Not far from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, one can locate two cage-like walls of wires, 150 m high (492 ft) and 800 m long (2,625 ft).
Meet the Duga-3, aka the Steel Yard, the now-defunct over-the-horizon early warning radar system. The Duga family, part of the Soviet ABM early warning network, caused a nasty "rat-tat-tat" sound on shortwave radio frequencies worldwide from 1976 to 1989, thus earning it the nickname “Russian Woodpecker.” Pretty impressive, isn’t it? Click here and here for GoogleMaps.
The Duga-3, completed in 1985, was deactivated soon after the Chernobyl disaster. As of today, Ukraine operates two other ABM early warning radars in Sevastopol and Mukachevo.
Zhirinovsky Hunts Crows From Train Window “Could this man really become Russia’s president?” For the BBC, this might be a legitimate question to ask before they bump into another “must-have” Hitler toy in Ukraine.
For Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the enfant terrible of Russian politics, riding on a train can be a unique opportunity of hunting.
Recently the Vice Speaker of the Duma embarked on what looks like a shoot-a-crow safari through the Russian countryside, amplified by a spectacular stream of consciousness that both entertains and horrifies.
The Duma Communists, whom Zhirinovsky managed to plug into the video, have demanded that the Vice Speaker be censured for his innovative technique.
Zhirinovsky: Yes, yes, there it is, there it is! Just perfect! Give me the gun quick, come on! That’s it. It’s like a shooting range. I mean, if you walk, you won’t find anything. But if you ride, you’ll spot all kinds of wildlife everywhere. It can be killed. There it flies again, looking good. They’re flying real good. There it goes again. There it lands. That’d be a great shot. Here’s another one. Here’s another one sitting. Here! Didn’t I ask you to bring me a loaded gun? I will load it myself. Just let them bring the gun.
Travel companion: They say you’re a sharp shooter. Zhirinovsky: They…they’re big. They just don’t know any better [mumbles smth incoherent to himself]. Normally, I used to hit 96 out of a hundred, with a small-bore gun. With a pistol, I could hit, albeit rarely, 27 out of 30, out of 3 [incoherent speech]. My eyes are not what they used to be. Time goes by. When you’re young, your eyes are good, until you’re about 30. When I was about 30, I started losing my sight. Give it to me. Yep, bring it over here, over here. It’s not loaded? Wow, wow, wow! That’s my favorite gun. Ready? That’s bad. You don’t love me. Just five cartridges, and all of them kind of foreign. Are these used to hunt bears? That’s my favorite gun. It’s 30 years old, ИЖ-16. I don’t take care of it. I don’t grease it. I don’t do anything. I don’t do anything. Now we have to open the window and once a crow appears, we’ll do her. That’s a great way to hunt. It’s luxury hunting: You sit in a luxury car and wait for the target to appear.
But where’s the target, damn it? You’re freezing. It’s the March wind. We should have someone look ahead. Babakov (?), get on the footboard and look ahead. Once you see those crows, you let me know. Where? Where? Where? I haven’t seen anything. Don’t fool me. The speed is high. The speed’s increased. The train…why is it moving so fast? When I didn’t have the gun, there were lots of crows. Now that they’ve brought the gun, it’s over. There’s nothing out there! It’s Murphy’s law. Find anything, Babakov? Don’t pity yourself! Get on the footboard and look. Why are you pitying yourself? You’ll freeze, you’ll get sick. What do we do?
You see, as we move further out of town, there’s nothing. Them smart birds! We should’ve hunted at [town name unintelligible] as we moved across town — we had plenty of them there. And here we have nothing. What? Where is it? Where is it? You’re not seeing the right thing. Talk about flying. Oh! Wooow! It’s too far, too far, but there were two of them. Where? That’s too far, can’t you see? Here they come! Boom! (fires gun) That’s too far, and the speed is too fast. But that was fun. Where? Is it sitting? Is it sitting or not? Who says it’s sitting? Boom! (fires gun) It’s too…far away. Hahaha! Birds, birds. See how good it gets. There’s hunting by helicopter, and now there’s hunting by train. What? Right on target. They’ve got their nests over there. That means they’re gone…they’ve flown away looking for food. Where? Ugh, it got away, it got away. It feels things, it feels things. It got away! Boom! (fires gun)
Under the communists, they used to fly in flocks, in communes, and now they don’t. They’re individuals. Where are you, birds? Where are those Godly creatures? What? There are lots of nests. What? Where? There it is, there it is, there it is! Boom! (fires gun). This was closer, but I was after the furthest one. Ugh…the powder is foreign. Our cartridges smell better. The powder. That’s the last we’ve got. Ugh…that was a nice bird, shit! In an orange outfit, shit! What? Hahaha! Laborers! (waves his hand out the window) Should I blow away some chicken, huh? Or a dog, perhaps? Here they are, the chickens. Chickens, chickens, chickens… Boom! (fires gun) Bwahaha! Didn’t I make them a nice holiday? The cartridges. Babakov, give me some more cartridges. No cartridges left, hahaha! Those were fat chickens, black and yellow. No cartridges, huh? What? None left?
Travel companion: Just a moment.
Zhirinovsky: That’s the best…what? Where? Who’s there? Who’s sitting there? Wow! Did you see them? I would definitely get those…I would definitely hit this flock. Here they are. Damn it, where are the cartridges? Ugh…damn it! Oh, those are the ones for me! Here they are all sitting, here they are!
As long as the Russian countryside laborers refrain from the Soviet partisan practice of train derailment, Zhirinovsky has a chance to join http://www.crowbusters.com. After all, the person who garnered 9.35 percent of the vote in Russia’s 2008 presidential election could bring fresh blood into the crow-busting cause.
Ukrainian helicopter crashes in Black Sea, killing 19
KYIV, Ukraine: A helicopter belonging to Ukraine's state gas company crashed into the Black Sea, leaving 19 people dead, a [Naftogaz] company official said Monday.
Today, Ukraine, along with other Orthodox countries, celebrates Easter. Known as Velykden, Easter starts with an all-night vigil, preceded by weeks of rigorous fasting required by the Church.
The traditional Ukrainian Easter table showcases pysankas or krashankas (Easter eggs) and paskas (Easter bread), as pictured above. People greet each other by saying "Khrystos voskres!" (Christ is risen) and replying "voistynu voskres!" (He is truly risen).
Academician Valeri Legasov: What we see is the tower of the second leg. To the left is the block…the central hall of Block 4. Turn it on! Hither, higher! That’s it! Keep it right on that spot! Keep it! Keep it where the smoke is, where the smoke is. Keep it just like that, just like that.
Narrator: You’re watching a rare footage. Those are spots of red-hot graphite rods. Their high temperature created a strong upward stream, which lifted radioactive particles off the reactor’s shaft.
