreed with the IMF. Mr. Nemyria said the deadlock in parliament had prevented banking laws being passed, and blamed trade unions controlled by the Party of Regions for blocking the decision to raise gas prices in court, adding that an appeal was under way.
The IMF declined to comment, but analysts say it is likely to continue cooperation, but delay disbursal and reduce the amount given.
"On the one hand, the IMF needs to be seen as not ignoring the authorities not adhering to the agreements, but on the other hand, they don't want to let Ukraine go over the cliff," said Peter Vanhecke, head of Kiev-based investment bank Renaissance Capital. "The IMF has been understanding of the political situation, but the government needs to convince the IMF that it is doing everything it can in the difficult circumstances."
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125536349902480477.html) |
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Enviado - 13 octubre 2009 : 22:24:47 |
Rada appoints Poroshenko Ukraine's foreign minister
INTERFAX - UKRAINA 09.10.2009
The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, has approved the appointment of Petro Poroshenko as Ukraine's new foreign minister.
This decision was supported by 240 out of 440 MPs registered in the session hall. In particular, 151 MPs of the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko faction, 63 of the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense Bloc, 20 members of the Bloc of Volodymyr Lytvyn, one MP of the Regions Party, one member of the Communist Party faction and four MPs not belonging to any faction voted for the nomination.
Poroshenko has taken his oath of office in parliament.
On October 7 Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko nominated Poroshenko, the head of the National Bank's Council, to the post of foreign minister.
Poroshenko, born in 1965, is a graduate of the International Affairs and International Law Department of Kyiv National University. He was member of the Verkhovna Rada in 1998-2005. In 2005 he was Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.
Since February 2007, Poroshenko has been heading the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine.
(http://www.interfax.com.ua/eng/main/21692) |
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Enviado - 21 septiembre 2009 : 23:19:37 |
Ukraine central bank official resigns
By Roman Olearchyk in Kiev FINANCIAL TIMES September 12 2009
A corruption investigation and a high-level resignation are threatening to plunge Ukraine's central bank into turmoil, undermining Kiev's ability to stabilise its currency and pull out of a deep recession.
Oleksandr Savchenko, deputy head of Ukraine's National Bank, the central bank, resigned yesterday, accusing colleagues of pursuing failed monetary policies and of co-conspiring in "currency speculation" deals that broke trust in Ukraine's hryvnia, causing it to plunge more than 10 per cent in recent weeks.
Seen by political analysts as close to Yulia Tymoshenko, prime minister, Mr Savchenko said: "Unfortunately, this is occurring with the participation of the central bank." He also implicated the administration of Viktor Yushchenko, president, and a rival of the premier in backing the top central bank management.
Mr Savchenko's announcement comes one day after Yuriy Lutsenko, interior minister and a Tymoshenko ally, summoned another top central banker for questioning in a currency corruption probe.
Mr Lutsenko implicated central bankers "plundering" tens of millions of dollars by taking part in currency manipulations which drove Ukraine's currency into the deepest dive since the advent of the global financial crisis last autumn. Yesterday, he said more central bank officials would be questioned next week.
Observers said the destabilising events are fuelled by bitter political rivalries ahead of a January 2010 presidential election.
In comments yesterday to the Financial Times, Mr Yushchenko dubbed the central bank investigation as a politically-motivated "smear campaign" waged by Ms Tymoshenko, his rival in the presidential contest.
With his popularity rating in single digits, Mr Yushchenko accused his prime minister, one of three frontrunners for the presidency, of destabilising Ukraine's economy and currency via populist policies. He said the premier has filled a widening budget deficit by pressing the central bankers into printing more currency - an irresponsible strategy that he fears may spark hyperinflation.
A $16.4bn (€11.3bn, £9.9bn) IMF standby loan has kept Kiev afloat this year amid stretched finances and an 18 per cent economic contraction. Escalation of the central bank row could weigh in on decision-making in coming weeks by the IMF, which is mulling a fourth tranche after disbursing nearly $11bn since last autumn.
Ms Tymoshenko accuses Mr Yushchenko of attempting to sabotage her government and has implicated him and businessmen of expropriating aid issued to banks that fell under stress during the recession.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
(http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/675c5902-9f34-11de-8013-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1) |
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Enviado - 21 agosto 2009 : 14:42:17 |
Primera ministra declara que Ucrania tendrá sólo un idioma oficial, el ucraniano
RIA Novosti, Moscú 20/ 08/ 2009 Kíev, 20 agosto, RIA Novosti. - La presidenta del Gobierno de Ucrania, Yulia Timoshenko, dijo que insistirá en que la república tenga sólo un idioma oficial, el ucraniano, informó hoy la agencia UNIAN.
"Mientras que nuestro equipo, el de auténticos patriotas de Ucrania, esté en el poder, no permitiremos a nadie plantear el problema de segundo idioma oficial. Sólo el ucraniano, y por siempre, no importan las circunstancias", dijo Timoshenko este jueves en Lvov, al intervenir en el Congreso Mundial Ucraniano. Sus palabras provocaron aplausos clamorosos de los reunidos.
La Constitución establece que el único idioma oficial de Ucrania es el ucraniano, a pesar de que cerca de la mitad de sus ciudadanos son del habla rusa. Por conferirle al ruso el estatuto de segunda lengua oficial se pronuncia, en particular, el Partido de las Regiones, el más numeroso en el país. Pero en solitario no logrará modificar la Ley Fundamental, pues dispone de 173 votos solamente (más 27 votos de los comunistas, los que también respaldan esta idea), mientras que hace falta reunir 300 votos, para introducir enmiendas en la Constitución.
Timoshenko añadió, entre otras cosas, que la lengua ucraniana se pone de moda en la república y que incluso quienes están por concederle al ruso el estatuto de segundo idioma oficial mandan a sus hijos a estudiar a las escuelas donde la enseñanza se imparte en ucraniano.
(http://sp.rian.ru/onlinenews/20090820/122777353.html) |
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Enviado - 20 agosto 2009 : 20:53:09 |
Sme - Eslovaquia Ucrania se debe decidir entre la UE y la mafia
EURO / TOPICS 19/08/2009
Ucrania ha interrumpido el transporte ferroviorio de bienes en la frontera con Eslovaquia como protesta contra un sistema de escáner que controla los trenes con la justificación de que el proceso perjudicaría la salud. El diario liberal Sme critica que Ucrania se asociaría a estructuras mafiosas porque la mayor afectada por el sistema de escáner justamente sería la mafia ucraniana de tráfico de cigarrillos: "La presión para que desconecten el escáner llega directamente de los traficantes. Las autoridades de Kiev sólo hacen de mensajero. Lo más gracioso es que el Estado sirva a la mafia aun creyendo que quiere ingresar en la UE, cuyas reglas no permiten saltarse los controles. [...] Kiev tiene que elegir entre las reglas de la UE o servir a la mafia. Las dos cosas a la vez no son compatibles. No es admisible que Rusia decida si Ucrania pertenece a Europa. Sin embargo, sí es verdad que ningún país occidental instará a que Ucrania ingrese en la UE si el país no tiene interés en aquella."
Artículo completo (en eslovaco): http://komentare.sme.sk/c/4980564/stlpcek-petra-morvaya-mafia-alebo-unia.html
(http://mail.google.com/mail/?hl=es&tab=wm#inbox/12331f7e2780170a) |
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Enviado - 15 agosto 2009 : 22:48:37 |
Timoshenko dice que Ucrania determinará sus políticas de manera soberana
Terra / EFE 14/8/2009
Kiev, 14 ago (EFE) - La primera ministra ucraniana, Yulia Timoshenko, afirmó hoy que Ucrania, como país soberano, determinará por sí misma sus políticas interior y exterior y aseguró que el ejercicio de esa soberanía no apunta contra otros países.
"Pese a que la política exterior es prerrogativa constitucional del presidente, no puedo guardar silencio ante los últimos acontecimientos en la relaciones ucraniano-rusa", dijo la jefa de Gobierno citada por su servicio de prensa.
Timoshenko se refería a la tensión generada por la carta que esta semana el presidente de Rusia, Dmitri Medvédev, dirigió a su colega ucraniano, Víctor Yúschenko, en la que lo acusó de desarrollar un "política antirrusa".
En su misiva de respuesta, el jefe del Estado ucraniano se manifestó ayer "muy decepcionado" con la carta de Medvédev y señaló: "hay graves problemas en las relaciones entre ambos países, pero es sorprendente que usted (Medvédev) rechace toda responsabilidad por parte rusa".
"Ucrania determinará sus política interior y exterior de manera soberana, sin injerencias desde el extranjero", subrayó Timoshenko, quien postulará a la presidencia en los comicios que se celebrarán el 17 de enero del próximo año.
Pese a las discrepancias que mantiene con Yúschenko, la declaración de la primera ministra supone un espaldarazo al jefe del Estado.
"El ejercicio de Ucrania de sus derechos soberanos y la formación de una nación política moderna no son ni pueden examinarse como una política que apunta contra otros", recalcó Timoshenko.
Al mismo tiempo, recordó que ella siempre se ha pronunciado por edificar con Rusia una relaciones "de igual a igual, basadas en los intereses nacionales, el beneficio mutuo, el respeto a la soberanía y la integridad territorial".
(http://noticias.terra.com/articulos/act1897649/Timoshenko_dice_que_Ucrania_determinara_sus_politicas_de_manera_soberana/) |
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Enviado - 12 agosto 2009 : 20:41:57 |
Medvédev acusa a Yúshenko de aplicar una política antirrusa En un furioso mensaje, Moscú anuncia la suspensión del envío de su nuevo embajador a Ucrania
RODRIGO FERNÁNDEZ - Moscú El País.com, Madrid 11/08/2009
El presidente Dmitri Medvédev ha anunciado hoy que Rusia ha decidido suspender el envío a Ucrania de su nuevo embajador y ha acusado a su colega Víctor Yúshenko de haber renunciado a los "principios de amistad" con Moscú. El Kremlin, por lo visto, ha concluido que Yúshenko no tiene ninguna posibilidad de ganar las elecciones presidenciales que deben celebrarse en el vecino país a principios del año próximo y ha abandonado toda esperanza de poder mejorar sus relaciones con el actual régimen ucranio.
En un furioso mensaje al presidente ucranio, que Medvédev ha hecho público, le recrimina a Yúshenko el haber adoptado "una posición antirrusa ante el bárbaro ataque del régimen [georgiano] de [Mijaíl] Saakashvili contra Osetia del Sur" y haber armado a Tbilisi. Subraya también que "ignorando la opinión de los ciudadanos de su país, para no hablar ya de la conocida posición de Rusia, continúa tozudamente el curso al ingreso en la OTAN".
"Más aún, en calidad de 'argumento' [para el ingreso en la Alianza] se insinúa una 'amenaza rusa' a la seguridad de Ucrania, que como usted bien sabe, no existe y no puede existir", se lamenta Medvédev, agregando que "la continuación lógica de esa política destructiva" son los intentos de obstaculizar las actividades de la Flota Rusa del Mar Negro, que tiene su sede en la península ucrania de Crimea.
Pero esto no es todo. En esta "situación, que no sólo no mejora, sino que continúa degradándose", Kiev -denuncia Medvédev- "busca consecuentemente el rompimiento de las relaciones económicas con Rusia, en primer lugar en la esfera energética".
Como resultado de ello, "se ve amenazado el uso estable por parte de nuestros países del sistema -de hecho unificado- de transporte del gas, que garantiza la seguridad energética de Rusia, Ucrania y de muchos países europeos".
Guerra del gas
Cerca del 70% del gas que Rusia exporta a Europa pasa por territorio ucranio. Kiev, que ha tenido dificultades para pagar el combustible ruso que recibe para sus propias necesidades, ha echado mano, según Moscú, del gas destinado a los consumidores europeos, lo que ha desencadenado ya dos guerra del gas. La última ocurrió a principios de este año y como resultado de ella Europa estuvo dos semanas sin recibir gas ruso. Cerca de un tercio del gas consumido por la Unión Europea tiene origen ruso, pero esta dependencia llega a más del 90% en algunos países.
Medvédev también se lamenta de que a pesar de las numerosas quejas realizadas a diferente nivel, "prácticamente no se ha hecho nada para cesar las violaciones de los derechos de los inversores rusos en Ucrania".
"Las relaciones ruso-ucranias son puestas a prueba también como resultado de la política de vuestra Administración dirigida a revisar la historia común, a heroizar a los cómplices de los nazis, a ensalzar el papel de los nacionalistas radicales, a imponer a la comunidad internacional interpretaciones nacionalistoides de la hambruna masiva ocurrida en la URSS en 1932-1933 según las cuales ella habría sido 'un genocidio del pueblo ucranio'", denuncia el presidente ruso en su duro mensaje, que no tiene precedentes en la historia de las relaciones entre ambos países.
Medvédev se lamenta también de los esfuerzos que hace Kiev por "expulsar el idioma ruso" de todos los ámbitos en Ucrania y de la "nefasta práctica del intervención de las autoridades del Estado en los asuntos de la Iglesia Ortodoxa".
Debido a todas estas razones, Medvédev le informa a Yúshenko que ha decidido suspender en envío del nuevo embajador ruso a Ucrania, y que la llegada de éste dependerá de "desarrollo real" de las relaciones entre ambos países.
Medvédev ha comentado en su videoblog el mensaje que envió a Yúshenko y allí dice confiar que "los nuevos dirigentes de Ucrania" estarán dispuestos a devolver el carácter "estratégico" a las relaciones entre ambos países.
Respuesta de Ucrania
En Kiev, los partidarios del presidente Yúshenkov han interpretado el mensaje de Medvédev como un intento de influir en las futuras presidenciales de Ucrania. "Estoy convencido que con está declaración Rusia de hecho ha comenzado su campaña para las elecciones presidenciales en Ucrania", ha declarado el diputado Andréi Parubi.
