Ukraine PM attacks 'coward' rival

Ukraine's Yulia Tymoshenko relished a solo performance on television last night, heaping insults on arch foe Viktor Yanukovych after he shunned a prime-time debate with her ahead of a presidential run-off.


Facing an empty rostrum where Mr Yanukovych should have stood in their scheduled 100-minute duel, the Prime Minister Ms Tymoshenko branded him "a common coward" for not turning up. "I believe that an empty spot is exactly what he is," said Ms Tymoshenko, wearing her trademark braids. "And although he is absent from here, I can feel his smell. This is the smell of fear. I do not want a common coward to become the next leader of our nation," she said.

Opposition leader Mr Yanukovych, the frontrunner in next Sunday's poll, yesterday declined to take part in the debate with Ms Tymoshenko, calling her election vows "dirt and evil".

The Prime Minister's personal attack on her 59-year-old rival appeared to rule out any alliance between them after the election.

Mr Yanukovych, whose support base is in the east and south, won the first round of the election with 35 per cent of vote, 10 per cent ahead of Ms Tymoshenko. But she can make up this ground if she strengthens her position in western and central regions.

Mr Yanukovych, who often stumbles over his words and prefers scripted speeches to project himself, told voters he would abstain from a public debate to avoid Ms Tymoshenko's "torrents of dirt and evil". "I believe that concrete deeds and the word that one gives is more important than sweet and pleasing phrases. This is why I deem it indecent to be dragged into empty talk and compete in lies in the run-up to the election," he said.

Ms Tymoshenko led the 2004 "Orange Revolution" sparked by a rigged election in which Mr Yanukovych was denied victory

Source:independent.co.uk/

Ukraine's Tymoshenko revels as rival shuns TV clash

The fiery, fast-talking Tymoshenko, facing an empty rostrum where Yanukovich should have stood in their scheduled 100-minute duel, branded him "a common coward" for not turning up.

"I believe that an empty spot is exactly what he is," said Tymoshenko, wearing her trademark peasant-style braids.

"And although he is absent from here, I can feel his smell. This is the smell of fear. I do not want a common coward to become the next leader of our nation," she said sternly.

Opposition leader Yanukovich, frontrunner in next Sunday's clash, declined on Monday to take part in the debate with Prime Minister Tymoshenko, calling her election vows "dirt and evil."

Tymoshenko's deeply personal monologue against the 59-year-old ex-mechanic appeared to rule out any future alliance between them after the election.

Yanukovich, whose support base is in the east and south, won the January 17 first round of the election with 35.32 percent of votes, just over 10 percent ahead of Tymoshenko.

But she can make up this ground if she can strengthen her position in western and central regions.

SCRIPTED SET-PIECES

Yanukovich, who often stumbles over his words and prefers scripted set-pieces to project himself, said in an address to voters earlier on Monday he would abstain from a public debate to avoid Tymoshenko's "torrents of dirt and evil."

"I believe that concrete deeds and the word that one gives is more important than sweet and pleasing phrases. This is why I deem it indecent to be dragged into empty talk and compete in lies in the run-up to the election," he said.

Tymoshenko, 49, repeated her earlier criticism of Yanukovich as a "marionette led by oligarchs to grab power," a reference to the wealthy industrialists backing him.

Tymoshenko, who led 2004 "Orange revolution" street protests sparked by a rigged election in which Yanukovich was denied victory, had also earlier sought to exploit her rival's two jail terms for theft and assault as a young man.

The beefy Yanukovich, who usually shrugs off his opponent's remarks with a smile, has tried to polish up an image of a responsible politician ready to be held to account.

He said late last month that if Tymoshenko would not be held responsible for her actions "her place must be in the kitchen."

Yanukovich enjoys strong support in his native eastern Ukraine and the south, while Tymoshenko's power base lies in the nationalist west and in central regions.

Both hopefuls speak in favor of closer ties with Europe and pragmatic ties with giant neighbor Russia -- the source of most of Ukraine's energy imports. Both paint an equally apocalyptical future in the event of them losing on February 7.

Source:reuters.com/

FACTBOX-Policies of Ukraine's election frontrunners

Feb 2 (Reuters) - Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovich and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko battle for the president's post in an election on Sunday that will decide the direction of the ex-Soviet state and may usher in stability.

