REPUBBLICA CECA
* Lanci di uova contro Madeleine Albright in visita a Brno
* In vista blocchi stradali da parte degli agricoltori
* Praga, conferenza "UN ANNO DOPO: cause, coerenza e conseguenze della
crisi del Kosovo". La relazione di uno dei partecipanti (in italiano) ed
il dispaccio della Tanjug
UCRAINA
Come riportato in un messaggio precedente
( http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/43.html? ) il Parlamento
ucraino, che ha una maggioranza di sinistra, all'inizio di febbraio e'
stato messo nella impossibilita' di svolgere il proprio ruolo
istituzionale da parte delle forze di polizia fedeli al presidente
filo-occidentale Kuchma (vittorioso, grazie a brogli, nelle recenti
elezioni), ed ai parlamentari della minoranza di destra che hanno
occupato l'aula.
Ecco le ragioni, ed i risultati, di questo colpo di stato:
* Visita a Kiev degli alti ufficiali NATO; comunicato congiunto
* E' partita la contro-riforma agraria
* E' partita la colossale svendita delle imprese pubbliche
* L'analisi della Stratfor Intelligence sul processo di inglobamento
dell'Ucraina nella NATO in funzione antirussa
NOTA: la gran parte dei contributi sono stati diffusi dalla mailing list
STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
---
LANCI DI UOVA
Protesters Throw Eggs at Albright
By Nadia Rybarova
Associated Press Writer
Monday, March 6, 2000; 8:01 a.m. EST
BRNO, Czech Republic –– Shouting "death to American imperialism,"
two men hurled eggs at Secretary of State Madeleine Albright today after
she told a university audience that defense of common values sometimes
requires countries to pay a financial price.
After finishing a speech to an enthusiastic audience at Tomas Masaryk
University in this industrial city 125 miles southeast of Prague,
Albright was milling about in the crowded entrance hall as bystanders
cheered.
Suddenly, two men shouted "death to American imperialism" and began
hurling eggs. Albright was spattered slightly with bits of egg but most
of them were intercepted by her bodyguards, said a U.S. official who
asked that his name not be published.
She was rushed upstairs quickly before leaving for another appearance.
Police Capt. Zdenek Lubas said several people were detained for
questioning but declined to give further details.
The incident marred an otherwise warm reception here on the second day
of Albright's four-day visit to the land of her birth.
Before the speech, she met privately with about a dozen students from
the Gypsy minority to discuss affirmative action and other ideas for
improving their conditions. She also received a gold medal Wednesday
from the university named after a Czech president who was born near here
100 years ago.
During her speech, Albright referred to a pledge by Czech President
Vaclav Havel to cancel a $30 million sale of cooling duct parts by a
Czech company to Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Although Iran insist the plant is for peaceful production of
electricity, the United States fears the Iranians are trying to develop
a nuclear weapons program.
Noting that this former Soviet Bloc state joined NATO last year,
Albright said preventing the spread of nuclear weapons was a high
priority of the Western alliance.
As with any goal worth achieving, it is not without cost," Albright
said, speaking in English. "To keep the best technology from falling
into the wrong hands, American firms are required to forgo many
potentially profitable contracts. But a similar responsibility rests
upon the shoulders of all who pledged to defend the best interests of
the Euro-Atlantic community."
Albright said Washington has urged all its allies to "meet that
responsibility so that our common security is protected and the future
safer for our children and theirs."
Iran denies any nuclear weapons program and insists that the power plant
at Bushehr is simply for the peaceful generation of electricity.
"We consider the campaign around Bushehr conducted by the Czech
government and the local media a gift to the American minister Madeleine
Albright linked to her visit," Sharif Khodai, the acting Iranian
ambassador to Prague, told the newspaper Pravo.
Later, Albright was to join Havel for a visit to the nearby town of
Hodonin, where Masaryk was born. Masaryk led Czechoslovakia from 1918
until 1935 and was also a close friend of President Woodrow Wilson.
Albright has urged Czechs to follow the example of Masaryk, a towering
figure in Eastern European democratic history. She has said they should
pursue his goals here and throughout the region, including Yugoslavia.
Using that theme, U.S. officials said Albright has urged the Czechs to
undertake judicial reform and encourage tolerance for the country's
Gypsy, or Roma, minority.
"Masaryk's dream was to have Europe whole and free," Albright said
Sunday at a joint news conference with Havel in Prague Castle. She
quoted Masaryk as saying democracy was not an act but a "pursuit" that
must be continually developed.
She has also encouraged the Czech Republic to become more involved in
Western moves to bring democracy to Yugoslavia's main republic, Serbia,
and to help promote ethnic stability in Kosovo, a province of Serbia.
After visiting Masaryk's shrine, Albright was to return today to Prague,
where she was scheduled to hold a roundtable discussion with Eastern
European non-governmental organizations to discuss ways of promoting
democratization in Serbia.
Albright said Sunday that the people of Serbia "do not deserve" an
autocratic leader like President Slobodan Milosevic.
In an interview with Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty, she said the
United States had been urging the Serbian opposition movement to end its
divisions and prove to Serbs that "they represent an alternate choice."
Albright also said democratically minded leaders from former Soviet Bloc
countries could offer advice to opposition figures in Serbia on how to
unite in the face of authoritarian rule.
Albright's father, Josef Korbel, a Czech diplomat, fled with his wife
and children to London as Germany took control of Czechoslovakia at the
onset of World War II. When the communists took over Czechoslovakia in
1948, the family then migrated to the United States.
After the fall of communism here, the Czech and Slovak republics split
into two countries in 1993.
---
BLOCCHI STRADALI
(The Czech Republic is held up as a showcase and
prototype for the new EU-style privatized Eastern
European economy. How well's it's working - for the
populace, anyway - is indicated below...."Agricultural
production last year was 14 pct. higher than in 1998,
but at the same time revenue of farmers fell by Kc15bn
[$1=36.9 Koruna/Kc]....[T]he main reasons for the
strike are the non-payment of wages to employees,
growing unemployment...and fear [concerning] social
and pension reforms.")
* Farmers to strike by blocking Prague motorways
PRAGUE, Mar 7, 2000 -- (CTK - Czech News Agency) The
Association of Independent Trade Unions (ASO) has
declared a warning strike for Wednesday, 12:00 noon,
in protest against the pertinent authorities' failure
to solve social problems, ASO chairman Bohumir Dufek
said at a press conference today.
Farmers will block some Prague motorways for half an
hour. Dufek did not specify what motorways. "We will
block a certain Prague motorway. Farmers have no other
option how to call attention to their problems," said
Dufek, adding that the unions have enough people to do
this. He would not give any details because, as he
said, he wanted to protect personal safety of
participants in the protest.
Agricultural production last year was 14 pct higher
than in 1998 but at the same time revenues of farmers
fell by Kc15bn, the Agricultural Chamber president
Vaclav Hlavacek said at the beginning of March. Dufek
said that the main reasons for the strike are the non-
payment of wages to employees, growing unemployment
due to the non-existence of a plan to help the Czech
Republic out of the current economic crisis and fear
from the prepared social and pension reforms.
The Trade Union Association of Railway Employees will
allegedly join the strike, halting railway passenger
transport for a quarter of an hour at 12:00 noon. ASO
groups together eight trade union associations with
around 230,000 employees. ((c) 2000 CTK - Czech News
Agency)
---
PRAGA: CONFERENZA
REMARK: this message contains an outline of the Conference which was
held in Prague, 26-28/2/2000. It is sent for information to the whole
italian "Committee of Scientists against the War" mailing list, to the
responsibles of the Italian Section of the "Clark" Tribunal for NATO
crimes, and to the participants' addresses gathered by the author at the
Conference itself.
AUTORE: Andrea Martocchia (Comitato Scienziate/i contro la guerra,
sezione italiana Tribunale contro i crimini della NATO, Coordinamento
Romano per la Jugoslavia) <martok@...>
TITOLO: "Un anno dopo: cause, coerenza e conseguenze della crisi del
Kosovo"
ORGANIZZATORI: "Res Publica" e' il gruppo promotore, di area
socialdemocratica (cfr. http://www.publica.cz/infoservis.htm )
INVITATI E PRESENTI: di circa 1000 realta', ceche e straniere, invitate
erano presenti solo 35 persone. Hanno "brillato" per la loro assenza ad
esempio gli italiani (solo due presenti, nonostante che l'invito avesse
girato in tutto l'arcipelago pacifista grazie alle mailing list di
Peacelink), sia tutti i paesi balcanici, ad eccezione ovviamente della
RF
di Jugoslavia.
NOTE PRELIMINARI: Ho partecipato solamente alla sessione della domenica
27/2, insieme a R. Gabriele (in rappresentanza della Fondazione Nino
Pasti
per la pace e l'indipendenza dei popoli e dello stesso Tribunale
"Clark").
Inoltre purtroppo non possedevo un registratore, ed ho pertanto preso
solo
appunti a mano di quello che mi sembrava piu' rilevante. Gli
organizzatori
pero' si sono ripromessi di mettere sul loro sito internet i contributi
che hanno raccolto.
RELAZIONI
La prima relazione che ho sentito era un contributo di carattere
tecnico sull'inquinamento causato dai bombardamenti, tenuto da un
professore di Chimica dell'Universita' di Brno il quale ha praticamente
riassunto quello che a riguardo e' contenuto nel libro "Imbrogli di
guerra" - pur senza conoscere il libro...
