Ukraine-Russia Relations Still Unclear

KIEV, Ukraine -- As soon as his challenger had dropped a legal battle to block his inauguration this week, Ukrainian President-elect Viktor Yanukovych got a call from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. According to the Kremlin, the two men agreed that Mr. Yanukovych would visit Moscow in early March.

But Mr. Yanukovych's aides would neither confirm nor deny Sunday anything about such a visit, even though his Web site posted the Kremlin announcement. Hanna Herman, a close confidant, said the president-elect's first priority was to form a new government and deal with domestic problems.

The call from the Kremlin Saturday signals Russia's interest in reasserting a preferential relationship with its former Soviet neighbor. Yet the coy reaction in Kiev leaves it unclear which way Mr. Yanukovych will tilt Ukraine, a country of 46 million people wedged between Russia and the West.

Ukraine embraced a Western agenda after the 2004 Orange Revolution, when mass protests alleging electoral fraud overturned Mr. Yanukovych's tainted victory in that year's presidential election. Viktor Yushchenko won the revote and antagonized the Kremlin, which had openly backed Mr. Yanukovych, by trying to take Ukraine into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and supporting Georgia during its 2008 war with Russia.

During the recent campaign, the Kremlin played no favorite and Mr. Yanukovych straddled the fence, calling for good relations with Russia and the European Union. Ms. Herman had indicated that his first presidential trip abroad could be to Brussels.

The question of Mr. Yanukovych's foreign policy priorities could complicate his effort to form a majority in parliament and replace Yulia Tymoshenko, his bitter rival in the presidential race, as prime minister.

Ms. Tymoshenko dropped her court challenge to the results of the Feb. 7 election Saturday, clearing the way for Mr. Yanukovych's inauguration on Thursday. She said there was no point pursuing the case after the Supreme Administrative Court refused to consider evidence she presented alleging vote falsification in favor of her opponent, who won by a margin of 3.48%.

As the political struggle turns to parliament, Mr. Yanukovych's opposition Party of Regions is trying to persuade two parties in Ms. Tymoshenko's fragile coalition to switch allegiance and oust her as prime minister.

One of those parties, Mr. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc, is divided; its many nationalist supporters in western Ukraine are wary of Mr. Yanukovych because he has shown himself willing to take Russia's positions into account.

In interviews with Russian journalists last week, Mr. Yanukovych said he would not pursue NATO membership for Ukraine and would consider prolonging the basing of Russia's Black Sea Fleet on Ukrainian soil. The Kremlin also wants Ukraine to join a customs union with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, a step that could impede Ukraine's talks on a trade agreement with the European Union.

Ms. Tymoshenko met with Our Ukraine lawmakers last week in an attempt to persuade them to stick with her coalition.

If Mr. Yanukovych fails to form a majority, he has said he would call early parliamentary elections. That prospect would prolong political uncertainty and further damage Ukraine's economy, which shrank by 15% last year.

Source:online.wsj.com/

Ukraine's Yanukovich narrows down search for PM

KIEV (Reuters) - The parliamentary party of Ukrainian President elect Viktor Yanukovich has narrowed down the search for a new prime minister to three candidates, two from outside its ranks, a party source told Reuters on Sunday.

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Yanukovich's Regions Party is attempting to form a new coalition in parliament which would be able to oust current Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko; the loser in a presidential election this month.

The post of prime minister will be key to uniting coalition parties under the Regions Party. Tymoshenko's ouster may usher in a stable government that will focus on Ukraine's economic woes and bring back International Monetary Fund lending.

The source said businessman Sergey Tigipko and former Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, neither from the Regions Party, as well as former Finance Minister Mykola Azarov were named as the most likely candidates by Yanukovich in an interview with television stations to be aired later on Sunday. "Today, there are three figures; Tigipko, Yatsenyuk and Azarov," the source said.

Tigipko, 50, came a surprise third in a first round of the presidential election and Tymoshenko and Yanukovich both tried to woo him to their side in the run up to the final round of voting. He declined to support either.

Yatsenyuk is a 35-year-old who has already held a host of positions including chairman of the central bank and speaker of parliament.

