Blue &Yellow: Politics and Economics in Ukraine

West Has To Make Strategic Choice In Relation To Ukraine - Lavrov

MOSCOW. Sept 20 (Interfax) - The West will have to make a strategic choice in relation to Ukraine, bearing in mind that Ukraine's possible accession to NATO would lead to a deep rift between Moscow and Kyiv and most negatively affect security of the whole of Europe, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"Ukraine's accession to NATO will lead to a grave crisis in Russian-Ukrainian relations. This crisis will have a most negative effect on the common European security. Thus, the West should make a choice, and this choice will be strategic," Lavrov said in an article published in the Ukrainian weekly 2000.

"Assigning the role of a buffer between Europe and Russia to Ukraine is to belittle Ukraine itself," Lavrov said. "It would be much more constructive to build relations with the surrounding world together," he said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko's remarks in favor of Ukraine's integration into NATO are "part of a common trend of shameless exploitation of the Caucasus crisis for unscrupulous political ends, primarily with the aim of dragging Ukraine into NATO against the will of an overwhelming majority of its population and in violation of the basic democratic procedures," he said.

In particular, Lavrov pointed out that Ohryzko pushed ahead with the idea of "a NATO-centric system of European security," while "it is exactly NATO-centrism that is splitting the Euro-Atlantic community and has proven to be absolutely flawed and unpromising," Lavrov said.

Russian Embassy Denies Alleged 'Massive Naturalization' Of Ukrainians

KYIV. Sept 22 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian embassy in Ukraine has strongly denied the alleged issue of Russian passports to residents of certain Ukrainian regions.

"The Ukrainian media is claiming the alleged 'massive issue of Russian passports' to residents of certain Ukrainian regions. The media refers to simpler rules of Russian naturalization, which are in effect for participants in the state program for the promotion of voluntary resettlement. The Russian embassy affirms that such claims are totally unfounded," the embassy said on Monday.

The Russian Citizenship Law adopted in 2002 cut the list of naturalization options for individuals residing abroad, the embassy said. Thus, simpler naturalization rules are now applied exclusively to participants in the state program, who have moved to Russia.

Russian consulates in Ukraine granted naturalization to only 400 persons in 2007, the embassy said.

More than 2,500 individuals switched from Russian to Ukrainian naturalization over the same period.

"A simple comparison of these statistics mirrors the real scale of the problem and shows who can be accused of distributing passports," the embassy said.

There were three main factors that aggravated the political crisis: Yushchenko’s desire to get rid of Tymoshenko as soon as possible, the impossibility of their further coexistence, and the Regions Party’s desire to a) come back to the top and b) inability to do so on its own. And the underlying cause is known but too well: it is the notorious struggle for power which turns rivals into allies and friends into enemies.It is obvious that Tymoshenko was interested in the de-jure existence of the de-facto non-existent coalition, knowing that she would retain her post and continue playing her role of “Mother Patroness” of the Orange ideals, standing out very favorably against Bankova’s shameless flirting with the Dons. She knew that if her formal allies balked and refused to support her government’s initiative, she would have the moral right to seek situational support in the ranks of her formal opponents – the Regions, the Lytvyn Bloc, and the Communists. She has used thi smethod many times and had always gotten away with it. 

Ever since the incumbent coalition was formed, its transformation has been negotiated and Yanukovych has been the biggest obstacle. None of the potential allies wanted to see him in the post of Prime Minister, but Akhmetov and Kolesnikov did not dare go against the grain and Yushchenko would not give way, remembering Yanukovych’s premiership that ended in a preterm parliamentary election last September. Yushchenko and his entourage demanded guarantees that Yanukovych would not run for president in 2010 and that the Regions would support Yushchenko’s candidacy. They also demanded that the Regions help Yushchenko abolish the proportional model of parliamentary elections in favor of the single-mandate model. The negotiations proceeded in fits and starts and members of the largest faction began to grumble: firstly, Kolesnikov and Akhmetov had promised to form a grand coalition right after the preterm election but Yushchenko backed down; secondly, the OU-PSD faction failed to contribute enough votes for Tymoshenko’s dismissal and so let the Regions faction down.

Asked during a televised press conference if he suspected David Zhvania, godfather to one of his children, the Ukraine president said: “I think, yes. And that is putting it softly.”

Mr Zhvania, a Georgian native and current Ukrainian parliamentarian for a pro-Yushchenko party, held a senior position in the president’s hard-fought 2004 election campaign.

Mr Zhvania has denied any involvement in the case and has cast doubt on whether Mr Yushchenko was poisoned at all, suggesting the illness might have been caused by pancreatitis, herpes and facial nerve inflammation.

 Parliament has already managed to overrun several of Yushchenko’s most recent vetoes...PRU and BYT set up an ostensibly pro-Russian ad-hoc investigative commission to probe arms supplies to Georgia.

 Yushchenko said later that NUNS would return to the coalition with BYT on two conditions: if BYT helps him veto the “anti-constitutional” laws passed on September 2-4, and if it backs his position on Georgia, including his condemnation of Russia’s use of the Sevastopol-based Black Sea Fleet in actions against Georgia.