Un giovane di Pancevo ha poi letto un testo sulla situazione nella sua
citta' dopo i bombardamenti; tra le cose che mi sono rimaste impresse la
sua sottolineatura di come la NATO sia riuscita a far deteriorare i
rapporti interetnici in quella zona ed in tutta la multinazionale RF di
Jugoslavia.
Io stesso ho poi preso la parola per presentare il nostro Comitato, il
libro e dare la mia valutazione dello stato del movimento contro la
guerra. Ho parlato del lavoro della sezione italiana del Tribunale
"Clark"
e di come la attuale classe dirigente italiana abbia stracciato i valori
fondanti della Repubblica, nonche' quelli che la dovrebbero
caratterizzare
e differenziare rispetto alla opposizione di destra.
Un rappresentante dell'ambasciata della RFJ, dopo aver lamentato
l'assenza
dei rappresentanti degli altri paesi balcanici (che avrebbero potuto
raccontare le conseguenze per le loro societa' e per le loro economie
della politica "umanitaria" della NATO, ad es. i rumeni con il Danubio
bloccato), ha presentato una serie di documenti di fonte ufficiale
jugoslava contenenti
- gli effetti dei bombardamenti NATO ("White Book", cfr.
http://www.mfa.gov.yu/ oppure http://www1.mfa.gov.yu/ )
- l'elencazione degli atti terroristici e di violenza avvenuti a partire
dalla occupazione del territorio da parte delle truppe KFOR (circa 3500
azioni, di cui 110 contro i rom e circa 80 contro albanesi-kosovari
"traditori" come quelli iscritti al "nazicomunista" Partito Socialista
Serbo) che hanno causato in tutto 793 morti invisibili sui nostri
mass-media
- la distruzione di circa 80 chiese serbo-ortodosse, alcune delle quali
sotto tutela UNESCO.
Egli ha inoltre raccontato in che modo siano stati stravolti gli
equilibri
demografici della regione a partire dagli anni 70 (per non risalire
indietro al periodo dell'occupazione nazifascista), ha stigmatizzato la
maniera coercitiva in cui la NATO sta inglobando tutti gli stati
dell'area
ovvero sta costringendo paesi come la Grecia a partecipare ad operazioni
che rifiuterebbero, ed ha indicato esplicitamente la lobby della grande
industria transnazionale come "burattinai" della NATO, lobby che e' a
sua
volta diretta "da chi detiene i capitali" attraverso organizzazioni come
la Trilateral ed il gruppo Bilderberg (cfr. www.bilderberg.org).
Poi ha parlato un biochimico ceco, poi una dottoressa inglese della
organizzazione IPPNW (Intern. Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear
War, premio Nobel 1995) sulla strategia occidentale, sulla frustazione
russa e sulla corsa al riarmo.
Un socialdemocratico ceco, che si e' detto "tradito dal comportamento
dei
leaders della Internazionale Socialista", ha poi espresso, con toni di
estrema amarezza, la delusione per il modo in cui le speranze
"democratiche" della svolta del '90 siano state umiliate. Lo stesso
presidente Havel sta mostrando di essere in prima fila nello
schieramento
guerrafondaio internazionale, con dichiarazioni di stampo pannelliano
che
lasciano quantomeno perplessi quelli che un tempo lo stimavano; pertanto
e' stato indicato anche lui come un "criminale di guerra" alla stregua
dei
D'Alema, Blair, Clinton, eccetera. Allo stesso modo e' stata
sottolineata
l'assenza di quegli intellettuali che tanto avevano lavorato per
abbattere
il vecchio sistema e "democratizzare" la societa'. Questi sono stati
indicati come "prostitute", mentre il clima culturale e' stato definito
"disperato". Quale democrazia, quando la NATO interviene contro il suo
stesso statuto?
Il professore e saggista Rajko Dolecek (autore dell'importante
"J'accuse",
http://www.srpska-mreza.com/ddj/Kosovo/articles/Dolecek.html ) a questo
proposito ha ricordato come la NATO abbia aggredito la Jugoslavia pochi
giorni dopo l'entrata della Rep. Ceca nell'organizzazione lasciando di
stucco (per usare un eufemismo...) tanti che pure non erano a priori
contrari all'entrata nella NATO. Dal punto di vista dei diritti umani,
ha detto Dolecek, la NATO e' come "una prostituta che predica la
verginita'".
Un attivista polacco di Cracovia, che ha raccontato di conoscere
personalmente alcuni familiari del Pontefice, ha poi contestato, con
libri
e citazioni alla mano, il ruolo della Chiesa cattolica e del papa. Ha
detto delle cose estremamente interessanti, sulle quali pero' non mi
dilungo: basti citare la frase del Cardinale Glemp (ricordate?...) che
all'inizio dei bombardamenti li ha paragonati ad "una frusta di Dio che
si
abbatte su quel paese". Gli ha fatto eco una militante ceca della
Christian Peace Conference la quale ha raccontato del "sentimento di
essere manipolate/i", dell'arroganza dell'Occidente e del fatto che la
chiesa cristiana ha "due gambe, quella occidentale (cattolica) e quella
orientale (ortodossa)" le quali hanno pari dignita' anche se i loro
leaders non ne vogliono sentir parlare.
C'e' poi stato uno scambio di vedute sull'apparente contrasto tra
sovranita' degli Stati e diritti umani, che e' stato giudicato "una
assurdita'" se a parlarne sono quelli che violano la prima dicendo di
voler proteggere i secondi, previo poi violarli molto piu'
pesantemente...
Si e' fatto riferimento ad una conferenza della Association of
Lawyers against Nuclear Weapons, tenutasi all'Aia durante i
bombardamenti,
nella quale i circa 7000 partecipanti avrebbero approvato a maggioranza
una risoluzione che dichiarava illegale l'aggressione della NATO. Questa
risoluzione e' stata soggetta ad un embargo (censura) informativo
completo
sui media di tutti i paesi. Infine, sempre Dolecek ha presentato un suo
ragionamento sul carattere, a suo dire, non imparziale ne' legale del
Tribunale dell'Aia per i crimini commessi sul territorio della RFSJ.
Infine, i rappresentanti tedeschi del Tribunale Clark (si veda
http://www.nato-tribunal.de/ ) hanno parlato della loro intenzione di
coordinare tutte le attivita' a livello europeo, facendole sfociare in
una
grande sessione europea a Berlino il 2 e 3 giugno prossimi, che
precedera'
di una ventina di giorni la seduta internazionale finale, che si terra'
a
New York, patrocinata dallo stesso Clark e dall'IAC.
Clark comunque sara' a Praga il 23 marzo prossimo, sulla via per
Belgrado
dove celebrera' il primo anniversario della aggressione; e proprio per
il
23 a Praga la Fondazione Pasti ha proposto che si tenga una iniziativa
europea di coordinamento di tutte le sezioni europee del Tribunale.
A latere della giornata ho ancora da registrare i colloqui avuti
separatamente con vari partecipanti, colloqui resi particolarmente
piacevoli dai boccali di birra Pilsen che avevamo dinanzi. In
particolare
i cechi mi hanno detto che, secondo loro, non e' affatto vero che con il
"cambiamento del regime" le persone si sentano adesso molto piu' libere
di
esprimersi, visto che ad esempio sulle questioni della guerra della NATO
c'e' molta paura a dire in pubblico la propria opinione. Questo benche'
la
stragrande maggioranza dlla popolazione ceca sia stata certamente
contraria alle bombe, anche se i mass-media locali (ormai completamente
in
mano a corporation straniere, in particolare tedesche, come tedeschi
sono
i proprietari della Skoda...) hanno dato una immagine falsificata di
questo sentimento collettivo a forza di bordate propagandistiche.
Insomma,
sotto questo profilo la situazione e' identica a quella italiana.
Da me interrogato su di una questione diversa, e cioe' se sapesse
qualcosa
del colpo di Stato che c'e' stato in Ucraina un mese fa nel silenzio
completo della stampa occidentale, uno slovacco ha detto che anche nel
suo
paese c'e' stata censura completa sulle informazioni (li' e' soprattutto
la Fondazione Soros che ha in mano i media) e questo e' assurdo visto
che
l'Ucraina e' un paese immenso, con circa 50 milioni di abitanti... Ma
lui
aveva avuto occasione di parlare direttamente con alcuni lavoratori
ucraini immigrati, che gli hanno raccontato di essere tornati ai loro
paesi d'origine per votare alle presidenziali (vinte di stretta misura
dal
filo-occidentale Kuchma, autore del golpe di cui sopra) e che al seggio
elettorale hanno trovato le schede gia' firmate ed il voto gia'
espresso,
nonche' una serie di loschi figuri a "controllare" che non succedessero
incidenti... Dietro a tutta questa "democrazia" (?) c'e' da una parte
l'inglobamento dell'Ucraina nella NATO attraverso la Partnership for
Peace, cui si erano opposti anche la maggioranza dei parlamentari, e
dall'altra la privatizzazione di centinaia di imprese e dei latifondi,
sulla quale era in atto un forte scontro politico. Meno chiaro quale sia
adesso la situazione, dopo che un mese fa il parlamento e' stato
occupato
dai partiti di destra e molti deputati di sinistra sono entrati in
sciopero della fame.