Por su parte, el rival de Yúshenkov, Víctor Yanukóvich, líder del Partido de las Regiones, que representa a la zona ruso hablante de Ucrania, ha dicho que lo primero que hará cuando llegue al poder será "restablecer relaciones normales de amistad, de igualdad, con nuestros socios estratégicos de Rusia".
(http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Medvedev/acusa/Yushenko/aplicar/politica/antirrusa/elpepuint/20090811elpepuint_3/Tes) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 09 agosto 2009 : 00:38:23 |
Reportage dalla città ucraina, dove il 70 percento della popolazione è di origine russa
Alessio Bini PEACE REPORTER 05/08/2009
Sebastopol è una città in stile occidentale situata in Crimea. Si affaccia sul Mar Nero e fu edificata nel 1783 per volontà del generale Potemkin. Oggi Sebastopol, come del resto l'intera Crimea, fa parte dell'Ucraina, a seguito della decisione delle autorita' sovietiche che nel 1954 decretarono il trasferimento della Penisola dalla RSS Russa a quella Ucraina.
La Russia nella pancia dell'Ucraina
Così la Crimea (abitata nel 1991 da una maggioranza russa che sfiorava il 67 percento) cominciò la sua nuova e travagliata vita all'interno dello Stato ucraino, che fin dal principio tendette a marcare le differenze tra sé ed il grande fratello russo. Sotto il profilo identitario, la Crimea rappresenta un luogo molto importante per i russi ed il primo luogo a cui la loro mente corre quando pensano alla penisola è Sebastopol.
La città è abitata da circa 379.200 persone, il 71 percento delle quali di etnicamente russe e profondamente fiere di essere tale. Ma l'identità russa non contraddistingue solo coloro che sono etnicamente russi, essa riguarda anche molti degli ucraini ampiamente russificati. E' qui che ovviamente sta' il problema più grande per Sebastopol: essere una città russa all'interno di uno Stato, l'Ucraina, che tra mille contraddizioni e stop and go, porta avanti un proprio progetto di National Building.
La città della gloria
Sebastopol è entrata nella carne e nello spirito del popolo russo attraverso vari modi: miti, canti, leggende, immagini e soprattutto eventi storici. Tutto questo ha trasformato Sebastopol nella ‘città della gloria russa'. Sebastopol è un vero e proprio museo a cielo aperto. Tutti i monumenti, dal più insignificante al più maestoso, trasudano identità russa e ricordano a tutti la drammaticità e l'eroismo di tutti quei cittadini che resistettero ai due gradi assedi patiti dalla città: quello del 1854 e quello del 1941 - '42. Assedi da cui la città usci martoriata ma più orgogliosamente russa di prima. Qui l'appartenenza russa si esprime in mille modi differenti: bandiere russe alle finestre, sui bus, grandi magazzini colorati di rosso, bianco e blu, canali radio e televisivi russi. L'unica ambito in cui, per legge, a prevalere è l'ucraino sono i manifesti pubblicitari. Per il resto l'Ucraina appare un'idea lontana e sfocata, limitata a qualche sporadica bandiera che sventola qui e là. Per toccare con mano quanto il processo di 'national building' ucraino non abbia ancora attecchito a Sebastopol, è sufficiente trovarsi in città il giorno in cui si celebra la vittoria sul nazifascismo, il 9 maggio.
Guardare al Cremlino
La città celebra tale evento con parate militari, concerti e fuochi d'artificio. Le uniche bandiere ucraine erano quelle dei battaglioni ucraini in parata, per il resto era un tripudio di bandiere russe (ed anche sovietiche). Quel giorno per le strade le persone inneggiavano alla Russia e discutevano amabilmente di quanto interessante fosse stato il discorso tenuto dal Presidente. Ottimo discorso concordavano tutti, tuttavia non era paragonabile a quello del suo predecessore. Sia chiaro che non parlavano di Yushenko e Kuchma, bensì di Medvedev e Putin. Genericamente parlando, i cittadini di Sebastopol non odiano l'Ucraina, semplicemente la ignorano e preferiscono guardare verso il Cremlino.
La Flotta leva le ancore? Uno dei simboli più importanti per i russi di Sebastopol è la Flotta russa del Mar Nero. Mito storico e realtà odierna allo stesso tempo. La Flotta sovietica del Mar Nero fu al centro di un lungo ed estenuante negoziato che si concluse con un accordo sottoscritto nel maggio 1997. La Russia ottenne la maggior parte dei vascelli e il noleggio di parte delle infrastrutture portuali cittadine per 20 anni. Se nulla muterà la Flotta Russa dovrà levare l'ancora nel 2017. Personalmente faccio fatica ad immaginare il momento in cui la Flotta russa se ne andrà per sempre. I cittadini di Sebastopol amano la Flotta e ne vanno veramente orgogliosi. La sua partenza sarà un trauma collettivo e sono sicuro che cercheranno, nei limiti del possibile, di fare tutto quanto è possibile per evitare tale evento catastrofico anche se potrebbe non essere sufficiente visto e considerato che il futuro della Flotta dipenderà solo ed esclusivamente dall'evoluzione dei rapporti di forza tra Russia ed Ucraina.
(http://it.peacereporter.net/articolo/16831/Sebastopoli,+orgoglio+russo) |
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Enviado - 08 agosto 2009 : 23:52:38 |
Faith or Politics? The Russian Patriarch Ends Ukraine Visit
By James Marson / Kiev TIME Tuesday, August 04, 2009 He said he was in Ukraine on a pilgrimage to promote spiritual unity. But his critics say he was on a mission from the Kremlin to buttress Moscow's influence over its neighbor.
Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, was greeted by a mixture of protests and celebrations during his 10-day visit to Kiev, known to Russians as the "mother of all Russian cities." The trip, which began on July 27, was Kirill's first to Ukraine since he took over the role of Patriarch after the death of Alexy II in December 2008. Kirill toured holy sites across the country, met with political leaders and gave an interview on national television, all with the insistence that his visit had no political agenda. But some observers are skeptical, saying the patriarch was actually in the country to throw spiritual weight behind the Kremlin's attempts to halt Ukraine's move toward Europe and keep it within Russia's sphere of influence. "We've seen more of a Russian state official than a religious figure," says Olexandr Paliy, a historian at the Institute of Foreign Policy at the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Diplomatic Academy. "The Church is being used as an instrument in the Kremlin's game."
The religious histories of Ukraine and Russia are closely — and sometimes controversially — intertwined. After Prince Volodymyr of Kiev was baptized into Christianity in 988, leadership of the Church became a crucial instrument in winning primacy among the princes of the Rus people who inhabited much of the territory of modern-day Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. The consolidation and spread of Muscovy's regional power during the 14th century coincided with the Church leader's move to the principality. The patriarch's full title is Patriarch of Moscow and All of Rus, a constant reminder of how the Russian Orthodox Church's power extends beyond Russia's borders.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, an independent church, known as the Kiev Patriarchate, was formed in Ukraine alongside the Moscow Patriarchate. It remains canonically unrecognized, but surveys show it has a comparable number of followers to the Russian branch of the Church. Together, the members of both branches make Ukraine one of the most religious countries in Europe; more than 60% of Ukrainians have been brought up in the Orthodox faith.
Last year, pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko irked the Russian Orthodox leadership with an unsuccessful attempt to unite both patriarchates in Ukraine into one independent church, without involvement from Moscow. Kirill, too, would like to see both branches united, but not in a way that would satisfy Yushchenko — last week, the patriarch called for members of the two churches to unite under his leadership.
Yushchenko has similarly annoyed Russian political leaders with his attempts to move Ukraine toward Western structures such as the European Union and NATO. Moscow has responded with a series of threats and cuts to gas supplies to try to keep Ukraine in check, along with appeals to the countries' historical and cultural links. The Church, which enjoys strong relations with the Kremlin, is in a unique position to lend support to Moscow's attempts to keep Ukraine close, given its claims to spiritual authority over Ukrainian territory. "Our historical past is here, and our future will to a large extent be decided here," said Kirill on Ukrainian national television on July 28. "By our, I mean all of us, people who belong to the one civilization of ancient Rus."
Kirill took a swipe at the West for its pursuit of material well-being, suggesting that the desire to fill "one's stomach and pocket" was a base motive for moving toward Europe — a thinly veiled criticism of Ukraine's attempts to integrate with the E.U. Many thousands turned out to cheer the patriarch on his tour of Ukraine, but comments like that one also brought hundreds into the streets in protest. Scuffles broke out in Kiev last week when a crowd of several hundred demonstrators chanted and held banners reading, "Go Away, Moscow Pope."
Nevertheless, some observers see Kirill as a less politicized figure than his predecessor. Alexy II, an infrequent visitor to Kiev, openly supported the Moscow-backed candidate Viktor Yanukovych in his 2004 presidential race against Yushchenko. "Kirill is developing a new approach to Russian-Ukrainian spiritual unity," says Andrei Zolotov, an expert on the Russian Orthodox Church who followed the patriarch on his visit. "He's saying that he's the patriarch not just of Russia but of Rus. He's trying to position himself as a supranational leader beyond state boundaries."
But Zolotov concedes that Kirill will have trouble convincing many in Ukraine that his mission is only spiritual. "The idea that independent Ukraine must have an independent Orthodox Church is at the core of the Ukrainian national idea formed in the past decade," he says. "It's a complicating factor that the patriarch lives in Moscow and has ties with the Kremlin." For now, Kirill's Ukrainian critics have their wish: the patriarch is heading back to Moscow on Wednesday, Aug. 5. But Zolotov says there has been talk in Kirill's entourage of making the trip an annual event — so he could soon be back, bringing yet more controversy with him.
(http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1914600,00.html) |
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Enviado - 31 julio 2009 : 20:28:38 |
Yuscenko: l'Ucraina vuole una Chiesa nazionale indipendente da Mosca
ASIANEWS.it 28/07/2009
La lunga visita pastorale del leader della Chiesa ortodossa di Mosca si è aperta nel segno dei dissidi tra i fedeli ucraini divisi in tre diverse Chiese. Per Kirill esiste già una chiesa ortodossa indipendente e nazionale nel Paese ed è quella riconosciuta da Mosca.
Kiev (AsiaNews/Agenzie) - “Il grande desiderio del popolo ucraino è di vivere in una singola Chiesa apostolica nazionale”. Sono le parole del presidente Yuscenko dopo l’incontro con il patriarca di Mosca Kirill avvenuto ieri a Kiev nel primo giorno della lunga visita pastorale in Ucraina del capo della chiesa ortodossa russa. Il successore della terza Roma è arrivato ieri nella capitale del Paese e il programma del suo viaggio, che si concluderà il 5 agosto, prevede diverse tappe in numerose città. Ma il primo giorno ha offerto subito l’occasione per sottolineare uno dei nodi centrale della visita. In Ucraina convivono tre Chiese ortodosse in contrasto tra loro. Due di esse non godono del riconoscimento di Mosca, affermano il carattere nazionale dell’ortodossia ucraina e non vogliono che il patriarcato della russo eserciti su di loro alcun potere giurisdizionale. Yuscenko ha affermato a margine del suo colloquio con Kirill che “l’obiettivo del dialogo [con il Patriarcato] è di parlare in modo credibile, aperto e onesto dei temi sensibili che riguardano la vita religiosa nel Paese. Abbiamo parlato di uno dei problemi della Chiesa ucraina che è l’attuale divisione dell’ortodossia”. Il presidente afferma di non voler interferire sui problemi che riguardano la sfera religiosa, ma ha aggiunto che questo problema in particolare ha delle ricadute negative sulla stabilità sociale e l’unità spirituale del Paese e “affievolisce le potenzialità della Chiesa ortodossa in Ucraina”. Per questo è auspicabile che venga assecondato “il grande desiderio del popolo ucraino di vivere in una singola Chiesa apostolica nazionale”. Kirill ha subito replicato alle dichiarazioni di Yuscenko sulla necessità di una singola Chiesa nazionale indipendente da Mosca. Riferendosi alla Chiesa Ucraina riconosciuta ed in comunione con Patriarcato di Mosca, Kirill ha affermato che “questa Chiesa esiste già, signor presidente. È una Chiesa indipendente in Ucraina e se essa non esistesse più nemmeno l’Ucraina esisterebbe più”.
Sulla filigrana del conflitto religioso vi è anche un particolare politico: lo stesso Yuscenko attua da tempo una politica di indipendenza da Mosca, malvista e ostacolata dal premier Putin.
(http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=it&art=15904&size=A) |
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Enviado - 30 julio 2009 : 21:06:50 |
Averting a Post-Orange Disaster: Constitutional Reforms and Political Stability in Ukraine
Dr. Andreas Umland GLOBAL POLITICIAN, Brooklyn, NY 27.07.2009
After several years of impressive economic growth and encouraging political change, Ukraine has recently entered troubled waters. The democracies west of Ukraine are institutionally consolidated and internationally embedded enough to circumscribe the political repercussions of their so far relatively mild economic contractions. While being hit almost as hard as Ukraine by the world financial crisis, Russia has managed to build considerable financial reserves thanks to the enormous cash inflow into her state budget during the years of rocketing energy prices, allowing her to soften the social repercussions of the economic downturn.
Ukraine, in contrast, has neither a consolidated political system nor significant financial reserves. During the first quarter of 2009, the Ukrainian economy seems to have contracted between 20-23 percent, and its industrial production might have fallen as much as 30 percent. Given the limited capacities of the Ukrainian government to deal with the social aftermath of these developments, the effects of the crisis on Ukrainian domestic politics and foreign relations are unpredictable. To be sure, Ukrainians have shown considerable maturity in earlier periods of political crisis, such as during the country's last contested presidential elections. It is often ignored, however, that 2004 was not only the moment of the Orange Revolution, but also a year of steep economic growth of almost 10 percent. In contrast, Ukraine's economy today is experiencing a depression that rivals the 1992-1994 plunge in industrial production.
