Remarks by President Bush and President Yushchenko of Ukraine in an Exchange of Luncheon Toasts

Quote: PRESIDENT YUSHCHENKO: Dear Mr. President, dear Mrs. Bush, dear guests and ladies and gentlemen. It is with great pleasure that I express my feelings of utmost respect for His Excellency, President George Bush. The active cooperation between our countries extends from the idea of a partnership focused on the future. And I'm especially impressed that this philosophy forms the basis of the primary document we signed today, the road map of relations between Ukraine and the United States of America, and in other documents signed during your visit.
Common values and concepts for strengthening democracy, peace and security unite our countries, enlarging our joint agenda and posing new tasks before us. I am convinced that the widest political, civil and business circles of both our countries will actively contribute to strengthening the foundation of our partnership, which has withstood the test of time.
Dear ladies and gentlemen, Ukrainians highly value the support by the United States of our aspirations to honor the memory of the victims of the Holodomor of 1932 to '33 in Ukraine. We will be immeasurably grateful for the United States' recognition of this crime by the totalitarian regime as an act of genocide directed against our nation. Ukraine shall always remember the honored names of American researchers James Mace, Robert Conquest, and others whose work to introduce a tragic truth about the famine to the world was invaluable.
Dear ladies and gentlemen, we sincerely thank the United States for its support of Ukraine along the way to membership in the World Trade Organization. With the conclusion of this process, before us lies an open road to the fundamental expansion of our relations in the trade and investment areas.
We are delighted to invite our American partners to focus joint efforts in the areas of high technology, energy conservation, developing alternative energy sources, and agriculture. I am convinced that in the nearest future, we can anticipate new goals and promising ideas and joint projects. We especially highly value the support and assistance of the United States in Ukraine's advance along the path of Euro-Atlantic integration.
Today we look forward to a specific and clear signal from NATO, which will attest to the transition of our relations to a qualitatively new level. I am firmly convinced that the accession of our country to the NATO Membership Action Plan will benefit both parties. This shall be a formidable contribution to the creation of a new European security architecture, extending and strengthening freedom, democracy and human rights in the Euro-Atlantic states.
I am sincerely grateful to the United States, and personally to President Bush, for the consistent and persistent support of Ukraine's aspirations to become an integral part of the collective security system in Europe.
Dear friends, I am certain that we will use the chance we have been given to benefit today's and future generations of the people of our countries. I believe in our joint success. The United States' support as a partner strengthens my determination.
I raise my glass to the future of our cooperation, to the health of the President and Mrs. Bush, and for our nations and our friends.
(A toast is offered.)

PRESIDENT BUSH....

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Ukraine risks Russian hostility

Quote: "The positive decision on Membership Action Plan to Ukraine will finally stop speculation in neighbouring Russia whether Ukraine can still be the subject of domination or not."
So on one thing both sides agree: at stake here is the issue of Ukrainian sovereignty itself. For the government, the ambition to join Nato is about far more than just replacing outdated Soviet military hardware.
It would, ministers believe, cement Ukraine's independence as a nation and allow the country to move out of Russia's shadow. But before they get there, they have got a lot of persuading to do, both at home and abroad.

Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7324283.stm

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Russia has no right to veto Ukraine's membership of NATO, Bush says

Quote: U.S. President George W. Bush has said Moscow has no right to veto Ukraine's bid to join the NATO Membership Action Plan.
"Each [NATO member] state has told me that Russia won't have a veto, won't be able to impose a veto on what is happening in Bucharest.
I accept it, I think it is a correct position," Bush said at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday on the results of the meeting with President Viktor Yuschenko.
Bush said he would work to convince the summit participants let Ukraine and Georgia join the NATO MAP.

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Granting the NATO Membership Action Plan to Ukraine and Georgia would mark a point of no return in Russia's relations with the Alliance, Russian envoy

"Granting the NATO Membership Action Plan to Ukraine and Georgia would mark a point of no return in Russia's relations with the Alliance, Russian envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said.
"The Membership Action Plan marks the point of no return, in our opinion. If MAP is granted to Georgia and Ukraine at NATO's Bucharest summit, our relations would take a dramatic turn," Rogozin told Interfax on Tuesday.
"Lullaby statements" to the effect that MAP is not synonymous to membership of the Alliance must be dismissed, he said. "This means nothing for serious people, Such arguments are propaganda, pure and simple," he said. Whoever gives "oratories" on this score, arguing that a bid is only the first step to be followed by a referendum - in Ukraine, for instance - in fact it is sheer demagogy," Rogozin aid.
Hopefully, Russia's most responsible partners understand what consequences the invitation for Georgia and Ukraine to join the Alliance could ensue, he said. "We hope these partners will stand by their firm position and will not waver hearing commands from overseas," he said."