(...) Andrea Martocchia
www.serbia-info.com/news
Call for lifting embargo against FR Yugoslavia
February 29, 2000
Embargo on FRY has to be suspended
Prague, February 28th - Participants in the international conference
"One year after: the causes, links and consequences of the Kosovo
crisis," that ends today in Prague, have called on the international
community to lift the sanctions against Yugoslavia.
Representatives of ten European states at a three-day meeting, organized
by the non-governmental organization European Network for Peace and
Co-operation warned that the embargo, in general, in all countries where
it was applied, besides its inhumanity has proved to be completely
inefficient and politically shortsighted and that it affected most of
the population.
In today's closing discussions, it was concluded that NATO member
countries that have bombed for almost 80 days FR Yugoslavia, should pay
for the damages and rebuild everything they had destroyed in the
country.
Participants in the conferences stressed that without the inclusion of
FR Yugoslavia in all regional plans for the reconstruction of the
Balkans, of which that country is an inseparable and almost the most
important part, there will be no progress.
In the final document of the conference, which will be sent to the
Yugoslav Government and all other important international organizations,
institutions and governments of many countries, was included the protest
sent to UNESCO because of the destruction of Serbian Orthodox Churches
and monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as of facilities during
the bombing of all of Yugoslavia.
All the reports of the conference participants, among which were also
representatives of peace movements, and experts in different fields -
legal experts, historians, ecologists, biochemists, experts in atomic
energy - from Ireland, Great Britain, Yugoslavia, Poland, Italy,
Germany, Finland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will be presented on
the Internet.
---------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
UFFICIALI NATO
(Yet another step closer to Moscow, by the exact route used by Napoleon
and Hitler. But first NATO's 'expertise' will be employed to crush
internal opposition - a majority in both houses of parliament oppose
both Kuchma and NATO memebership, and were recently forcibly ousted from
a protest in the parliament building.
Reminiscent of Boris Yeltsin ringing the Russian parliament buiding with
tanks - remember that? - and firing on the legally elected speaker and
assistant speaker, killing perhaps hundreds of protesters holed up
there. Bill Clinton's and England's John Major's response to this -
truly unprecedented - destruction of a nation's parliament by the
military? They both applauded Boris Yeltsin as the "saviour of Russian
democracy," just as Clinton later commented on Yeltsin's first Chechnya
campaign by calling him "the Abraham Lincoln of his country."
But, quick, wipe all the above from your memory; we're not supposed to
remember any of those things.)
Tuesday February 29 8:42 AM ET
Ukraine Hosts Top NATO Officials, Eyes Closer Ties
By Dmitry Solovyov
KIEV, Ukraine (Reuters) - NATO leaders arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday for
a meeting that Kiev hopes will be a major step toward closer links
between the Western alliance and the former Soviet state seeking
integration into European structures.
``For the first time, 19 NATO ambassadors, the Secretary General and the
chief of the military committee come to Kiev together for this historic
meeting,´´ said Natalya Melnichuk, head of the NATO Information and
Documentation Center in Kiev.
Wednesday's meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, to be chaired by
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, will be the 16th since Ukraine
signed a partnership charter with the alliance in 1997 but the first to
be held in Kiev.
Joining NATO is not on the agenda for Ukraine and Wednesday's meeting is
unlikely to take any key decisions. But Robertson, who previously
visited Kiev in late January, will stay on for an extra day for a
program of unofficial visits.
NATO and Ukrainian officials say the very composition of the gathering
will clearly demonstrate Western support for Ukraine's aspirations to
integrate into European structures.
Ukraine Seeks Place In Europe Via Ties With Nato
``I think Ukraine wanted to have a meeting in Kiev because it gives us a
chance to move the relationship forward, it raises (Ukraine´s)
profile,´´ a NATO official said.
``Ukraine has this policy of seeking greater integration into European
structures, and NATO sees this as completely in line with its own view
of NATO-Ukraine relations.´´
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma won re-election last November on
pledges to boost market reforms, build good relations with Russia and
integrate into Europe.
Experts say that after his landslide victory the timing is good for
Kuchma to demonstrate Ukraine's European vocation and cordial relations
with NATO, despite a strong leftist opposition in the country of 50
million.
``During the election voters supported Ukraine´s European
choice,´´ said presidential spokesman Olexander Martynenko.
``Ukraine sees its relations with NATO as ties with the most influential
European structure which is an important element of stability and
security in the region.´´
MOSCOW CLOSELY WATCHES UKRAINE-NATO RELATIONS Wednesday's meeting in
Kiev is likely to be closely watched by Ukraine's former imperial master
Moscow which froze its ties with NATO during the alliance's air strikes
on Yugoslavia last year. It agreed to revive relations only earlier this
month.
Ukrainian officials, under the pressure of public opinion in the
country, did not support the air strikes but at the same time condemned
Serbia for ethnic cleansing of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and never
suspended its ties with NATO.
``Now the military operation in Kosovo is over, Ukraine is taking part
in the KFOR operation there and what´s more, the president who got
re-elected can go ahead and pursue a strong policy with NATO,´´ the
NATO official said.
Ukraine has been an active participant in NATO military exercises within
the alliance's Partnership for Peace program with non-member states.
Unlike Russia, Ukraine did not oppose the accession of its neighbors
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to the alliance.
NATO-Ukraine Commission Statement
2 March 2000
Statement
Today the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine ratified the
Partnership
for Peace Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), following its submission by
the President of Ukraine. The NATO-Ukraine Commission salutes this
decision which will further enhance the opportunities for carrying out
joint NATO-Ukraine activities as well as Partnership for Peace
exercises. As already demonstrated in other Partner countries, the
ratification of the SOFA will allow Ukraine to enjoy full military and
economic benefits of the Partnership for Peace programme. NATO and
Ukraine, together with individual Allies and Partners, look forward to
taking advantage of the new possibilities which have been opened by this
important decision of the Verkhovna Rada, including the use of the
Yavoriv
Training Centre.
The NATO-Ukraine Commission also welcomes the ratification of the Open
Skies Treaty by the Verkhovna Rada, which is another important
contribution
to transparency and arms control.
These two ratifications coincide propitiously with the first ever
meeting
of the Ukraine Commission in Ukraine. This took place yesterday in Kyiv
and enabled a full and fruitful exchange of views which bodes well for
the
future of the cooperation between Ukraine and NATO.
---
CONTRORIFORMA AGRARIA
(The near-orgasmic level of ecstasy and abandon in
this report's spin - on the brink, about to take off,
we see light, excited and so on - is not unjustified.
IMF/World Bank "suggestions" [We expect...] on
privatization of some of the largest tracts of grain
arable land in the world will trigger perhaps the
largest foreign-private land grab since the grand days
of European colonialism.)
"Ukraine, which faces foreign debt payments of $3.1
billion this year, has to prove its will to reform the
depressed economy for the International Monetary Fund
and World Bank to resume loans frozen at the end of
last year...."
"Land is number one issue."
Ukraine Farm Reform About To Take Off
KIEV, Mar 2, 2000 -- (Reuters) Ukraine is on the brink
of real farm reforms which could turn around the
Soviet-style sector but needs to take concrete steps
starting with land ownership to flesh out early moves,
World Bank officials said on Thursday.
"We are excited with what is happening at the moment,"
Gregory Jedrzejczak, head of the World Bank mission in
Ukraine, told Reuters. "We were in a dark tunnel, but
we see light now."
President Leonid Kuchma has issued a decree ordering
Soviet-era collective farms to disband and change to
private farms by April 1, but has not provided a
mechanism.
Ukraine, which faces foreign debt payments of $3.1
billion this year, has to prove its will to reform the
depressed economy for the International Monetary Fund
and World Bank to resume loans frozen at the end of
last year due to slow reforms.
Now Kuchma's farm decree has sent a strong positive
signal to international creditors and investors even
though it stopped short of introducing real private
land ownership.
NO REAL REFORM WITHOUT PRIVATE LAND OWNERSHIP
Analysts say Ukraine, which last year harvested its
lowest grain crop since 1945, may not revive its
agricultural sector until it enshrines into law rights
to buy, sell and use private land as collateral.
"If (Kuchma's) decree remains alone, it is not going
to resolve problems. We would like to see a more
comprehensive settlement," Csaba Csaki, the World Bank
agriculture policy adviser for Europe and Central
Asia, said, in English.
"Land is number one issue."
Parliament, which had been accused by Kuchma of
blocking reforms, now comprises a center-right
pro-market majority, and Csaki said the time was right
for passing laws on private land ownership and
property registration, key to enforcing rights.
Jedrzejczak said he felt the political elite in the
country of 50 million was largely supportive of
private land ownership.
"We have seen quite a dramatic change of attitude," he
said. "Six months ago, when you would talk to the
parliament or politicians, private land ownership was
a complete taboo."
He said fast land reform might allow Ukraine to
leverage its fertile black soil and regain its
historical role as a global agricultural producer.
Farms could lead the economy to growth.
EXPORTS MUST BE FREED TOO
Apart from land reform, the IMF and World Bank insist
Ukraine scrap a 23-percent tax on sunflower seed
exports and end excessive export tariffs on skins and
hides.
Officials say the taxes and tariffs aim to support the
budget and provide local processing firms with raw
materials but traders and creditors say they
contradict free market rules.
Jedrzejczak and Csaki said they expected parliament to
adopt laws liberalizing foreign trade after a promise
by the new government of reformist Prime Minister
Viktor Yushchenko to adhere to a free economy.