Analysts say both Yanukovich, a 59-year-old former mechanic, and Tymoshenko, a 49-year-old one-time gas tycoon, are practical politicians who can compromise, especially with their former Soviet master, Russia.

Here is a comparison of their policies on main issues:


RUSSIA AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

Neither is saying a choice has to be made between Russia and the rich 27-member EU next door. Both say they want to integrate with Europe while improving ties with Moscow, which deteriorated under President Viktor Yushchenko.

But Tymoshenko is seen as more enthusiastic about the EU, setting the ambitious goal of accession within five years and making frequent references to European standards.

Yanukovich has said he wants to renegotiate a gas supply deal with Russia, which set market prices for gas as of this year, but may balance that with an idea of creating a consortium with Russia's participation to manage Ukraine's pipeline system.

He has fudged his line on Russia's Black Sea Fleet stationed in Ukraine's Crimean peninsula which Ukrainian law states must leave in 2017. He says a solution will be found that will be in both countries' interests.

He has softened his line on Georgian rebel regions since his party called for their recognition as independent states, as Russia did. He repeats Russia's line that the regions are no less independent than Kosovo, recognised by most countries as an independent state but not by Serbia, to which it belonged.

Tymoshenko has said Georgia's territorial integrity must be respected -- indicating that recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is not on the cards. She notes that the constitution forbids foreign military bases on Ukrainian land.

Source:reuters.com/

Crimea's loyalty split in Ukraine election

As Ukraine prepares to vote in a new president in an election run-off on Sunday, the BBC's Jamie Coomarasamy reports from Crimea, where people are ambivalent about their Ukrainian nationality.

It is easy to mix up Russia and Ukraine when you are in Crimea.

Just ask Viktor Yanukovych.

The Ukrainian presidential candidate made a faux pas last week, when he referred to the Russian writer Anton Chekhov - a long time resident of the peninsula - as Ukrainian.

But in this part of the country his gaffe is unlikely to benefit his opponent on Sunday, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

At least, that is what I was told - by a multitude of voices - when I took a ride on the form of transport known locally as "Hyde Park on wheels"; the old, rickety, Soviet-era trolley bus that lurches around town.

The nickname comes from their elderly passengers, who like to leap onto their metaphorical soap boxes - such as those found in Hyde Park's Speakers Corner - whilst sitting comfortably in their seats.

'Ukraine for the people'

A basic question about the election, on route number 10, unleashed a torrent of comments.

All of them were anti-Mrs Tymoshenko.

"You can't trust someone who changes her opinions as often as she changes dresses" and "she should be in jail" were typical.

Source:news.bbc.co.uk/

Azerbaijani parliamentarians to observe second round of Ukrainian presidential elections with PACE delegation

Baku. Lachin Sultanova – APA. 30 observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will follow the second round of the presidential elections in Ukraine on February 7, APA reports. The delegation led by Hungarian MP Matias Iorsh will also include two members of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE Ganira Pashayeva and Sabir Hajiyev.

PACE observers will follow the elections together with the representatives of OSCE and NATO PA, European Parliament and OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The extra delegation of observers include member of the Venice Commission and independent experts of the Council of Europe.

PACE observers will be in Ukraine from February 5 till 8. They will meet with candidates, CEC officials and representatives of NGOs.

The initial opinion of the international observers will be declared at the press conference on February 8.

Source:en.apa.az/

Georgia Decides Not To Send Its Observers For Presidential Election Runoff

Georgia decided not to send its observers to Ukraine for the presidential election runoff, reads a statement made by the press service to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

"Georgian observers will not be sent to monitor the second round of the election of the president of Ukraine because of some misunderstanding surrounding Georgian observers during the first round," said Manana Manjgaladze, Saakashvili's press secretary.

Apart from this, Georgia is calling on its citizens who monitor the presidential election in Ukraine under the aegis of international organisations to return back home.

Manjgaladze stressed, Georgia was trying to keep neutrality on account of respect to both runners in the election. She noted Saakashvili wished the Ukrainian people to make a successful choice.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Kyivskyi district prosecutors' office of Donetsk filed a criminal case on January 25 on the suspicion that Georgian election observers had used forged documents identifying them as journalists during the first round of the Ukrainian presidential election in Donetsk on January 17.

Levan Tarhnishvili, acting head of Georgia's central election commission and the head of the Georgian delegation of election observers, confirmed that a delegation of 400 Georgian citizens with documents identifying them as freelance correspondents of Ukrainian media stayed in Donetsk.

