Latest Articles about Ukraine
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, PRIME MINISTER SUE EACH OTHER
As Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych continue to dispute each other’s powers, interpreting the constitutional amendments of 2004-2006 each in his own favor, both hope for support from the judiciary. On February 5 Yushchenko referred the new law on the Cabinet... MORE
WILL THE ORANGE TEAM RE-UNITE?
As Ukraine’s parliament reconvened after the winter recess, the caucuses of the pro-presidential Our Ukraine (NU) bloc and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc announced they would act as a unified opposition. NU and Tymoshenko have at least two common goals – early parliamentary elections and reversing... MORE
YUSHCHENKO, YANUKOVYCH LOCK HORNS OVER CABINET LAW
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and the ruling coalition in Kyiv have failed to find a compromise over the “Law on the Cabinet of Ministers.” The law is meant to complement the constitution, more clearly defining the remits of the president, the cabinet, and parliament; at... MORE
TOLERANCE REDUCES NEED FOR RUSSIAN LANGUAGE LAW IN UKRAINE
Although Ukraine’s Party of Regions introduced a new draft language law to parliament last fall, interest in the bill will decline following the unexpected death of key party ideologue Yevhen Kushnariov last month. Elevating Russian to an official or second state language requires a change... MORE
UKRAINE BARS RUSSIAN-PROPOSED ALIENATION OF NATIONAL GAS TRANSPORT SYSTEM
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s February 1 call to “unite” Ukraine’ gas transit system with that of Russia has strongly backfired. In Kyiv, opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko initiated and the Verkhovna Rada adopted almost unanimously on February 6 a law banning any form of alienation of... MORE
TURKMEN OPPOSITION INVITE MAY SPOIL CAREER OF UKRAINIAN MINISTER
A visit to Kyiv by prominent members of Turkmenistan’s opposition following the death of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov on December 21 has triggered a scandal in Ukraine. Their host, Transport and Communications Minister Mykola Rudkovsky, has been accused of interfering with diplomatic affairs. Officials fear... MORE
YUSHCHENKO, YANUKOVYCH BATTLE FOR CONTROL OF SECURITY SERVICES
Last week the head of Ukraine’s parliamentary committee on national security and defense, Anatoliy Kinakh, accused the general prosecutor’s office, the Security Service (SBU), and law enforcement of beginning to act on the basis of political orders (Ukrayinska pravda, January 19). Kinakh’s concern was related... MORE
UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN LIMBO
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has become hostage to a constitutional reform that failed to clearly define the boundaries between the remits of the legislature and the executive. President Viktor Yushchenko insists that parliament’s December 1 motion to dismiss pro-Western Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk was illegal, so... MORE
YUSHCHENKO LOSES CABINET LAW TO YANUKOVYCH AND TYMOSHENKO
Ukraine’s parliament has passed a law on the Cabinet of Ministers that strengthens the Cabinet vis-à-vis the president. The law fills in gaps left in the national legislation by the imperfect constitutional reform of 2004-2006, interpreting in the Cabinet’s favor the points dealing with relations... MORE
UKRAINE’S DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN PROSPECTS FOR 2007
Ukraine’s domestic and foreign prospects in 2007 depend upon the resolution of the political and constitutional crisis that began in 2006. Failure to resolve this ongoing crisis will lead to stagnation and a possible retreat from some of the gains of the Orange Revolution (see... MORE