On Saturday, April 26, 1986 at 01:23:40 a.m, I was a 6-year old asleep in Kyiv, a mere 80 miles away from the scene of the world’s worst environmental disaster.
I remember those days quite vividly. It was sunny. It was summer-hot. My friends and I would play soccer. As rumors began to spread, my parents would ground me. I remember staring out the firmly sealed window, consumed with jealously, watching my buddies playing out in the field. I stayed in Kyiv until May 8.
When I grew up, I learned that in Prypyat they had five or six weddings on April 26, 1986, with radiation already reaching lethal levels.Evacuation began 30 hours after the accident. The first Soviet news report came a week after the event, in a newspaper article the size of a classified ad in a contact magazine.
Chernobyl exploded the myth of the Soviet system’s humanity and reliability, a revelation that, amid perestroika, accelerated its demise.
According to one report, Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, the communist leader of Soviet Ukraine, pleaded with Mikhail Gorbachev to keep May 1 celebrations to a minimum. Gorby said no, sending thousands of people to bake on the streets of Kyiv.
The UN’s new policy puts Chernobyl as fine for human habitation, despite the fact that most of the radioactive elements there still haven’t reached their half-life. No wonder the UN Secretariat have not rushed to spend their summer vacations in the Chernobyl zone, in what was, prior to the disaster, one of the most popular recreation zones for Kyivites.
YouTube offers a variety of Chernobyl videos, some of them with creepy dance soundtracks. There’s a Greenpeace video with animation that belongs on MTV, as opposed to a documentary on the world's worst technological disaster.
By the way, Chernobyl (Чернобыль) is the Russian name. Chornobyl (Чорнобиль) is the Ukrainian one. This is perhaps the only case when I adhere to a Russian-based transliteration of a Ukrainian geographic name. Chernobyl signifies a historical event rather than a mere geographic name. It is a product of the Soviet system, and one of the top Soviet "brands" at that.
May we never forget the sacrifice of people who gave their lives in cleaning up the mess of Chernobyl. May we never forget the suffering of children who died because of Chernobyl.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Tymo: Keep That Camera On!
Locked in mortal combat with President Yushchenko over every major issue, Prime Minister Tymoshenko counts on the camera to get her points across.
PM Tymoshenko: I’ve long noticed that, unfortunately, when I raise questions concerning the rather deep corruption, concerning systemic reforms, some journalists sitting in the room would nod to their cameras to have them turned off. It’s just that I’ve noticed it. Next time, I will address people by name and will ask them not to turn off the cameras.
Social ads in Ukraine rarely carry strong selling points.
Still convinced that you’ll be better-off in a foreign country? Illegal labor migration, illegal employment abroad means children left without parental guidance, inhuman living conditions, forced and unpaid labor, human trafficking for labor and sexual exploitation. Don’t look at employment abroad through rose-colored glasses. Work in Ukraine. Keep up the good old human values: the parents, the kids, and the Fatherland. You deserve a decent job and a decent pay in Ukraine.
Decent pay…hmmm. You mean, like, $200-300 a month? Is that enough to support the parents, the kids, and the Fatherland?
Forget it, say millions of skilled blue-collar and thousands of white-collar Ukrainians who work abroad. Known as zarobitchany, they sent an estimated $8.4 billion worth of remittances to Ukraine in 2006, a figure twice as high as the country’s FDI for that year.
Ukraine Portrayed as Naziland on Russian Television (Updated)
If you’re looking for journalism in the mainstream Russian media’s coverage of Ukraine, you’re wasting your time. The glacier of the post-Yeltsin/post-Putin era has confined balanced reporting to a handful of media outlets and a fledgling blogosphere.
Monitoring reports about Ukraine, whether originating on Russian television or in the Kremlin, can be compared to time travel. Welcome to the lost world of Pravda, Izvestia, and programma Vremya.
To the extent that the Western media often cite Russian sources as an authority on Ukraine, they also partake in this smorgasbord of Soviet-style propaganda.
As a result, the public, both in Russia and the West, often consumes a widely circulated mix of silly misconceptions and sinister misrepresentations:
small-size, such as Russian media reports of CIA prisons on Ukrainian territory;
Narrator: Gift-wrapped in black is the hit of spring sales in Ukraine, the Hitler toy. Not a very large toy, about 40 cm in size, but with a wardrobe that even Barbie would envy. The uniform comes in everyday and parade versions, complete with a dark-green leather coat, plus a replacement head made of porcelain, with a good-natured face and a peaked cap with fascist eagles, two Iron Crosses, and, of course, a swastika. It’s everywhere. The manufacturers — the marking says China — obviously did a sophisticated job developing the concept. They captured Hitler in detail, down to his jackboots. The heels are lined with square nails, like those used in the German military footwear of the 1930s. The only mismatch is the eyeglasses: For some reason, they resemble those of John Lennon, imparting humanity to the premier Nazi in the world.
“Buy today. Tomorrow can be too late.” Despite the not-so-childish price of about $250, in Kyiv there’s a whole line of people eager to buy the toy.
Store manager: The toy’s made of plastic. No, it has moving arms and legs. I’m a having a boy…a male customer at the moment.
Narrator: In stores, they tell and show, with pleasure, what the Hitler toy can do.
Store manager: Here come the decorations, orders, a tie, a cane, this thing I don’t know how to call, and gloves. Yes, you can undress him; his clothes are equipped with snap fasteners.
Narrator: This can be a table souvenir but one can also use the Hitler toy to play soldiers. There are no age specifications. The gift is suitable both for children and adults, store managers say.
[Embattled Ukrainophobe] Oles Buzyna: The very policy of the Ukrainian government leads to the resurgence of neo-Nazism in Ukraine. When an officer of the German army, Hitler’s army, gets the “hero of Ukraine” honorary title from Yushchenko, I believe that, naturally, every kid should have a Hitler toy. What else can you play with according to Yushchenko’s rules?
While the Hitler toy hasn’t yet become the dream of Ukrainian boys and girls, as Barbie did in the US, those who remember the deeds of the toy’s prototype are sounding the alarm. But the State Commission on Ethics and Morals maintains peace of mind.
Heorhiy Buiko, chairman of the Anti-Fascist Committee of Ukraine: It’s immoral, immoral from the vantage point of assessing history and the results of the Great Patriotic War for our people, and World War II for the international community.
Narrator: In Ukraine, many still recall the fascism popularization scandal. Last year, in one of the most prestigious private Kyiv schools (even Yushchenko’s kids study there) a foreign teacher offered students to discover positive moments in the actions of Hitlerites. A special commission has been conducting a probe for half a year, but no results have been available so far. In the center of the Ukrainian capital, not far from Maidan Nezalezhnosti, it was only in the runup to Victory Day celebrations that Mein Kampf, Hitler’s book, was taken off newsstands. After all, on May 9 those who defeated fascism will definitely march here.