The Central Electoral Commission refused on January 11 to register these observers from Georgia to monitor the presidential election.

The Kyiv Administrative Court of Appeals later ruled unlawful the commission's act of refusing registration to the Georgian observers.

Source:un.ua/

MP heads to Ukraine as election observer

Parkdale-High Park MP Gerard Kennedy is among hundreds of Canadians who will be in Ukraine working as election observers this weekend as Ukrainians go to the polls Sunday, Feb. 7 to elect a new president.
No stranger to the mission, Kennedy was on hand for the parliamentary elections in Ukraine in 2007.

"The real story, as far as I'm concerned, is Canadians have been deployed as experts since the Orange Revolution. They're very knowledgeable," said Kennedy in an interview two days before his Feb. 4 departure. "They really embed themselves."

Kennedy will be there to lend some official support to workers on the ground. Organized by the Canadian Ukrainian Foundation in partnership with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the election observer mission supports transparency and democracy by assessing the election process. These volunteers are there to monitor the process and by their presence, encourage a fair and democratic election.

Kennedy commended the volunteers whom he has seen in action.

"What they do is very, very admirable," said Kennedy. "They get up at 7 a.m. and work until midnight before they go back to their motel."

People who have been there, said the MP, know there are "real advances" going on in the country.

"Ukraine wants to prove to the world they can conduct their election," said Kennedy. "If they don't have credibility with citizens there, the country can't move forward."

The first round of elections took place Jan. 17, a process that was reported to have been 'adequate' in its attempt to meet international election standards. However, Canadian observers uncovered several irregularities, including an attempt to sabotage the election in 28 small communities around the Kyiv region, said Kennedy. The politician said he came across similar situations on his visit three years ago. The group he was with "intruded upon" a number of people illegally distributing ballots.

He said police were brought in by those trying to give out illegal ballots because they represented the dominant party and the local government in the region.

“We observers had our passports taken and were detained,” said Kennedy. “We got out after a five hour standoff after a combination of persuasion and the fact we had a couple of members of the national police show up based on a friendship by the Canadian leader of the local observer group with the president’s wife.”


"You come to take for granted the regular conduct of election. It reminds you how important it is," said Kennedy. "There is no independent election commission in Ukraine. The parties get to run the election."

Kennedy, who happens to be of Ukrainian heritage - his mother is Ukrainian - will be in Ukraine for five days.

Source:insidetoronto.com/

Yanukovich Seen as Front-Runner in Ukraine Presidential Election

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich faces current Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in a presidential runoff February 7. Mr. Yanukovich, who lost the last presidential elections in 2004, but is now seen as the front-runner.

He is the leader of the powerful "Party of Regions" in the Ukrainian parliament.

University of Toronto Ukrainian expert Frank Sysyn says the party is composed of various business interests in the south and east of Ukraine. "It comes predominantly out of the Donbass and particularly the Donetzk Oblast (province). It is a party that represents forces who wish to keep control by certain oligarchs within that region and to a very considerable degree it was financed by one of the richest, or the richest, man in Ukraine, Rinat Akhmetov. In many ways the Donetzk Oblast can seem to be his bailiwick. It also has influence throughout the south and east of the country, although there are other regional and economic elites that oppose it. It has relatively little support in central Ukraine and almost none in western Ukraine. And it also is a party that is closely allied with what may be seen as Russian-language interests and with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine," he said.

Mr. Yanukovich was born in 1950 in the industrial city of Dnipropetrovsk, in eastern Ukraine. His chief rival for the presidency, Yulia Tymoshenko was also born in that city, but 10 years later.

David Marples, an expert on Ukraine from the University of Alberta, says Yanukovich had a troubled youth. "He was arrested in 1968 and convicted to a juvenile colony for manslaughter. And then in 1970 he was arrested again and sent to jail, apparently for beating up someone. His official biography has been actually revamped, removed most of this early period out of there," he said.

Ironically, says Marples, Yulia Tymoshenko also spent time in prison - but for so-called "white collar" crimes. "So both the presidential candidates of Ukraine have been in jail, which I think must be quite unique in the history of presidential elections in any country. They are very different kinds of felonies: one arrested for corrupt business practices and the other for attacking somebody. So one is a kind of working class felon and the other is a kind of middle-class business felon, you could say," he said.