As if this were not challenging enough, Ukraine is facing an increasingly assertive Russia on which it is economically dependent. Until recently, Ukraine's energy reliance on its Eastern neighbour was partly neutralized by Russia's heavy dependence on the Ukrainian gas pipeline system which delivers Russian gas to the European Union (EU) and on the Kremlin's stated interest in preserving the Sevastopol naval base for Russia's Black Sea fleet. Neither of these two balancing mechanisms is fully functional today. Out of parochial interests, the EU has been pressuring Ukraine to "internationalize" energy transportation. While understandable from a Central and West European view, “internationalization” is weakening Ukrainian control of perhaps the most important instrument of securing Ukrainian independence from Russia. Out of his familiar political myopia, President Viktor Yushchenko has prematurely declared that Ukraine, in any case, intends to close Sevastopol for the Russian fleet when the current contract for the lease of the Crimean port expires in 2017. Whereas earlier, the Russian and Ukrainian governments had something to negotiate about, Kiev’s diplomatic leverage has diminished today. The Kremlin, aware of Ukraine's new weakness, on a daily basis, threatens via mass media to cut gas deliveries if Ukraine does not pay in time for them.
Moreover, in 2008, the Moscow leadership demonstrated in Georgia – not the least to Kiev - that it is prepared to use military force to defend vital interests in Russia's "near abroad." Many Russian politicians have let it be known, in public, that the Crimea’s majority Russian ethnic makeup places the peninsula within Moscow's natural sphere of influence. Some even see Crimea as a part of Russia's historic territory.
Worse, Ukraine's political system prescribes new presidential elections in January 2010, when a new standoff between Ukraine and Russia concerning gas deliveries and payments is likely to occur. In fact, given the Ukrainian state's current financial difficulties, Russia may regard it politically opportune as well as domestically and internationally justifiable to cut gas deliveries to Ukraine already before January 2010. Polling data shows that anti-Ukrainian sentiment is growing in Russia’s population as a result of the daily xenophobic brainwashing by the Kremlin-directed propaganda machine. As a hard line against Kiev becomes increasingly popular among ordinary Russians, the Moscow leadership may conclude that cutting gas deliveries to Ukraine would kill two birds with one stone: it would divert attention from its own omissions in reforming Russia's post-Soviet state and economy, and it would cause serious trouble for Kiev's Orange government, in domestic affairs and/or foreign relations.
In the case of new gas delivery cuts, the government of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will face an awkward choice. If it chooses to stomach the cuts, it will alienate the Ukrainian population when further industrial plants come to a standstill and Ukrainians’ flats become cold. If it chooses to siphon gas from the Ukrainian pipelines that deliver gas from Russia to the European Union, Ukraine's Orange cabinet will alienate its EU partners and violate international law.
As Ukraine's economic, social and political crisis sharpens, more and more Ukrainians may question the wisdom of conducting a costly presidential election when the Ukrainian state is almost bankrupt – if not on the brink of collapse. After all, Ukraine does have a legitimate legislature as well as a more or less operational government. In the increasingly difficult situation that Ukraine awaits during the coming months, the election of a second ruler appears as luxury. Moreover, by participation in these elections, Ukrainians would legitimize the semi-presidential system that is obviously unsuitable for Ukraine – as has been manifestly demonstrated by the agonizing intra-executive conflicts, during the last years.
Not only is the current Ukrainian dual power system deficient, but semi-presidential systems, at least in transition countries, are generally a bad choice, if one believes the results of comparative research into this political system. For instance, in 2008, the Irish government professor Robert Elgie and American political researcher Sophia Moestrup published the collected volume Semi-Presidentialism in Central and Eastern Europe. This book contains research papers by leading specialists on post-Soviet institutional design and performance in Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. The study confirms previous scholarly work that has indicated concerns about the political system that Ukraine inherited when it acquired independence in 1991. Elgie’s and Moestrup’s paper collection shows once more that the impact of semi-presidentialism on the transition to, and consolidation of, democracy is negative or at least unhelpful. In the case of Central and Eastern Europe, this concerns both highly presidentialized semi-presidentialism, like Ukraine had until 2005, and balanced presidential-prime ministerial semi-presidentialism, like Ukraine has had since 2006. The scholars conclude that, "if democracy is fragile, then semi-presidentialism of any form is probably best avoided."
With presidential elections scheduled for January 17, 2010, Ukraine is about to reproduce a political system that will be detrimental to its interests, especially considering the possibly grave domestic repercussions of the world financial crisis and Moscow's continuously growing imperial appetite. In the unlikely best-case scenario that the latter issues do not become salient, Ukraine will still be losing if it decides to go ahead with the 2010 presidential elections.
Recent rumours in Kiev are indicating that at least a part of the Ukrainian political elite seems to be interested in serious institutional reform. From late May to early June 2009, secret negotiations were conducted between Tymoshenko's Bloc and Viktor Yanukovych's opposition Party of Regions about the formation of a coalition to change the constitution, create a parliamentary republic, and cancel next year's presidential elections. The idea was to have Ukraine’s parliament, instead of the people, elect the President. This would preserve the current dual executive and power-sharing arrangement while depriving the President of a direct popular mandate. Although Ukraine would still be ruled by both a President and Prime-Minister, the two leaders would be dependent on parliament and on each other; they would be less inclined to enter into the agonizing conflicts prevalent throughout the last few years. While these changes would not have solved Ukraine's two major headaches – payment for gas deliveries and Kremlin hostility – they would have calmed down political bickering in Kiev and stabilized the Ukrainian government. The modification was obviously designed to provide Yanukovich with an important office in the executive. It would also have avoided the dirty electoral campaigning that has already started and the costly two-round voting process scheduled for early 2010. However, Yanukovich decided to leave the negotiation table. As of today, the presidential elections will thus continue as prescribed under the current Constitution.
Hard times are awaiting Europe's youngest and largest democracy, and one can only hope that the encouraging sanity and moderation that Kiev's elites have shown before will also prevail in the current situation. Ideally, Yanukovich and Tymoshenko will return to the negotiation table and reconsider the issue of the upcoming elections. Preserving the current semi-presidential system serves neither the short-term nor the long-term interests of Ukraine. Switching to a parliamentary republic would free Kiev’s political elite to focus its attention on numerous other pressing problems. In the coming months, Kiev’s political elite will need to concentrate on far more important issues than electoral campaigning.
Dr. Andreas Umlanda is a former fellow at Stanford, Harvard and Oxford who has been published in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Jerusalem Post, Moscow Times, Kyiv Post and many other periodicals and scholarly journals.
(Source: "Harvard International Review," 29 June 2009, http://www.hir.harvard.edu/index.php?page=article&id=1862 )
(http://globalpolitician.com/25747-ukraine) |
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Enviado - 29 julio 2009 : 14:16:34 |
Ukraine assembly ammends banking law, pleases IMF
By Sabina Zawadzki Additional reporting by Emily Kaiser in Washington Editing by Ron Askew REUTERS JulY 24, 2009
KIEV, July 24 (Reuters) - Ukraine raised its chances on Friday of receiving a $3.3 billion tranche from the International Monetary Fund soon after parliament passed a number of amendments to a banking law.
The IMF said the changes, aimed at making the management of ailing banks more efficient and effective, would go a long way towards stabilising Ukraine's financial sector, hit by a fragile currency and the country's descent into economic recession.
The changes, which include empowering temporary administrators of troubled banks and clarifying the procedure for recapitalisation, were passed by 322 of 450 deputies in the assembly, which sat in an extraordinary session.
"The reforms represent significant progress towards restoring financial stability because they provide a robust framework for resolving problem banks consistent with international good practices," the IMF said in a statement.
"The adoption of the reforms will help enhance confidence and promote the sustainable development of the banking sector, both of which are key in returning the Ukraine to a path of growth and prosperity."
Ukraine and the IMF agreed on a $16.4 billion standby programme last November and Kiev has already received over $7 billion, though lengthy talks over some IMF conditions have delayed the disbursement of some of the funds.
The IMF is due to decide on the third tranche in the coming weeks after a visiting mission earlier this month assessed Ukraine's progress and imposed conditions including changes to the banking law. [ID:nLA637721]
CHANGES
One of the main changes, according to the text of the bill, strengthens the powers of the temporary administrator placed in ailing banks, who can now make decisions to reorganise the bank together with the central bank and shareholders.
The central bank now has to announce immediately that it has taken a bank into temporary administration and can extend a six-month freeze on deposit withdrawals.
Another amendment makes the procedure for recapitalisation of banks more precise, listing a string of documents and studies that the central bank has to complete and submit to the government if it recommends a capital injection.
The IMF earlier this month did not say exactly what changes it required to the banking law, only that amendments should "give the necessary instruments and tools for effective programmes to strengthen the banking system".
Its statement on Friday did not say if Ukraine has now fulfilled all the conditions for the next tranche or when the IMF's board would decide whether to disburse it.
So far, 17 banks of over 180 have been placed in temporary administration, the largest of which is the country's 10th, Nadra Bank, and the rest relatively small. The government has decided to inject $1.26 billion into the capital of three banks.
(http://www.reuters.com/article/usDollarRpt/idUSLO11247220090724) |
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Enviado - 26 julio 2009 : 12:11:37 |
"Firme apoyo" de EEUU a integración de Ucrania a la OTAN (Biden)
UNIVISION.com 21 de Julio de 2009
KIEV, 21 Jul 2009 (AFP) - El vicepresidente estadounidense, Joe Biden, expresó el martes en Kiev el "firme apoyo" de Estados Unidos a la integración de Ucrania en la Organización del Tratado del Atlántico Norte (OTAN), a pesar de la oposición de Rusia a esa iniciativa.
Biden aseguró que el restablecimiento de las relaciones entre Estados Unidos y Rusia no se hará "a expensas de Ucrania", al hablar ante la prensa en compañía del presidente ucraniano, Viktor Yushenko.
(Desde Moscú, el portavoz del ministerio ruso de Relaciones Exteriores, Andrei Nesterenko, afirmó que Rusia no quiere "monopolizar" los contactos con los países de la ex URSS, pero seguirá "con atención" la visita de Biden a Ucrania y a Georgia.
"Seguiremos con atención lo que ocurra, tanto más cuanto se trata de Estados fronterizos", sostuvo el vocero ruso.
El miércoles, Biden viajará a Georgia, otra ex república soviética, que en el verano boreal de 2008 sostuvo una breve guerra con Moscú por el control de la región separatista georgiana prorrusa de Osetia del Sur).
(http://www.univision.com/contentroot/wirefeeds/noticias/8000419.html) |
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Enviado - 20 julio 2009 : 00:16:42 |
Ukrainian religious leaders meet premier
JTA July 14, 2009
KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) - Ukrainian Jewish leaders and representatives of other religious organizations praised progress in the state's communication with them.
The remarks came at a meeting Monday with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in Kiev, during which the leaders asked the government to resolve a number of their problems.
“This is the first time that we actually see the results of our meetings with a prime minister of Ukraine and actually have gotten results from a meeting," said Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, chief rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine and the chairman of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, who headed the meeting with Tymoshenko. "For example, we praise the Ukrainian government for signing into law a measure providing permanent land use for religious organizations.”
The council proposed that religious organizations be given the right to lease land without holding auctions and that the government open a visa-free regime for 180 days for religious leaders from other countries.
Religious leaders also asked the government to grant their organizations the right to establish educational institutions that could issue state diplomas. The council also called for the adoption of a law banning the privatization, sale and ownership transfer of religious buildings and their complexes that are now owned by the state.
Dr. Yuriy Reshetnikov, chairman of the State Committee of Ukraine for Nationalities and Religions, told JTA that the Ukrainian government will work to resolve the issues and support religious organizations’ activities in Ukraine.
“The process of the restitution of religious property is in progress,” Reshetnikov said.
(http://jta.org/news/article/2009/07/14/1006530/ukrainian-religious-leaders-meet-premier) |
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Enviado - 07 julio 2009 : 16:06:27 |
Ukraine hospitals survive on charity
Gabriel Gatehouse BBC NEWS Friday, 3 July 2009
One of the countries worst hit by the financial crisis is Ukraine, with its economy shrinking 21% in the first quarter of 2009. At the same time, the government has come to a virtual standstill, as politicians fight among themselves ahead of a presidential election. Amid all the turmoil, the country's healthcare system is suffering, says the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Kiev.
It is a sunny Saturday morning, and a group of volunteers, most of them foreigners living and working in Kiev, have given up their weekend to renovate a hospital ward.
They are washing the walls, painting them, putting in new floors and bathrooms.
After that, they plan to get to work on the operating theatre.
"We're doing a complete refurb on theatre one," says Dave Young, one of the volunteers.
"New flooring, new electrics, and new doors to make it sanitary and to make sure they can carry on giving decent levels of service."
Mr Young runs a construction company in Ukraine. But, thanks to the economic crisis, there is not much work.
"Construction is near enough extinct in Ukraine at the moment," he says cheerfully. "It's heavily hibernating."
But instead of laying off his workforce, he has decided to put them - and himself - to good use.
"We have crews who are keen to keep working, so we thought: 'Why not get some good out of them and get something worthwhile completed?'"
The volunteers are paying for everything, including materials and labour. It is a good news story. Until you hear the bad news.
'Condemned to death'
Professor Yuri Orlov, the doctor in charge of this children's ward and Ukraine's most senior paediatric neurosurgeon, said his budget for medicines this year is one quarter of what it was last year. And there is worse.