As a Kyivite, I’ve read reports of Mein Kampf being peddled in downtown Kyiv. This ugly phenomenon, while not unique to Ukraine, must not be tolerated.
But the $250 Hitler toy, “the hit of spring sales,” and the "whole line of people" eager to buy it have totally escaped my attention. Where are they?
UPDATE
Well, it appears that the BBC has already picked up the Russian side of the story, albeit with some discrepancies.
UNIAN has done the same, quoting The Earth Times, which in turn traces the story to "Zerkalo Tizhden" yet provides no links.
Russian political scientist Sergey Markov: Dragging Ukraine into NATO are the same Washington lunatics who started the civil war in Iraq between Sunni and Shia. Like a bull in a china shop, like a drunken cowboy, they barged into that Iraq and ruined the whole place. Everybody’s fighting. Likewise, they want to bar…barge, like a drunken cowboy, into Ukraine and ruin the whole place there.
NSDC Secretary Raisa Bohatyryova: As always, I see myself as a fighter for the Party, as its trustworthy political ally and as a partner of my colleagues. You know, roles are not the most important thing for me. Even though politicians are actors, I believe I’m playing my role well.
That’s exactly the point! Who knows, maybe we’re about to witness a Best Actress nomination from the Presidential Secretariat. Keeping my fingers crossed, I’m off to watch Christina Aguilera’s “Reflection.”
Fed up with the chronic turf battles and micromanagement in the Orange camp, BYuT blew a fuse Wednesday.
BYuT DEMANDS THAT PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO STOP HIS ANTI-UKRAINIAN ACTIVITY
We demand that President Yushchenko stop his anti-Ukrainian activity. The Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, seeking to preserve the democratic coalition and consolidate the democratic forces in parliament and society, has long ignored the aggressive and unfounded attacks of the Head of State and his Secretariat regarding the coalition Government, and specifically regarding the Prime Minister and the democratic coalition.
However, todays’ confrontation between the President and his Secretariat on the one hand, and the Government and the democratic coalition on the other, has gone so far that one cannot remain silent.
Therefore, the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko faction in the Verkhovna Rada has the authority to state the following:
1. The President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, seeking to preserve a thin hope of re-election, has resorted to complete destruction of the beginnings and initiatives of the democratic Government;
2. The President of Ukraine has blocked all the anti-corruption programs of the democratic government (namely, in the area of land trade); the Head of State has virtually become a guarantor of corruption schemes. The Secretariat has also blocked the implementation of certain items of the coalition agreement (namely, building a professional army, combatting corruption and entitlement, etc);
3. The President and his Secretariat are knowingly and deliberately fanning the hysteria and panic surrounding the country’s inflation, as if without knowledge (or perhaps, on the contrary, with full knowledge) that a mere mention of inflation by the Head of State already raises prices by several percentage points;
4. The President of Ukraine is blocking and stalling a civilized privatization process, thereby destroying the state budget of Ukraine and crippling the social policies of the Government;
5. The President of Ukraine and his Secretariat are trying to take under their wing the shadowy schemes in the natural gas industry and secure “third-party interests” in this area at the cost of Ukraine’s national interests.
6. As in the year 2005, the President of Ukraine has turned the National Security and Defense Council into a stronghold of confrontation vis-à-vis the Government. The National Security and Defense Council is staffed by people who profess separatist ideas and stand for, or stood for, the partition of Ukraine; are infusing society with provocative ideas, such as making Russian an official language; and stand against Ukraine’s integration into Europe;
7. The President of Ukraine and his Secretariat have taken under their wing the corrupt management of the State Property Fund and of the Kyiv City Hall;
8. The President of Ukraine has consolidated around him yesterday’s leaders of clans and oligarch financial groups, which under the cover of charitable activity, are trying to return to power;
9. The President of Ukraine and his Secretariat are knowingly fomenting discord within the democratic coalition, and by putting nonsensical items on the parliamentary agenda, are trying to block the work of parliament;
10. The President of Ukraine, V.A. Yushchenko has systematically disgraced the Ukrainian State by making statements that denigrate Ukraine the world over. In the current situation, the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko faction is demanding that the President of Ukraine stop his ANTI-UKRAINIAN activity and refrain from destroying the opportunity for democratic development of the Ukrainian State. We demand a stop to the cynical destruction and wreckage of the democratic coalition, which is being carried out today in the name of Yushchenko’s victory in the next presidential election. We demand that the President immediately rescind all the decrees and directives that are blocking the work of the democratic Government, and let this Government finally work. We demand that the Ukrainian agenda be restored to the National Security and Defense Council and that this organization be cleared of mismatches. Today, amid the global economic crisis and the revival of aggressive anti-Ukrainian developments abroad, Ukraine is facing formidable challenges which it should meet adequately. We find it unfortunate that in this difficult situation the activities of the President of Ukraine pose one of the major threats to the independence of Ukraine and its sovereignty. We also warn that whatever adventures are being masterminded in the Secretariat of the President, such as direct presidential rule and a summary referendum on the Constitution, they will receive an adequate response. Our statement regarding the President of Ukraine in no way concerns our colleagues and friends in the democratic coalition, from the bloc of Nasha Ukrayina-Narodna Samooborona. We will do everything in our power to preserve the democratic coalition, and we will not let anyone destroy the opportunity for civilized, democratic development of Ukraine.
We believe that in the current situation there is only one civilized and legitimate solution: amending the Constitution in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which will put a stop to the lawlessness and disorder and will put the country back on the track of democratic development in the interests of all its citizenry.
As the Orange Coalition bursts at the seams, amid finger-pointing, double-crossing, and runaway inflation, the shyrkoid hyenas are licking their lips:
Opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych: In some four months they’ve managed to force down the economy of Ukraine like that. Four billion hr…ten billion hryvnias is the number by which Ukrainians’ have become poorer in four months — due to inflation. Patience knows no boundaries, but it’s got to end somewhere, as they say. I believe that this end will come very fast. But if you’re able to rectify the situation, we will applaud you — with pleasure — and so will the entire Ukrainian people.
Опустити (to force down, to lower, etc) is also prison slang for forced sex. Not a very surprising word choice for someone who served two terms.
Kiddie Voiceovers Exploited in Kyiv Mayoral Campaign
The 2008 Kyiv mayoral campaign has given birth to baby voicing, an innovative underground PR technique that rivals traditional baby kissing.
