BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

21/04/2006

Ukraine, Belarus Differ on Attitude to West

Former Soviet neighbors chose integration, isolation

Sergei Blagov (serge)

MOSCOW -- Former Soviet neighbors, Ukraine and Belarus, have appeared to pursue opposite political paths. While Ukraine moves toward forming a representative government following democratic parliament elections, its Slav neighbor, Belarus, found itself more isolated than ever in the wake of the controversial presidential poll.

Representatives from three Ukrainian political parties agreed on Thursday to form a pro-Europe ruling coalition in parliament, but have yet to decide on a common platform. The participants include the Julia Timoshenko Block, which secured 22 percent of the vote in the March elections, Our Ukraine (13 percent), and the Socialists (5.5 percent). The parties generally support closer Ukrainian relations with the West and market reforms, but in the past have differed on economic issues. Despite continued disagreements between partners, the alliance, know as an "Orange bloc," still has chances to control the country's parliament, the Verhovna Rada.

The Orange Revolution, which took its name from the color of Viktor Yuschenko's party and swept him to power in Ukraine in January, was welcomed by millions of Ukrainians. During the revolution, Yuschenko's main slogan was to end the country's corrupt practices and get rid of tainted politicians.

However, former Orange Revolution allies split last fall amid mutual accusations of graft. Yushchenko dismissed Tymoshenko in September 2005 following a split between members of the Orange Revolution team over corruption accusations. Tymoshenko hit back by depicting Yushchenko as an oligarch puppet.

But last month, Ukrainian President Yushchenko, under pressure following the pro-Moscow Party of Regions March 26 elections win in the country, has offered to form a coalition with Timoshenko, whom he dismissed as prime minister last year. The pro-Russian Party of the Regions won the most votes in the election, but failed to win an overall majority, forcing the country into difficult coalition talks.

The March 26 parliamentary vote whose final results were announced earlier in April failed to give any party a majority and forced the country's top lawmakers into uneasy talks to put together a parliamentary majority. According to the final results, the pro-Russian Party of the Regions will have the biggest parliamentary faction after winning 32.14 percent of the vote, followed by the now-divided Orange Revolution team. Ukraine's new parliament had planned to convene on May 10.

But Natalya Vitrenko, who heads a vocal anti-Western party, filed the lawsuit after her party fell 0.07 percentage points short of the 3 percent of votes needed to enter parliament. The electoral commission had refused her party's requests for a recount. The High Administrative Court issued the order last week after a small party filed a lawsuit complaining about how the votes had been counted. This move could delay the newly elected lawmakers from taking office.

If formed, the ruling coalition would leave in the opposition the country's largest party. Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of Ukraine's pro-Russian Party of Regions and former prime minister warned Thursday against the "orange" coalition in the country's new parliament. "The revival of the 'orange' team is a repeat of the mistakes of 2005 in the worst possible way," Yanukovych said. "Ukraine face a catastrophe," said Yanukovych, who lost to Viktor Yushchenko in a re-run of the second round of presidential elections in late December 2004.

Ukraine's parliamentary elections saw the Party of Regions come out on top but without enough seats to form a majority in the 450-seat parliament, the Supreme Rada. Under the Ukrainian Constitution, the Rada must form a coalition majority within 30 days of the new parliament starting work, and appoint a new government in the next 30 days. If a ruling coalition is not formed by the end of the period, the president may call for new elections.

In the meantime, Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko, also known as "Europe's last dictator," has been increasingly isolated internationally. Lukashenko was officially declared the winner of the March 19 presidential election, securing a third term in office. Opposition supporters started rallies in downtown Minsk, refusing to accept the election results and demanding a rerun, but they were soon overwhelmed by Belarus police.

The European Union (EU) imposed a visa ban on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who secured the third term in office in the March 19 elections. Foreign ministers in the Union met in Luxembourg last week and agreed to ban the Belarusian "dictator" from entering EU countries. Three ministers, the parliamentary speaker, assembly members, local officials, election commission authorities, and prosecutors, a total of 30 officials, appear on the EU's banned list.

