Published in AFP

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians held rival demonstrations here Saturday supporting or protesting threats by pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko to dissolve parliament.

About 20,000 supporters of the pro-Russian government coalition waving blue and white flags of the progovernmental Regions party were the first to march, before meeting on central Europe Square.

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Published in The New York Times

Barely a year after parliamentary elections, Ukraine has lurched toward a new political crisis as President Viktor A. Yushchenko’s support among lawmakers hemorrhages and he faces new calls to dissolve Parliament, now led by his rival, Prime Minister Viktor F. Yanukovich. Mr. Yushchenko’s beleaguered party, Our Ukraine, has organized a public protest against the parliamentary majority for Saturday, along with some of the president’s erstwhile supporters who increasingly fear that the pro- Russian Mr. Yanukovich is growing too powerful.

By Friday, protesters were already gathering in Kiev, the capital, as were counterprotesters loyal to Mr. Yanukovich. Those who want Parliament disbanded complain that with the lawmakers and the president at odds, the country has been at a stalemate. One result is that the country has been unable to pass anticorruption and banking laws to speed Ukraine’s economic growth.

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Published in Reuters

President Viktor Yushchenko on Friday asked his arch rival, Ukraine's prime minister, to submit to a court ruling to resolve months of confrontation over who has greater jurisdiction in running the ex-Soviet state.

The president's press service said he had asked Viktor Yanukovich, back in office after his defeat following the 2004 "Orange Revolution", to abide by a Constitutional Court decision on whether parliamentarians were allowed to switch parties.

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Published in Inform International Herald Tribune / AP

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Thursday made his strongest criticism yet of the Cabinet led by his rival, accusing ministers of violating the constitution.

Pressure to dissolve the parliament and hold new elections is mounting, and Yushchenko's call for urgent talks with parliamentary speaker and faction leaders as well as with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, is seen by many analysts as a step toward that.

Ukrainian law requires the president to hold consultations with parliamentary leaders before dissolving the legislature.

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Former Ukrainian Prime Minister and Orange Revolution leader Yulia Tymoshenko received one of the most prestigious political awards in Europe today, the Award for Political Courage, from the Politique Internationale, bestowed at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. This award was presented in recognition of her past and present efforts in pursuing democratic reforms in Ukraine.

Recent award winners have included Pope John Paul II, King Abdullah of Jordan, Prime Minister Adrian Nastase of Romania, and President Andreas Pastrana of Colombia. According to Patrick Waisjman, head of Politique Internationale, the award is as much for Tymoshenko's work for democracy in Ukraine after the Orange Revolution as during it. Waisjman noted that even after her government was forced from office, she remained true to the guiding principles of democracy and the development of a civil society, "She refused to compromise with the forces that would move Ukraine back towards its pre- Revolutionary environment."

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Published in Financial Times

A Russian businessman who backed Ukraine's prime minister in the disputed 2004 elections was shot dead outside a Kiev court on Tuesday, after warning a contract had been placed on his life.

Maksym Kurochkin, a reputed Moscow-based organised crime ringleader held in connection with corruption charges, was shot minutes after a Kiev judge turned down his plea to be released on bail and police had escorted him out of the court.

A police officer was also injured. The unidentified assassin escaped.

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Published in US Newswire

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister and Orange Revolution leader Yulia Tymoshenko today announced the details of her schedule in Paris this week.

Ms. Tymoshenko's trip will be highlighted by meetings with the French Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Industry & Finance, among others. She will also be meeting with the Porte Parole of Government and the President of the Senate. During the trip, Ms. Tymoshenko will be honored by the prestigious Politique Internationale, which will present her with their highest award for political courage in recognition of her past efforts and ongoing leadership in pressing for democratic reforms in Ukraine.

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Published in Inform Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Diplomacy Ukraine Ukrainian foreign minister pledges broad reforms on way to EU entry Brussels Ukraine's Foreign Minister Arseny Yatseniuk on Monday vowed to work on broad-based reforms in his country and said that a planned new agreement on closer ties with the European Union was a "big and complicated home test" for Ukraine.

The wide-ranging deal focuses on ensuring energy security for the EU and is also expected to pave the way for a free trade area.

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Former Ukrainian Prime Minister and Orange Revolution leader Yulia Tymoshenko today announced the details of her schedule in Paris this week.

Ms. Tymoshenko's trip will be highlighted by meetings with the French Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Industry & Finance, among others. She will also be meeting with the Porte Parole of Government and the President of the Senate. During the trip, Ms. Tymoshenko will be honored by the prestigious Politique Internationale, which will present her with their highest award for political courage in recognition of her past efforts and ongoing leadership in pressing for democratic reforms in Ukraine.