Little boy’s voiceover: Dear passengers, while the train is moving keep away from the sliding door. Passenger 1: It’s very interesting, and very…I don’t know how to say it…pleasant! Little boy: Please get faster into the cars; don’t loiter by the door; proceed further into the cars. Passenger 2: It must be some kind of artistic studio doing these things, right? The elocution is good. Thanks! Little boy: Mind the door! Passenger 3: Such a nice tone. And quite convincing! Little boy: The next station is Poznyaky. Passenger 4: It brings a smile to the passengers’ faces. It’s some sort of feel-at-home thing. Little boy: The next station is Slavutych.
Incumbent Mayor Chernovetsky: I’m showing you today…uh…my registration card as a candidate for the post of Mayor of Ukraine. Audience: It's Kyiv, Kyiv…hahaha!
Chernovetsky: Ma…hahaha…Mayor…Mayor of Kyiv. I’ve raised the approval ratings of Kyiv authorities so high that even Yulia Tymoshenko became interested in working with me…uh…in the Kyiv City Council. Is there anyone who thi…who can imagine that the Prime Minister will attend my…uh…sessions. It’s some kind of nonsense. It’s enough for her to just…but I will gladly accept her.
President Yushchenko: I’ve traveled with a camera, I’ve seen thousands of fantastic scenes, which I shot, and I would like to make some kind of album of the Ukraine that I’ve seen and of the world that I’ve seen.
Flip vertical, make a good perspective.
Photographer 1: One more second. President Yushchenko: Got one? Photographer 2: Not bad. Photographer 1: One more second, one more second. President Yushchenko: Kolya, you’re our only hope. Flip vertical!
Lately, our President has traveled a lot: Lybia, Egypt, Poland. He hasn’t not failed to “phone home.” Speaking in Warsaw on Tuesday, President Yushchenko rejected the idea of a two-round election, saying this about the upcoming mayoral election in Kyiv:
“The country needs stabilnist, quietude, not PR tricks and electioneering technologies.”
Let’s set the record straight on stabilnist. In Ukraine, stabilnist (стабільність) does not necessarily correspond to the English word stability (e.g. stability in the global financial market, stability in the Middle East, etc).
An analysis of Ukraine’s political context provides the following synonyms for stabilnist: servility, slavery, stupidity, sovok, spin, stagnation, special interests, submissiveness, societal sadomasochism. Regrettably, the S-word — so skillfully spun by the Yanukovych camp — has deeply penetrated Yushchenko’s vocabulary.
What does stabilnist mean in terms of Kyiv mayoral elections? Who stands to benefit from a single-round election?
The answer is Mayor Chernovetsky.
Faced with a dispersed collection of challengers, namely Klychko, Turchynov, Katerynchuk, et al, incumbent Mayor Chernovetsky has a high chance of winning a plurality. He did it in 2006, with 32 percent of the vote; he may do it again.
By supporting stabilnist instead of a two-round election, Yushchenko puts his stamp of approval on Chernovetsky’s stewardship of Kyiv and boosts his re-election chances.
Emulating Tymoshenko’s passion for fashion can be a disaster on a national scale.
NSDC Secretary Raisa Bohatyryova: I think that the leverage and opportunity I have as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council will allow me to make our policy more balanced and pragmatic.
Here’s a “balanced” footage from TRK Kyiv, a hijacked municipal channel that acts as a mouthpiece for incumbent Mayor Chernovetsky.
Narrator: Meanwhile, a dozen supporters gathered outside the City Hall to rally for their candidate.
Unemployed men with signs of drinking problems Man 1: We came to vote for Krivo…for Klychko, Vladimir…Vitalik [diminutive for Vitaliy]. Man 2: What are you doing? Man 3: Hi mom! Man 4: We hope he gives us jobs, so that we don’t walk around dirty like that. Man 3: What are you staring at, man? Man 4: Klychko is a sportsman, right? Okey-dokey.
Narrator: Klychko representatives were not happy with their potential voters. They ripped out the slogan banners and chased away their candidate’s supporters.
Klychko representative: Vitaliy Klychko does not campaign with slogans like this, you understand? This whole “fella” lingo… [tears apart a faux slogan with the word пацаны (fellas)].
Narrator: Klychko hasn’t yet divulged the slogans he will use and the unique selling point of his campaign.
As she addressed the Federation of Labor Unions, PM Yulia Tymoshenko mixed classic narcissism with grim reality and unintended humor.
PM Yulia Tymoshenko: I, for one, am lonely. I have a wall of absolutely vested interests before me, a team of officials that have long been working for these vested special interests, and if I want to snatch back something for you, they will first call me a populist, an unprofessional person, a person who ruins business, cooperation — whatever. But never in my whole life have I heard that this harmony between you and business should really be restored.
As of today, the main contenders are incumbent Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky, world-famous boxer Vitaliy Klychko, and Vice-Premier Oleksandr Turchynov, BYuT.
Polls put Chernovetsky, who has improved his standing, and Klychko, who pins hope on late deciders, in the high 20s to low 30s range.
With an approval rating of just 4 percent, BYuT's pick for mayor, Turchynov, faces an uphill battle in converting his party's strong local showings into personal gains.
Mayor beater Yuriy Lutsenko, NUNS, chose not to run. Vasyl Horbal of the Party of Regions will not make it, and neither will former mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko.
However, in a single-round election, smalltime and namesake candidates have considerable nuisance value: siphoning votes. Their power may determine the outcome.
Vitaliy Klychko: For me, the decision to run for mayor of Kyiv is balanced, thoughtful and clear-cut. I’m not going to quit, and all agreements on fielding a joint candidate are a matter of political agreement.
Vitaliy Klychko: You know, I’ll use my hands if I have to; I, for one, will use my hands, my feet, and, primarily, my head. I am responsible for the team — the team of professionals — that I bring with me. Those are professional people, moral people, people that are known in Kyiv: Vitalyi Klychko, Ivan Plachkov.
Comment: To an ordinary Kyivite, Ivan Plachkov, a former Energy Minister, hardly rings a bell. And what about those land barons on your teams?
Kyiv Mayor Leonid "Kosmos" Chernovetsky: I’m going to run my campaign on a positive note, I don’t…I know a lot of things, I can talk for days about the misdeeds of various people, but I myself, as a believer, can’t say that I’m absolutely sinless. There are no sinless people in this world. There was only one person, Jesus Christ, but he ascended to heaven.
Comment: And what planet are you heading for after you’re done with your earthly business? But wait a minute, aren’t Christians supposed to follow Christ? Isn’t that the idea behind Christianity?
Vice-Premier Oleksandr Turchynov: Unfortunately, there are historical examples, namely Hitler, who, before attacking some democratic country, would accuse it of all mortal sins. And after that, to promote some interests of his own, he would start the aggression. Unfortunately, the actions of Mr. Baloha remind me of this historical example. You know that our bloc has done everything to build the coalition, our bloc has done everything to ensure the coalition’s normal functioning, and will continue working within the boundaries of the coalition agreement to carry out the duties that we assumed before the Ukrainian people as well as before our allies.