The EU had earlier announced that the elections did not meet international electoral standards and said they would take measures against those authorities responsible for employing pressure and force against the opposition. During Lukashenko's second term, the EU had already imposed a travel ban on six Belarus officials, not including Lukashenko himself.

Belarus has responded to a travel ban imposed on the country's leaders by the European Union with a vow to reciprocate with similar restrictions. "The republic of Belarus is put in a position where it is necessary to take adequate measures in reply to the EU and the U.S.," the foreign ministry said. The foreign ministry described European and U.S. pressure on Belarus as "uncivilized."

"Such actions are short-sighted and without perspective," it said. "Today's decision showed the inability of Washington and Brussels to deal respectfully with the clear will of an independent people."

President Lukashenko took the oath of office earlier this month and told the West, which accuses him of rigging his re-election, that ex-Soviet Belarus will not fall to the "revolutionary virus." He accused Belarus's European Union neighbors Poland, Lithuania and Latvia of provoking unrest in his country. Voters, he said, wanted no part of "colored" revolutions that brought pro-Western leaders to power in Georgia and Ukraine.

"Unfortunately this crusade against our country is spearheaded by our neighbors, new EU recruits," Lukashenko told the ceremony, broadcast live from the imposing Palace of the Republic. "Your awkward attempts to induce a revolutionary virus had the opposite effect and became an antidote to this 'colored malaise'," he told the West.

The inauguration had been due to take place on March 31 but was postponed without explanation, prompting speculation that Lukashenko unwell. Lukashenko, 51, who has been in power since 1994, won his third term with 83 percent of the vote, according to official results. His nearest rival, Alexander Milinkevich, was credited with 6 percent. But the polls were condemned as fraudulent by election monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) urged to repeat of last month's presidential election. Estonian deputy Andres Herkel, PACE's rapporteur on Belarus, told the Strasbourg-based assembly that last month's vote failed to meet acceptable standards of transparency.

Vladimir Konoplyov, chairman of the Belarusian National Assembly's House of Representatives, has made it clear that the Belarus government was not seriously affected by resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). He said that there is some kind of dictatorship in PACE. "Whatever resolutions they may adopt, all of them are of advisory nature," he said. Konoplyov said PACE aimed to support opposition leader Milinkevich. "Milinkevich is a henchman of the United States and Europe, they defend him and worry about him," Konoplyov claimed.

Last month, Belarus warned the European Union and the United States against interfering in the republic's internal affairs. The European Union and the United States rely on "wishful thinking" when assessing the political situation in Belarus, the Belarus Foreign Ministry said.

In contract with Western vocal criticism, Moscow backed its ally leader as Russia and Belarus have been aiming at creating a "union state" since 1996. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory telegram Lukashenko and observers from the Moscow-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) said the vote was free and fair.

However, Moscow also prepared a bitter surprise to its ally. Russian natural gas giant Gazprom indicated plans to charge Belarus market rates for natural gas when new contracts are negotiated in 2007. Gas prices for Belarus "should be at least three times higher," said Alexander Ryazanov, deputy CEO of Gazprom, announced in early April. At current prices, such a move would entail about $150 per thousand cubic meters, a serious blow to the Belarus economy.

Not surprisingly, Belarus officials were upset by Russian gas plans. Gazprom statements came as "blackmail and outrageous behavior," said Stepan Pisarevich, head of the Belarusian upper house's commission on the economy, budget and finance. Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky insisted that "the Belarus government would adhere to the existing agreements on energy prices," in other words, would not accept a price hike.

Yet despite Gazprom's rhetoric, now Russia is expected to keep its gas subsidies to Belarus in some reduced form in exchange for control of the gas pipeline network there. As a result, Lukashenko could further consolidate its grip on power and ignore increased international pressure.

Source:

http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=287215&rel_no=1&back_url=

Google