"We see the commitment (of the government). Now we
want legislation to translate into action,"
Jedrzejczak said.
He also expected deputies to ratify the bank's
Pre-Export Guarantee Facility which would help attract
private investors to Ukraine's cash-starved
agriculture and help provide farmers with machinery,
fuel and fertilizers.
Ratification of the $120 million facility, approved by
the World Bank in 1997, had been blocked by leftist
factions.
---
ORGIA DI PRIVATIZZAZIONI
Friday, February 25, 2000
Ukraine Accelerates Privatization
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KIEV -- Ukraine's parliament passed a new
privatization program for 2000 that deputies from the
center-right majority said will relieve the state of
loss-making companies and boost the budget.
The parliament, or Verkhovna Rada, passed the project
Tuesday 236-17, the Rada's press service said.
The previously leftist-dominated parliament had
opposed adopting the bill, although analysts point out
that the state has been saddled with hundreds of
failing enterprises.
The new privatization program includes the sale of
more than 800 nonstrategic enterprises in the
transport, machinery, chemical, agricultural and food
industries.
The State Property Fund also renewed the privatization
process of Ukraine's nine energy companies, halted in
December, officials from the fund said.
Last week, the State Property Fund announced it was
preparing to tender a 92.53-percent stake in the huge
Oriana chemical complex, which produces
petroleum-based products and fertilizers.
-
(Ukraine, which has raised 1.507 million hryvnias
[national currency, roughly six to a dollar]from cash
sell-offs since 1992, plans to boost privatization
revenues to 2.5 billion hryvnias this year to help pay
crushing foreign debt obligations....Privatization is
a key part of a $2.6 billion International Monetary
Fund loan frozen in September 1999....)
BUSINESS NEWS
Ukraine 2000 State Sell-Offs Raise $27 Mln To Date
KIEV, Mar 1, 2000 -- (Reuters) Ukraine, which has set
ambitious privatization targets for this year, has
raised 150 million hryvnias ($27.29 million) from cash
sell-offs so far this year, the State Property Fund
said on Tuesday.
Olexander Bondar, who heads the fund, told a meeting
with regional media the government would raise another
91 million hryvnias from privatizing a stake in
leading steel mill Zaporizhstal in the next few days.
"We are lagging behind our schedule but we shall do
everything to meet the target," Bondar said, adding
that the planned figure for the first quarter was 500
million hryvnias.
Ukraine, which has raised 1.507 billion hryvnias from
cash sell-offs since 1992, plans to boost
privatization revenues to 2.5 billion hryvnias this
year to help pay crushing foreign debt obligations of
$3.1 billion due this year.
Privatization is a key part of a $2.6 billion
International Monetary Fund loan program frozen in
September 1999 over stalled reforms and ahead of a
presidential election.
Bondar said the fund hoped that privatization in key
energy, metallurgical, chemical and telecom sectors
would help meet the target. The fund plans to sell
stakes in some 3,000 large companies this year.
($=5.4975 hryvnias)
---
STRATFOR.COM's Global Intelligence Update - 2 March 2000
By The Internet's Most Intelligent Source of International News &
Analysis http://www.stratfor.com/
__________________________________________
Know the every move of your competitors -- even before they do.
Stratfor Intelligence Services http://www.stratfor.com/services/
__________________________________________
WHAT'S GOING ON IN YOUR WORLD
Scharping Trying to Dampen Russian-NATO Rift
http://www.stratfor.com/world/Commentaries/0003020245.htm
Wahid Wavers Between Western Oil Alliances and Asian Unity
http://www.stratfor.com/asia/commentary/0003020122.htm
Libya: Gadhafi Axes Government Ministries
http://www.stratfor.com/MEAF/commentary/0003020207.htm
__________________________________________
STRATFOR.COM Global Intelligence Update
2 March 2000
Finally, NATO Tests A Resurgent Russia - in Kiev
Summary
NATO's decision-making body - the North Atlantic Council - is
meeting in Kiev, Ukraine. This gathering in the most geopolitically
significant area of Russia's backyard is a direct challenge to the
Putin government's assertive new foreign policy. The alliance is
calling what it believes - indeed, hopes - to be Moscow's
nationalist bluff, painting a picture of the consequences the West
could present if it continues down its current path. The move,
however, is unlikely to dissuade the government in Moscow and will
likely only entrench Russian nationalists. Regardless, the
alliance's diplomatic thrust indicates a shift change in NATO-
Russian relations, likely for the worse.
Analysis
NATO's North Atlantic Council (NAC), in its simultaneous capacity
as the NATO-Ukraine Commission (NUC), is meeting March 1-2.
Composed of ambassadorial-level representatives of the alliance's
19 member states, the NAC is the alliance's principal decision-
making body. The NUC, in turn, was formed in 1997 to bring the
alliance closer to Ukraine. With mixed success, NATO and Ukraine
have attempted to foster a closer relationship. What is significant
now is the location of the meeting. The alliance's decision-makers
are meeting in Kiev, not Brussels, the headquarters.
As striking as the location - in the most strategically important
nation on the periphery of Russia - is the timing. The meeting
appears to have been called in Kiev on relatively short notice. And
it is taking place as Russia's acting President Vladimir Putin
consolidates both his power and his foreign policy; the March
presidential elections are approaching, and until now, the West has
appeared bewildered by his actions both abroad and in the war in
Chechnya. With this gathering, it appears that the alliance is
sending two sharp messages: one of support to Kiev and one of
warning to Moscow.
NATO's relationship with Russia has changed dramatically and has
not truly recovered from the trough of last year's conflict over
Kosovo. Russia under former President Boris Yeltsin opened to the
West and is now afflicted with a criminalized economy, a
demoralizing loss of status and a dangerously ragged strategic
situation along its borders. Russia under Putin is not only
increasingly nationalist at home - as in the war in Chechnya - but
is pursuing a vastly different foreign policy abroad, one that is
forceful and decidedly independent of the West.
Indeed, it appears that after standing by idly the last several
months, Western governments are beginning to catch on and react -
albeit cautiously, even timidly. Western institutions are launching
initiatives around the Russian periphery. The European Union is
accelerating its expansion, earmarking $1 billion for Poland's
accession efforts last week - a quadrupling of previous outlays.
European Commission President Romano Prodi has alluded to tighter
links between the EU and NATO. NATO holds its first major military
exercise in a non-member's territory, in Sweden June 3-19. The
alliance is cooperating with neutral nations to arm the Baltic
states as well. And at the other end of Europe, Turkey is engaging
in intensive military exercise on its eastern border.
But the most striking aspect of the relationship between the
alliance, in particular, and Russia revolves around Ukraine.
Ukraine is the most strategically important piece of real estate
between Europe and Russia; neither can be secure without Ukraine.
And throughout the post-Cold War period, Ukraine has been
contested. It is economically dependent on Russia but has insisted
on ever closer ties with the West.
Much to Russia's dismay, NATO and Ukrainian forces have held joint
military exercises on the Black Sea and at a number of locations
ashore. NATO and Ukraine have also been busy building relationships
between their respective officer corps. The Ukrainiain military has
never made a secret of its desires to work with the West, recently
and pointedly declining a role in exercises with the Russian navy,
according to Deutsch Presse-Agentur. Ukrainian forces, however,
will participate in NATO's Cooperative Partner 2000 naval
exercises, June 19-30, in the Ukrainian sector of the Black Sea.
The NATO-Ukraine Commission has been the other important vehicle
for security cooperation. Indeed, one of the commission's first
actions, after being formed three years ago, was to establish the
Yavoriv military facility in western Ukraine as a training center
for the Partnership for Peace program - the first such facility in
the former Soviet Union. Ever since, Yavoriv has served as a base
of operations for NATO-sponsored exercises. Now, NATO's civilian
leadership arrives not only to meet but to tour a variety of
facilities.
It appears that this unusual meeting was called on comparatively
short notice; the first word appears to have come in late 1999,
according to spokesmen in Brussels, Washington and various
embassies. This suggests that the meeting is an outgrowth of the
events of late last year: when Russia's war in Chechnya was getting
underway and senior U.S. officials toured alarmed, neighboring
nations. The decision to meet in Kiev indicates a desire on the
part of NATO to send a message of support to Ukraine as well as a
warning to Moscow.
It is likely that this warning will be counterproductive. Russia's
First Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov visited Kiev on Feb.
22, in an apparent attempt to deepen Russia's influence over the
Ukrainian economy. After all, Putin, the acting Russian president,
draws support from the swells of Russian nationalism. An overly
bold Western gesture in Ukraine - perceived as vital by Russians -
will only strengthen nationalists. Further, a strategy of
confrontation will likely cause stress fractures within the
alliance. Also, the West has yet to offer the carrot as well as the
stick; Putin will refuse to back down if the only option is
resorting to a Yeltsin foreign policy.
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma seems to be scrabbling to stay
out of this brewing confrontation. Last week he left Kiev for a
two-week vacation in western Ukraine, according to a spokeswoman,
directing his foreign minister to deliver a speech to the NATO
gathering on his behalf. Neither in one camp nor the other, Ukraine
has been forced to gingerly tow a line between Moscow and Brussels.
With both now openly competing for Ukraine, Kuchma will find it
increasingly difficult - if not impossible - to maintain a balanced
policy.
Curiously, Moscow has not officially responded to the NAC meeting.