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As Bush visits Ukraine, Kievites gripe at guest gridlock

Quote:
DPA POLITICS NATO Politics Ukraine FEATURE: As Bush visits Ukraine, Kievites gripe at guest gridlock Stefan Korshak, dpa Kiev
US President George W. Bush and his entourage
descended on the usually peaceful Ukrainian capital Kiev on Monday,
for a state visit devoted mostly to photo opportunities.

The US leader's 18-hour presence paralysed whole urban districts,
inconvenienced tens of thousands of Kievites, and gained the already
unpopular US leader more enemies in the former Soviet republic.

"It's just like during Communism - the police are going nuts over
some big shot, and we Kiev citizens are locked out of our own city,"
street vendor Serhy Povorotnik griped.

"Don't forget, (former Soviet leader Leonid) Brezhnev started a
war in Afghanistan, and so did Bush. Big countries are all alike!" he
added, repeating a common Ukrainian criticism of Bush.

The security precautions required by the 43rd US president for his
short stay were for Ukraine unprecedented, rivalling and at times
exceeding precautions demanded by Soviet leaders of the once-feared
KGB.

The Bush motorcade - a column of SUVs, sedans, darkened windows
and flashing lights numbering 50 vehicles including Ukrainian cop
escorts - received total control of the country's only high-grade
highway, the road from Kiev's Borispil airport to Kiev, for a full
three hours, twice.

Bush and his subordinates made the Borispil road "absolutely
impossible" on Monday evening while roadway serves as a key lorry
thoroughfare between Kiev and Moscow; and were set to do so again
during Tuesday afternoon rush hour, preventing residents of high-rent
suburbs near Borispol village from returning home from work.

Restrictions in Kiev's centre were even more severe, with a White
House "security bubble" encompassing a roughly a half-kilometre
circle around the Hyatt Hotel, where Bush and his wife Laura were
scheduled to spend the night.

Non-official vehicle movement within the zone was banned in the
vicinity for duration of the Bushes' stay. The order made
inaccessible by car thousands of homes and businesses in Kiev's old
city, Ukraine's highest-rent district. (Real estate in Kiev prices
rival Paris these days.)

"We Ukrainians, we have a tradition of tolerance of foreigners,
and hospitality to guests," said Anastasia Tsimbaleva, a waitress
without orders or tips at the usually busy Kava cafe. "But the guest
has to be polite, and taking over Kiev centre isn't."

Kiev city police prior to Bush's visit warned citizens, quite
seriously, not to venture onto the roofs of buildings in the city
centre because "the Americans are arriving with their own snipers,
and they will shoot any one near the president, who has anything
resembling a weapon in his hands," Korrespondent magazine reported.

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Minister says Russia applies "double standards" to Ukraine over NATO

Quote: Ukrainian Defence Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov has said that Russia applies double standards when it criticizes Ukraine's willingness to cooperate with NATO. Yekhanurov was speaking at a briefing in Kyiv today summing up his first 100 days in office.
"As for the Russian Federation's cooperation, I would like to repeat that there are two standards: the one which Russia chose for itself, which is a very high level of cooperation, and the other one for the others, that is, for us," Yekhanurov said.
"This standard is about cooperation at a level twice as low (compared with Russia's)," he said.
Ukraine has still a lot to do in order to reach at least two thirds of what Russia has done in its cooperation with NATO. This primarily relates to cooperation in the military and technical spheres, Yekhanurov said.
"What I am allowed to, nobody else is," Yekhanurov said explaining Russia's position on the issue. Yekhanurov added that he favoured equal partnership and mutual respect.

http://ukraine-observer.com/index.php?c=1514

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Byut and SDPU(u) Together?

