Ukraine

[keith]

Yushchenko rival nominated in Ukraine By NATASHA LISOVA, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 33 minutes ago



Ukraine's newly created pro-Russian governing coalition on Tuesday proposed a bitter rival of President Viktor Yushchenko as the next prime minister, an appointment that would mark a humiliating defeat for the president.

The parliament speaker signed the coalition's nomination of Viktor Yanukovych as premier and forwarded it to Yushchenko's office. The president has 15 days to consider the request before forwarding it back to parliament for a vote. He has no right to veto the choice.

The nomination came hours after the new parliamentary coalition, which brings together eastern Ukrainian industrialists of the Party of Regions, the Communists and the Socialists, was formally announced in parliament, striking a major blow to the pro-Western reformers who helped bring Yushchenko to power in 2004.

It was Yanukovych's fraud-marred presidential victory that sparked the mass protests that became known as the Orange Revolution. His victory was later annulled, consigning him to the political wilderness and severely embarrassing the Kremlin, which had openly backed his candidacy. But Yanukovych rebounded in the March 26 parliamentary election, with his party winning more votes than any other.

A government led by Yanukovych would present a major obstacle to Yushchenko's efforts to steer the country toward reform and closer ties with Western Europe. Under such a government, Ukraine would also likely slip back under the influence of Moscow.

The new coalition was created after Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz, the new parliament speaker, abandoned his former Orange Revolution allies to form the new union, which he said was the only way to unite the country.

Ukraine has been suffering political paralysis since the March election ended without giving any party the majority, leaving the nation deeply split over whether to seek closer ties with Moscow or the West.

Moroz formally announced the coalition in the chaotic session hall Tuesday to applause from the coalition members — and shouts of "Judas!" from his former allies.

The alliance controls at least 233 seats in the 450-member parliament.

Before announcing the new coalition, lawmakers scuffled, and one legislator from the president's party appeared to suffer a broken nose. Moroz had to be flanked by Party of Regions deputies for protection. Lawmakers from the bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister and popular figure in the Orange Revolution, used sirens to drown out parliamentary speeches. Moroz called a four-hour recess.

Yushchenko's allies pleaded with the president to use his new constitutional powers to dissolve parliament and call a new election, arguing that the new coalition is illegitimate. Under rules agreed to by the Orange coalition members, if any party left, the other members should have been given 10 days to hunt for new partners, lawmakers said.

Yanukovych said his party didn't support new elections, but also didn't fear them.

"If it happens, we will get a total victory and could stop this mess," he said.




Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.


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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060711/ap_on_re_eu/ukraine_politics_3

[keith]

Would Russia allow Ukraine to join NATO?

UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SLASHES EXPENSES WITH EYE TOWARD NATO

By John C.k. Daly
Friday, July 6, 2007

When the USSR collapsed in 1991, both Russia and Ukraine claimed the Black Sea Fleet and the historic port of Sevastopol with Ukraine. Eventually an agreement was reached to divide the hardware and allow Russia to lease the port.

Ukraine opted to offload much of its share of the fleet. After selling the semi-completed hulk of the Soviet naval aircraft carrier Varyag to China in 1998, Kyiv is now interested in auctioning off other items from its Soviet naval inheritance, including the country’s only submarine.

This week Ukrainians Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko, Ukraine’s first civilian defense minister, announced that Kyiv will refurbish its sole remaining submarine, the Zaporizhzhiya, for sale to the highest bidder. “We'll repair this submarine and sell it, and use the proceeds to develop the fleet” (Agentstvo Voyennykh Novostey, July 2). According to Hrytsenko the Zaporizhzhiya had been a Soviet 641 “Foxtrot” boat, which logged 120,000 miles in missions in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean with a 78-man crew, before joining the Ukrainian Navy in 1997.

The Zaporizhzhiya has been undergoing a major refit for the last decade. The modernization should be finished by the end of the year, when the government hopes to realize $50-70 million from the sale of the submarine (Interfax-Ukraine, July 2). Hrytsenko said, “We'll use the proceeds to develop the fleet. We need to polish the submarine and to investigate the market,” adding that the revenue would be used for designing a $7.1 million new corvette for Ukraine’s navy (for-ua.com, January 25). The decision is final, according to the defense minister, who said, “The issue will not be revised,” as a foreign sale has been under consideration by the Ukrainian government since October 2003.

The Zaporizhzhiya is not the only post-Soviet warship on the auction block. Hrytsenko conceded, "We have to make decisions that should have been made several years ago. Some of these are painful and unpopular, but they cannot be postponed any longer,” adding that the missile-carrying cruiser Ukrayina, part of the 1164 series, was also for sale. The Ukrainian press speculated that Ukraine would initially offer the vessels for sale to Russia, although India and China have also been mentioned as potential clients.

Ukrainian analysts and the Defense Ministry say that the submarine is not worth maintaining. It is difficult to see who might want to acquire the vessel, as the Zaporizhzhiya’s keel was laid down in Leningrad in 1970, making the hull 37 years old (Morskaia derzhava, July 5).

The sale masks a much deeper point of contention between Moscow and Kyiv, however. With the breakup of the Soviet Union Moscow lost its free access to Ukraine’s advanced shipyards in Nikolaev and the deepwater port of Sevastopol. The latter is heavily ingrained in the Russian consciousness. General Alexander Suvorov founded the port in 1783, in the wake of Russia’s interminable 11 wars against the Ottoman Empire. It was the site of two legendary sieges, the first during the Crimean War and the second during World War II.