Marples says Mr. Yanukovich has a masters degree in international law and a doctorate in economics - as does Ms. Timoshenko. He is also a member of Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences.

Source:voanews.com/

Justice Minister sure there will be no third round of presidential election

KYIV, February 3. /UKRINFORM/. Ukrainian Justice Minister Mykola Onishchuk has said that the third round of the presidential election will not be held in Ukraine.

In an interview with the Glavred Internet edition, he said that the law on the presidential election did not foresee a clause on the possible holding of the third round.

“A rerun of the vote, which was registered in 2004, won't be repeated,” Onishchuk said.

The minister said that the law did not foresee the voter turnout threshold, and even if less than 50% of voters participate in the election, the second round would be declared legal. The candidate that receives a simple majority of the vote will become Ukraine's president, he said.

Onishchuk said he did not rule out that there would be attempts to challenge the result of the presidential election in courts.

The frontrunners in Ukraine's presidential election, Viktor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko, will compete in a run-off vote on February 7

Source:bsanna-news.ukrinform.ua/

Five years on in Kiev

ON DECEMBER 3rd 2004 jubilant crowds flowed into a snowbound Kiev’s Independence Square, waving their orange flags, to celebrate a court decision to annul Ukraine’s rigged presidential election two weeks earlier. They cried and they danced—and the world was gripped by the sight of a sleepy Ukrainian people waking up to defend their freedom.

Days later, their hero, Viktor Yushchenko, his face disfigured by a mysterious poisoning, promised change. “Everything will change in Ukraine from today. We were independent for 14 years but we were not free…We should roll up our sleeves and work honestly from morning till night for this country.” He promised that bandits would go to jail, honest types would replace corrupt officials and judges would no longer take bribes—and that in five years’ time Ukrainians would be proud of their achievements. For a time Ukraine became fashionable the world over.

All that enthusiasm has now turned to fatigue. Ukraine’s under-reformed economy teeters on the edge of national bankruptcy, the rule of law is elusive, courts remain corrupt and the parliament resembles a trading platform for business tycoons in which deals are made and seats bought and sold. In April 2005 some 53% of Ukrainians said their country was on the right track. Now 81% believe it is heading in the wrong direction. Ukraine lies 17th from bottom in the latest global index of economic freedom, below Russia and Belarus.

It is to the credit of the voters that the failure of Mr Yushchenko and his team has not discredited the very concept of democracy, as happened in Russia in the 1990s. In the election Mr Yushchenko was unceremoniously booted out, gaining just over 5% of the vote. Viktor Yanukovich, the bad guy in 2004, got 35%, against 25% for Yulia Tymoshenko, the prime minister, who energised the crowds in 2004 but has since fallen out bitterly with Mr Yushchenko. The two front-runners will now face each other in a second round on February 7th.

Ukraine is as divided as ever, with the industrialised, Russian-speaking east and south backing Mr Yanukovich and the centre and west supporting Ms Tymoshenko. The only politician who did well all over the country was Serhiy Tyhypko, a former banker who ran and then quit Mr Yanukovich’s campaign in 2004. He fought the best campaign and took 13% of the vote despite, or more likely because of, being absent from politics in the past five years.

Source:economist.com/

Ukraine breaks up alleged Russian spy ring a week ahead of presidential elections

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A spying scandal between Ukraine and Russia threatens to heighten tensions between the countries as Ukraine's holds a presidential runoff election Sunday between a Russian-leaning candidate and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Ukraine's security service said Wednesday five Russians were detained last month after being caught trying to obtain confidential military information from a Ukrainian citizen.

"We have broken up an FSB spying operation," Ukrainian security services spokeswoman Marina Ostapenko said.

Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, confirmed its agents had been detained, but accused Ukraine of sensationalizing the issue.

"It was surprising the Ukraine Security Service's leadership was so hasty in publicizing this incident, because this kind of situation is usually resolved by cooperation between the special services," said an FSB spokesman, who declined give his name.

Ukraine's security service says the FSB agents tried to use "blackmail and threats" to force a Ukrainian citizen to reveal state secrets.

"We are deeply concerned by the outrageous behavior of these spies and about the safety of our citizens," Ostapenko said.

Ostapenko says four of the officers, who were apprehended in a sting operation late last month, have been expelled and another faces espionage charges.

The officers had digital voice recorders, pen-shaped miniature video cameras, memory cards disguised as key-chains, other electronic equipment and $2,000 in cash when they were arrested, Ostapenko said.