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Published in The Washington Times

The parliament of Ukraine has voiced concern over plans by the United States to deploy missile defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Supreme Rada deputies Friday said the discussed deployment of radar and an anti-missile system threatens Ukraine's national security, Itar-Tass reported. Lawmakers were asked to convey that concern to the U.N. Security Council.

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Published in The International Herald Tribune / AP

Almost a dozen Ukrainian opposition lawmakers defected to the ruling parliamentary coalition of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych Friday, party officials said, dealing a major blow to President Viktor Yushchenko. Yanukovych boasted about the defections and invited more to join, while opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko called it a coup d'etat and warned of "the loss of Ukraine's sovereignty."

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Published in Inform UNIAN

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) is investigating into the information about threats to life of BYuT leader Yulia Tymoshenko.

According to an UNIAN correspondent, SBU top deputy chief, acting SBU chief Valentyn Nalyvaychenko, claimed this to a press conference in Kyiv today.

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Published in Kyiv Post

This week’s approval of a foreign minister following months of stalemate may initially appear to be a victory for political unity in Ukraine’s otherwise divided parliamentary arena.

But don’t be fooled! Ukrainian politics continues to be conducted in backroom dealings. At best, the spectacle of bipartisan consensus can be characterized by outsiders as a circus act.

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Published in Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Ukraine's national legislature, the Verhovna Rada, Wednesday approved a compromise candidate for the Foreign Ministry office, and filled three other critical government posts, potentially ending months of political deadlock.

The parliament approved former banker Arseny Yatseniuk as the new foreign minister with 426 out of 450 votes. It was a rare show of unanimity in the Rada, which since March has been divided into a pro- Russian majority led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, and a pro- European opposition headed by President Viktor Yushchenko.

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Published in Kyiv Post

Ukraine's parliament overwhelmingly approved a new foreign minister on Wednesday, putting an end to a nearly two-month battle with President Viktor Yushchenko after he backed down and abandoned his first choice for the job.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a 32-year-old former economics minister and close ally of Yushchenko, became the country's new top diplomat after winning 426 votes in the 450-seat parliament. Yatsenyuk immediately signaled that he would pursue a pragmatic course, particularly in Ukraine's bid to join the European Union.

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Published in RFE/RL Newsline

Yuliya Tymoshenko, head of the eponymous political bloc, said during consultations between parliamentary leaders and President Yushchenko on March 19 that a group of unidentified persons in parliament is working to expand the ruling majority into a constitutional majority of at least 300 votes by way of bribery, Interfax- Ukraine reported. "I can tell you that I spent this weekend talking to deputies," Tymoshenko said. "Each of them told me that groups had been formed at the parliament, and from $3 million to $8 million had been offered alongside official positions for family members. Read More...

Published in PR Week

Overseas political opposition groups are increasingly seeking to raise their legitimacy and sell their agendas in their home countries through communications outreach to US politicians, media, think tanks, and other influential audiences, according to industry insiders.
 
Recent work by US public affairs firms on behalf of overseas entities and individuals include TD International, working with subcontractors Glover Park Group (GPG) and Dezenhall Resources, on behalf of the Ukraine's Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko party. The party's leader, Yulia Tymoshenko, is the former prime minister of the Ukraine and one of the leaders of the so-called "Orange Revolution" there.
 
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Published in American Chronicle

Those are rather different states existing under one flag, two opposing Ukraine(s), each with own rights, ideology, and, what can be hardly ever changed, mentality, are fighting for independence from each other over recent decade.

Current situation proves that citizens are far remote from the affairs handled by the President, Government and Parliament, which seems to be the least trusted by Ukrainians. Often official authorities initiate artificial conflicts to separate the nation as a whole. South-East vector is insisting upon second official language, rejecting potential EU, NATO and partly WTO membership, and willing to direct Ukraine’s foreign policy towards Russo-Asian tendencies. Conversely, Central and Western regions tend to see Ukraine as more or less developed state in line with the European socio-economic standards of living. Striving for advancement, the neighboring Poland is often deemed as a role-model to follow. Regardless these opposing tendencies, ordinary citizens are well aware of the fact that they are daily deceived by the laws lobbied and then passed by largely corrupted MP’s. Worse than that, domestic and international media is prone to highlight only 40% of open-source information, while the rest of truth is impudently concealed. To this end, about two years ago Ukraine fomented orange revolution against unfair regime, though its benefits are hardly evident taking into account today’s living standards. Meanwhile, there is much talk about freedom of speech, which, in fact, is mostly used to ensure sound PR for top politicians and their forces.