After meeting with Russian officials, German Defense Minister
Rudolf Scharping is currently en route from Moscow to Washington;
he is likely to carry at least a partial Russian response. Russia
seems to be waiting for the right time and place to voice its full
retort.
Like NATO, Russia has many cards to play. Ukraine's Russian
minority composes more than a quarter of the Ukrainian population.
Russian security services undoubtedly retain a strong presence. In
case of a conflict, no one in Kiev truly knows who would rally
behind the flag. Russian influence over Ukraine's economy is
deepening. Most importantly, despite the sheer size of Ukraine's
territory and population, it still shares a long and nearly
indefensible border with the Soviet Union's most powerful successor
state: Russia.
A showdown is quietly brewing. NATO is trying to expand its ability
to operate jointly with the forces of neutral nations and many
former Soviet states. But it would be a high-profile NATO push into
Ukraine that would ultimately tip the scale. Putin has decided that
Russia will no longer play second fiddle to the West; the Western
response is that if Russia wants a confrontation, one can most
certainly be provided. Such a message will only further fuel
Russia's nationalist fires.
(c) 2000, Stratfor, Inc. http://www.stratfor.com/
__________________________________________________
SUBSCRIBE to FREE, DAILY GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE UPDATES by clicking on
http://www.stratfor.com/services/giu/subscribe.asp
UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THE GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE UPDATES (GIU)
http://www.stratfor.com/services/giu/subscribe.asp
or send your name, title, organization, address, phone number, and
e-mail to alert@...
___________________________________________________
STRATFOR.COM 504 Lavaca, Suite 1100 Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512-583-5000 Fax: 512-583-5025
Internet: http://www.stratfor.com/
Email: info@...
___________________________________________________
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------
* Lanci di uova contro Madeleine Albright in visita a Brno
* In vista blocchi stradali da parte degli agricoltori
* Praga, conferenza "UN ANNO DOPO: cause, coerenza e conseguenze della
crisi del Kosovo". La relazione di uno dei partecipanti (in italiano) ed
il dispaccio della Tanjug
UCRAINA
Come riportato in un messaggio precedente
( http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/43.html? ) il Parlamento
ucraino, che ha una maggioranza di sinistra, all'inizio di febbraio e'
stato messo nella impossibilita' di svolgere il proprio ruolo
istituzionale da parte delle forze di polizia fedeli al presidente
filo-occidentale Kuchma (vittorioso, grazie a brogli, nelle recenti
elezioni), ed ai parlamentari della minoranza di destra che hanno
occupato l'aula.
Ecco le ragioni, ed i risultati, di questo colpo di stato:
* Visita a Kiev degli alti ufficiali NATO; comunicato congiunto
* E' partita la contro-riforma agraria
* E' partita la colossale svendita delle imprese pubbliche
* L'analisi della Stratfor Intelligence sul processo di inglobamento
dell'Ucraina nella NATO in funzione antirussa
NOTA: la gran parte dei contributi sono stati diffusi dalla mailing list
STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
---
LANCI DI UOVA
Protesters Throw Eggs at Albright
By Nadia Rybarova
Associated Press Writer
Monday, March 6, 2000; 8:01 a.m. EST
BRNO, Czech Republic –– Shouting "death to American imperialism,"
two men hurled eggs at Secretary of State Madeleine Albright today after
she told a university audience that defense of common values sometimes
requires countries to pay a financial price.
After finishing a speech to an enthusiastic audience at Tomas Masaryk
University in this industrial city 125 miles southeast of Prague,
Albright was milling about in the crowded entrance hall as bystanders
cheered.
Suddenly, two men shouted "death to American imperialism" and began
hurling eggs. Albright was spattered slightly with bits of egg but most
of them were intercepted by her bodyguards, said a U.S. official who
asked that his name not be published.
She was rushed upstairs quickly before leaving for another appearance.
Police Capt. Zdenek Lubas said several people were detained for
questioning but declined to give further details.
The incident marred an otherwise warm reception here on the second day
of Albright's four-day visit to the land of her birth.
Before the speech, she met privately with about a dozen students from
the Gypsy minority to discuss affirmative action and other ideas for
improving their conditions. She also received a gold medal Wednesday
from the university named after a Czech president who was born near here
100 years ago.
During her speech, Albright referred to a pledge by Czech President
Vaclav Havel to cancel a $30 million sale of cooling duct parts by a
Czech company to Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Although Iran insist the plant is for peaceful production of
electricity, the United States fears the Iranians are trying to develop
a nuclear weapons program.
Noting that this former Soviet Bloc state joined NATO last year,
Albright said preventing the spread of nuclear weapons was a high
priority of the Western alliance.
As with any goal worth achieving, it is not without cost," Albright
said, speaking in English. "To keep the best technology from falling
into the wrong hands, American firms are required to forgo many
potentially profitable contracts. But a similar responsibility rests
upon the shoulders of all who pledged to defend the best interests of
the Euro-Atlantic community."
Albright said Washington has urged all its allies to "meet that
responsibility so that our common security is protected and the future
safer for our children and theirs."
Iran denies any nuclear weapons program and insists that the power plant
at Bushehr is simply for the peaceful generation of electricity.
"We consider the campaign around Bushehr conducted by the Czech
government and the local media a gift to the American minister Madeleine
Albright linked to her visit," Sharif Khodai, the acting Iranian
ambassador to Prague, told the newspaper Pravo.
Later, Albright was to join Havel for a visit to the nearby town of
Hodonin, where Masaryk was born. Masaryk led Czechoslovakia from 1918
until 1935 and was also a close friend of President Woodrow Wilson.
Albright has urged Czechs to follow the example of Masaryk, a towering
figure in Eastern European democratic history. She has said they should
pursue his goals here and throughout the region, including Yugoslavia.
Using that theme, U.S. officials said Albright has urged the Czechs to
undertake judicial reform and encourage tolerance for the country's
Gypsy, or Roma, minority.
"Masaryk's dream was to have Europe whole and free," Albright said
Sunday at a joint news conference with Havel in Prague Castle. She
quoted Masaryk as saying democracy was not an act but a "pursuit" that
must be continually developed.
She has also encouraged the Czech Republic to become more involved in
Western moves to bring democracy to Yugoslavia's main republic, Serbia,
and to help promote ethnic stability in Kosovo, a province of Serbia.
After visiting Masaryk's shrine, Albright was to return today to Prague,
where she was scheduled to hold a roundtable discussion with Eastern
European non-governmental organizations to discuss ways of promoting
democratization in Serbia.
Albright said Sunday that the people of Serbia "do not deserve" an
autocratic leader like President Slobodan Milosevic.
In an interview with Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty, she said the
United States had been urging the Serbian opposition movement to end its
divisions and prove to Serbs that "they represent an alternate choice."
Albright also said democratically minded leaders from former Soviet Bloc
countries could offer advice to opposition figures in Serbia on how to
unite in the face of authoritarian rule.
Albright's father, Josef Korbel, a Czech diplomat, fled with his wife
and children to London as Germany took control of Czechoslovakia at the
onset of World War II. When the communists took over Czechoslovakia in
1948, the family then migrated to the United States.
After the fall of communism here, the Czech and Slovak republics split
into two countries in 1993.
---
BLOCCHI STRADALI
(The Czech Republic is held up as a showcase and
prototype for the new EU-style privatized Eastern
European economy. How well's it's working - for the
populace, anyway - is indicated below...."Agricultural
production last year was 14 pct. higher than in 1998,
but at the same time revenue of farmers fell by Kc15bn
[$1=36.9 Koruna/Kc]....[T]he main reasons for the
strike are the non-payment of wages to employees,
growing unemployment...and fear [concerning] social
and pension reforms.")
* Farmers to strike by blocking Prague motorways
PRAGUE, Mar 7, 2000 -- (CTK - Czech News Agency) The
Association of Independent Trade Unions (ASO) has
declared a warning strike for Wednesday, 12:00 noon,
in protest against the pertinent authorities' failure
to solve social problems, ASO chairman Bohumir Dufek
said at a press conference today.
Farmers will block some Prague motorways for half an
hour. Dufek did not specify what motorways. "We will
block a certain Prague motorway. Farmers have no other
option how to call attention to their problems," said
Dufek, adding that the unions have enough people to do
this. He would not give any details because, as he
said, he wanted to protect personal safety of
participants in the protest.
Agricultural production last year was 14 pct higher
than in 1998 but at the same time revenues of farmers
fell by Kc15bn, the Agricultural Chamber president
Vaclav Hlavacek said at the beginning of March. Dufek
said that the main reasons for the strike are the non-
payment of wages to employees, growing unemployment
due to the non-existence of a plan to help the Czech
Republic out of the current economic crisis and fear
from the prepared social and pension reforms.
The Trade Union Association of Railway Employees will
allegedly join the strike, halting railway passenger
transport for a quarter of an hour at 12:00 noon. ASO
groups together eight trade union associations with
around 230,000 employees. ((c) 2000 CTK - Czech News
Agency)
---
PRAGA: CONFERENZA
REMARK: this message contains an outline of the Conference which was
held in Prague, 26-28/2/2000. It is sent for information to the whole
italian "Committee of Scientists against the War" mailing list, to the
responsibles of the Italian Section of the "Clark" Tribunal for NATO
crimes, and to the participants' addresses gathered by the author at the
Conference itself.
