[Ohio UZO News] Ukraine: NYT; KP; US Senate; US Embassy Kyiv

Thu Mar 4 13:20:42 EST 2010

The New York Times

www.nytimes.com

Ukrainian Parliament Seals Leader's Ouster 

By ANDREW E. KRAMER 

4 March 2010

Late Edition - Final

8

MOSCOW -- The Parliament in Ukraine passed a vote of no confidence in
Prime Minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko on Wednesday, ousting the last of the
Orange Revolution leaders from power but almost certainly not from
politics.

The no-confidence vote was expected after Ms. Tymoshenko lost the
presidential election last month, and after the Parliament speaker said
Tuesday that the coalition that appointed her prime minister had broken
up.

Before the vote, she had unexpectedly told Parliament that she would
resign if the no-confidence measure passed, and her backers said she
intended to move rapidly to lead the opposition against President Viktor
F. Yanukovich, who was inaugurated last week.

Sergiy Terokhin, a former economy minister and member of Ms.
Tymoshenko's political party, said that after her ouster became
inevitable she decided to quickly thrust the burden of governing onto
Mr. Yanukovich.

He said the entire cabinet would step down and members would appoint
their deputies as acting ministers. Because the deputies are not
confirmed by Parliament, they have fewer powers than acting ministers
who remain after a vote of no confidence. One result, he said, will be
to freeze major decisions in government until a new coalition is formed.

Another result will be to leave Mr. Yanukovich off balance in his first
weeks as president, as he is seeking to complete work on the already
greatly delayed 2010 budget. A budget, in turn, is needed to unlock
International Monetary Fund lending to prop up the badly shaken economy.
The Ukrainian economy contracted 15 percent in 2009, and remains among
Europe's weakest.

Mr. Yanukovich's Party of Regions joined with other factions to pass the
no-confidence measure with 243 votes in the 450-seat chamber. But they
failed to muster the votes to form a new coalition, leaving some cards
in Ms. Tymoshenko's hands.

Members of political parties in the faction of Viktor A. Yushchenko, the
former president and Ms. Tymoshenko's erstwhile ally in the Orange
Revolution protests of 2004, voted for her dismissal. That faction's
divided loyalties make it a crucial and unpredictable player in new
coalition talks.

If the Parliament is unable to form a coalition within 30 days, it will
be disbanded and a new election called.

Some observers here, and even supporters of the prime minister, said her
threat to resign was meant to compel Parliament to determine quickly
whether a new coalition could be formed, and if not, to prompt new
elections.

However the latest maneuvering turns out, no one is counting her out. As
Cliff Kupchan, research director at the Eurasia Group in Washington,
said, ''A wily and ambitious politician will find a way back.''

Kyiv Post

For full article:  http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/60973

Update: Yanukovych party seeks law change for Ukraine coalition

March 4, 2010| Reuters 

The party of Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych proposed changing the
law on the formation of a majority coalition on Mar. 4, trying to
quickly fill a governing vacuum after ousting Prime Minister Yulia
Tymoshenko. 

The initiative was condemned as a "constitutional coup d'etat" by the
bloc of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, ousted in a no confidence vote
on Wednesday and who lost a bitterly fought presidential run-off to
Yanukovych on Feb. 7.

It appeared aimed at poaching the support of part of the loose Our
Ukraine alliance formerly grouped around ex-president Victor
Yushchenko....

U.S. Embassy Kyiv

Ambassador Tefft and Mrs. Tefft Open New Exhibit: "Lost and Found: the
Taras Shevchenko Papers" 
Kyiv, March 2, 2010 

Ambassador John F. Tefft and Mrs. Mariella Tefft participated in the
opening of an exhibit of returned Shevchenko papers at the National
Museum of Literature of Ukraine on Tuesday, March 2, 2010. The
Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation is helping to restore the
original manuscripts, photos, rare publications and graphics of
Shevchenko's collection, now on public display. 

The most precious part of the collection was saved during World War II
by the former director of the Taras Shevchenko museum and subsequently
moved from Europe to the U.S. in 1951. The unique collection was
preserved by the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences of the U.S., and
returned to Ukraine. 

In 2009, the U.S. government through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural
Preservation provided a grant to the Shevchenko Institute of Literature
of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine for the restoration and
creation of a catalogue of the returned Shevchenko collection. 

Since its establishment in 2001, the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural
Preservation has supported over 500 projects worldwide, including eight
in Ukraine, the largest number of projects among European countries. 

The exhibit is open from March 2 through April 15, 2010. 

For more, see:  http://kyiv.usembassy.gov/main_eng.html

S.RES.422

Recognizing the important progress made by the people of Ukraine in the
establishment of democratic institutions following the presidential
run-off election on February 7, 2010. (Introduced in Senate)

SRES 422 IS 

111th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. RES. 422

Recognizing the important progress made by the people of Ukraine in the
establishment of democratic institutions following the presidential
run-off election on February 7, 2010. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

February 25, 2010

Mr. LUGAR (for himself and Mr. KERRY) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

________________________________

RESOLUTION

Recognizing the important progress made by the people of Ukraine in the
establishment of democratic institutions following the presidential
run-off election on February 7, 2010. 

Whereas adherence by Ukraine to democratic, transparent, and fair
election standards has been necessary for full integration into the
democratic community; 

Whereas steps undertaken by Ukraine in recent years, including reform of
election laws and regulations, the development of a pluralistic and
independent press, and the establishment of public institutions that
respect human rights and the rule of law, have enhanced Ukraine's
progress toward democracy and prosperity; 

Whereas the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
concluded that `most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments were met'
with regard to the conduct of the run-off presidential election on
February 7, 2010; 

Whereas international monitoring groups concluded that prior elections
in Ukraine on January 17, 2010, and in 2007, 2006, and 2004, were also
generally in accordance with international election norms; 

Whereas the United States has closely supported the people of Ukraine in
their efforts to pursue a free and democratic future since the
declaration of their independence in 1991; 

Whereas the NATO Freedom Consolidation Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-17;
22 U.S.C. 1928 note), signed into law by President George W. Bush on
April 9, 2007, recognized the progress made by Ukraine toward meeting
the responsibilities and obligations for membership in the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and designated Ukraine as eligible
to receive assistance under the NATO Participation Act of 1994 (title II
of Public Law 103-447; 22 U.S.C. 1928 note); 

Whereas Ukraine has made steps toward integration within European
institutions through a joint European Union-Ukraine Action Plan, as part
of the European Neighbourhood Policy; and 

Whereas the United States-Ukraine Strategic Partnership Commission was
inaugurated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Ukrainian Foreign
Minister Petro Poroshenko on December 9, 2009: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the Senate--

(1) recognizes the important progress made by the people of Ukraine in
establishing democratic institutions and carrying out peaceful elections
on January 17 and February 7, 2010;

(2) supports ongoing progress by Ukraine in addressing remaining
challenges in the electoral processes as identified by the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international election
monitoring entities;

(3) encourages all parties to respect the independence and territorial
sovereignty of Ukraine, as well as the full integration of Ukraine into
the international democratic community;

(4) pledges further support for the development of a fully free and open
democratic system, as well as a transparent free market economy, in
Ukraine; and

(5) reaffirms its commitment to engage the Government of Ukraine in
further development of bilateral cooperation through the United
States-Ukraine Strategic Partnership Commission.

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