The FSB says the Ukrainian citizen its agents were working with had himself been apprehended in November while allegedly spying on neighboring Moldavia's Moscow-backed breakaway Trans-Dniester republic.

The Ukrainian agent was held briefly at a Russian military base and later agreed to assist in intelligence operations in Ukraine, the FSB said.

The election is being bitterly contested between Russian-leaning Viktor Yanukovych and Tymoshenko, a leading figure in the 2004 Orange Revolution.

Russia and Ukraine have clashed repeatedly in recent years over everything from the status of the Russian language to Ukraine's bid to join NATO. The Orange Revolution, which kept Yanukovych out of power, was reviled in the Kremlin, which has since taken firm steps to avoid a similar opposition movement from arising in Russia.

Russian news agency Interfax cited influential pro-Yanukovych deputy Mykola Azarov as saying Wednesday that the spy scandal was aimed at damaging relations between Russia and Ukraine.

Yanukovych beat Tymoshenko 35 percent to 25 percent in the first round of voting of the presidential election Jan. 17. But analysts expect Tymoshenko to close that gap by picking up votes splintered among candidates in the first round.

Source:fox59.com/

Chernobyl: Leaking radiation and sucking up Canadian money

Thirteen years after Canada and other nations pledged $768-million to render the destroyed nuclear reactor safe, the cost has ballooned to $2-billion and the job still isn't done
Almost a quarter-century after its explosion killed hundreds and shocked the world, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor still sits crumbling amid an uninhabitable wasteland in northern Ukraine, still emits surprising amounts of radiation, and still absorbs vast amounts of money.

Much of that money, at least $71-million of it, has come from Canadian taxpayers, intended to pay for a project launched in 1997 under a pledge from leaders of the G-7 countries to enclose the reactor in a permanent, sealed sarcophagus.

It was meant to be finished in eight years and cost $768-million (U.S.), a symbol of a resurgent Ukraine returning to democratic government and an open economy, putting the 1986 disaster permanently in the past.

But in a story of tragic disappointment that exemplifies the web of corruption and distrust that so often ensnares relations between Ukraine and the West, 13 years later the cost of the project has ballooned to almost $2-billion and construction has not even begun.

Canadian officials describe it as a “money sink” that has fallen prey to the worst aspects of Ukraine's failed development, a physical manifestation of the once-wealthy country's political decay.

Later this year, after the G-8 conference in Huntsville, Ont., the Canadian government will be asked to make another pledge, likely in the tens of millions of dollars, in an effort to raise another $200-million to $300-million to get the job done by the end of 2012, before the reactor decays further and poses an even graver danger. While the reactor's original sarcophagus, built in a hurry after the disaster, was recently reinforced, it is a flimsy structure that could collapse, sending a radioactive dust cloud into the atmosphere. Portions of the reactor core are still exposed to open air and rainwater.

Source:theglobeandmail.com/

Did Georgian Leadership Try To Influence Ukraine Presidential Election?

Several prominent Georgian oppositionists have expressed concern at the political implications of two telephone conversations, posted first on Ukrainian then on Georgian websites, which could be construed as evidence that the Georgian leadership sought to influence the January 17 Ukrainian presidential election to secure a victory for Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Relations between Tymoshenko and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili have been haunted by rumors of a torrid love affair between them. Saakashvili denied those rumors as early as 2005, but that did not prevent the production of a movie chronicling the alleged romance.

The first conversation posted online was apparently between Saakashvili and Tymoshenko, who thanks him for sending a team of election observers. Saakashvili's administration responded on January 15 to that recording by denying that Georgia supports any of the presidential candidates.

The second conversation purportedly took place on January 14 between all-powerful Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili and Givi Targamadze, chairman of the Georgian Committee on Defense and Security, who at the time of the conversation was in Donetsk. Merabishvili tells Targamadze that Akhalaya (Georgia's defense minister) has promised to provide personnel; Targamadze replies that they have already arrived in Donetsk. Merabishvili then orders Targamadze to impress upon his Ukrainian contacts the need to provide air transport for additional Georgian observers prior to the second round of voting.

The Georgian authorities have not formally denied the authenticity of either conversation. Targamadze was quoted on January 20 as saying "I think Ukraine now needs to be focused on a more important issue [meaning the second round] rather than wasting time listening to my mobile phone conversations."

