02/25/2001 | Technar

Зверніть увагу - не регіональні новини, не Европа, не десь там...


Anti-Kuchma rallies maintain momentum

Weeks of street protests have demanded Kuchma stand down

KIEV, Ukraine (CNN) -- About 5,000 people took to the streets of the capital to demand the resignation of President Leonid Kuchma.

The number was down on the 10,000 called for by opposition members but was higher than the amount attending a similar rally last week.

Sunday's protest was the latest in a string that have taken place in recent months, each calling for Kuchma's removal over accusations of corruption and a scandal over audio tapes in which the president apparently orders the disappearance of an outspoken journalist.

But last week he told CNN's Jill Dougherty that he was not facing a political crisis.

Opposition leaders blamed Sunday's disappointing turnout on a rival Mardi Gras-style parade organised by the government in the same venue at Independence Square.


Kuchma: Dismisses critics as a "destructive force"
The party, which included concerts and other entertainment, was organised by city authorities to mark the end of the Shrovetide holiday, a celebration before the Orthodox lent.

The parade has been held in nearby city parks during previous years.

Dougherty said: "Leaders of the opposition said it had been done deliberately to take attention away from their demonstration."

Anti-government demonstrators held placards and shouted: "Down with Kuchma!" and "Truth!" as opposition leaders addressed the gathering.

"We shall overcome as truth is with us," said Taras Chornovil, one of the protest's leaders.

Kuchma dismissed the leaders of the street protests as a "destructive force comprising the extreme left and extreme right -- semi-fascists and anti-Semites who go to these demonstrations with swastikas."

"I completely reject the term political crisis. There is no crisis as such because all branches of government are working normally... there are some minor political storms in the capital but in the regions, it's very quiet."

The president has denied involvement in Heorhiy Gongadze's disappearance and the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation has been invited to help investigate the case - a move dismissed by opponents as "blatant propaganda."

A mutilated corpse found near Kiev in November is widely believed to be Gongadze.

Weeks of street protests led by the Ukraine Without Kuchma Movement have led to an opposition village of 52 tents being erected in central Kiev, but Kuchma refuses to stand aside.

"For the President, the main task is to preserve the majority in Parliament that made it possible for the government to pass good laws, a deficit-free budget and adopt a privatizations package.

"And thanks to that, our GDP as well as our industrial production increased by six percent. For the first time in ten years agricultural output is up as well."

Kuchma eyes European integration
Kuchma told CNN that Ukraine's ultimate goal remains integration into Europe, but he fears the country is now at a critical stage.

"I hope people think about this. Either Ukraine will be a rich country with a worthy role in Europe or a half-wrecked barrier, a buffer zone, between East and West."

Since the Soviet collapse, ties between Russia and Ukraine have been marred by disputes over energy supplies and mutual accusations of discrimination against minorities -- Russians in Ukraine and Ukrainians in Russia.

But, two weeks after receiving Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks, Kuchma said trade and technology still bound the two countries -- while not infringing on Ukraine's national interests.

"I am convinced that the entire world, including the U.S., is interested in having stability in this region, that Ukraine and Russia are partners and not adversaries.

"I always give this example. How can the U.S. and Canada be on a par with each other and for some reason Ukraine is expected to be either in union with Russia or subservient to it? Let's be partners, that's in everybody's interest."