AUTORE: Andrea Martocchia (Comitato Scienziate/i contro la guerra,
sezione italiana Tribunale contro i crimini della NATO, Coordinamento
Romano per la Jugoslavia) <martok@...>
TITOLO: "Un anno dopo: cause, coerenza e conseguenze della crisi del
Kosovo"
ORGANIZZATORI: "Res Publica" e' il gruppo promotore, di area
socialdemocratica (cfr. http://www.publica.cz/infoservis.htm )
INVITATI E PRESENTI: di circa 1000 realta', ceche e straniere, invitate
erano presenti solo 35 persone. Hanno "brillato" per la loro assenza ad
esempio gli italiani (solo due presenti, nonostante che l'invito avesse
girato in tutto l'arcipelago pacifista grazie alle mailing list di
Peacelink), sia tutti i paesi balcanici, ad eccezione ovviamente della
RF
di Jugoslavia.
NOTE PRELIMINARI: Ho partecipato solamente alla sessione della domenica
27/2, insieme a R. Gabriele (in rappresentanza della Fondazione Nino
Pasti
per la pace e l'indipendenza dei popoli e dello stesso Tribunale
"Clark").
Inoltre purtroppo non possedevo un registratore, ed ho pertanto preso
solo
appunti a mano di quello che mi sembrava piu' rilevante. Gli
organizzatori
pero' si sono ripromessi di mettere sul loro sito internet i contributi
che hanno raccolto.
RELAZIONI
La prima relazione che ho sentito era un contributo di carattere
tecnico sull'inquinamento causato dai bombardamenti, tenuto da un
professore di Chimica dell'Universita' di Brno il quale ha praticamente
riassunto quello che a riguardo e' contenuto nel libro "Imbrogli di
guerra" - pur senza conoscere il libro...
Un giovane di Pancevo ha poi letto un testo sulla situazione nella sua
citta' dopo i bombardamenti; tra le cose che mi sono rimaste impresse la
sua sottolineatura di come la NATO sia riuscita a far deteriorare i
rapporti interetnici in quella zona ed in tutta la multinazionale RF di
Jugoslavia.
Io stesso ho poi preso la parola per presentare il nostro Comitato, il
libro e dare la mia valutazione dello stato del movimento contro la
guerra. Ho parlato del lavoro della sezione italiana del Tribunale
"Clark"
e di come la attuale classe dirigente italiana abbia stracciato i valori
fondanti della Repubblica, nonche' quelli che la dovrebbero
caratterizzare
e differenziare rispetto alla opposizione di destra.
Un rappresentante dell'ambasciata della RFJ, dopo aver lamentato
l'assenza
dei rappresentanti degli altri paesi balcanici (che avrebbero potuto
raccontare le conseguenze per le loro societa' e per le loro economie
della politica "umanitaria" della NATO, ad es. i rumeni con il Danubio
bloccato), ha presentato una serie di documenti di fonte ufficiale
jugoslava contenenti
- gli effetti dei bombardamenti NATO ("White Book", cfr.
http://www.mfa.gov.yu/ oppure http://www1.mfa.gov.yu/ )
- l'elencazione degli atti terroristici e di violenza avvenuti a partire
dalla occupazione del territorio da parte delle truppe KFOR (circa 3500
azioni, di cui 110 contro i rom e circa 80 contro albanesi-kosovari
"traditori" come quelli iscritti al "nazicomunista" Partito Socialista
Serbo) che hanno causato in tutto 793 morti invisibili sui nostri
mass-media
- la distruzione di circa 80 chiese serbo-ortodosse, alcune delle quali
sotto tutela UNESCO.
Egli ha inoltre raccontato in che modo siano stati stravolti gli
equilibri
demografici della regione a partire dagli anni 70 (per non risalire
indietro al periodo dell'occupazione nazifascista), ha stigmatizzato la
maniera coercitiva in cui la NATO sta inglobando tutti gli stati
dell'area
ovvero sta costringendo paesi come la Grecia a partecipare ad operazioni
che rifiuterebbero, ed ha indicato esplicitamente la lobby della grande
industria transnazionale come "burattinai" della NATO, lobby che e' a
sua
volta diretta "da chi detiene i capitali" attraverso organizzazioni come
la Trilateral ed il gruppo Bilderberg (cfr. www.bilderberg.org).
Poi ha parlato un biochimico ceco, poi una dottoressa inglese della
organizzazione IPPNW (Intern. Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear
War, premio Nobel 1995) sulla strategia occidentale, sulla frustazione
russa e sulla corsa al riarmo.
Un socialdemocratico ceco, che si e' detto "tradito dal comportamento
dei
leaders della Internazionale Socialista", ha poi espresso, con toni di
estrema amarezza, la delusione per il modo in cui le speranze
"democratiche" della svolta del '90 siano state umiliate. Lo stesso
presidente Havel sta mostrando di essere in prima fila nello
schieramento
guerrafondaio internazionale, con dichiarazioni di stampo pannelliano
che
lasciano quantomeno perplessi quelli che un tempo lo stimavano; pertanto
e' stato indicato anche lui come un "criminale di guerra" alla stregua
dei
D'Alema, Blair, Clinton, eccetera. Allo stesso modo e' stata
sottolineata
l'assenza di quegli intellettuali che tanto avevano lavorato per
abbattere
il vecchio sistema e "democratizzare" la societa'. Questi sono stati
indicati come "prostitute", mentre il clima culturale e' stato definito
"disperato". Quale democrazia, quando la NATO interviene contro il suo
stesso statuto?
Il professore e saggista Rajko Dolecek (autore dell'importante
"J'accuse",
http://www.srpska-mreza.com/ddj/Kosovo/articles/Dolecek.html ) a questo
proposito ha ricordato come la NATO abbia aggredito la Jugoslavia pochi
giorni dopo l'entrata della Rep. Ceca nell'organizzazione lasciando di
stucco (per usare un eufemismo...) tanti che pure non erano a priori
contrari all'entrata nella NATO. Dal punto di vista dei diritti umani,
ha detto Dolecek, la NATO e' come "una prostituta che predica la
verginita'".
Un attivista polacco di Cracovia, che ha raccontato di conoscere
personalmente alcuni familiari del Pontefice, ha poi contestato, con
libri
e citazioni alla mano, il ruolo della Chiesa cattolica e del papa. Ha
detto delle cose estremamente interessanti, sulle quali pero' non mi
dilungo: basti citare la frase del Cardinale Glemp (ricordate?...) che
all'inizio dei bombardamenti li ha paragonati ad "una frusta di Dio che
si
abbatte su quel paese". Gli ha fatto eco una militante ceca della
Christian Peace Conference la quale ha raccontato del "sentimento di
essere manipolate/i", dell'arroganza dell'Occidente e del fatto che la
chiesa cristiana ha "due gambe, quella occidentale (cattolica) e quella
orientale (ortodossa)" le quali hanno pari dignita' anche se i loro
leaders non ne vogliono sentir parlare.
C'e' poi stato uno scambio di vedute sull'apparente contrasto tra
sovranita' degli Stati e diritti umani, che e' stato giudicato "una
assurdita'" se a parlarne sono quelli che violano la prima dicendo di
voler proteggere i secondi, previo poi violarli molto piu'
pesantemente...
Si e' fatto riferimento ad una conferenza della Association of
Lawyers against Nuclear Weapons, tenutasi all'Aia durante i
bombardamenti,
nella quale i circa 7000 partecipanti avrebbero approvato a maggioranza
una risoluzione che dichiarava illegale l'aggressione della NATO. Questa
risoluzione e' stata soggetta ad un embargo (censura) informativo
completo
sui media di tutti i paesi. Infine, sempre Dolecek ha presentato un suo
ragionamento sul carattere, a suo dire, non imparziale ne' legale del
Tribunale dell'Aia per i crimini commessi sul territorio della RFSJ.
Infine, i rappresentanti tedeschi del Tribunale Clark (si veda
http://www.nato-tribunal.de/ ) hanno parlato della loro intenzione di
coordinare tutte le attivita' a livello europeo, facendole sfociare in
una
grande sessione europea a Berlino il 2 e 3 giugno prossimi, che
precedera'
di una ventina di giorni la seduta internazionale finale, che si terra'
a
New York, patrocinata dallo stesso Clark e dall'IAC.
Clark comunque sara' a Praga il 23 marzo prossimo, sulla via per
Belgrado
dove celebrera' il primo anniversario della aggressione; e proprio per
il
23 a Praga la Fondazione Pasti ha proposto che si tenga una iniziativa
europea di coordinamento di tutte le sezioni europee del Tribunale.
A latere della giornata ho ancora da registrare i colloqui avuti
separatamente con vari partecipanti, colloqui resi particolarmente
piacevoli dai boccali di birra Pilsen che avevamo dinanzi. In
particolare
i cechi mi hanno detto che, secondo loro, non e' affatto vero che con il
"cambiamento del regime" le persone si sentano adesso molto piu' libere
di
esprimersi, visto che ad esempio sulle questioni della guerra della NATO
c'e' molta paura a dire in pubblico la propria opinione. Questo benche'
la
stragrande maggioranza dlla popolazione ceca sia stata certamente
contraria alle bombe, anche se i mass-media locali (ormai completamente
in
mano a corporation straniere, in particolare tedesche, come tedeschi
sono
i proprietari della Skoda...) hanno dato una immagine falsificata di
questo sentimento collettivo a forza di bordate propagandistiche.