The Ukrainian Central Election Commission (CEC) refused on January 11 to register 2,011 would-be election observers from Georgia, having already registered a total of 3,149 from other countries. Targamadze was quoted as saying that CEC members from presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions were behind that refusal, and that the 300-plus Georgian election observers already in Donetsk were being hindered in their activities.

The Yulia Tymoshenko bloc (BYuT) appealed the CEC decision to the Kyiv Appellate Court on January 13 and demanded that the Georgian contingent be accredited. The BYuT subsequently alleged that members of Yanukovych's campaign staff beat up two Georgian journalists in Donetsk on January 16.

Saakashvili told journalists on January 18, the day after the election, that the dispatch of 2,000 Georgian election observers was agreed in advance "with all Ukrainian political parties" and that the objective was "to express solidarity and provide assistance to Ukraine," not to "interfere in politics."

But prominent Georgian opposition politicians have argued that whatever Saakashvili's intent, his apparent meddling in the Ukrainian presidential ballot could negatively affect relations between the two countries. Eka Beselia of the Movement for a United Georgia argued that in any other country, an interior minister or prominent parliamentarian would have resigned if such damaging allegations came to light.

Former Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili argued that "it is not the business of an interior minister to deal with the sending of election observers -- assuming that the persons in question were bona fide observers" and not, as some have alleged, Georgian Interior Ministry personnel.

Former Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli, for his part, was quoted by Caucasus Press as telling journalists on January 21 that a formal investigation should be launched and that Merabishvili and Targamadze should be held criminally responsible if that probe yields evidence that they violated the law.

Source:rferl.org/

State Duma deputies to monitor second round of Ukrainian election

MOSCOW, February 2 (Itar-Tass) -- State Duma deputies will monitor the second round of presidential elections in Ukraine on February 7, delegation deputy head and Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs and Fellow Citizens Alexei Ostrovsky told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

“The State Duma deputies will visit Ukraine together with a delegation of the CIS Parliamentary Assembly on February 5-9 to watch the final phase of the election campaign, the ballot and the count of votes. The Russian parliamentarians will do the monitoring in Kiev, Donetsk, Odessa, Simferopol, Lvov and Ivano-Frankovsk,” he said.

“Preliminary results of the election may become known on February 8, and the Ukrainian Central Elections Commission will post official results on the day defined by national laws,” he said.

Asked whether provocative actions, similar with the arrival of Georgian ‘election observers’ in Donetsk on January 17, were possible in the second round, Ostrovsky said, “I do not rule out anything in the modern Ukrainian politics.”

Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovich and Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko will compete in the second round of the election.

Source:itar-tass.com/

Timoshenko promises military doctrine review after presidential election

LVOV, February 2 (Itar-Tass) -- The Ukrainian military doctrine will be reviewed after the presidential election, Ukrainian Prime Minister and presidential candidate Yulia Timoshenko said on Tuesday.

“The military doctrine needs to be modernized and balanced. If that is done, the Ukrainian armed forces will be strong,” the premier said.

She said she would start her possible presidency with the switch to the professional armed forces. “We will have the professional armed forces and will stop to draft conscripts when the presidential election is over,” Timoshenko said.

The bill on the military service by contract was presented to the parliament immediately after the early parliamentary election of 2007, she said. “However, the political struggle and the unwillingness of my opponents to allow me fulfill this promise and raise my authority were the impediment,” Timoshenko said. “The bill will be unblocked after the presidential election. We have a strategy of the conversion of the armed forces, we have financial estimates and techniques,” she said.

Meanwhile, President Viktor Yushchenko said in Drogobych, Lvov region, before the first round of the presidential election that 2,500 servicemen by contract quit last year. “The monthly salary of a contract servicemen amounts to 870 hryvni ($100). What kind of young people will agree to that? Is not that the capitulation of the national defense policy?” he wondered.

Yushchenko said that Ukraine had the defense minister’s vacancy for 18 months and the modernization of the armed forces had not begun.

Source:itar-tass.com/

Lytvyn guarantees that early parliamentary election not to take place

Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Volodymyr Lytvyn believes there will not be early parliamentary election if lawmakers start working.

According to an UNIAN correspondent, he said this during opening of the 6th session of the Verkhovna Rada of Uktraine.

“There will be no parliamentary election. I guarantee this. Under conditions if we collect ourselves and start working”, said V. Lytvyn.

Source:unian.net/