"We've got nothing, not a kopek, not a dollar, not a pfennig - nothing for new equipment, for upkeep, or for buying the most elementary necessities," he said.
And it certainly shows. The main bathroom on the ward is absolutely filthy.
The walls are filthy, the toilet has an open cistern covered in mould, and by the door, there is a cardboard box lying on the floor for rubbish - an open dustbin with discarded rubber gloves, used syringes, dirty tissues and other bits of medical equipment.
Marco Zecchinato, who deals with young cancer patients for an Italian medical charity, Soleterre, took a break from scrubbing one of the walls to give me the wider picture.
"In paediatric oncology, we have a rate of mortality that is double what it is in Europe or the US," he said.
"These children, just because they were born on the wrong side of Europe, 40% are surviving, 60% are condemned to death."
He confirmed Professor Orlov's picture of an already underfunded healthcare system, squeezed further by Ukraine's economic woes.
Expensive medicines
Since summer 2008, demand for Ukraine's main export, steel, has dropped dramatically.
The national currency, the hryvnia, has lost more than a third of its value against the dollar.
This is causing problems not only for the government, which is not getting the revenues it expected.
It also directly affects individual patients.
Because while, on paper, Ukraine has a system of universal free healthcare, in practice, you have to pay for almost every aspect of medical treatment, including supplying your own bandages, syringes and other medication.
And imported medicines have effectively doubled in price - not because the pharmaceutical companies have put their prices up, but because people's salaries are worth half what they used to be in foreign currency terms.
Defenders of the government point out that the situation in Ukraine is not unique.
"Health services across the world are to some extent underfunded," says Andrei Musienko, a former deputy health minister, now the director of one of Kiev's main hospitals.
"In our country the situation is the same. And of course at a time of economic crisis, medicine suffers along with all other social services."
'Trying to survive'
Back on the children's ward, nine-month-old Nastya is waiting for her operation.
Her mother, Tanya, had to borrow money travel to the capital from their village in central Ukraine. Now she has nothing left to pay for things like blood transfusions or extra medicines.
If there are complications, she says, she does not know what she is going to do.
Professor Orlov says that the hospital does everything it can to help people like Tanya - that somehow they will get by.
But he believes that for the government, healthcare simply is not a priority.
"The ministry of health is aware of the situation. But they are tied to the budget. And the health service in this country is financed according to the following principle - whatever's left over goes on health care."
"There are many factors at play here - political instability, massive economic problems. I get the impression that [the government is] just trying to survive, rather than thinking about the future."
In the meantime, people like Tanya and Nastya will have to survive only thanks to the charity of others.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8126683.stm) |
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Enviado - 03 julio 2009 : 22:01:13 |
Ukraine wary of KGB terror files
BBC NEWS Monday, 29 June 2009
Ukraine is opening up part of its old KGB archive, declassifying hundreds of thousands of documents spanning the entire Soviet period.
But the move to expose Soviet-era abuses is dividing Ukrainians, the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse reports from Kiev.
Deep in the bowels of Ukraine's former KGB headquarters there is a deathly silence. Thousands of boxes, piled floor to ceiling, line the walls. Each box is carefully numbered and each one contains hundreds of documents: case notes on enemies of the former Soviet state.
Behind each number, there is a story of personal tragedy.
Volodymyr Viatrovych, the chief archivist, pulled out a brown cardboard folder stuffed full of documents: case number 4076. At the centre of the case is a letter, dated 1940 and addressed to "Comrade Stalin, the Kremlin, Moscow".
"Dear Iosif Vissarionovich," the letter starts. Nikolai Reva wanted Stalin to know the facts about the great famine of 1932-33, when millions died as a result of the Soviet policy of forced collectivisation.
Like many at the time, Mr Reva believed that Stalin was being kept in the dark, and that if only he knew what was happening, he would surely put a stop to it.
But his letter landed him in the Gulag. He was eventually rehabilitated - 25 years later.
Many met a harsher fate.
Leafing through one of many macabre photo albums, Mr Viatrovych pointed to a picture of Ivan Severin, shot in the head by the Soviet security services. Under the picture, in very neat handwriting, is written: "Liquidated, 3 April 1947".
Criminal prosecution
Mr Viatrovych and his team are helping people to find out what happened to relatives and loved ones, often decades after they disappeared.
But the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), now in charge of the files, is declassifying them selectively.
They are concentrating on older cases, like that of the "liquidated" Mr Severin, who was part of a guerrilla campaign against Soviet rule in western Ukraine after World War II.
The authorities are preparing to mount a criminal prosecution in relation to the famine, or Holodomor, as it is known in Ukraine, though it is doubtful whether there is anyone still alive to stand in the dock.
But SBU head Valentyn Nalyvaichenko hopes this is just the beginning.
"As soon as Russia starts to open and uncover its archives, there will be more and more truth about the real history," he said. At the moment, he added, Russia is not being especially co-operative.
But there is another obstacle to complete disclosure, and that is the Ukrainian Security Service itself. They are the ones deciding which files to declassify.
I put it to Mr Nalyvaichenko that the SBU is, after all, a successor to the KGB. He came out on the defensive.
"First and most important for me - we are not a successor to the KGB. That's according to the law," he said.
Could he state categorically that no-one working for the SBU today had formerly worked for the KGB?
He could not, admitting that 20% of his employees were former KGB officers. Some analysts in Ukraine believe that is a conservative figure.
It seems unlikely that SBU officers who worked for the Soviet KGB in the 1970s and 80s will be enthusiastic about declassifying documents that could incriminate them. Even if, as Mr Nalyvaichenko pointed out, the SBU is trying to recruit younger staff.
'Not worth it'
But not all young Ukrainians have an exclusively negative view of their 20th-Century history.
In Kiev, there is a vast monument to the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany: a sprawling bronze relief of soldiers bearing guns and bayonets.
"We love our history," said Svitlana, a young schoolteacher from the southern city of Odessa, on an outing with her class.
She was not keen for the children in her charge to be forced to examine the darker chapters of Soviet history.
"The past is the past," she said. "The history of the famine, the killings, all the things Stalin did. I don't think we should bring them up. There's enough violence today as it is. If we start blaming each other… It's just not worth it."
'Witch hunt'
The idea of airing the past as part of a healing process, and excluding members of the former regime from positions of authority - a process known as "lustration" - is being actively promoted by some in the Ukrainian administration.
But it is highly controversial. Dmytro Tabachnyk, a historian and opposition lawmaker, thinks the notion is absurd.
"It's a witch hunt," he said. "To start a process of lustration after 18 years of independence would lead society to the brink of civil war."
In a forest just outside Kiev, the tree trunks are tied with thousands of white scarves.
The scarves are embroidered in the traditional Ukrainian way, with red-and-black geometric patterns, and each one symbolically represents a life lost to Soviet oppression.
Under Stalin, the Soviet secret police would bury executed political prisoners at Bykivnia. No-one knows exactly how many bodies lie buried in this wood, but some estimates put the figure at more than 200,000.
But, says Nico Lange, the German director of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Kiev, Ukrainians must stop blaming the Russians for their past, and start looking inward.
"Ukrainians have a tendency to perceive themselves as only victims of those historical processes," he says.
"But coming to terms with the past really starts when you start uncovering also your own involvement: the oppressions by your own state, the offenders who are from your own people. If you do this work, this very painful work, the truth will finally set you free. And you will not invite new dictators to oppress you again."
The Germans have experience of confronting their own past, both following World War II, and after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
But it will take a lot of united political will for such a process to get under way in Ukraine.
And it may be that, for the moment, there are still too many people alive and in positions of power, who were involved with the Soviet regime in one way or another.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8119320.stm) |
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Enviado - 29 junio 2009 : 15:52:15 |
Quand les citoyens d’Ukraine tiennent assemblée
Annie Daubenton ALTERNATIVES INTERNATIONALES Dimanche, 7-06.2009
Avec un réseau de plusieurs centaines d’associations, la société civile reste plus que jamais mobilisée pour faire face aux déconvenues de la période «post-orange». Depuis trois ans, une «Assemblée» tente de coordonner ses actions. La dernière réunion annuelle s’est tenue au centre de Kiev au printemps dernier.
Il y a l’Ukraine côté pile et côté face. De chaque côté de la médaille, un couple a des difficultés d’entente particulièrement aigues: l’Etat, les gouvernants, et la société. Une sorte de divorce permanent. Leurs liens étaient fort distendus, puis sont devenus conflictuels à partir des années 2000, jusqu’à se «réconcilier» lors d’une courte période que l’on peut qualifier de révolution, étourderie ou subterfuge, selon la vision que l’on peut avoir des événements avec un peu de recul.
Mais s’il est un des côtés qui continue sa marche avec entêtement, c’est la société; la soumission à la fatalité ne fait pas partie des termes dominants de son répertoire. Par marche, il ne faut pas entendre bruyantes manifestations, slogans, sit-in et autres happenings semblant relever dorénavant d’un autre temps: interdits durant la période soviétique, ils se sont avérés inopérants pendant la période dite «orange». Il fallait donc réorienter l’action pour tenter de servir de pare-feu aux dérives des hauts-responsables de l’Etat, toutes tendances confondues : ils se sont succédés, hissés, à la tête du pouvoir durant les dernières années, finissant de montrer à la société l’impasse que pouvait constituer une démocratie qui se passerait du contrôle de ses citoyens et de véritables contre-pouvoirs.
Organisée à partir de 2007, «l’Assemblée des citoyens d’Ukraine» (1) a dû régulièrement réorienter ses objectifs face au délitement institutionnel: il fallait d’abord faire face à la bataille entre les principaux responsables de l’Etat, issus de la mouvance pro-Kremlin ou des élites orange, tentant de mettre la main sur l’appareil constitutionnel pour s’emparer du pouvoir; puis vint la crise économique qui ressemblait presque à une bourrasque par rapport à la crise de gouvernance qui mettait en péril l’indépendance financière de l’Etat et donc, à terme, sa souveraineté.
Rien d’étonnant donc que l’Assemblée ait commencé sur un mode «soft», visant à réaffirmer l’importance du réseau associatif et à lui offrir une plate-forme de dialogue interrégionale, puis à se concentrer sur les différentes variantes constitutionnelles en débat et finalement à définir les tâches de la société face à la crise de l’Etat. Tables rondes, débats, dialogues interrégionaux et une conférence annuelle sont quelques unes des formes qui rythment ses activités.
(1) Assemblée citoyenne d’Ukraine (Gromadianska Asambleia Oukraïny) http://gau.org.ua/ , printemps 2009. [2] Il s’agit d’Oleksij Honcharov http://maidan.org.ua/static/mai/1243589115.html
Lisez l'article complet à http://alternatives-economiques.fr/blogs/daubenton/2009/06/07/quand-les-citoyens-dukraine-tiennent-assemblee/#more-73 |
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Enviado - 22 junio 2009 : 23:31:51 |
Ucraina: un passo verso l’Europa?
di Anatolij Orel LIMES. Rivista italiana di geopolitica, Roma 19/06/2009
Il paese dell'ex unione sovietica cerca una svolta in politica estera. Con le elezioni politiche dietro l'angolo, si riallacciano i rapporti (economici e politici) con la Russia e cambiano le priorità strategiche; ora la Nato non sembra più così appetibile.
L’odierna situazione dell’Ucraina fa pensare a un mosaico complesso: è nota l'innegabile frenata da record dei ritmi di sviluppo economico del paese, nonché l’ininterrotta lotta per il potere tra politici e partiti, anch’essa innegabile. Ma questa non è tutta la verità.
Vanno registrati anche degli aspetti positivi: la società ucraina oggi dice addio alle ultime illusioni create dalla rivoluzione arancione del 2004; la popolarità del presidente si aggira intorno al 3%, con un evidente effetto salutare per l’intera società. Gli occhi degli ucraini si sono ormai aperti e ciò non può non avere un influsso positivo sullo sviluppo del paese.
Quale sarebbe questo influsso? Innanzi tutto, in Ucraina si è ormai definitivamente superata quella divisione artificiale prodottasi nel 2004 tra un “Ovest” e un “Est” immaginari e sono tramontati cliché artificiosi come quelli dei “riformatori arancioni” e della “quinta colonna filorussa”, che in realtà stavano a indicare cose irreali, inventate dalle menti dei politologi.
In secondo luogo, il superamento della divisione sociale del 2004 sta poco a poco ponendo le premesse pragmatiche per un riavvicinamento tra loro dei partiti politici nazionali nella comune lotta alla crisi in nome dello sviluppo del paese.
In terzo luogo, si stanno verificando importanti cambiamenti anche nel campo della politica estera, forse ancora impercettibili all’osservatore straniero. Il principale di essi è da identificarsi nella piena e sonora sconfitta subita dalla politica tesa all’immissione a qualunque costo dell’Ucraina nella Nato. Un corso, questo, determinato dall’erronea ideologia della contrapposizione con la Russia invece che dagli interessi nazionali. Che una politica del genere sia stata sconfitta è un bene non solo per l’Ucraina ma anche, senza esagerazioni, per l’Europa intera.
L’adesione accelerata alla Nato è stata tentata malgrado il volere stesso della popolazione: negli ultimi quattro anni, infatti, il numero dei fautori della Nato non ha superato nel paese il 15-20%; malgrado le serissime critiche espresse dall’Europa e - non ultima - dalla Roma ufficiale; malgrado le profonde divergenze esistenti tra le varie opinioni dei partiti politici ucraini al riguardo.
Leggete l'articolo completo (5 pagine) a http://temi.repubblica.it/limes/ucraina-un-passo-verso-l-europa/4962?h=0 |
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Enviado - 19 junio 2009 : 21:49:04 |
Vinsky resigns as Transport Minister of Ukraine
UNIAN, Kyev 17.06.2009
Yosyp Vinsky, Transport and Communications Minister of Ukraine, claims that he has resigned due to serious disagreements with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the ministry`s press service reported on Wednesday.
