Blogging the democratic revolution
Aussie Girl, the lovely writer of Ukraine affairs at Ultima Thule, including her wonderful coverage of the Orange Revolution, has died this weekend of cancer. She was only 59. She was one of the sunniest and most insightful presences on the Internet. She was also one of the best bloggers – sharp, to the point…
One of the first things I did when I arrived in Kiev was take the subway to Maidan, the setting of Ukraine????????s Orange Revolution in which over one million people camped out and protested against phony elections. It is now a scene of perpetual nostalgia for those cold days and nights when the one thing…
In January of this year, Gazprom ???????turned-off???????? the gas to Ukraine. The reason? Some say it was economically motivated ???????? Ukraine pays substantially less than the fair market price. So, Gazprom was merely acting as any other economically driven company would. However, perhaps the more frequent explanation for the gas crisis is that it was…
Hey everyone, You’ll have to excuse the lack of posting for the last couple of days. I’ve been in the Czech Republic and have just arrived in Kiev after a 36 hour train ride. The weather has been absolutely Soviet. We’re just hanging out in an internet cafe at Maidan right now, organizing things and…
In the early hours this morning, Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko accepted the nomination of Viktor Yanukovich for prime minister. Mr. Yanukovich was the 2004 presidential candidate who fraudulently won the first round of elections which sparked the ‘Orange Revolution.’ Though an embarrassing blow to Yushchenko and his one time ally Yulia Tymoshenko, this development was…
In his Washington Post article, Jackson Diehl argues that the recent ‘crises’ in Lebanon & Ukraine (two democratic revolution countries) will provide a dilemma for the Bush administration: should the United States continue to promote democracy even when it yields anti-West countries? The question really boils down to this: were the democratic revolutions about installing…
Given the events of the past several weeks, it is easy to conclude that Ukraine????????s fragile democracy is in danger. Indeed it is. But to admit this is not the same as concluding that the Orange Revolution is over. Whether or not the Orange Revolution has ended (or is about to end) depends largely on…
We can now say the the Orange Revolution is officially over. The once-orange Socialist Party has changed sides and teamed up with pro-Russia Viktor Yanukovich’s Party of Regions, along with the Communists, and forged out a new coalition agreement nominating him for the position of prime minister. And they have the votes to get it…
So after 3 months of squabbling the Orange Coalition is back on. But for how long? The quick details by the way are; that Yulia Tymoshenko will be Prime Minister, Yuriy Yekhanurov, no wait Roman Bezsmertny, oh hold on, maybe Petro Poroshenko will be Speaker of Parliament. Yes it seems certain forces are trying to…
Think back to March 26 2006. Belarussians were on the street protesting against Lukashenka, an Afghan Christian convert risked the death penalty, London Mayor Ken Livingstone had just called the U.S Ambassador a ‘chiseling little crook’, and the Commonwealth games had just concluded. Whilst some sort of closure has been brought to all of those…
Well, as we approach nearly 2 months since Ukraine’s first democratic elections of the century, the political wrangling continues. Any Kiev watchers will be familiar with the daily news stories coming out from Our Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko’s Bloc, The Party of Regions and the Socialists in regard to coalition building talks. Every evening a brief…
You might not have guessed this right off, but Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has been watching Ukraine’s Orange Revolution intently. This Sunday, for the first time, he made a statement about his fear and loathing of it. On his weekly Sunday television variety show, ‘Alo President’ he made this following remark, addressed to his opposition….
Parliamentary elections held in Ukraine yesterday ushered in the resurgence of the Regions of Ukraine bloc, led by former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. Pundits are mockingly calling it the ???????Blue Revolution,??????? and after seeing over half the results counted, one would be hard-pressed to deny that Yanukovich has adapted to the new environment and has…
The province of Transdniester is one of the most screwed up places in Europe. Arms, drugs, and sex trafficking run rampant, and are even used to fund the government. Elections are for show. And the leaders pay their respects not to the people, but to Russia, whose military is propping up the government. It broke…
Remember that whole deal between Russia and Ukraine that ended the gas crisis that the press and diplomats all over the place were cheering over like a teenage boy getting his first lap dance? Well, if you’ve been reading Publius then you’d know that there was some pretty shady behind-the-scenes dealing going on. Ex-Prime Minister…
Here are some articles about RosUkrEnergo, the middle-man company being used in the gas deal between Russia and the Ukraine, and the particularly shady way it’s involved. – RFE/RL goes into the history of the company and why it was created. Let’s just say it involved a certain ex-president of Ukraine, a certain current president…
Our favorite babe of politics has come out swinging in the settlement of the gas dispute between the Ukraine and Russia, and will be challenging the deal in court. The reason has little to do with the actual price negotiated, but much more to do with the single issue that she really stands out on:…
The gas crisis that has shaken relations between the Ukraine, Russia, and the European Union is now over. The air is clearing, but whatever the politicians are saying now, the damage has been done. So the question begs: who came out on top of this? Or perhaps we should be asking who came out on…
Instead of letting them phase in following the New Year, President Yushchenko wants to hold a popular referendum on the constitutional changes that were agreed upon during the Orange Revolution last year. I smell a — dun dun dun — political ploy! KIEV (Reuters) – President Viktor Yushchenko said on Friday constitutional changes reducing his…
Yesterday’s The Messenger (an english-language Georgian daily) covers the formation of a new political party out of smaller opposition groups, primarily the Conservatives and the Republicans. This new party shares in the heritage of the Rose Revolution, although it now finds enough room for disagreement with the ruling National Movement: Several leading members of both…
This doesn’t look very good. Baku, 17 October 2005 (RFE/RL) — Azeri opposition leader Rasul Quliyev has been stopped by Ukrainian police in the Crimean capital of Simferopol en route to Baku, where he was returning after nearly 10 years in exile, RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service reported. Former parliamentary speaker and Democratic Party of Azerbaijan Chairman…
With the announcement of a new set of cabinet ministers, the Ukrainian government is getting back to normal. Economic projections are starting to be hopeful about the future, at least in the short term, and in the very least it means some stability for awhile. But politics in Ukraine is far from normal right now….
Even though he missed approval by only three votes the other day, President Yushchenko’s pick for prime minister, Yuriy Yekhanurov, was easily approved by the parliament. But you’ll never guess who gave him the necessary votes. Dan McMinn has the count. Ä1Å Communist Party faction (0 out of 56 votes of MPs), Ä2Å Regions of…
The Kyiv Post has a hilarious, lively, and insightful editorial about the political games going on in Ukraine. But here’s the best part, which seriously takes Yushchenko and Tymoshenko to task for their latest jockeying. And one more word for Tymoshenko, and indeed for Yushchenko: talk of rigging the political reform process one way or…
After Ukrainian President Yushchenko disbanded the government of Yulia Tymoshenko, he appointed Yuriy Yekhanurov as the new prime minister. However, in order to become installed permanently, the Verkhovna Rada must approve him by majority vote. Well, it looks like that won’t be happening. (AP) – The Ukrainian parliament on Sept. 20 rejected the candidacy of…