Azarov, 63, is an old stalwart of Yanukovich and has helped steer Ukraine's economy under Yanukovich's premierships in 2002-2004 and 2006-2007 as his finance minister. He was seen as a safe pair of hands who managed the state's finances well.

FINDING A COALITION

News of the three candidates came a day after Tymoshenko dropped her legal case against the election result, saying the court could not be trusted to give a fair verdict.

Tymoshenko still claims Yanukovich did not win the election legitimately, accusing his supporters of vote-rigging, even though international observers gave the election the all clear and as Western governments congratulated the president-elect.

Analysts say Tymoshenko will now focus on the fight against Yanukovich in parliament. If his supporters succeed in building a coalition, they could dismiss Tymoshenko through a vote of no confidence, paving the way for a new government.

If not, Yanukovich may be forced into calling a snap parliamentary election, an option investors fear because it would prolong instability in the country.

Tymoshenko's about-turn on Saturday left the way clear for Yanukovich to be inaugurated as president on February 25.

A Regions Party official said on Sunday the presidents of several countries including Bulgaria, Turkey, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania have confirmed they would attend the ceremony, as well as the EU foreign affairs and security chief, Catherine Ashton.

Source:reuters.com/

Court puts on hold Yanukovych victory in Ukraine presidential election

A Ukrainian court has temporarily suspended the results of the February 2010 presidential election pending review of an appeal filed by Yulia Tymoshenko.

The supreme administrative court released a statement on February 17 2010 saying the Central Election Commission ruling that declared Viktor Yanukovych the winner had been put on hold, according to a report by the Voice of America.

Tymoshenko has lodged court action seeking to overturn the results of the February 7 vote. Tymoshenko, Ukraine's current prime minister, says the election was rigged. She has refused to concede defeat.

Ukraine’s parliament earlier voted to approve the swearing-in of Yanukovych on February 25 2010 as president, over the objections of the Tymoshenko camp, which boycotted the vote while Tymoshenko formally lodged her court action challenging Yanukovych’s win.

Tymoshenko went to the supreme administrative court on February 16 with crates of evidence that she says backs up her allegations of vote-rigging.

International observers have deemed the election that produced Yanukovych’s victory as in line with accepted standards, and Yanukovych already has been congratulated by the White House, the Kremlin and the European Union, among others.

Official results say that Tymoshenko lost by about 888 000 votes, while she alleges that electoral fraud deprived her of about a million votes.

Officials of Yanukovych’s Party of the Regions say that it is not possible for the court to order a repeat of the second round of presidential elections, and Tymoshenko can only challenge the conduct of the central election commission in counting the results.

Yanukovych has called more than once for Tymoshenko to step down as prime minister, a call that he repeated by saying that a defeat in court should be followed by her resignation.

Source:sofiaecho.com/

Ukraine: Yanukovych a 'usurper'

Kiev - The party of Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Thursday accused her triumphant election rival Viktor Yanukovych of seeking to usurp power by holding his presidential inauguration next week.

Tymoshenko has filed a complaint contending that Yanukovych's victory in presidential elections was marred by mass violations.


On Wednesday, a top court ordered that the official results be put on hold while the case is heard.

But parliament - where Yanukovych's Regions Party is the largest faction - has already set the inauguration for February 25 amid fears of a looming political crisis.

"Any actions aimed at inaugurating Viktor Yanukovych will be seen as an attempt to usurp state power," Deputy Prime Minister and top Tymoshenko ally Olexander Turchynov said in a statement published on her website.

He said that as the results had been suspended by court order, a swearing-in of Yanukovych would be no different to "inaugurating any person who has no document declaring the results of the vote."

Ukraine's supreme administrative court will start hearing the case on Friday and it is unclear whether the case will be wrapped up in time for the inauguration date.

Almost four percent


The deputy head of Tymoshenko's faction, Sergiy Sobolev, said the party was insisting that the February 25 inauguration be cancelled.

Yanukovych defeated Tymoshenko by around 3.5% or just under 890 000 votes in the February 7 election, according to the final official results published on Sunday.