"In line with Article 18 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Cabinet of Ministers”, I have submitted my statement of resignation as the Transport and Communication Minister of Ukraine”, Vinsky’s statement reads. “My statement was stipulated by serious disagreements with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko over political, staff, and economic issues, as well as the ethics of relations between members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine," Vinsky said.
According to him, “The Prime Minister has been blocking reforms that are extremely important for the branch, as well as the allocation of funds required to build infrastructure facilities linked to Ukraine’s hosting the Euro 2012 Football Championship”.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko said on ICTV television channel on June 15 that she did not rule out bringing a case against Vinsky for his attempts to misuse 15 million hryvnias, belonging to Ukrposhta state-owned mailing enterprise, for publishing posters for electoral campaign of the Minister, who would run for the presidency.
Vinsky, in turn, refuted reports of his plans to run for the presidency.
(http://www.unian.net/eng/news/news-321443.html) |
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Enviado - 18 junio 2009 : 12:57:23 |
Ukraine Mine Accident Death Toll Rises To 11
NASDAQ, New York 12.06.2009
DONETSK (AFP) - At least 11 miners were killed and two were still missing after a coal mine accident earlier this week in eastern Ukraine, authorities said Friday after the discovery of two more bodies.
One body was found Thursday and one Friday, Marina Nikitina, a spokeswoman for the State Committee on Workers' Safety, which is overseeing rescue efforts, said, adding that searches were continuing.
She quoted Coal Industry Minister Viktor Poltavets as saying rescuers hadn't given up hope of finding someone still alive.
The accident happened Monday at the Skochinsky mine, located in the eastern city of Donetsk, in what officials described as a discharge of methane gas 1,300 meters underground.
Some miners were asphyxiated, while others died when shafts collapsed in the latest in a deadly series of tragedies to strike the Ukrainian coal mining industry.
Ukraine's coal mines are considered among the most dangerous in the world. Many of them are poorly financed and use outdated Soviet-era equipment.
The state-run Skochinsky mine is considered one of the most hazardous work environments in Ukraine due to the high levels of methane in the shafts, which stretch underground for several hundred kilometers.
The mine opened in 1975 and employs between 3,000 and 4,000 people. In the mine's worst accident, 63 miners died and 51 were injured after a gas leak in April 2004.
In November 2007, a gas explosion at the Zasiadko mine killed 101 miners in the worst ever accident of its kind in the former Soviet republic.
(http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200906121222dowjonesdjonline000699&title=ukraine-mine-accident-death-toll-rises-to-11) |
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Enviado - 17 junio 2009 : 22:20:06 |
Un nuovo catechismo per la Chiesa greco-cattolica ucraina
ZENIT, Roma 11/06/2009
KÖNIGSTEIN, giovedì, 11 giugno 2009 (ZENIT.org).- Il primo catechismo mondiale per la Chiesa greco-cattolica ucraina mira a trasformare la catechesi attraverso il rito.
Dopo sei anni di preparazione, lo storico libro è quasi finito, e verrà pubblicato nel 2010.
Suor Luiza Ciupa, il cui lavoro all'Istituto Catechetico di Lviv, nell'Ucraina occidentale, è stato fondamentale per la ripresa della Chiesa dopo 70 anni di comunismo ateo, ha confessato all'associazione caritativa cattolica Aiuto alla Chiesa che Soffre (ACS) che il catechismo vuole essere uno strumento per i greco-cattolici ucraini di tutto il mondo.
“Sarà il libro della nostra fede per la nostra Chiesa”; “verrà tradotto in almeno sei lingue”, ha affermato. Oltre all'ucraino, saranno infatti pubblicate traduzioni in inglese, spagnolo, portoghese, russo e polacco, e sono possibili altre versioni linguistiche.
L'ufficio britannico di ACS ha fornito fondi per 18.000 euro per coprire i costi.
“E' un progetto costoso”, ha ammesso suor Ciupa, “ma è anche molto importante per la Chiesa”.
Sottolineando il suo significato per una Chiesa alla quale non è stato permesso di impartire la catechesi durante il regime comunista, la religiosa ha osservato che il catechismo “è importante perché porta la gente ai sacramenti e nella vita della Chiesa”.
“Penso che ogni volta che ci apriamo all'approfondimento della nostra fede, della nostra tradizione, della nostra appartenenza alla nostra Chiesa particolare, riusciamo a vivere la nostra fede più profondamente e a esprimerla in modo più adeguato – e ciò ci aiuta in qualche modo a conoscere meglio chi siamo”.
Il testo completo verrà presentato al Sinodo dei Vescovi a novembre per l'approvazione finale.
Suor Ciupa è stata coinvolta nel progetto, che ha usufruito di contributi di esperti come teologi, catechisti, liturgisti ed esperti biblici, sotto la guida del Vescovo Peter Stasiuk di Melbourne (Australia).
Visto che molti greco-cattolici ucraini vivono all'estero, per la religiosa il catechismo sarà importante per unire la gente nella sua fede.
“Aiuterà altri a scoprire la bellezza della nostra tradizione e del nostro rito”, ha detto ad ACS. “L'anima ucraina troverà se stessa dovunque vivano [i fedeli]”.
Per promuovere il catechismo nella vita della Chiesa è prevista una serie di conferenze, laboratori e incontri con sacerdoti. Il tutto fa parte di un'iniziativa decennale dei Vescovi ucraini.
ACS ha aiutato numerosi progetti catechetici in Ucraina, tra cui la stampa di 70.000 Bibbie e la costruzione di chiese.
(http://www.zenit.org/article-18579?l=italian) |
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Enviado - 14 junio 2009 : 18:02:54 |
Ucrania ha pagado a Rusia toda su deuda por el gas recibido en mayo
EcoDiario, Madrid 8/06/2009
El gigante gasífero ruso Gazprom ha confirmado este lunes que Ucrania pagó la totalidad del gas ruso que recibió en mayo, tras las advertencias acerca de una nueva crisis sobre este asunto entre Rusia y Ucrania si Kiev no saldaba su deuda.
"Sí, lo hemos recibido", ha indicado un portavoz de Gazprom, Serguei Kupriyanov. Interrogado sobre el monto recibido, el portavoz se limitó a responder: "Hemos recibido lo necesario".
El viernes, la estatal ucraniana de gas, Naftogas, indicó que por el gas ruso recibido en mayo debía a Gasprom 647 millones de dólares y que había enviado el pago en su totalidad.
(http://ecodiario.eleconomista.es/internacional/noticias/1311873/06/09/Ucrania-ha-pagado-a-Rusia-toda-su-deuda-por-el-gas-recibido-en-mayo-.html) |
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Enviado - 13 junio 2009 : 22:11:44 |
Ukraine PM to stand for president Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko has announced that she will stand in presidential elections in 2010
BBC NEWS Sunday, 7 June 2009
In a statement broadcast live on national TV, Ms Tymoshenko said she would win, adding that the government would be "strong and not venal".
The prime minister was one of the leaders of the 2004 Orange Revolution, but her alliance with current President Viktor Yushchenko has become a rivalry.
Scandals have left Ukraine without foreign, defence and finance ministers.
Defence Minister Yuri Yekhanurov, seen as an ally of Mr Yushchenko, was sacked by MPs on Friday in a motion put forward by Ms Tymoshenko's allies.
Mr Yushchenko has been critical of plans by Ms Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych in order to amend the constitution to abolish direct presidential elections.
The president has already said he will stand again in the January elections.
Correspondents say his rivalry with Ms Tymoshenko has paralysed the workings of government.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8088258.stm) |
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Enviado - 12 junio 2009 : 23:09:43 |
Ukrainian Intelligence Promotes Lustration in Ukraine
Taras Kuzio Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 6, Issue: 108 June 5, 2009
On May 11 in an interview with Gazeta Wyborcza the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) chief Valentyn Nalyvaychenko, outlined how previously secret documents from 1917-1991 were being released that will reveal details about the "crimes of communism." Nalyvaychenko described the opening of formerly secret documents and plans to proceed with prosecutions as "the launch of a Ukrainian version of lustration." The documents reveal Soviet crimes against Ukrainians fighting for independence from 1917-1920, the 1933 artificial famine and the nationalist partisan struggle from 1942 to the early 1950's. Nalyvaychenko also revealed that the secret documents exposed crimes committed against other nationals, including Poles living in Ukraine. These began in 1937-38 and those whom the NKVD did not then murder were later murdered in the Kharkiv prisons (and Katyn forest) in 1940.
The director of the SBU's archives Volodymyr Vyatovych revealed that the SBU had already compiled 136 names of individuals involved in committing crimes against humanity during the famine. These included NKVD officers, senior members of the communist party and those who had signed documents. The manner in which the crimes were organized was the basis for the allegation that the famine was a pre-planned "genocide" against Ukraine (Ukrayinska Pravda, May 28).
Russia has counter-attacked the claims of "genocide" by using the argument that the famine was felt throughout the USSR and was an outcome of collectivization and severe weather. This view has long been prevalent within left-wing and pro-Soviet political and academic circles in the West. Nalyvaychenko replied to these Russian counter-claims by asserting that they had not studied the formerly secret documents made publicly available by the SBU. The SBU had requested its Russian counterparts to open secret Russian documents on Soviet repression, but this had been rebutted.
"At first the Tsulag was established in Ukraine and then later the Gulag that we all know about," Nalyvaychenko said. The Tsulag was established in 1919 in Ukraine and included 18 locations. On May 21, the official Day of Memory of Victims of Political Repressions, Yushchenko attended a commemoration at one the most infamous of these in the Bykivnia forest outside Kyiv. The area was established as a State Historical and Memorial Preserve by a resolution adopted by the 2001 Yushchenko government. The SBU had identified 14,000 names of the estimated 100,000 victims buried in Bykivnia.
Nalyvaychenko described how repressive Soviet agencies surrounded Ukrainian oblasts to prevent food entering them. These same units were also stationed on the Crimean border with Ukraine (then within the Russian SFSR). Nalyvychenko's assurances that the SBU's work on Soviet crimes was not directed against Russia will fall on deaf ears in Moscow, especially following President Dmitry Medvedev's establishment of a special commission to "counteract attempts to falsify history." Nalyvaychenko revealed that a 226-page collection of materials showed how in addition to the deaths caused by the famine many others were shot, and these included "Russians, Germans, Jews and Ukrainians" (www.radiosvoboda.org, May 28). The SBU has also investigated the 1944 deportation of 300,000 Crimean Tatars and criminal cases against the Tatar nationalist Milly Firqa organization in the 1920's (Channel 5, May 18).
The SBU chief believed that it would only require a short period of time to collect eye-witness accounts and launch criminal proceedings. These would investigate the repeated "actions of criminal groups and the crimes of repressive agencies in the first place against the civilian population" (Ukrayinska Pravda, May 28). Soviet repression included mass murder of the civilian population, mass deportations and placing the children of those sentenced or murdered into orphanages.
Launching criminal charges and lustration within Ukraine might be more difficult than placing this in the hands of the international courts. Ukraine's judiciary and prosecutor's office are highly corrupt and have not demonstrated sufficient competence in pursuing high profile cases, such as investigating the organizers of journalist Georgi Gongadze's murder or Yushchenko's poisoning. Parliament might also prove unsupportive. Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych described the SBU's lustration plans for launching criminal charges in relation to the famine as "provocative and irresponsible" (Ukrayinska Pravda, May 27). Yanukovych condemned attempts by Yushchenko to play the nationalist card by using the famine to stay in power, potentially further dividing the country and worsening relations with Russia.
President Yushchenko replied to such domestic critics as individuals whose "dream is a gubernia where they would be uncontrolled lords," a place "without Ukrainian culture and without the Ukrainian language" (www.president.gov.ua, May 17). Nalyvaychenko replied to Yanukovych that Soviet repression and the famine had been most severe in the Donbas and Zaporizhzhia oblast, three regional strongholds. He pointed out that since 2006, Ukrainian legislation asserts that the famine was an "act of genocide against the Ukrainian people," prosecution for which falls within the criminal code. The Ukrainian Institute of National Memory had compiled nearly 900,000 names of Ukrainians who died in the famine. The SBU and the institute continued to work on the documents, collect eye-witness statements and locate mass burial grounds. "In this criminal case there is a serious possibility of success in court," Nalyvaychenko said (Ukrayinska Pravda, June 3).
The lustration of former communist officials has not been the norm in the majority of the 27 post-communist states. Different degrees of lustration were undertaken in Germany and within ten Central Eastern and Baltic states. The toughest lustration legislation was adopted in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is noticeable, however, from this list of countries that no CIS state including Georgia has undertaken lustration. This could now change with Ukraine following Central-Eastern Europe in launching the lustration of communist crimes against humanity.
The issues of nation building and historical memory have become a personal crusade for President Yushchenko. At his Bykivnia speech, Yushchenko called for the removal of all the communist "symbols of murder" (www.president.gov.ua, May 17). Following the disintegration of the USSR, Ukrainian democratization could never be divorced from nation and state building. Yushchenko's crusade against Soviet crimes is intimately bound up with its democratization and integration into Europe. This explains Moscow's hostility as it is in the throes of covering up Soviet crimes, and building an autocracy grounded in a synthesis of nationalism and Soviet rule.