Insomma,
sotto questo profilo la situazione e' identica a quella italiana.
Da me interrogato su di una questione diversa, e cioe' se sapesse
qualcosa
del colpo di Stato che c'e' stato in Ucraina un mese fa nel silenzio
completo della stampa occidentale, uno slovacco ha detto che anche nel
suo
paese c'e' stata censura completa sulle informazioni (li' e' soprattutto
la Fondazione Soros che ha in mano i media) e questo e' assurdo visto
che
l'Ucraina e' un paese immenso, con circa 50 milioni di abitanti... Ma
lui
aveva avuto occasione di parlare direttamente con alcuni lavoratori
ucraini immigrati, che gli hanno raccontato di essere tornati ai loro
paesi d'origine per votare alle presidenziali (vinte di stretta misura
dal
filo-occidentale Kuchma, autore del golpe di cui sopra) e che al seggio
elettorale hanno trovato le schede gia' firmate ed il voto gia'
espresso,
nonche' una serie di loschi figuri a "controllare" che non succedessero
incidenti... Dietro a tutta questa "democrazia" (?) c'e' da una parte
l'inglobamento dell'Ucraina nella NATO attraverso la Partnership for
Peace, cui si erano opposti anche la maggioranza dei parlamentari, e
dall'altra la privatizzazione di centinaia di imprese e dei latifondi,
sulla quale era in atto un forte scontro politico. Meno chiaro quale sia
adesso la situazione, dopo che un mese fa il parlamento e' stato
occupato
dai partiti di destra e molti deputati di sinistra sono entrati in
sciopero della fame.
(...) Andrea Martocchia
www.serbia-info.com/news
Call for lifting embargo against FR Yugoslavia
February 29, 2000
Embargo on FRY has to be suspended
Prague, February 28th - Participants in the international conference
"One year after: the causes, links and consequences of the Kosovo
crisis," that ends today in Prague, have called on the international
community to lift the sanctions against Yugoslavia.
Representatives of ten European states at a three-day meeting, organized
by the non-governmental organization European Network for Peace and
Co-operation warned that the embargo, in general, in all countries where
it was applied, besides its inhumanity has proved to be completely
inefficient and politically shortsighted and that it affected most of
the population.
In today's closing discussions, it was concluded that NATO member
countries that have bombed for almost 80 days FR Yugoslavia, should pay
for the damages and rebuild everything they had destroyed in the
country.
Participants in the conferences stressed that without the inclusion of
FR Yugoslavia in all regional plans for the reconstruction of the
Balkans, of which that country is an inseparable and almost the most
important part, there will be no progress.
In the final document of the conference, which will be sent to the
Yugoslav Government and all other important international organizations,
institutions and governments of many countries, was included the protest
sent to UNESCO because of the destruction of Serbian Orthodox Churches
and monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as of facilities during
the bombing of all of Yugoslavia.
All the reports of the conference participants, among which were also
representatives of peace movements, and experts in different fields -
legal experts, historians, ecologists, biochemists, experts in atomic
energy - from Ireland, Great Britain, Yugoslavia, Poland, Italy,
Germany, Finland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will be presented on
the Internet.
---------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
UFFICIALI NATO
(Yet another step closer to Moscow, by the exact route used by Napoleon
and Hitler. But first NATO's 'expertise' will be employed to crush
internal opposition - a majority in both houses of parliament oppose
both Kuchma and NATO memebership, and were recently forcibly ousted from
a protest in the parliament building.
Reminiscent of Boris Yeltsin ringing the Russian parliament buiding with
tanks - remember that? - and firing on the legally elected speaker and
assistant speaker, killing perhaps hundreds of protesters holed up
there. Bill Clinton's and England's John Major's response to this -
truly unprecedented - destruction of a nation's parliament by the
military? They both applauded Boris Yeltsin as the "saviour of Russian
democracy," just as Clinton later commented on Yeltsin's first Chechnya
campaign by calling him "the Abraham Lincoln of his country."
But, quick, wipe all the above from your memory; we're not supposed to
remember any of those things.)
Tuesday February 29 8:42 AM ET
Ukraine Hosts Top NATO Officials, Eyes Closer Ties
By Dmitry Solovyov
KIEV, Ukraine (Reuters) - NATO leaders arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday for
a meeting that Kiev hopes will be a major step toward closer links
between the Western alliance and the former Soviet state seeking
integration into European structures.
``For the first time, 19 NATO ambassadors, the Secretary General and the
chief of the military committee come to Kiev together for this historic
meeting,´´ said Natalya Melnichuk, head of the NATO Information and
Documentation Center in Kiev.
Wednesday's meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, to be chaired by
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, will be the 16th since Ukraine
signed a partnership charter with the alliance in 1997 but the first to
be held in Kiev.
Joining NATO is not on the agenda for Ukraine and Wednesday's meeting is
unlikely to take any key decisions. But Robertson, who previously
visited Kiev in late January, will stay on for an extra day for a
program of unofficial visits.
NATO and Ukrainian officials say the very composition of the gathering
will clearly demonstrate Western support for Ukraine's aspirations to
integrate into European structures.
Ukraine Seeks Place In Europe Via Ties With Nato
``I think Ukraine wanted to have a meeting in Kiev because it gives us a
chance to move the relationship forward, it raises (Ukraine´s)
profile,´´ a NATO official said.
``Ukraine has this policy of seeking greater integration into European
structures, and NATO sees this as completely in line with its own view
of NATO-Ukraine relations.´´
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma won re-election last November on
pledges to boost market reforms, build good relations with Russia and
integrate into Europe.
Experts say that after his landslide victory the timing is good for
Kuchma to demonstrate Ukraine's European vocation and cordial relations
with NATO, despite a strong leftist opposition in the country of 50
million.
``During the election voters supported Ukraine´s European
choice,´´ said presidential spokesman Olexander Martynenko.
``Ukraine sees its relations with NATO as ties with the most influential
European structure which is an important element of stability and
security in the region.´´
MOSCOW CLOSELY WATCHES UKRAINE-NATO RELATIONS Wednesday's meeting in
Kiev is likely to be closely watched by Ukraine's former imperial master
Moscow which froze its ties with NATO during the alliance's air strikes
on Yugoslavia last year. It agreed to revive relations only earlier this
month.
Ukrainian officials, under the pressure of public opinion in the
country, did not support the air strikes but at the same time condemned
Serbia for ethnic cleansing of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and never
suspended its ties with NATO.
``Now the military operation in Kosovo is over, Ukraine is taking part
in the KFOR operation there and what´s more, the president who got
re-elected can go ahead and pursue a strong policy with NATO,´´ the
NATO official said.
Ukraine has been an active participant in NATO military exercises within
the alliance's Partnership for Peace program with non-member states.
Unlike Russia, Ukraine did not oppose the accession of its neighbors
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to the alliance.
NATO-Ukraine Commission Statement
2 March 2000
Statement
Today the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine ratified the
Partnership
for Peace Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), following its submission by
the President of Ukraine. The NATO-Ukraine Commission salutes this
decision which will further enhance the opportunities for carrying out
joint NATO-Ukraine activities as well as Partnership for Peace
exercises. As already demonstrated in other Partner countries, the
ratification of the SOFA will allow Ukraine to enjoy full military and
economic benefits of the Partnership for Peace programme. NATO and
Ukraine, together with individual Allies and Partners, look forward to
taking advantage of the new possibilities which have been opened by this
important decision of the Verkhovna Rada, including the use of the
Yavoriv
Training Centre.
The NATO-Ukraine Commission also welcomes the ratification of the Open
Skies Treaty by the Verkhovna Rada, which is another important
contribution
to transparency and arms control.
These two ratifications coincide propitiously with the first ever
meeting
of the Ukraine Commission in Ukraine. This took place yesterday in Kyiv
and enabled a full and fruitful exchange of views which bodes well for
the
future of the cooperation between Ukraine and NATO.
---
CONTRORIFORMA AGRARIA
(The near-orgasmic level of ecstasy and abandon in
this report's spin - on the brink, about to take off,
we see light, excited and so on - is not unjustified.
IMF/World Bank "suggestions" [We expect...] on
privatization of some of the largest tracts of grain
arable land in the world will trigger perhaps the
largest foreign-private land grab since the grand days
of European colonialism.)
"Ukraine, which faces foreign debt payments of $3.1
billion this year, has to prove its will to reform the
depressed economy for the International Monetary Fund
and World Bank to resume loans frozen at the end of
last year...."
"Land is number one issue."
Ukraine Farm Reform About To Take Off
KIEV, Mar 2, 2000 -- (Reuters) Ukraine is on the brink
of real farm reforms which could turn around the
Soviet-style sector but needs to take concrete steps
starting with land ownership to flesh out early moves,
World Bank officials said on Thursday.
"We are excited with what is happening at the moment,"
Gregory Jedrzejczak, head of the World Bank mission in
Ukraine, told Reuters. "We were in a dark tunnel, but
we see light now."
President Leonid Kuchma has issued a decree ordering
Soviet-era collective farms to disband and change to
private farms by April 1, but has not provided a
mechanism.
Ukraine, which faces foreign debt payments of $3.1
billion this year, has to prove its will to reform the
depressed economy for the International Monetary Fund
and World Bank to resume loans frozen at the end of
last year due to slow reforms.
Now Kuchma's farm decree has sent a strong positive
signal to international creditors and investors even
though it stopped short of introducing real private
land ownership.