The 95% complete Ukrayina has been decaying at the Nikolaev shipyard complex since 1991.

In 2006 Ukraine’s military budget was slightly over $1.1 billion, of which the navy was allocated less than 11%. The fiscal shortfalls have severely impacted the fleet; besides the Zaporizhzhiya and the Ukrayina, three frigates have been stricken from the fleet’s 40-ship roster.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is a strong promoter of Western reforms and NATO membership for Ukraine. Hrytsenko is one of the few other members of the Ukrainian government promoting NATO membership, and he sees his role toward that end as implementing a less threatening and less costly Ukrainian military, slashing costs by retiring redundant personnel and hardware (Kyiv Post, July 5).

Since independence Ukraine has persistently worked to better its relations with its Black Sea neighbors, annoying Russia as it outperforms Moscow’s dealings with its recent colleagues. As a member of the Blackseafor Task Group, Ukraine interacts with Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, and Russia.

The historic base of Sevastopol is not Moscow’s sole loss. Russia also was forced to evacuate the Balaklava nuclear ballistic submarine base, six miles southeast of Sevastopol, carved into the surrounding cliffs, that could house up to 10 boats. The issue is fraught with emotion; while Tsar Peter the Great founded the Russian Navy in the late 17th century, it was Catherine the Great who established it in the Black Sea in the late 18th century. Kyiv’s fire sale of its Soviet naval heritage and its interest in embracing NATO membership remain major irritants in Ukraine’s prickly relationship with Russia, a situation not likely to be resolved anytime soon.

http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2372274

[keith]

"We Don't Need NATO"
// Ukraine-US Exercises Begin With Clashes

Yesterday in Odessa the US andUkraine began their "Sea Breeze 2007" joint exercises, the most extensive exercises this year to be carried out on Ukrainian territory. The beginning of the exercises was marred by clashes between law enforcement and opponents of Ukraine's increasingly close relationship with NATO.

In actuality, the Sea Breeze 2007 exercises are multinational. The Ukrainian and American sailors in Odessa are working together with officers, observers, and naval divisions from eleven countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Greece, Canada, Latvia, Macedonia, Moldova, Germany, Romania, and Turkey. In total, 2,500 people are participating in the exercises, which will last until July 22 and are taking place in the southwestern quadrant of the Black Sea and on the territory of the Odessa and Nikolaev regions. Sea Breeze 2007 also includes 22 ships and numerous airplanes.

"The exercises have great significance for all sides; during this joint work we plan to acquire useful practical experience," said first vice-admiral of the Ukrainian Navy Viktor Maksimov, the leader of the exercises. "The exercises are aimed at organizing the cooperation of forces on the Black Sea and are exclusively peacekeeping in character," clarified Rear Admiral Robert Clark, the director of the US Navy's Maritime Partnership program in Europe.

Nevertheless, the organization of the exercises has so far been fraught with difficulties. After the ceremonial opening and press conference, the officers were met at the exit of the building by a demonstration organized by representatives of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine (PSPU), who shouted slogans such as "We don't need NATO" and "NATO, get lost" and carried signs denouncing the North Atlantic alliance.

Once the participants in the exercises had managed to get to the port of Odessa and shut the port's gate behind themselves, several PSPU demonstrators appeared outside the gates anyway. A short distance away, several hundred members of the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU), led by the party's leader Pyotr Simonenko, were also gathered for a demonstration. "These exercises will bring nothing useful for Ukraine," said Mr. Simonenko confidently at the picket, which lasted for a little over an hour. The Communists were joined in their opposition by a picket organized by Black Sea Cossacks and members of the social organization United Fatherland. "We oppose the deployment of foreign troops on our soil, because that could lead to war between Slavic peoples," said Black Sea Cossack leader Oleg Dryanin.

After an hour, the epicenter of events had moved to near the entrance to the port's military harbor, where a crowd of several hundred demonstrators, including representatives of the KPU, United Fatherland, a Russian organization called Proryv ("Breakthrough"), the PSPU, and the Black Sea Cossacks. Half an hour after the start of the demonstration, several dozen sailors came out of the gates and cordoned off the entrance to the harbor. After speaking with them, Ukrainian Communist leader Pyotr Simonenko was allowed inside, where he disappeared for more than thirty minutes. After the journalists had left, the demonstrations swiftly packed up their signs and dispersed as well.

The demonstrations did not pass without any physical clashes, however. Yesterday around a hundred supporters of the PSPU who had set up tents in the town of Odessa refused to obey a court order to take them down and resisted violently when the police came to clear them away. A scuffle ensued between the protestors and the police. Odessa City Hall called the actions of the opponents of the naval exercises "a gross violation of a court decision from July 5 that forbade any protest actions while the Sea Breeze 2007 exercises are being conducted." Undaunted, PSPU leader Natalia Vitrenko promised to employ "bolder methods of struggle" if "the authorities attempt to ban events directed against the NATO exercises."


Gennady Savransky (Kiev), Oleg Zorin
http://www.kommersant.com/p781330/r_527/Ukraine,_US,_naval_exercises,_NATO/