(http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=35090&tx_ttnews[backPid]=381&cHash=6a29e5e903) |
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Enviado - 11 junio 2009 : 12:05:20 |
Ucraina, due bombe in banca: 25 feriti Gli ordigni piazzati in una filiale a Melitopol, nel sud del Paese. Sei feriti gravi
CORRIERE DELLA SERA, Milano 02 giugno 2009
MELITOPOL (Ucraina) - Due bombe sono esplose in una banca a Melitopol, nel sud dell'Ucraina: 25 persone sono rimaste ferite (tra cui due bambini), sei sono in condizioni molto gravi. Gli ordigni sono stati piazzati al piano terra dell'edificio (che ha otto piani) e poco prima delle esplosioni, secondo il quotidiano locale Melitopolskiye Vedomosti, due uomini sono stati visti da testimoni entrare nella filiale e lasciare dei pacchi, per poi allontanarsi. Un responsabile della banca Oshadbank ha detto che tutto il denaro contenuto nelle casseforti è rimasto al suo posto, quindi non si è trattato di una rapina. Gli inquirenti non escludono un regolamento di conti negli ambienti della malavita locale.
SCONTRO AI VERTICI
Anche a livello politico per l'Ucraina non è un periodo tranquillo. Nella Rada, il parlamento, i deputati che appoggiano il premier Julija Timoshenko hanno votato insieme ai partiti di opposizione un emendamento che riduce fortemente i poteri del presidente e un altro emendamento che semplifica le procedure di impeachment del presidente. Tra il capo del governo, filo-russo, e il presidente filo-occidentale Victor Yushenko è in corso uno scontro istituzionale incentrato sul rapporto con la Russia e la collocazione di Kiev in relazione alla crisi georgiana.
(http://www.corriere.it/esteri/09_giugno_02/ucraina_bombe_banca_feriti_74db9956-4f7c-11de-9f09-00144f02aabc.shtml) |
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Enviado - 10 junio 2009 : 00:36:54 |
El Papa y Yúschenko a favor de solucionar los temas pendientes iglesia-estado
ADN.es, Barcelona / EFE 31.05.2008
Ciudad del Vaticano. - El Papa recibió hoy en audiencia en el Vaticano al presidente ucraniano, Víctor Yúschenko, con quien coincidió en la necesidad de potenciar el diálogo entre los cristianos para promover la unidad y solucionar los temas "aún abiertos" entre el Estado ucraniano y la Iglesia.
Benedicto XVI y Yúschenko hablaron a solas durante 25 minutos en la biblioteca privada del Papa y después el gobernante ucraniano se entrevistó con el secretario de Estado de la Santa Sede, el cardenal Tarcisio Bertone, y el "ministro de Exteriores" vaticano, el arzobispo Dominique Mamberti.
Los encuentros se celebraron en un ambiente de "cordialidad", según precisó el Vaticano en un comunicado, en que señaló que durante los mismos se analizaron las relaciones bilaterales, la situación internacional "y algunas perspectivas de colaboración en ámbito cultural y social".
"Expresando la voluntad de encontrar soluciones ecuánimes a los temas aún abiertos entre el Estado y la Iglesia, se ha resaltado la contribución de la Iglesia Católica a la sociedad ucraniana para educar en los valores cristianos y su difusión y la importancia del diálogo entre los cristianos para promover la unidad, en el respeto de todo y una pacífica convivencia", subrayó el Vaticano.
Con "soluciones ecuánimes a los temas aún abiertos entre el Estado y la Iglesia", el Vaticano se refería al contencioso entre la Iglesia católica de rito oriental, conocida como "uniata", y el Estado por la devolución de su patrimonio, que le fue confiscado por en 1946 tras ser abolida por Stalin y entregado a la Iglesia Ortodoxa, que es mayoritaria en Ucrania.
El presidente de Ucrania acudió al Vaticano acompañado de su esposa y de un séquito formado por diez personas, entre ellas el ministro de Exteriores interino, Volodymyr Khabdogiy.
Yúschenko regaló al Papa un busto en mármol que representa la cara del Pontífice. Benedicto XVI le correspondió con la medalla en oro de su pontificado y una reproducción de una antigua vista de la Ciudad del Vaticano.
La iglesia Católica de rito oriental nació en 1595 de la Unión de Brest. La mayoría de los "uniatas", unos seis millones, se concentran en la región occidental de Ucrania, donde está Lvov.
Los "uniatas" fueron duramente perseguidos durante el comunismo. En 1946, el régimen de Stalin disolvió esta iglesia y entregó todos sus bienes al Patriarcado Ortodoxo de Moscú.
Durante 45 años vivieron en la clandestinidad, hasta que en 1990 las autoridades de Moscú les devolvieron la legalidad y aprobaron una ley para la restitución de los bienes confiscados.
Los "uniatas" recuperaron gran parte de sus bienes y los ortodoxos les acusan de haberse quedado incluso con lo que les pertenecía a ellos desde tiempo inmemorial.
Además de esta iglesia católica, también existe otra de rito latino.
La mayor parte de los ucranianos son ortodoxos. De los 48 millones de habitantes, 15 millones pertenecen a la Iglesia Ortodoxa Ucraniana del Patriarcado de Moscú (que cuenta con entre 14 y 15 millones de fieles).
También existen otras dos iglesias ortodoxas nacionales pero separadas de Moscú. Una es la del Patriarcado de Kiev, que cuenta con entre tres y cuatro millones de fieles; y la otra la Iglesia Ortodoxa autocéfala (independiente), con cerca de un millón de fieles.
(http://www.adn.es/sociedad/20090601/NWS-1370-Yuschenko-Papa-solucionar-pendientes-favor.html) |
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Enviado - 09 junio 2009 : 22:50:49 |
Longtime Ukrainian political rivals close to deal: report
Reporting by Ron Popeski Editing by Myra MacDonald REUTERS May 31, 2009
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former premier Viktor Yanukovich, longstanding rivals, are on the verge of clinching a deal to form a "broad coalition" in parliament, Ukrainian media reported on Sunday.
Talks between groups led by the two politicians have taken place intermittently for more than a year amid recurring bouts of the political upheaval that have buffeted Ukraine since the 2004 "Orange Revolution" brought pro-Western leaders to power.
The authoritative Internet news service Ukrainska Pravda quoted its sources as saying the leaders, the country's two most popular politicians in the run-up to a presidential election, had reached a "preliminary agreement" on Saturday.
The deal called for forming a coalition, drafting a programme of common action until 2024, including running jointly in parliamentary elections, and altering the constitution to have the president elected by parliament.
Interfax Ukraina news agency said consultations were proceeding, with a deal expected within days. "Everything could be decided today or tomorrow," Interfax quoted a source as saying. "The issue is providing guarantees for the two sides."
There was no comment from either Tymoshenko's bloc or Yanukovich's Regions Party. Nor was there any comment from President Viktor Yushchenko, whose standing lies in tatters more than four years after the mass "orange" rallies in his favor.
PREMIER, PRESIDENT AT ODDS
Tymoshenko was allied to President Viktor Yushchenko in the 2004 mass "orange" rallies against election fraud and was named premier by him twice, but the two have been constantly at odds.
Yanukovich was the revolution's main loser.
Initially declared the winner of the 2004 presidential poll, he lost a re-run election to Yushchenko after the result was overturned. He returned as premier for a time in 2007 after the collapse of an "orange" government.
Russia backed Yanukovich in 2004 and has been irritated with Yushchenko, especially his drive for Ukraine to join NATO and his denunciations of Moscow's intervention in Georgia last year.
Moscow has developed better ties with Tymoshenko after a spat over a plan for the EU to upgrade Ukraine's gas transport system.
Tymoshenko and Yanukovich have a long history of hostility, at least in public. It is unclear whether they could overcome differences and produce the stability long sought by the European Union after more than four years of political sniping.
The current premier is a vocal defender of disadvantaged voters and draws much of her support from nationalist western Ukraine and the center of the country. Yanukovich's electoral heartland lies in the Russian-speaking industrial east.
The two sides have voted tactically together, mainly to counter Yushchenko's interests.
Yanukovich leads polls with over 20 percent, while Tymoshenko, hit by the effects of economic crisis, stands at about 15 percent. Yushchenko lags far behind in single figures.
Parliament set the next presidential election but October 25, but that ruling was struck down and a new date must be set.
(http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE54U1DJ20090531?sp=true) |
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Enviado - 06 junio 2009 : 22:40:47 |
World Bank signs carbon rights deal with Ukraine
Reporting by Michael Szabo Additional reporting by Gerrard Wynn Editing by Keiron Henderson REUTERS May 27, 2009
BARCELONA (Reuters) - The World Bank signed a pact with Ukraine to buy 10 million metric tons of Kyoto carbon emissions rights, the parties said on Wednesday, in a deal worth up to $140 million, according to Reuters calculations.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, signatory nations that are comfortably below their greenhouse gas emissions targets can sell excess emissions rights called Assigned Amount Units (AAUs) to nations which are struggling to meet their targets.
The industry of former communist countries collapsed in the 1990s, making their Kyoto targets very easy, and their sales of AAUs now are making it effortless for polluting countries to meet their targets, green groups say.
AAU deals threaten to undermine a market in carbon offsets, which project developers can sell in return for avoiding greenhouse gas emissions through building wind farms or hydropower dams, for example.
As most AAUs are often the result of economic restructuring rather than investment in clean energy, buyers like the World Bank insist that 'Green Investment Scheme' clauses to be included in the contracts, to avoid scrutiny.
Green Investment Schemes ensure AAU revenues are invested by the seller in clean energy projects.
"This memorandum of understanding and the expected transaction are a continuation of cooperation between World Bank and Ukraine to design and implement a Green Investment Scheme," the World Bank said in a press release.
The memorandum was signed by both parties on the sidelines of a carbon market conference in Barcelona. On Tuesday, Ukraine's government said it was looking to sell 150 million AAUs to two private companies. It was not clear whether these deals involved a Green Investment Scheme clause.
Japan's Nomura bank also said it was in advanced talks to buy 100 million-300 million AAUs from Ukraine, which would include a Green Investment Scheme clause.
Ukraine sold 30 million rights to Japan in March while the World Bank signed a similar agreement in December to buy 10 million rights from Poland. Both these deals were rumored to be worth around 10 euros ($14) per metric ton of carbon dioxide, sources said.
(http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-BusinessofGreen/idUSTRE54Q3T920090527) |
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Enviado - 05 junio 2009 : 23:00:04 |
Abren proceso por genocidio de millones de ucranianos en hambruna estalinista
ADN.es, Madrid / EFE, Kiev 25.05.2009
El Servicio de Seguridad de Ucrania (SBU) abrió hoy un proceso de investigación por genocidio en relación con la muerte de varios millones de campesinos ucranianos durante la colectivización forzosa de la tierra decretada por Stalin en los años treinta del siglo XX.
El proceso alude a "la creación artificial por parte de los bolcheviques de un régimen de hambruna que condujo al exterminio masivo de la población civil", según aseguró Valentín Nalivaichenko, jefe del SBU, los servicios secretos ucranianos, citado por las agencias locales.
El SBU abrió la investigación a petición de los presidentes del Instituto Nacional de la Memoria, Igor Yujnovski, y de la Asociación de Investigación del "Holodomor" (hambruna en ucraniano), Levkó Lukianenko, varios diputados y ciudadanos.
"Nos piden que abramos una investigación de las circunstancias del asesinato de millones de ucranianos como grupo nacional con el fin de su completo exterminio físico", señaló.
El SBU señala que los bolcheviques comenzaron ya en 1921 las actividades para "impedir la creación de un estado independiente ucraniano" con el objetivo de "desnacionalizar Ucrania".
"Estas acciones ilegítimas buscaban matar de hambre a los ucranianos como grupo nacional. A causa de esos crímenes estatales también sufrieron los miembros de otros pueblos", apunta.
A la hora de iniciar el proceso, los servicios secretos se basan en testimonios de testigos extraídos de los archivos secretos soviéticos, y se guían por las leyes nacionales y convenciones internacionales.
El presidente de Ucrania, Víctor Yúschenko, de quien dependen los servicios secretos, mantiene que "el 'Holodomor' es una de las mayores catástrofes humanas de la historia" y cifra en hasta diez millones los ucranianos muertos durante el bienio 1932-1933, muchos más que durante la ocupación nazi en la II Guerra Mundial.
Esta hambruna ya fue calificada de "genocidio" por el Parlamento ucraniano el 28 de noviembre de 2006, aunque la oposición pro rusa votó en contra.
Los historiadores ucranianos mantienen que la colectivización no estaba dirigida sólo contra los terratenientes desafectos con el régimen de Moscú, sino contra todo el pueblo ucraniano por sus ansias independentistas.
Ésa no es la opinión de los historiadores rusos, que consideran que la hambruna no fue una limpieza étnica dirigida a la eliminación de todo un pueblo (ucraniano) o nación, según la definición de genocidio que da la ONU, sino que estuvo dirigida contra los propietarios de la tierra por toda la URSS.
Al respecto, el presidente ruso, Dmitri Medvédev, calificó de "inmoral" culpar a Rusia de la muerte de millones de personas en la hambruna estalinista, episodio histórico que describió como una "desgracia común" de todos los habitantes de la extinta URSS.
En caso de que Moscú asuma la responsabilidad que le corresponde a la URSS y reconozca la hambruna como "genocidio contra el pueblo ucraniano" tendrá que indemnizar económica y moralmente a Kiev.
La Duma o Cámara de diputados de Rusia cifró en siete los millones de personas muertas durante la colectivización forzosa de la tierra en toda la Unión Soviética.
Según historiadores ucranianos, en la primavera de 1933 llegaron a morir hasta 25.000 personas diarias en Ucrania, al tiempo que se han documentado muchos casos de canibalismo, como se recoge en los informes del KGB y las cartas de las víctimas desclasificadas recientemente.
Países como Estados Unidos y Canadá, Italia, Georgia, Australia, Argentina, Polonia, Hungría, Lituania y Estonia ya han reconocido el Holodomor como genocidio.
