Latest Articles about Ukraine

YUSHCHENKO SETS NEW DATE FOR PARLIAMENTARY POLL

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has re-scheduled the snap parliamentary election from May 27 to June 24. His opponents initially reacted as they had to his April 2 decree, which called for the election. The parliamentary coalition that backs Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said that Yushchenko... MORE

IS COMPROMISE POSSIBLE IN UKRAINE?

Radicalism is apparently giving way to compromise in the Ukrainian political crisis. President Viktor Yushchenko, aware of the impossibility of holding a snap election as early as May 27, as prescribed by his April 2 parliament dissolution decree, has signaled his readiness to suspend the... MORE

OUR UKRAINE AND VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO REVIVE THEIR FORTUNES

On April 18, the opposition Yulia Tymoshenko (BYuT) and Our Ukraine blocs permanently withdrew their deputies from Ukraine’s parliament. Together, the factions account for 202 of the Rada’s 450 deputies. With no constitutional majority, the parliament -- which was disbanded by presidential decree on April... MORE

CAN UKRAINE’S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT BE UNBIASED?

Today, April 17, Ukraine’s Constitutional Court (CC) began considering an appeal by a group of pro-government parliamentarians regarding President Viktor Yushchenko’s April 2 decree on the dissolution of parliament. The CC should decide not only on the question of early parliamentary elections, but also, indirectly,... MORE

CHERNOBYL MARCH WILL FOCUS ON VICTIMS

Following the large rally that took place in Minsk on March 25 to commemorate the Day of Freedom (see EDM March 28), plans are well under way for the "Path of Chernobyl" event on April 26, traditionally the largest public demonstration of the season. The... MORE

IS COMPROMISE POSSIBLE BETWEEN YUSHCHENKO AND RULING COALITION?

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has rejected calls for a truce from Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and ignored the pacifying overtures made by Yanukovych’s allies in parliament last week. Yushchenko insists that his April 2 decree to dissolve parliament was in line with the constitution and... MORE

YUSHCHENKO RADICALIZES AS POLITICAL CRISIS DEEPENS

On Monday, April 2, President Viktor Yushchenko issued a decree disbanding parliament and plunging Ukraine into a political crisis (see EDM, April 4). Elections are set for May 27 -- before the Constitutional Court will rule on the legality of the decree. Yushchenko is a... MORE

YUSHCHENKO RULES TO DISSOLVE PARLIAMENT

Yesterday, April 2, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree dissolving parliament, which the parliamentary majority immediately rejected. Yushchenko’s opponents -- the ruling coalition, consisting of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions (PRU), the Socialists, and the Communists -- believe that Yushchenko had no... MORE

UKRAINE NAMES NEW FOREIGN MINISTER

On March 21 Ukraine’s parliament approved President Viktor Yushchenko’s choice for foreign minister, Arseny Yatsenyuk, 32. The appointment ends a standoff of nearly four months between Yushchenko and the Cabinet of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. The new minister has no experience with diplomatic work, but,... MORE

YUSHCHENKO’S PARTY THREATENED BY DEFECTIONS

On March 21 Anatoliy Kinakh accepted an offer from Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych’s government to become minister of economics. The government is allied to the National Unity (formerly Anti-Crisis) coalition composed of the Party of Regions, Communist, and Socialist parties. Kinakh’s appointment marks a... MORE