Comment: Too much lofty rhetoric, too little time to make the BYuT brand work for you. Any land lovers on your team?
Yuriy Lutsenko, Minister of the Interior: The full brunt of responsibility for defeating Chernovetsky lies with the BYuT and Klychko Bloc leadership. Once again, I call on them to use political acumen, I call on them to meet and I’m ready to pose as a moderator during that meeting in order to reach a serious, principled agreement to join our forces.
Comment: Any progress on the X-files? The truth is out there?
Translated from Ukrainian, “НАTO — HI!” means “NATO NO!” Tricky character encoding, isn’t it?
Once discovered by the local punditry, the false friend became joke fodder online and on talk shows. In fact, no other cross-linguistic trap can better convey the Party of Regions’ yo-yoing on NATO, as it has evolved from the “hi!” of 2003/04 to the “ні!” of 2005/08.
Welcome to the latest edition of Regionalist’s Digest.
Viktor Yanukovych met with the US President
01.04.2008, 15:58
On April 1 the Party of Regions Leader Viktor Yanukovych met with the US President George Bush.
Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration issues were discussed during the meeting. "The Party of Regions supports Euro-integration direction of Ukraine’s development", Viktor Yanukovych mentioned.
As for NATO, the Party of Regions Leader stressed out that Ukraine lacks a unified opinion on this issue. The results of sociological polls testify that the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians are opposed to NATO’s accession.
"Ukraine’s entry into NATO will be possible only after a referendum on this issue in Ukraine", Viktor Yanukovych mentioned, "politicians are not entitled to solve this matter without taking into account the public opinion". http://www.partyofregions.org.ua/eng/pr-east-west/47f231787f9c6/
Viktor Yanukovych gave an interview to "Kyiv telegraph" newspaper
The Party of Regions Leader Viktor Yanukovych gave an interview to "Kyiv telegraph" newspaper. A broad range of questions was addressed during the interview: the internal political situation in the country and Ukraine’s NATO ambitions, pre-term elections in Kyiv and relations among the branches of power, staff policy and economic challenges of Ukraine, etc.
Answering journalists’ questions concerning the 100 days of the present government performance, Viktor Yanukovych outlined: "The main mistake of the Yulia Tymoshenko government is ineffective economy. They conceal their inability to work efficiently in this sphere with lies and populism. They divert the public attention from the problems which occur in the country and are generated by this government through creating artificial conflicts. The examples are abundant: rise in prices, problems with gas, oil, and oil products. Consequences of these artificial crises are increase of inflation and decline of people’s living standard". http://www.partyofregions.org.ua/eng/pr-east-west/4559abe3c46ab/
Iryna Akimova: The Tymoshenko government is unable to manage price growth
08.04.2008, 17:59
“The Tymoshenko government continues to set new inflation records”, Minister of Economy of the Opposition government, the Party of Regions People’s Deputy Iryna Akimova noted in her comment to the Party of Regions press-service. “Statistical indices show it explicitly. Within March of 2008 consumer prices in Ukraine grew by 3.8% as compared to February. It is the highest monthly inflation rate since January of 2000”. She also informed:
- Since the beginning of this year inflation has amounted to 9.7%. Thus, price advance in the first quarter of 2008 exceeded the government’s annual prognosis of 9.6%.
Moreover, in March of 2008 the 12-month inflation accelerated to 26.2% as compared to 16.6% early in the year.
Vasiliy Khara: The Tymoshenko government is a direct threat to the Ukrainian economy
08.04.2008, 13:50
The People’s Deputy, the Party of Regions parliamentary faction member Vasiliy Khara’s comment on the present Cabinet performance.
- For the time being all Ukrainians on the one hand witness and on the other become hostages of recurring crises of 2005 due to unprofessional actions of the Tymoshenko government, Vasiliy Khara mentioned.
Prices on primary necessities have grown by 20-25%, on medicine - by 30%. Energy resources prices have spurred, and petrol and diesel fuel prices have almost reached the European level. Inflation for the first quarter is already at a rate of the annual limit - 10%.
The key reason of such state of affairs is unstable economy. Production growth has decreased, the GDP indices have fallen. Insufficiently considered payments of the Savings bank lost deposits did not increase the welfare level of people indeed, but, vice versa, triggered inflation. http://www.partyofregions.org.ua/eng/pr-east-west/47fb4df6c2626/
Hanna Herman: The people rather than some large and great states should determine Ukraine’s fate and place in the world
02.04.2008, 14:59
During a briefing concerning the protest actions against Ukraine’s drawing into NATO at the Alliance summit in Bucharest, the People’s Deputy, the Party of Regions parliamentary faction Vice-Chairperson Hanna Herman informed that a key slogan of anti-NATO meetings, initiated by the Party of Regions members, that will take place on April 3, will be: ‘Nothing about us without us!’
‘It is high time our fate, the fate of the Ukrainian people was not determined by someone, by some great states. And, by the way, the Bucharest summit results may put an end to the era when the great states, the mighty of this world, defined fate of smaller states. ‘Nothing about us without us!’ is our key slogan for tomorrow’, the People’s Deputy stated.
Hanna Herman outlined that the people rather than the large and great states should determine Ukraine’s fate and place in the world. It is the Party of Regions’ position.
‘It is very important for us that by April 4, when Ukraine’s fate will be decided, the world and the global leaders gathering in Bucharest have heard the Ukrainian people’s opinion. We believe that the opposition’s voice, that sounded during the preparation period to the Bucharest summit, was heard by the global leaders. And today the position of France and Germany testifies that this voice had been heard.
After a public relations battle that spilled over onto the streets of Kyiv, the court has finally made a decision in a case that pitted Ukraine’s richest man against the Tymoshenko Cabinet.
Rinat Akhmetov: We respect the court’s decision. The court has made this decision. We have two options: We can challenge the court’s decision, and option two…uh…that is, if the board meeting was illegitimate, we still paid more than one billion hryvnias [$200 m] to the government, which means that the government owes us more than one billion hryvnias. So, the option we are going to elect, I believe we’ll make it public shortly.
Intro: Inflation in Ukraine has beaten all forecasts. Since the beginning of the year, it has reached 10 percent, while the Finance Minister had forecasted a rate of 9.6% for the entire year. World Bank experts come up with even grimmer forecasts — 20 percent by year-end. Still, aside from pessimistic forecasts, the world’s economists also issue some useful tips. Tasha Trofimova spoke with the economists.
Narrator: Today, even kids know about inflation. A school cafeteria makes for a better study than any economics class.
High school student: [A slice of] pizza was 1.80/$.36 and now it’s 2.20/$.44.