Mientras, Israel se niega a hacerlo al considerar exclusivamente "como acto de genocidio, el exterminio por motivos étnicos", según el embajador de ese país en Moscú.
(http://www.adn.es/sociedad/20090525/NWS-2723-Abren-estalinista-ucranianos-genocidio-hambruna.html) |
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Enviado - 29 mayo 2009 : 13:43:34 |
Yúschenko insiste en revisar acuerdos del gas entre Rusia y Ucrania
RIA Novosti, Moscú 19/ 05/ 2009
Kíev, 19 de mayo, RIA Novosti. El presidente ucraniano, Víctor Yúschenko, está convencido de que tarde o temprano serán revisados los acuerdos del gas alcanzados por los jefes de Gobierno de Rusia y Ucrania en enero pasado.
"Los acuerdos que la primera ministra (Yulia Timoshenko) alcanzó con la parte rusa en enero pasado son nada ventajosos y adolecen de connotaciones políticas", dijo Yúschenko en entrevista al diario ucraniano Delo, publicada este martes.
Según el presidente, "no cabe duda de que las partes tendrán que revisar esos documentos", pues para Ucrania le resulta cada vez más difícil cumplir los compromisos asumidos, en particular, "adquirir 40 mil millones de metros cúbicos de gas (al año)".
Yúschenko no descarta que el 31 de diciembre próximo "Ucrania se verá obligada a pagar en horas contadas una deuda de orden de 2,2 mil millones de dólares". Según el presidente ucraniano, "es una mina de acción retardada" que fue colocada por "falta de profesionalismo".
Los acuerdos sobre suministros de gas a Ucrania y sobre su trasiego a Europa a través del territorio ucraniano fueron firmados en Moscú el 19 de enero pasado en presencia de los jefes de Gobierno de Ucrania y Rusia, Yulia Timoshenko y Vladímir Putin, tras otra "crisis del gas" entre los dos países que cortó por casi tres semanas el envío de combustible a consumidores europeos.
Anteriormente, la ucraniana Naftogaz propuso al consorcio ruso Gazprom reducir en 17,5%, de 40 mil millones a 33 mil millones de metros cúbicos, los suministros de gas a Ucrania en 2009.
El contrato entre Naftogaz y Gazprom admite la posibilidad de revisar el volumen anual de gas contratado en un 20% como máximo con seis meses de antelación al inicio de suministros. De este modo, la parte ucraniana puede negociar, antes del 1 de julio de 2009, la modificación del volumen de suministros para 2010.
En virtud del contrato, Ucrania debe recibir 40 mil millones de metros cúbicos de gas en 2009 y 52 mil millones, en 2010.
Al visitar Moscú en abril pasado, Timoshenko declaró que conforme a lo pactado, Ucrania consumirá tanto gas cuanto necesite.
Según previsiones de Naftogaz, Ucrania consumirá 55,9 mil millones de gas en 2009 de los que importará 33 mil millones.
El año pasado la república consumió 75 mil millones de metros cúbicos de gas de los que importó 55 mil millones.
(http://sp.rian.ru/onlinenews/20090519/121655295.html) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 26 mayo 2009 : 12:33:08 |
El ministro del Interior de Ucrania presenta su renuncia al Parlamento
ADN.es / EFE - Kiev 12.05.2009
El ministro del Interior de Ucrania, Yuri Lutsenko, presentó hoy su dimisión al Parlamento, informó hoy el presidente de la Cámara, Vladímir Litvín.
"Pido que se estudie mi dimisión en mi ausencia", citó Litvín la solicitud de Lutsenko en una reunión de la junta de los portavoces de los grupos parlamentarios.
La oposición exigió la dimisión del ministro después de que la semana pasada Lutsenko se viera envuelto en un incidente en el aeropuerto de Fráncfort (Alemania).
Medios alemanes informaron de que el titular del Interior fue detenido por la policía en la terminal aérea de Fráncfort junto a su hijo Alexandr, de 19 años, en estado de embriaguez acusado de alterar el orden público.
Según el tabloide "Bild", padre e hijo protagonizaron una pelea a puñetazos con los agentes de la policía, quienes lo les dejaron abordar su avión.
Inicialmente, el ministerio del Interior ucraniano negó las informaciones sobre el incidente, mientras que la Cancillería envió una nota verbal a la embajada de Alemania en Kiev solicitando antecedentes de lo ocurrido.
El opositor Partido de las Regiones solicitó de inmediato la destitución del ministro, quien como todos los miembros del Gabinete es designado o destituido por la Rada Suprema (Parlamento unicameral) de Ucrania.
(http://www.adn.es/politica/20090512/NWS-0200-Parlamento-Interior-Ucrania-ministro-renuncia.html) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 22 mayo 2009 : 21:41:36 |
Al menos diez muertos en un incendio en una sala de juegos en Ucrania Otras diez personas han resultado heridas
LA VOZ DE GALICIA.es, A Coruña / EFE 7/5/2009
Al menos diez personas murieron y otras diez resultaron heridas en un incendio declarado tras una explosión registrada hoy en una sala de juegos en la ciudad ucraniana de Dniepropetrovsk, informó el Ministerio de Situaciones de Emergencia de Ucrania.
La explosión, cuya causa aún se desconoce, tuvo lugar a las 00.45 hora local en la sala de juegos «Metro Jackpot», ubicado en la planta baja de un edificio de viviendas de cinco pisos.
Nueve personas murieron en el lugar de la tragedia y otra en el hospital, mientras que diez heridos tuvieron que ser ingresados.
De las once personas hospitalizadas inicialmente, seis fueron ingresadas con quemaduras y otras cinco por una intoxicación con monóxido de carbono.
Según el Canal 5 de la televisión ucraniana, las personas que se encontraban en la sala de juegos no lograron escapar porque el local se llenó inmediatamente de humo.
En las labores de extinción del incendio, que pudo ser sofocado aproximadamente una hora más tarde, participaron 57 bomberos y 17 vehículos.
Unas 60 máquinas de juego quedaron calcinadas por las llamas.
«Una comisión gubernamental se dirigió al lugar de la tragedia», indicó el ministerio de Situaciones de Emergencia.
(http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/mundo/2009/05/07/00031241675839192412977.htm) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 21 mayo 2009 : 22:30:45 |
ENTREVISTA Yushchenko: 'La integración es clave tanto para Ucrania como para la UE'
Daniel Utrilla (Enviado Especial) | Kiev EL MUNDO.es, Madrid Lunes 04/05/2009
Junto al retrato de un cosaco ilustre con bigotes dalinianos, cráneo rapado y penacho sobre la frente, Viktor Yushchenko, comparece seguro e inmune frente al azote de la crisis financiera e institucional que desde hace meses roe la estabilidad de Ucrania.
En esta entrevista con EL MUNDO y otros tres diarios europeos en la sede de la Presidencia de Ucrania, Yushchenko mantiene firme sus anhelos europeístas, que en diciembre darán un paso al frente con la firma de un Acuerdo de Asociación.
Desgastado por su choque con la primera ministra, Yulia Timoshenko, con quien colideró en 2004 la revolución naranja que marcó el giro prooccidental del país, Yushchenko se presenta como figura integradora. Su rostro aún conserva secuelas del envenenamiento con dioxinas que le deformó el rostro poco antes de encabezar la revolución.
Pese a contar con una popularidad del 5%, Yushchenko se presentará a las presidenciales de 2010 como baluarte de las conquistas democráticas de la revolución frente a la amenaza populista de Timoshenko y la involucionista del prorruso Yanukovich, a los que acusa de formar una pinza contra él para usurpar el poder.
Pregunta.- ¿Las guerras por el precio del gas que a comienzos de 2006 y de 2009 enfrentaron a Ucrania con Rusia fueron políticas o económicas?
Respuesta.- En ambos casos se trata de crisis políticas porque hay demasiada política en los asuntos del gas. Todos hemos salido perdiendo. Hemos generado más inestabilidad. Los pasos que dimos no estuvieron pensados ni fueron adecuados. No hubo valor suficiente por parte de la comunidad europea para dar respuestas fuertes. Esta crisis no sólo atañe a la relación entre Ucrania y Rusia. Ucrania es un mero intermediario. Si hablamos de nuestra agenda bilateral con Rusia, no existe un solo aspecto que no requiera reajustes cada mes. Hay asimetría. La tarifa por el tránsito del gas [que Rusia nos paga] es de 1,7 dólares por 1.000 metros cúbicos por 100 kilómetros. La tarifa media europea es cuatro o cinco veces mayor. No hablo de economía. Hablo de la mayor arteria de tránsito de gas de Europa cuyo funcionamiento debería basarse en un principio claro de fijación de precios. Ahora, las empresas ucranianas pagan 370-378 dólares por el gas ruso: un precio dos veces menor que en Alemania, pero más caro que el que paga cualquiera de nuestros vecinos.
P.- La sensación es que las relaciones entre Ucrania y Rusia están fuera de los estándares europeos...
R.- Tenemos que aplicar los estándares europeos a todas nuestras relaciones, incluidas las bilaterales. Por eso es tan importante asegurar los precios del mercado del gas y del tránsito del gas para despolitizar este proceso. La red de gasoductos está destinada a funcionar muchos años. Por eso tenemos que establecer políticas de tránsito, incluidos los volúmenes, para los próximos años. Y Europa obtendrá garantías de tránsito. En marzo firmamos dos declaraciones con la UE sobre la modernización de la red de gasoductos de Ucrania por la que pasa el 82% del gas ruso a Europa. Dejémonos de pelearnos cada invierno, cada Nochevieja, por los volúmenes, precios y tarifas del gas.
P.- La UE está preocupada por la crisis política en Ucrania...
R.- Hace cuatro años no había prensa libre en este país. Todos los canales de televisión, toda la información estaba cortada por el mismo patrón. Entonces cualquier proceso electoral en este país amenazaba con desembocar en una guerra civil porque entonces el poder se elegía a sí mismo. Y en los últimos cuatro años hemos celebrado dos elecciones parlamentarias anticipadas consideradas democráticas y justas por todos los observadores. En los últimos cuatro años hemos conseguido asegurar libertades y principios democráticos fundamentales. Y lo que está pasando ahora en el Gobierno y el Parlamento no es un conflicto personal. Es un conflicto entre ideologías. Entre la política de libre mercado y la política que llevaron a cabo los comunistas durante 75 años con influencia y control administrativo, regulando los precios y prohibiendo las exportaciones en ciertos sectores.
P.- ¿Pero no hay problemas personales entre usted y Timoshenko?
R.- En septiembre, Timoshenko apoyó un proyecto por separado con el Partido de las Regiones de Viktor Yanukovich para cambiar la Constitución y que sea el Parlamento quien elija al presidente. Yanukovich recibiría las garantías de ser el presidente eterno mientras Timoshenko aspiraba a ser la eterna primera ministra. Como presidente, ¿cómo debía reaccionar? Yo dije que aquello nada que ver con el desarrollo democrático, si no con la usurpación. Desafortunadamente, la coalición se quebró en 2008 debido a esta posición.
P.- ¿Cómo valora el próximo calendario electoral?
R.- Sólo quedan siete u ocho meses para las elecciones presidenciales. Y Ucrania tiene que aprobar este examen electoral. El presidente es la única figura que puede guardar el equilibrio teniendo en cuenta las prioridades nacionales. No podemos convocar elecciones democráticas sin cambiar el actual sistema electoral, y eso es lo que intento que haga el Parlamento. Por ejemplo, tenemos casos de diputados con procesos criminales pendientes. Este modelo cerrado permite una alta criminalización del poder. Como presidente debo asegurar que no nos salgamos de la senda democrática.
P.- ¿Cómo describiría las relaciones con Rusia?
R.- Si la pregunta es si me gustaría que las relaciones fueran mejores, diría que sí. Pero en mi opinión, la mayor responsabilidad por el estado de las relaciones atañe a Rusia. Es un país grande que influye en el desarrollo de la región, el continente y el mundo. Ucrania intenta mantener relaciones dinámicas con Rusia, pero muy a menudo no encontramos las respuestas adecuadas a nuestras iniciativas. En cualquier caso, vamos a esforzarnos para lograr unas relaciones más activas, amistosas y correctas. Nuestro territorio, nuestra independencia y nuestra soberanía no deben ser objeto de comercio. Creo que debemos acostumbrarnos a la idea de que todos somos estados soberanos.
P.- ¿Qué espera de la Asociación del Este firmada con la UE?
R.- Cuantas más iniciativas regionales haya, mejor. El Tratado de Asociación que debe firmarse este año es el más fuerte que jamás se haya concluido con un país en su camino hacia la integración. Todas son etapas de nuestra integración y no hay una relación directa entre ambos acuerdos. Debo destacar que a finales de abril se concluyó un importante estudio de viabilidad para suministrar petróleo del Caspio a la UE. Para mí no hay socios prescindibles en Europa. La integración de Ucrania en la UE es tan importante y tan beneficiosa para la UE como para Ucrania.
P.- Hace unos días, Rusia y Ucrania se disputaron la paternidad del escritor Nikolai Gogol celebrando por separado su 200º aniversario. ¿No cree que este aniversario habría podido servir más para unir que para separar?
R.- Gogol es una figura de importancia internacional que nos ha enriquecido a todos. Pero desde el punto de vista de la nación ucraniana, no nos cabe duda de que Gogol era ucraniano. De los 43 años que vivió, 24 estuvo en Ucrania. Y unos seis o siete en Rusia. La mayor parte de su vida de adulto la pasó en Europa: escribió más en Francia, España, Italia, Suiza que en Rusia. Desde luego, escribió en ruso y pienso que contribuyó de forma colosal al arte y la cultura rusas.
