UKRAINE’S CONSTITUTION SAID TO ENABLE AGREEMENT WITH CRIMEA.

Official celebrations marking the adoption of Ukraine’s new constitution were postponed today because of a tragic train accident, but already the event appears to be having a calming influence on previously tense relations between the central authorities and Ukraine’s only autonomous republic, Crimea. Ukrainian justice minister Serhii Holovaty, who in the past had warned that Crimea’s draft constitution represented a threat to Ukraine’s territorial integrity, told a press conference yesterday that the existence of a Crimean constitution does not threaten Ukraine with disintegration. On the basis of the Ukrainian constitution adopted on June 28, he said, it will now be possible for Kiev and Simferopol to work out a division of powers between the center and the autonomous republic. (Interfax-Ukraine, July 2)

The Monitor is a publication of the Jamestown Foundation. It is researched and written under the direction of senior analysts Jonas Bernstein, Vladimir Socor, Stephen Foye, and analysts Ilya Malyakin, Oleg Varfolomeyev and Ilias Bogatyrev. If you have any questions regarding the content of the Monitor, please contact the foundation. If you would like information on subscribing to the Monitor, or have any comments, suggestions or questions, please contact us by e-mail at pubs@jamestown.org, by fax at 301-562-8021, or by postal mail at The Jamestown Foundation, 4516 43rd Street NW, Washington DC 20016. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution of the Monitor is strictly prohibited by law. Copyright (c) 1983-2002 The Jamestown Foundation Site Maintenance by Johnny Flash Productions