He doesn’t just ground Tymoshenko these days.
Lyudmyla Yanukovych, his estranged and old-fashioned wife, fares no better.
Long ridiculed online for her comic 2004 anti-Orange rant, she now has become the target of what looks like a mock protest.
“Ukraine is no Iran! Yanukovych is no tyrant!” “Respect First Lady!” “Freedom for First Lady” “Vitya, show Lyuda to the world!” “Lyudmyla deserves tea with Obama!” “Lyudmyla deserves coffee with Bruni!”
Seriously, what’s wrong with Lyudmyla Yanukovych joining Michelle Obama for a tea party? Now that we have no enriched uranium left, our first lady no longer poses a radiation risk to the White House, does she? The two could discuss other ways to help Ukraine out of its resources.
Carla Bruni could grab a cup of coffee with our first lady on board one of those Mistral helicopter carriers. It’s a real treasure to have a friend like Sarkozy who helps Ukraine stay out of NATO and under Russia's wing.
Any other bon voyage ideas?
Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2011/01/27/5844365/
http://tvi.ua
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Mock Rally: Free First Lady Yanukovych!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Obama Reaffirms NATO's Open Door Policy
On the eve of NATO’s 60th anniversary, U.S. President Barack Obama made an overture to countries squeezed hard by the reset button.
A quote from REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA AND NATO SECRETARY GENERAL JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER AFTER MEETING:
We've also discussed the role that NATO plays with respect to Russia and how this administration, my administration, is seeking a reset of the relationship with Russia, but in a way that's consistent with NATO membership and consistent with the need to send a clear signal throughout Europe that we are going to continue to abide by the central belief that countries who seek and aspire to join NATO are able to join NATO.
President Obama, however, did not mention any specific steps, such as his presidential campaign view of Ukraine as being ready for a Membership Action Plan (MAP).
Meanwhile, Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko, in Japan, promoted the idea of European collective security, attributing it to Sarkozy and Merkel.
Gee, I thought this whole European collective security counter-concept to NATO was the pet project of Chirac and Schröder.
Granted, neither France nor Germany has been a supporter of NATO expansion. But hasn’t France decided to reunite with the NATO military structure?
Looks like the guys who write talking points/articles for Tymoshenko have been drinking too much French wine.
Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2009/3/26/92019.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2009/3/26/92021.htm
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-President-Obama-and-NATO-Secretary-General-Jaap-de-Hoop-Scheffer-After-Meeting/
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
From Hawk to Dove, or Tymoshenko’s Ghostwritten Adventures
After meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko “wrote” an article in the The Guardian:
Europe must pull together in this crisis
It is in no country's interest that eastern Europe feels cast adrift. As in the past, we should look to France for leadership.
As if France couldn’t make it on its own, the article promotes the role of Paris in the Paris-Berlin-Moscow axis, with Ukraine trailing somewhere behind, at the back of beyond.
The Prime Minister of Ukraine “mentions” Germany 14 times; France, 11 times; Russia, 10 times; and Ukraine, 3 times.
Moreover, this new article flies in the face of Containing Russia, her May/June 2007 article in Foreign Affairs.
If you compare these two articles, you will see Tymoshenko arguing with herself:
Encouraging economic and political reform -- the West's preferred means of engaging Russia since communism's end -- is of course an important foreign policy tool. But it cannot substitute for a serious effort to counter Russia's long-standing expansionism and its present desire to recapture its great-power status at the expense of its neighbors.
But keeping Russia at arm's length from Europe has only strengthened the sense of isolation that many Russians feel, tempting them to define the country's interests in ways that are irreconcilable with those of Europe. It has also heightened Russia's desire to construct a special, bilateral Russo-German relationship, heedless of the context of the EU.Europe must pull together in this crisis
I wonder who paid for these flip-flopping placements and what foreign policy credentials they hoped to achieve.
I also found two videos that I think put Tymoshenko’s multivector foreign policy in motion.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
EU-Ukraine Summit: Doors Wide Shut (Updated)
The EU-Ukraine summit in Paris must have left Le Petit Prince [read: Yushchenko] reading Les Misérables.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy: This association agreement [to be signed in 2009] does not close any paths, nor does it open any paths. That’s all we could give.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko: We very much appreciate what we reached today.
Sure, Euro-beggars can’t be Euro-choosers. Especially if you come to the negotiation table in such a grotesque disarray.
In the meantime, let our oligarchs buy a little more of Monaco. Maybe then we’ll have our chance to join the EU?