(http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/05/04/union_europea/1241424685.html) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 24 abril 2009 : 22:33:05 |
Protesters in Simferopol demand Ukraine join Russia-Belarus union
KYIV POST / Interfax-Ukraine 11 April 2009
SIMFEROPOL – The participants in a Crimean meeting on the protection of the peninsula's constitutional rights, which was held on Simferopol's central square on Saturday, have demanded that the Ukrainian leadership observe the Crimean constitution, and also called for Ukraine's accession to the Union State of Russia and Belarus.
Around 1,500 people participated in a rally organized by the Crimean republican organization of the Ukrainian Communist Party and the Crimean party organization of the Union of Leftist Forces.
The protesters were holding party flags and posters with slogans, entitled "Let's protect the Constitution of Crimea!" "Say no to Yushchenko's anti-constitutional actions!" "Crimean residents will defend their rights!" "Hands off the Constitution of Crimea," and "Crimean taxes should remain in Crimea."
The protesters said that the Crimean communists had collected over 1.5 million signatures of Crimean voters since January 19, 2009 to defend the constitution of the peninsula.
The leader of the Crimean communists, Ukrainian MP Leonid Hrach, while speaking at the rally, called for Ukraine's accession to the "Union State of Russia and Belarus, as it's the only thing that will save and protect us."
He said that the anthem of the Soviet Union should become the anthem of this union state.
(http://www.kyivpost.com/nation/39428) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 23 abril 2009 : 21:17:41 |
Thousands Join Anti-Government Rally in Ukraine
By ELLEN BARRY The New York Times April 4, 2009, on page A5 of the New York edition. MOSCOW — More than 10,000 protesters gathered in Kiev on Friday to demand a change of government in Ukraine, and President Viktor A. Yushchenko said he was considering calling early presidential and parliamentary elections.
“I am not afraid of any early elections, including presidential polls,” Mr. Yushchenko said at a news conference. Previously, he has advocated sticking to the present schedule, which calls for presidential elections in January 2010.
Protesters carrying signs reading “Ukraine’s Government is Ukraine’s Shame!” gathered in Independence Square, where crowds swept Mr. Yushchenko’s pro-Western coalition into office five years ago.
The police estimated the crowd at 8,000, but other estimates were as high as 20,000. It was the second protest in two weeks by the pro-Russia Party of Regions, which blames Ukraine’s leadership for failing to cope with the economic downturn.
To roars of approval, Viktor F. Yanukovich, the party’s leader, told protesters that the economy would not recover until the present leadership was gone.
“I think everyone who has come to this square has one big wish — to change life for the better,” said Mr. Yanukovich, who is expected to run for president in the coming elections, according to text posted on his Web site.
“And there is only one way to do this, when we are rid of those now in power,” he said.
The demonstrations came at the end of a tumultuous week. On Wednesday, an overwhelming majority in Ukraine’s Parliament voted to hold presidential elections on Oct. 25. On Thursday, deputies from the Party of Regions swarmed the podium in the legislature, blocking the doors ahead of an important vote on measures demanded by the International Monetary Fund as a condition of a $16.4 billion loan.
The political turmoil in Ukraine has been heightened by an economic free fall, as global demand for steel, Ukraine’s biggest export, has plummeted.
The Ukrainian currency, the hryvnia, has lost 40 percent of its value compared to the dollar, and the country is now heavily dependent on the I.M.F. loan.
Support for Mr. Yushchenko, who came to power in the so-called Orange Revolution, has dropped to 3 percent.
Boris M. Pogrebinsky, the director of the Kiev Center for Political and Conflict Studies, said Mr. Yushchenko’s change of heart on early presidential elections was unexpected. If a presidential election were held today, he said, it would likely end in a runoff between Mr. Yanukovich and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who would split the popular vote between them. The result of that runoff would depend on the economy, he said.
“It is impossible to predict this situation, absolutely impossible,” he said. “It changes every day.”
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/04/world/europe/04ukraine.html?_r=1&ref=global-home) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 22 abril 2009 : 00:47:38 |
Ukraine lawmakers block parliament doors
By MARIA DANILOVA Associated Press (AP) Apr 2, 2009
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian opposition party members blocked parliament's doors with chairs and swarmed the podium on Thursday, stalling a vote on crisis measures necessary for a crucial International Monetary Fund loan.
The move deepened the country's political turmoil ahead of presidential elections called for October and soured hopes for a quick recovery from a devastating financial crisis.
The main opposition Party of Regions prevented the parliament session from starting because it says the government does not have a comprehensive anti-crisis program.
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko says it does and accuses the opposition of seeking to sabotage her work like "Somali pirates."
Stalling parliament's work by swarming its podium and starting shouting matches and even fist fights has become a trademark ploy in chaotic Ukrainian politics. Tymoshenko's allies in parliament dismissed Thursday's protest as an effort by Party of Regions to generate publicity ahead of presidential elections.
Ukraine needs to pass a series of stabilization laws to reduce budget deficit to an estimated 3 percent of GDP in order to receive a second installment of a $16.4 billion loan from the IMF. But the tense rivalry between President Viktor Yushchenko and Tymoshnko and other political forces has stalled those efforts.
Lawmakers passed some of the necessary laws earlier this week, such as raising taxes on alcohol, tobacco and fuel. But they still needed to vote on measures to cut government spending on pensions and lower state subsidies in the energy sector.
Ukraine is in dire need of the money. The economy is expected to shrink by at least 6 percent this year, according to the IMF. Yushchenko estimated that the economy contracted by up to 30 percent in the first months of this year, largely due to a drop in the global demand for steel, Ukraine's key export commodities, and troubles in the banking sector that slashed lending to enterprises.
The national currency, the hryvna, lost over 40 percent of its value to the dollar since the crisis hit last fall. The number of Ukrainians officially registered as looking for a job jumped from about 600,000 at the end of last year to about 900,000 now.
Experts said the IMF aid was crucial to rescue the economy.
"I think the allocation of the second tranche of the IMF loan needs to be resolved in the next month, otherwise the problems for the Ukrainian economy will just get more and more severe," said Peter Vanhecke, CEO of the Renaissance Capital Ukraine investment bank.
Vanhecke said he was optimistic that the IMF reform package will eventually be implemented and the aid will come through.
"This is so essential that in the end ... people will use their common sense," he said.
(http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gKfTIr2X2cyinX6jwAkPH18fS7pAD97ABGBO1) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 17 abril 2009 : 00:23:20 |
Kiev residents protest eccentric mayor
By MARIA DANILOVA The Associated Press March 26, 2009
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Hundreds of angry Kiev residents on Thursday picketed the office of the city's increasingly unpopular mayor, an eccentric millionaire who sings at rallies, poses in Speedos to show off his good health and goes by the nickname Cosmos.
Angered by major price hikes for public transport, utilities and medical care, the protesters demanded that mayor Leonid Chernovetsky resign.
But so far the 57-year-old has proved highly resilient, despite widespread accusations of corruption and erratic behavior often bordering on the absurd.
He survived an early vote last year that was initiated by Ukraine's parliament in an attempt to unseat him. He is now fending off an investigation over controversial sales of city land and even a parliamentary inquiry into whether he is mentally fit to hold office.
Eager to demonstrate he is of sound body and mind, he invited journalists to watch him earlier this month jogging, doing chin-ups and diving into a swimming pool in his tight Speedo suit.
"They are judging me today," Chernovetsky said, after he emerged from the water and flexed his muscles in front of the cameras. "They want me to spend my whole life behind bars in a psychiatric ward. I want to demonstrate to the whole world that I am completely healthy, both physically and psychologically."
Chernovetsky says his nickname is derived from his policies, which are "cosmic" and "completely unusual for Ukraine."
"I am proud that they don't resemble anything that went on in Ukraine before," he said on a talk show last year.
Chernovetsky was elected Kiev mayor in 2006 in a surprise win over the capital's incumbent mayor and boxing heavyweight champion Vitaly Klitschko.
His critics charge he won the race through questionable tactics such as donating pasta, sugar and other food to Kiev's impoverished pensioners. He was re-elected last May, largely due to his opponents' failure to unite behind a single candidate.
Chernovetsky has acknowledged on national television that he had given bribes worth $21 million when he was a businessman in the early 1990s. But he denies bribing his voters, calling himself "the humble mayor who loves babushkas."
In an effort to increase city revenues, he has proposed charging foreigners to live here, selling his kisses in a lottery and introducing entry fees for visits to city cemeteries. He has also started holding $100,000 dinners for entrepreneurs interested in discussing their affairs with city authorities.
Chernovetsky's opponents have acccused his administration of giving away or selling through non-transparent auctions about 300 plots of land worth several billion dollars in late 2007. Klitschko filed a lawsuit to invalidate those deals, but it was turned down by a Kiev court. Parliament is now investigating those transactions.
Ukraine's competitive elections for president, parliament and Kiev mayor are a testament to the level of democracy in this former Soviet state of 46 million, a sharp contrast to the carefully managed elections in neighboring Russia and Belarus.
But many Kiev residents have had enough, saying Chernovetsky's bizarre policies were bad before but have become unbearable during an economic crisis that is one of the worst in Europe.
About 2,000 elderly women, students and bus drivers from all political groups waived flags in front of Chernovetsky's office Thursday and chanted "Down with the mayor!" The drivers parked dozens of buses on Kiev's main streets, blocking traffic to protest job layoffs.
"It's not that he doesn't respect us, it's that he is mocking us!" said Dmytro Antonenko, a 50-year-old teacher. "We like him as a singer, but as a singer only."
Chernovetsky brushed off the protests, saying he was open to dialogue with residents and had set up a complaint line that receives some 9,000 calls a day.
"He believes this demonstration was a political provocation by his opponents," said spokeswoman Oksana Makarchenko.
Chernovetsky vowed he would not be intimidated and said he still planned to run for president in an election expected in early January.
(http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jsHKPf9_6JXXrVCuqQyEwSBqte2gD975RPU80) |
| alazaro |
Enviado - 19 marzo 2009 : 23:23:08 |
Crisi e guerriglia politica in Ucraina. Viktor Yutschenko sempre più debole
TICINO LIBERO.ch, San Vittore Marzo 8, 2009
Da quel che si legge negli ultimi tempi sui giornali, l’Ucraina va sempre più alla deriva, in balìa di una crisi economica senza precedenti e di dirigenti che invece di reggere il timone passano il tempo a litigare. Il tutto per lo scoraggiamento dei politici occidentali e delle organizzazioni finanziarie internazionali.
Come scrive il quotidiano francese Le Monde, il presidente ucraino Viktor Yutschenko vuole una moratoria sino al prossimo 1. luglio sui dissensi politici ma nessuno sembra più dargli ascolto o prestargli la benché minima attenzione. Lo scorso 2 marzo il presidente si era accordato con la premier Yulia Timochenko per indirizzare al Fondo monetario internazionale una lettera d’intenti, in risposta alle critiche dell’FMI, che aveva ritardato il versamento della seconda rata di un credito di 16.4 miliardi di dollari. Il giorno dopo, il Parlamento ucraino toglieva la carica di Ministro degli affari esteri a Volodimir Ohrizko, accusato di essere filo-russo, ma in realtà Ohrizko era filo-Yutschenko ed era questo che dava fastidio.
Il 4 marzo Yulia Timochenko era ricevuta a Parigi con tutti gli onori e più o meno nello stesso momento, per ordine di Yutschenko, le truppe speciali dell’esercito di Kiev, tra le poche ad essergli ancora fedeli, irrompevano negli uffici di Naftogaz con l’intento di sequestrare il contratto per la fornitura di gas che Naftogaz aveva stipulato con Mosca.
Lo scopo era quello di farlo annullare da un giudice compiacente ed evitare il riallineamento di Kiev con la Russia. L’accordo era stato siglato da Yulia Timochenko e da Vladimir Putin per mettere fine alla crisi del gas che aveva lasciato al freddo mezza Europa.
La motivazione ufficiale era invece un’altra, ossia una perquisizione degli uffici nell’ambito di un’inchiesta sul furto di enormi quantità di gas russo da parte della Naftogaz, pesantemente indebitata e incapace di far fronte ai suoi impegni economici.
Oltre alle beghe legate al gas, l’Ucraina è resa instabile dalla lotta serrata fra Yutschenko e la sua premier in vista delle elezioni presidenziali del 2010. Mentre si avvia alla scadenza elettorale, l’Ucraina sprofonda sempre più negli abissi della crisi.
La produzione industriale è quasi inesistente, in poco più di quattro mesi la moneta locale ha perso oltre il 40% del proprio valore, una situazione drammatica per risparmiatori e imprese che avevano contratto crediti in dollari.
Chi aveva provato a ritirare i risparmi dalle banche aveva avuto una sgradevole sorpresa: prelievo impossibile, conti bloccati. Nonostante questo la maggior parte delle economie della popolazione ucraina si trova negli armadi e sotto i materassi. Un potenziale in danaro che a detta del presidente del Consiglio della Banca nazionale ucraina dovrebbe essere sfruttato. Unico problema: la gente non si fida più delle banche e i soldi li tiene in casa.
Se l’Ucraina subirà, come purtroppo si teme, un tracollo finanziario, le conseguenze si faranno sentire anche in Europa, sui bilanci di quei governi che le avevano concesso larghi prestiti, così come li avevano fatti alle “nuove emergenti” economie dell’Europa dell’Est.
Yulia Timochenko, che una volta era alleata di Yutschenko e come lui era decisa ad avvicinare l’Ucraina all’Unione europea e alla Nato, adesso ha cambiato rotta e si sta avvicinando sempre più alla Russia. Il confronto tra i due ex-alleati potrebbe avere risvolti drammatici, non da ultimo una guerra civile.
(http://www.ticinolibero.ch/crisi-e-guerriglia-politica-in-ucraina-viktor-yutschenko-sempre-piu-debole/4034/08/03/2009/) |
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