Narrator: For several weeks, the girls’ pocket money budgets have failed to make both ends meet. A while ago, 5 hryvnias was enough to cover their daily cafeteria joys of life. Now, it’s twice as much.
High school student: My parents give me money based on prices. Food is very expensive.
Narrator: The high school students’ observations are borne out by the State Statistical Committee. Food prices rose the most throughout the year, by almost 40 percent. Transportation, health care and housing are slightly below that rate. But already, everything costs more. Inflation, of course, was predicted but not at such a rampant rate: Officially, the expected rate was 9.6% for the entire year, but it’s already one percentage point above that figure. And that’s hardly the end of it. Officials are not hesitating with their forecasts; independent experts are waxing eloquent.
Mykhailo Kolisnyk, economist: In this case, I’d talk about an inflation rate of 12% and possibly up to 30%.
Narrator: Officials are no longer as optimistic as they were at the beginning of the year. Measures to rein in inflation were today discussed by the President, the Prime Minister, and the Speaker of Parliament.
President Yushchenko: We should take the most robust of measures to bring balance to the situation, because it’s impossible to explain to people why we should have such a high inflation.
Narrator: The President is demanding a budget overhaul to protect the poorest and to raise the minimum living level to 515 hryvnias [$103]. Adding a few more hryvnias worth of welfare to the underprivileged would, according to preliminary estimates, swell the budget by an additional UAH 70 billion [$14 b]. That scares the World Bank economists. They offer different advice: By all means, do not raise spending and do raise utility bills immediately.
Martin Raiser, World Bank representative in Ukraine: Natural gas prices have risen. The country is already paying more, but the domestic consumer — the housewife — is paying less. Raising utility bills would be a lot more efficient. It would harness inflation, and in a year or two would harness gas consumption, resulting in further savings.
Narrator: Energy efficiency is a good thing, our economists are saying, but rising utility rates would make our people panic even more. We should care about production, not elections.
Yaroslav Zhalilo, economist: Starting with 2004, there’s been a craze for outpacing…for handing out money to the populace. That doesn’t mean that the populace has too much money. Living standards remain not high enough, but this results in outpacing, measured against productivity gains and production growth.
Narrator: Here’s the advice for ordinary Ukrainians: Tighten your belts and, with a good political and economic strategy, putting the brakes on inflation will be a matter of three to four months. That said, school cafeteria prices will hardly fall. Tasha Trofimova, Serhiy Haransky, Ilya Hnedash, Novy Kanal.
Globally, agflation can be traced to an expanding global middle coupled with increased and oft-subsidized biofuel production, which distorts the full cost of biofuel.
Locally, many believe that Tymoshenko’s policy of compensating Ukrainians for a fraction of their Soviet savings has added fuel to the agflationary fire.
The idea of giving back some of the value that Ukrainians scrimped and saved while creating value in the now grabitized Soviet economy has met stiff resistance from Regionomists — and quite understandably so.
However, from an economically sound ethical perspective, the idea can only be criticized for bad timing, inflation risky mechanisms, and insufficient indexation.
Ukraine’s economic policies have been prone to extremes. Printing money was one of them. Excessive monetarism was another. The post-hyperinflation era swept a cadre of supply-side consultants from the IMF and the World Bank into the Ukrainian government. These brilliant folks confined the Ukrainian economy to a dollarized monetarist straightjacket, with a 40-percent undervalued hryvnia.
Without transparency policies, the World Bank’s calculus leads us nowhere. The housewife’s main problem is not paying too little for gas; it’s knowing too little about the gas she’s paying for, both as a consumer and as a taxpayer. In a country where huge quantities of gas create huge fortunes overnight, triple-charging the housewife will not solve the problem.
No matter how inefficient the economy and no matter how small the productivity gains, we still have companies that show fifteen-fold leaps in profitability. Talk about inflation.
Far from living in a free-lunch economy, Ukrainians should pay their bills and know what they’re paying for. This simple measure would deflate the bulk of Ukraine's economic problems.
White knights. Shark repellents. Poison pills. Green mail. Forget all that Wall Street crap! In the world of Ukrainian hostile takeovers, things work physically.
Narrator: Gunfire in broad daylight, in downtown Kyiv. This is not a civil defense drill. This is a classic culmination of a raider attack. After several years of litigation, a new boss enters the company premises, accompanied by some 150 athletically built young men.
Female employee: He hired them, a total of 144 people, as security guards. We asked him a question: And who will pay them and whom will they protect? That’s the answer we got.
Male employee: They started throwing firecrackers. Then bricks started flying over there. Then he started shooting — some kind of gun — shooting from here, from there. The fires flied all the way up to here and everywhere.
Narrator: The new boss, whom the employees rejected, has been hospitalized with a concussion. Two employees have been injured. The war for property continues — all over Ukraine. And the raiders’ main weapon is court decisions.
Yushchenko Invites Everyone to a Community Service Day
President Yushchenko: Come over here, all of you. Take three bricks or add three bricks — that will be your contribution.
College student: It’s quite terrific. It brings us closer within our student body, within our university, and basically we’re doing something wonderful for our country, and it’s getting better.
From a public relations perspective, cleaning up Mystetsky Arsenal territory works a lot better than cluttering the streets with those pompous billboards. Click here for more community service pics.
Below is a fragment from a Channel 1+1 talk show “Я так думаю” (“That’s What I Think”).
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Vice Speaker of the Russian State Duma: What was told today in Bucharest to representatives of Ukraine and Georgia — it means a 100 percent denial of accession into the bloc of NATO for times immemorial — forever. Never will either Ukraine and Georgia make it to NATO. Let me explain why. If Ukraine and Georgia are accepted, major conflicts will begin, both in Georgia and on the borders of Ukraine. Does NATO need this? NATO needs countries that have no conflicts whatsoever: Italy, Germany, Norway, Denmark. That means quietude: getting together, drinking champagne. You will have your state falling apart completely because we will immediately set “NATO prices” for gas, oil and all the rest. We will immediately deport a million Ukrainian workers.
Hanna Bezulyk, host: Vladimir Volfovich…
Zhirinovsky: Your country and economy will collapse. And what will NATO do? Georgia: Immediately there will be war with Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia. That’s why NATO will never accept you, Ukraine and Georgia. And then there’s a more important scenario. Suppose everything is fine in Ukraine and Georgia. But we here think that it doesn’t benefit us. And never will NATO trade Russia for one hundred Ukraines and two hundred Georgias.
Up Close and Personal With Anti-Bush Orthodox Crusaders
Orthodox protesters: We’re against this horny Bush, the horny Bush who came here. He has no place here.
WW II veteran twins, carrying Marshall Zhukov’s portrait: We're fighting. For a thousand years, the wars raged on for the Orthodox faith — for more than a thousand years. There were many martyrs, great martyrs, holy martyrs.