Correction
It appears that the original Sarkozy quote,"Cet accord d'association ne ferme aucune piste, même il en ouvre," meant, "This association agreement does not close any route, it even opens some." (H/t Neeka, Genia)
Well, let's see what that means in practical terms.
Video embedded from: http://video.oboz.ua/movie.php?aWQ9MTc4ODAmdmE9NCZ2dD0w
Source: 1+1 http://tsn.ua/video/video-novini
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Photo courtesy of Ukrayinska Pravda
The Iron Ladies
During her brief visit to London, former — and perhaps even future — Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko lunched with former British PM Margaret Thatcher.
One of the most popular politicians in the Soviet Union of the late 80s, Maggie could have easily unseated Gorby in a free election. With her charisma and polished manners, she had commanded more respect than the leader of the economically stagnant Soviet state, slapped with severe food supply shortages.
In Ukraine, the Iron Lady franchise belongs to Tymo, who has reveled in the brand, despite casual zig-zags between left and right in her international political orientation. (Last year, her party subscribed to an ideology of solidarism and reportedly sought membership in the Socialist International. This year, in the runup to the French presidential election, Tymoshenko surprised experts when she made overtures to Nicolas Sarkozy.)
Thatcher signed a book of memoirs, The Downing Street Years, for her Ukrainian follower. Hanna Herman of Yanukovych’s Party of Regions speculates that Tymoshenko’s visit may have included a secret meeting with Berezovsky.
According to Tymoshenko, she was “impressed by the woman whom everyone called the Iron Lady, who was loved and feared, but despised by no one.” She added that “It’s hard to imagine the history of 20th-century politics without a person like Margaret Thatcher.” Former British PM, in turn, said she was ready to visit Kyiv to help her counterpart defend Ukraine’s independence.
If Tymo becomes PM again, let us hope that she will fight stabilnist as fiercely as Thatcher fought the Falklands War.
Sources: http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/9/21/64234.htm
Monday, May 07, 2007
Shape-Shifting & Sharp-Shooting
Tymo Sides with Sarko; Blasts Moro, Yanuk in Controversial Joke
Following a “flexitime” accord between Yushchenko and Yanukovych, Tymoshenko has produced two riveting soundbites that could well be considered as an opening to her campaign.
In the first one, whether impromptu or not, she expressed solidarity with Nicolas Sarkozy, obviously targeting a well educated audience familiar with the intricacies of the French presidential election. That audience, in light of her recent containment drive, may also include her can club in Washington.
Most likely, her passionate overture hasn’t registered with the wider Ukrainian audience. Brushing off any notion of girlpower, Tymo made a cautions attempt to reposition from left-of-center to right-of-center. Her case offers yet another testimony of the grotesque levels of ideological volatility present in Ukrainian politics. (I’m sure the unfavorable endorsement did little to impact Ségolène Royal's chances.)
Having come out of the closet, she indulged in a fable-like joke that mixed sex with politics. Ukrayinska Pravda has the details.
Білочка і зайчик покохали один одного і створили родину. І почали жити, кохати один одного, а діти не народжуються. І вони пішли до мудрої сови і питають: "Що нам робити? Ми білочка і зайчик створили родину, а діти не народжуються. Це чому? Тому що ми такі різні, ми білочка і зайчик?". А сова подивилася і каже: "Ні! Тому що ви обидва хлопчики.The joke provoked a roar of laughter from the reporters who attended her press conference. By American standards, of course, this kind of anthropomorphism would be termed as politically incorrect or outright homophobic.
То я хочу вам сказати, що поєднувати те, що не поєднується, неможливо. Ні шансу, ні природного шляху немає. І завжди закінчується відсутністю дітей, шановні друзі.
A squirrel and a rabbit fell in love and started a family. And so they started living together, loving each other, but alas, no kids. And so they came to the wise owl for advice, asking, “What shall we do? We, squirrel and rabbit, have started a family but no children are born to us. Why? Is it because we’re so different — we, squirrel and rabbit?” The owl looked and said, “No, it’s because you’re boys.”
So I want to tell you that joining together what can’t be joined is impossible. There’s no chance, nor is there any natural way. And it always ends in an absence of kids, dear friends.
In response to a question regarding the creation of a single opposition bloc, she quipped, “Things are not so bad since we have at least one girl here.” Sounds just as funny, doesn’t it? (If we take into account her opposition to the single bloc idea, and, even more so, if get to the bottom of that biopolitical — and self-deprecating — allegory she used.)