While Tymoshenko claimed there was mass vote fraud, international observers praised the elections and Western leaders including US President Barack Obama have already congratulated Yanukovych on his victory.

Source:news24.com/

Ukraine court suspends official election results

Yulia Tymoshenko, the losing candidate in Ukraine’s presidential run-off 10 February, has lodged a complaint with the country’s Higher Administrative Court claiming that she was robbed of victory by fraud in hundreds of polling stations. The court ordered the election commission to hold off on publishing official results. Tymoshenko has not conceded defeat and refuses to relinquish her post as prime minister in the outgoing government.

The court is not likely to overturn the result, which Viktor Yanukovich won by 3.5 percentage points. Yanukovich is scheduled to be invested 25 February. Tymoshenko may be attempting to negotiate her hold on the prime ministership, according to some commentators.

Source:genevalunch.com/

Yanukovych to be sworn in as Ukraine’s president on February 25

Ukraine’s parliament has voted to approve the swearing-in of Viktor Yanukovych on February 25 2010 as president, over the objections of the Yulia Tymoshenko camp, which boycotted the vote while Tymoshenko formally lodged court action challenging Yanukovych’s win.

Tymoshenko went to the supreme administrative court on February 16 with crates of evidence that she says backs up her allegations of vote-rigging, the Voice of America reported.

International observers have deemed the election that produced Yanukovych’s victory as in line with accepted standards, and Yanukovych already has been congratulated by the White House, the Kremlin and the European Union, among others.

Official results say that Tymoshenko lost by about 888 000 votes, while she alleges that electoral fraud deprived her of about a million votes.

Officials of Yanukovych’s Party of the Regions say that it is not possible for the court to order a repeat of the second round of presidential elections, and Tymoshenko can only challenge the conduct of the central election commission in counting the results.

Yanukovych has called more than once for Tymoshenko to step down as prime minister, a call that he repeated by saying that a defeat in court should be followed by her resignation.

Source:sofiaecho.com/

Ukraine leader considers post-election trip to EU capital

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Ukraine's president-elect, Viktor Yanukovych, is considering going to Brussels for his first foreign trip as the country's leader in a bid to polish up his EU credentials.

Anna German, Mr Yanukovych's spokeswoman, told EUobserver on Monday (15 February) that the move is "possible," with invitations already received from both Brussels and Moscow, but that a final decision has not yet been made.


Mr Yanukovych at the EU headquarters in Brussels in 2006, during his visit as Ukraine's prime minister (Photo: European Commission)
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The country's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, is to set a date for Mr Yanukovych's inauguration on Tuesday, clearing the way for foreign engagements.

Senior officials in Ukraine's foreign ministry are keen for the president-elect to demonstrate that he is serious about EU integration amid fears in the EU institutions that he will put Russian interests before pro-EU reforms.

In protocol terms, any new leader's choice of first diplomatic encounter is seen as an indicator of foreign policy priorities.

"It would be logical for the newly-elected president of Ukraine to first visit Brussels," Ukraine's deputy foreign minister, Konstantin Yeliseyev, said.

"We hope that Brussels will support the idea and for the first visit to have some deliverables on topics of mutual interest, in particular on visa issues. We are very interested in obtaining the roadmap for a visa-free regime," he added.

Ukraine has for the past two years grumbled that EU consulates in Kiev give harsh treatment to people keen to visit the bloc, spoiling popular support for integration.

For its part, the EU is concerned whether Kiev will stick to recent promises to modernise its gas distribution system, which is responsible for channeling 80 percent of Russian supplies to the bloc.

A series of new laws related to Ukraine's membership in the European Energy Community (EEC) is currently awaiting parliamentary approval.

But Mr Yanukoyvch's comments over the weekend, that he would like to see a Russian-led consortium run the country's pipeline network, have cast doubt over his attachment to the EEC reforms.

"All previous commitments undertaken with respect to the EU will not only be respected but also implemented. We are a responsible partner and we would like to show that despite the election, all our commitments will be respected," Mr Yeliseyev told this website.

Source:euobserver.com/