He did not surrender, he did not fork her over to Germany. [referring to Zhukov’s defense of the Motherland]
Protesters sing Orthodox hymns.
Disclaimer: The word рогатый (rohaty horny) refers to the Devil and has no sexual connotation.
The crowd consists of communists, Orthodox fundamentalists, and monarchists.
Strange bedfellows, aren’t they? Keep in mind that the Bolsheviks pillaged churches, selling the gold abroad and converting the churches into warehouses. They massacred Orthodox clergy and the Royal family. They made deals with the Third Reich.
Despite all the misery that communism brought to Ukraine, communist propaganda still works miracles. No wonder so many people’s minds are messed up like that.
Yanuk Singin' in the Rain as NATO Tells Ukraine “Until Next Time”
No longer posing as an ardent NATO aficionado — something he did in 2004 — the Viktor Yanukovych of today strongly opposes the idea of Ukraine’s membership. He and the Party of Regions have made it a cornerstone of their 2008 presidential bid, and are putting their money where their mouths are.
On April 3, the day Ukraine received her “yellow light” at the Bucharest Summit, Yanukovych and the Regionalists rocked the nation with anti-NATO telethon concerts.
Kyiv’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the heart of the Orange Revolution, saw them serenading a few thousand people, most of them youngsters, who stood in the pouring rain.
Call them the “Moscow Consensus” or the “axis of evil,” but the way Germany and France made an ugly duckling out of Ukraine earned a lot of respect from the Party of Regions. Just as these countries had no qualms about brushing Ukraine off to curry favor from the almighty GazPutin, some Ukrainian and Russian performers did not hesitate to cash in on the lucrative PRU-sponsored anti-NATO protests.
One can notice new faces in the Party of Regions’ showbiz “facebook.” Ladies and gentlemen, meet Sofia Rotaru, the famous Ukrainian-Moldovan singer who had confessed to supplying meat balls to Maidaners. This year, Rotaru sided with the Party of Regions for a gig at an anti-NATO event in Donetsk. Well, I don’t know about Donetsk, but the crowd in Kyiv greatly amused me. I emerged from Maidan Nezalezhnosti Station just in time to catch the tail of Yanukovych’s peroration.
Opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych: …and friendly relations with our neighbors and with all democratic countries of the world. Today, we must not allow that the policy of cooperation be substituted, against the will of the Ukrainian people, with the idea of accession into a military-political bloc. Today, we say to such actions of the authorities and officialdom a categorical no! Such policies threaten to destabilize the situation not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe. The balance of power on the European Continent must not be altered. In Europe, there is no place for new demarcation lines and warring military blocs. Is that we strove for, is that what we dreamed of when we declared independence in 1991? We applaud the tolerance and commitment to democratic principles, and to the right of the Ukrainian people to self-determination, that our European partners are demonstrating. We deeply appreciate the balanced positions of Germany, France and other countries that have called on their NATO partners not to make decisions against the will of the Ukrainian people. Ukraine was and is an independent state. Only the Ukrainian people have the right to decide the destiny of their country. And no one else has the right to decide the destiny of the people behind their backs. Thank you so much! Thank you all who gathered today at Ukrainian city squares to express their position, and all who care about the destiny of our motherland and our children. A deep bow to all of you! Thank you!
If only the fellas of all the world Gathered together to have a ball Imagine all the fun this company would bring And our future would be right within reach
Fellas, fellas It’s within our power To save this world from burning endlessly Let’s make peace and friendship Make our loved ones happy Spend our meetings cordially
Male host: Thank you! We thank the Party of Regions and Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych, who gave us the opportunity to finally express our opinion. Female host: Thank everyone who was not afra… [terrible noise]
Male host: …despite our, despite our having a little problem here. Female host: Thank you all! Thank you all who feared not the bad weather and came to express their position here today, to the center of the capital, to Maidan Nezalezhnosti!
Male host: Thank you, Viktor Fedorovych. Thank you, Ukrainian community! Let’s move on with our concert. Female host: And the next band to appear on the scene is the legendary Agatha Christie!
As you can see from the vivid non-verbal communication signs, the young people at Maidan did not necessarily relate to the anti-NATO cause in the manner Yanukovych desired. Most of them simply came to see their favorite bands perform. Attempts to reach them at the Regionalist wavelength failed miserably.
Elderly Russian Orthodox gonfalone bearers, who had established their credentials during the Orange Revolution as pro-Yanukovych street crusaders and scourges of Baba Paraska, felt a little out of place in that melee. I chased a few of them down the escalator.
The anti-NATO «Парни всей земли» (“Fellas of the World”) theme almost made me wet myself. This mediocre male chauvinist-sung piece of sovok raised more gender issues than any American female peace activist would be willing to make peace with. I tried to translate the first verse of that funny song.
How pathetic! They should have had the dignity to bring Herman or Bohoslovska into the mix, or at least to have them do the back vocals. (No wonder Bohatyryova ran away from that boy’s club!) Just what sort of gender equity champions has Merkel partnered herself with in Ukraine?
Anyway, now that Yushchenko has bitten his NATO bullet, the important thing is to do the homework and to lose the battle without losing the war.
Bratstvo “Fucks” Bush for Beer, Kosmos Scraps Anthrax House for Photo Opps
Bush’s arrival inspired Bratstvo activists to stage a “fuck” flash mob in which participants mosaicked their bodies on the sidewalk for a bottle of beer.
It was their way of saying hello to President Bush and the Pentagon.
Over the years, an eye-catching evolution has occurred in the political views of Dmytro Korchynsky, the leader of Bratstvo (Brotherhood) and a former member of UNSO. In the dawn of his career, Korchynsky had hogged the spotlight campaigning against the war in Chechnya.
Male participant: I feel that the earth beneath me is a little cold, but actually, in my life, I’ve experienced lying on the snow a few times, so basically I’m feeling some sort of excitement, that’s how I’d put it.
Female bystander, in an attempt to discipline the youths: Wallowing and swearing — is that what you call a protest? Young man: Who’s swearing? Female bystander: You had the stupidity to write obscenities in the capital of your motherland.
Reporter: Are you feeling a sense of satisfaction from telling “fuck” to bush? Male participant: Yes. Although, of course, I miss the moment of not seeing, with my own eyes, him watching these photographs or something like that. But I think they’ll bring it to him.
Sure, it must have been the top item in Bush’s morning briefs as he woke up in his presidential suite at Hyatt Regency. Don’t miss yourself on Google Earth and don’t forget the beer, pal! With Bratstvo in the sandbox, America's satellite capability certainly runs the risk of being overloaded!