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Published in Financial Times

Faced with political gridlock at home, Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's pro-western president, will today row back on previous calls for speedy membership of the European Union.

In a speech in Denmark this evening, Mr Yushchenko is set to call for a fresh start in relations between Kiev and the EU, where opposition towards the eastward expansion of the bloc has been rising.

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Published in UNIAN

Ukrainian opposition leader Yuliya Tymoshenko has condemned the agreement reached today between President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych to return to implementing the provisions of the national unity declaration signed before Yanukovych`s appointment last August and to set up a national council for Ukraine`s strategic development, according to the One Plus One TV report, translated by the BBC Monitoring Service.

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Published in International Herald Tribune / AP

Ukraine's feuding president and premier reached agreement Wednesday to set up a commission tasked with resolving their ongoing dispute over power in the ex-Soviet republic.

Pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko and the more Russian-leaning Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko have been battling each other for supremacy for much of the last six months — a tug-of-war that has at times led to conflicting messages about Ukraine's foreign and domestic policy goals.

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Published in Kommersant

The opposition provokes a parliamentary crisis in Ukraine.

The Yulia Timoshenko Bloc and pro-presidential Our Ukraine factions declared a boycott of sessions of the Ukrainian Supreme Rada yesterday. The Orange forces are threatening not to return until the government of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich meets their demands. If the opposition does not fall victim to infighting and is able to continue it offensive against Yanukovich, it will have a real chance of forcing early parliamentary elections. A real parliamentary crisis threatens in Ukraine, a year after parliamentary elections. It was initiated by the Yulia Timoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine, which agreed on February 24 to force the Yanukovich government out of office and to hold early parliamentary elections. More than 200 opposition members of parliament walked out of the parliament yesterday and announced that they would not return to the Rada sessions.

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Published in Inform Newsletter

Despite a rash of economic data indicating a 7% growth in Ukraine’s economy, the mood of the populace remains downbeat as dissatisfaction grows with the administration of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Surprisingly, some of the loudest dissent to government policy heralds from the Donbass region – the political heartland of Mr Yanukovych’s Party of Regions.

Yet last week, the prime minister, during a visit to Hungary, trumpeted Ukraine’s economic regeneration, “I am telling you that they dream that someday the economy of Hungary will grow the same as Ukraine’s.”

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Published in Inform Newsletter

Speaking to journalists at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko dismissed the Party of Regions proposal to hold simultaneous parliamentary and presidential elections as a “special trick.”.

The surprise proposal emanated from Party of Regions stalwart Vasyl Kyselyov, who indicated he would present a draft bill to parliament for early parliamentary and presidential elections on 30 September.

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Published in Inform Newsletter

Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych declared his hand last week when he criticised plans by the United States to deploy a missile defence system in Europe.

The weapon system is designed as a defensive missile shield against Middle East countries such as Iran and will consist of a base in Poland with 10 missiles and a radar guidance station in the Czech Republic.

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Published in Inform Newsletter

Yulia Tymoshenko, leader of the opposition and her eponymous block, met with US Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley last week to discuss recent events in Ukraine. The US officials pledged that their administration “would continue to support democracy in Ukraine” and viewed it “as a key country in the creation of an energy security system for the whole region, including the European Union”.

Ms Tymoshenko’s visit to the US gave her an opportunity to highlight the constitutional turmoil and fragility of democracy in Ukraine. "As Ukrainians work to strengthen democracy and advance economic development at home, it is essential that we keep friends and allies around the world informed of our progress, challenges and recent developments," said Ms Tymoshenko.

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Published in Bloomberg
By: Halia Pavliva and Daryna Krasnolutska

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko said she expects the political forces that triggered the Orange Revolution of 2004 will team up again to form a new government this year.

Early elections will probably take place in the autumn and Timoshenko's alliance and President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party will win a majority of seats, Timoshenko, 46, predicted in an interview in Washington D.C. on March 2.

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Published in MIGnews.com.ua

The leader of the Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko (BYT) Yulia Tymoshenko made a speech in the Centre for strategic and international studies in Washington. Over 300 people came to listen her report. But many of them did not manage to get to this meeting. Tymoshenko declared new Constitution should be adopted at one time with pre-term Parliament elections.

Answering question how 300 deputies’ votes can be collected in the Verkhovna Rada (Constitutional majority) for adoption of new Constitution, Tymoshenko noted politicians should search for consensus concerned with new Basic Law, so she hopes “to have consolidation in Parliament concerning this issue”.

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