Quote: “It is true SDPU(u) cooperates with Byut”, said Igor Kril.
Members of some regional organizations of SDPU(u) are factually the members of “Batkivshchina” (Motherland) party and Byut, he noted. “That is why it would be a lie to say it is not so, and I welcome these works of Yulia that she begins to name Medvedchuck as “a victim of Kuchma times”. It is the first step to justify her relations with Viktor Medvedchuck”, said Igor Kril.

http://mignews.com.ua/en/articles/297026.html

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Ukraine's hopes to join NATO soured by fierce opposition from Russia, internal problems

Quote: If it weren't for Ukraine's drive to join NATO, army conscripts here might still be peeling potatoes and wrapping their feet in cloth instead of socks, as their predecessors had done for centuries.
Ukrainian officials will showcase these and other reforms at the NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania, this week, in hopes the Western military alliance will risk angering Moscow and invite this former Soviet republic to start the process of membership.
Ukraine's bid to join NATO has strong backing from Washington and US President George W. Bush is expected to visit Kyiv on Monday and Tuesday in a show of support on the eve of the summit. Membership would help cement Ukraine's place in the European community.
But key Western European powers, including Germany and France, have spoken out against giving Ukraine a so-called Membership Action Plan just yet, fearing upsetting already strained ties with Russia, a major supplier of energy to Europe. The plan is a precursor to the granting of full membership, which usually takes several years to obtain.
Russia sees the alliance's eastward expansion as a direct threat to its status as a regional power. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that his country could aim its warheads at Ukraine if it joins NATO and deploys anti-missile defenses on its territory.
Ukrainian leaders have been invited to the April 2-4 summit to discuss cooperation. They hope to use the opportunity to boost their case for getting a road map to membership, but the prospects appear slim.
"If MAP is granted, especially if Putin comes there, it will be an outright scandal," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs.
Together with Ukraine, Georgia has also requested a MAP, hoping joining NATO would reduce Moscow's centuries-old influence over the country and put it on a solid Westward track.
But Georgia is riven by two separatist conflicts and Moscow has warned it could support the breakaway provinces' claims to independence if Georgia enters NATO. Despite Washington's support its chances are even smaller, experts say.
Ukraine's bid, meanwhile, is complicated by the country's internal divisions. More than half of the population, most in the Russian-speaking east and south, is deeply suspicious of the West and opposes membership, polls show.
The Ukrainian leaders' January request led to weeks of embarrassing protests in the parliament by opposition lawmakers friendly to Russia that involved fist-fights and locking the speaker in his office so that he couldn't start a session.
The country still has a lot of problems, ranging from rampant corruption to constant political turmoil, which has caused a stream of government shake-ups and early elections over the past years.

Full article: http://www.kyivpost.com/top/28727/

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Mykhailo Syrota: “There’s a whore-house in Odesa with 3 and 6-year old children. How can a deputy without immunity expose it?”

Quote: “There’s a whore-house in Odesa where 3 to 6-year old kids are used as prostitutes. Officially, it is called the Zhemchuzhyna orphanage and in which 60 boys and girls live. They are regularly raped by adult clients. Who provides a cover for it? - The law-enforcement agencies. I have to do something about it. A have a 6-year old grandson, and when I think that my grandson can be one of them, I can kill the criminals with my bare hands. Now they tell me that vice is easier to be dealt with when my deputy immunity from prosecution is lifted. But a lawmaker must be protected against coercion and harassment from anyone, law-enforcement including,” Mykhailo Syrota of Lytvyn bloc and leader of the Labor party of Ukraine, said in his March 25 press conference in Lviv held at the ZIK information agency. -

http://zik.com.ua/en/news/2008/03/26/130980

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No link between Ukraine, Georgia's membership and NATO's cooperation with Russia in Afghanistan - experts

quote: "I don't think a link like this is possible in principle. Neither NATO, nor Russia will accept it," political scientist Vyacheslav Nikonov told Interfax.
Russia-NATO cooperation on Afghanistan is continuing, he said. "Of course, it could be broader, if NATO countries took due account of Russia's concerns about a wide range of international issues, which are not limited solely to Ukraine or Georgia's membership of the Alliance," he said.
Political scientist Andranik Migranian does not see, either, any linkage between NATO's attitude to Ukraine and Georgia's NATO accession drive and broader cooperation with Russia in Afghanistan.
"I don't think this kind of a deal is meant here. President Vladimir Putin's planned visit to Bucharest to attend a NATO summit, and U.S. President George W. Bush's subsequent visit to Sochi indicate that NATO is not preparing to Russia any surprises like membership action plans for Georgia or Ukraine," Migranian said.

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