Anthrax house protesters got a powerful ally: early mayoral elections. Both Vice Premier Turchynov and Mayor Chernovetsky rushed to claim credit for convincing the “anthrax house” builders to quit.
Chernovetsky, who is now spinning the hell out of his “servant leadership” on municipal television, tried to claim more.
Kyiv Mayor Leonid “Kosmos” Chernovetsky: We've been accused of various machinations involving…uh…well, whatever, right? Let our opponents, let our opponents try to find a single place that either I or my team in Kyiv illegally used against you. But we do find such places. [Good point!] In this particular case, we’re at a site of construction that we won’t let proceed. At the first session [of the City Council], we will revoke this permit, which was issued by former mayor Omelchenko in 2003.
Chernovetsky’s security detail tries to prevent the activists from waving a “Fuck Kosmos, too!” banner.
Voice from the crowd: Chernovetsky’s bodyguards are beating people!
Activist: The thing is, the authorities, until we raised the roof here, did absolutely nothing. And now our beloved Mayor’s spin doctors brought him here to make a statement. Uh…we believe that it’s not right, that the Mayor should be acting in the legal dimension. And it’s lo…long overdue that he should have been acting in the legal dimension, because, to stop this construction because it is simply and apparently outrageous.
If vermicelli voters re-elect Kosmos, I won’t be surprised to see the “anthrax house” off to a brand new start, in a whole new galaxy of kosmic projects. Check out this cool site.
President Bush Monday arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is the first leg of his farewell Eastern European presidential tour, which sees him perform cheerleading and brokering roles.
George W. Bush is not the first U.S. President to visit Ukraine, either in a state visit or in a private one. Richard Nixon did this in 1972, as soon-to-be-impeached President, and in 1994, as a private citizen, shortly prior to his death.
Father Bush came to Kyiv on August 1, 1990 to deliver his infamous “chicken Kiev” speech warning Ukraine against “local despotism” and “suicidal nationalism.”
He tried to sweeten that acid sermon as he revisited Kyiv in May 2004, amid Ukraine’s presidential campaign, as a guest of Viktor Pinchuk, the son-in-law of then-President Leonid Kuchma.
As U.S. President, Bill Clinton traveled to Ukraine three times: in January 1994, May 1995 and June 2000. In June 2007, Clinton, too, couldn’t resist Pinchuk’s hospitality. He attended the annual meeting of YES (Yalta European Strategy), an organization that largely remains Pinchuk’s public relations conduit.
A lot has changed in Ukraine’s political cuisine since father Bush’s fishing trip in August 1990. Luckily, we haven’t experienced “suicidal nationalism.” Not so with “local despotism,” which kind of makes Bush Sr. a semi-prophet.
Ironically, despite living in an independent country with a democratically elected President — who promised to treat Bush Jr. to the real chicken Kyiv and varenyky — we’ve built a country where most people spend their meager incomes on food.
At their meeting, Presidents Bush and Yushchenko discussed trade, investments, NATO, space cooperation and energy, including nuclear energy. (Ukraine, which operates four nuclear power plants, has large uranium deposits but depends on Russia for nuclear fuel cassettes.) They also signed a two-year roadmap agreement to be guided by in bilateral relations.
What followed was an otherwise boring press conference, except for one question that injected intrigue into the canned atmosphere. A Western reporter asked President Bush whether getting Russia to agree to missile defense deployments involved a certain trade-off — the soft-pedaling of Ukraine’s NATO aspirations. Bush replied that he will seek MAP for Ukraine, but the weight of the question did sink in.
The idea of such a trade-off raised quite a few eyebrows. It took the luster off the optimistic theory that Bush might somehow be able to dissuade Merkel from “killing” Ukraine’s MAP application at the Bucharest Summit in exchange for no longer pressing Germany to send troops to Afghanistan.
Support for enlisting Ukraine in MAP, the key prerequisite to joining the Alliance, has been lacking among other NATO members, namely France, Spain, Italy, Norway, and Greece.
As Bush prided himself on using phone call diplomacy to convince these dissenters, France made headlines, refusing to “give its green light to the entry of Ukraine and Georgia.” (So much for the “pro-American” Sarkozy.)
So, unless a miracle happens, it appears that Ukraine’s MAP application will be put on the back burner at least until the America elects a new president.
After the press conference, President George Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were to meet with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Following the meeting with Tymoshenko, who has every chance of becoming Ukraine’s next President, President Bush was to join current President Yushchenko for dinner, attended by opposition leader Yanukovych, the next big presidential hopeful. (If Yanukovych spoke English, he could make a gastro-political joke about “lame ducks” tasting better than chicken Kyiv.)
Undoubtedly, Bush’s visit raised the temperature of local politics. On Monday, hours before Air Force One landed in Boryspil Airport, a few hundred Communists burned NATO flags and Bush effigies in front of the U.S. Embassy. Some of them broke camp at Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), the onetime epicenter of the Orange Revolution.
Security was extremely tight in the city center. Police sealed off main streets, warning local residents not to stick their necks out lest they mess with the snipers watching over the presidential motorcade.
As for me, I couldn’t miss the Commie Show. I just wanted to “face the demons” — face the little red men and women who voted Ukraine out of cruel communism and into crony capitalism.
Riot police on standby
Bush, is that what you're dragging us into NATO for?
Aren't you against NATO? NATO is light and warmth!
NATO is a clear sky. Bush, you're responsible for this!
Me, mama and tato (mom and dad) — we're against the bandits of NATO!
Kyiv is a hero! NATO, get out of here! The small aircraft is the Buran, the Soviet space shuttle, mounted on the An-225 Mriya, the world's biggest jumbo jet manufactured in Kyiv.
The People's Opposition. Natalia Vitrenko. Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine.
New world order. Put the bloody dictator Bush in the international tribunal!
Aren’t they the Sovoks who voted for the Communist Party and Leonid Kuchma in spring and summer ‘94 parliamentary and presidential elections, respectively?
Aren’t they the guys who elected a president who traded the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal for IMF loans that bought him the license to make “reforms” that nuked Ukrainians out of their future, making their country unfit for EU membership? Aren’t they the guys who did it?
DemOcracy. Yushchenko, Tymoshenko, pack your bags and go to America! P.S. All surrounded by this sovok agitprop trash, I noticed a stray dog.
And I thought to myself: Damn, doesn’t this dog best represent Ukraine’s voting habits?
Hi! I’m Taras. I was born and live in Kyiv, Ukraine. Welcome to a blog that explores the political power struggle in my country.
If you’re looking for a perspective free from the Moscowcentric bias often found in the Western media, you’ve come to the right place.
Initially, I kept this blog for work portfolio purposes only, so don’t be alarmed by the blog URL:) It now keeps me working, from time to time, for a bigger purpose: helping the world get a better grasp of Ukraine. Enjoy!