NO REAL REFORM WITHOUT PRIVATE LAND OWNERSHIP
Analysts say Ukraine, which last year harvested its
lowest grain crop since 1945, may not revive its
agricultural sector until it enshrines into law rights
to buy, sell and use private land as collateral.
"If (Kuchma's) decree remains alone, it is not going
to resolve problems. We would like to see a more
comprehensive settlement," Csaba Csaki, the World Bank
agriculture policy adviser for Europe and Central
Asia, said, in English.
"Land is number one issue."
Parliament, which had been accused by Kuchma of
blocking reforms, now comprises a center-right
pro-market majority, and Csaki said the time was right
for passing laws on private land ownership and
property registration, key to enforcing rights.
Jedrzejczak said he felt the political elite in the
country of 50 million was largely supportive of
private land ownership.
"We have seen quite a dramatic change of attitude," he
said. "Six months ago, when you would talk to the
parliament or politicians, private land ownership was
a complete taboo."
He said fast land reform might allow Ukraine to
leverage its fertile black soil and regain its
historical role as a global agricultural producer.
Farms could lead the economy to growth.
EXPORTS MUST BE FREED TOO
Apart from land reform, the IMF and World Bank insist
Ukraine scrap a 23-percent tax on sunflower seed
exports and end excessive export tariffs on skins and
hides.
Officials say the taxes and tariffs aim to support the
budget and provide local processing firms with raw
materials but traders and creditors say they
contradict free market rules.
Jedrzejczak and Csaki said they expected parliament to
adopt laws liberalizing foreign trade after a promise
by the new government of reformist Prime Minister
Viktor Yushchenko to adhere to a free economy.
"We see the commitment (of the government). Now we
want legislation to translate into action,"
Jedrzejczak said.
He also expected deputies to ratify the bank's
Pre-Export Guarantee Facility which would help attract
private investors to Ukraine's cash-starved
agriculture and help provide farmers with machinery,
fuel and fertilizers.
Ratification of the $120 million facility, approved by
the World Bank in 1997, had been blocked by leftist
factions.
---
ORGIA DI PRIVATIZZAZIONI
Friday, February 25, 2000
Ukraine Accelerates Privatization
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KIEV -- Ukraine's parliament passed a new
privatization program for 2000 that deputies from the
center-right majority said will relieve the state of
loss-making companies and boost the budget.
The parliament, or Verkhovna Rada, passed the project
Tuesday 236-17, the Rada's press service said.
The previously leftist-dominated parliament had
opposed adopting the bill, although analysts point out
that the state has been saddled with hundreds of
failing enterprises.
The new privatization program includes the sale of
more than 800 nonstrategic enterprises in the
transport, machinery, chemical, agricultural and food
industries.
The State Property Fund also renewed the privatization
process of Ukraine's nine energy companies, halted in
December, officials from the fund said.
Last week, the State Property Fund announced it was
preparing to tender a 92.53-percent stake in the huge
Oriana chemical complex, which produces
petroleum-based products and fertilizers.
-
(Ukraine, which has raised 1.507 million hryvnias
[national currency, roughly six to a dollar]from cash
sell-offs since 1992, plans to boost privatization
revenues to 2.5 billion hryvnias this year to help pay
crushing foreign debt obligations....Privatization is
a key part of a $2.6 billion International Monetary
Fund loan frozen in September 1999....)
BUSINESS NEWS
Ukraine 2000 State Sell-Offs Raise $27 Mln To Date
KIEV, Mar 1, 2000 -- (Reuters) Ukraine, which has set
ambitious privatization targets for this year, has
raised 150 million hryvnias ($27.29 million) from cash
sell-offs so far this year, the State Property Fund
said on Tuesday.
Olexander Bondar, who heads the fund, told a meeting
with regional media the government would raise another
91 million hryvnias from privatizing a stake in
leading steel mill Zaporizhstal in the next few days.
"We are lagging behind our schedule but we shall do
everything to meet the target," Bondar said, adding
that the planned figure for the first quarter was 500
million hryvnias.
Ukraine, which has raised 1.507 billion hryvnias from
cash sell-offs since 1992, plans to boost
privatization revenues to 2.5 billion hryvnias this
year to help pay crushing foreign debt obligations of
$3.1 billion due this year.
Privatization is a key part of a $2.6 billion
International Monetary Fund loan program frozen in
September 1999 over stalled reforms and ahead of a
presidential election.
Bondar said the fund hoped that privatization in key
energy, metallurgical, chemical and telecom sectors
would help meet the target. The fund plans to sell
stakes in some 3,000 large companies this year.
($=5.4975 hryvnias)
---
STRATFOR.COM's Global Intelligence Update - 2 March 2000
By The Internet's Most Intelligent Source of International News &
Analysis http://www.stratfor.com/
__________________________________________
Know the every move of your competitors -- even before they do.
Stratfor Intelligence Services http://www.stratfor.com/services/
__________________________________________
WHAT'S GOING ON IN YOUR WORLD
Scharping Trying to Dampen Russian-NATO Rift
http://www.stratfor.com/world/Commentaries/0003020245.htm
Wahid Wavers Between Western Oil Alliances and Asian Unity
http://www.stratfor.com/asia/commentary/0003020122.htm
Libya: Gadhafi Axes Government Ministries
http://www.stratfor.com/MEAF/commentary/0003020207.htm
__________________________________________
STRATFOR.COM Global Intelligence Update
2 March 2000
Finally, NATO Tests A Resurgent Russia - in Kiev
Summary
NATO's decision-making body - the North Atlantic Council - is
meeting in Kiev, Ukraine. This gathering in the most geopolitically
significant area of Russia's backyard is a direct challenge to the
Putin government's assertive new foreign policy. The alliance is
calling what it believes - indeed, hopes - to be Moscow's
nationalist bluff, painting a picture of the consequences the West
could present if it continues down its current path. The move,
however, is unlikely to dissuade the government in Moscow and will
likely only entrench Russian nationalists. Regardless, the
alliance's diplomatic thrust indicates a shift change in NATO-
Russian relations, likely for the worse.
Analysis
NATO's North Atlantic Council (NAC), in its simultaneous capacity
as the NATO-Ukraine Commission (NUC), is meeting March 1-2.
Composed of ambassadorial-level representatives of the alliance's
19 member states, the NAC is the alliance's principal decision-
making body. The NUC, in turn, was formed in 1997 to bring the
alliance closer to Ukraine. With mixed success, NATO and Ukraine
have attempted to foster a closer relationship. What is significant
now is the location of the meeting. The alliance's decision-makers
are meeting in Kiev, not Brussels, the headquarters.
As striking as the location - in the most strategically important
nation on the periphery of Russia - is the timing. The meeting
appears to have been called in Kiev on relatively short notice. And
it is taking place as Russia's acting President Vladimir Putin
consolidates both his power and his foreign policy; the March
presidential elections are approaching, and until now, the West has
appeared bewildered by his actions both abroad and in the war in
Chechnya. With this gathering, it appears that the alliance is
sending two sharp messages: one of support to Kiev and one of
warning to Moscow.
NATO's relationship with Russia has changed dramatically and has
not truly recovered from the trough of last year's conflict over
Kosovo. Russia under former President Boris Yeltsin opened to the
West and is now afflicted with a criminalized economy, a
demoralizing loss of status and a dangerously ragged strategic
situation along its borders. Russia under Putin is not only
increasingly nationalist at home - as in the war in Chechnya - but
is pursuing a vastly different foreign policy abroad, one that is
forceful and decidedly independent of the West.
Indeed, it appears that after standing by idly the last several
months, Western governments are beginning to catch on and react -
albeit cautiously, even timidly. Western institutions are launching
initiatives around the Russian periphery. The European Union is
accelerating its expansion, earmarking $1 billion for Poland's
accession efforts last week - a quadrupling of previous outlays.
European Commission President Romano Prodi has alluded to tighter
links between the EU and NATO. NATO holds its first major military
exercise in a non-member's territory, in Sweden June 3-19. The
alliance is cooperating with neutral nations to arm the Baltic
states as well. And at the other end of Europe, Turkey is engaging
in intensive military exercise on its eastern border.
But the most striking aspect of the relationship between the
alliance, in particular, and Russia revolves around Ukraine.
Ukraine is the most strategically important piece of real estate
between Europe and Russia; neither can be secure without Ukraine.
And throughout the post-Cold War period, Ukraine has been
contested. It is economically dependent on Russia but has insisted
on ever closer ties with the West.
Much to Russia's dismay, NATO and Ukrainian forces have held joint
military exercises on the Black Sea and at a number of locations
ashore. NATO and Ukraine have also been busy building relationships
between their respective officer corps. The Ukrainiain military has
never made a secret of its desires to work with the West, recently
and pointedly declining a role in exercises with the Russian navy,
according to Deutsch Presse-Agentur. Ukrainian forces, however,
will participate in NATO's Cooperative Partner 2000 naval
exercises, June 19-30, in the Ukrainian sector of the Black Sea.
The NATO-Ukraine Commission has been the other important vehicle
for security cooperation. Indeed, one of the commission's first
actions, after being formed three years ago, was to establish the
Yavoriv military facility in western Ukraine as a training center
for the Partnership for Peace program - the first such facility in
the former Soviet Union. Ever since, Yavoriv has served as a base
of operations for NATO-sponsored exercises. Now, NATO's civilian
leadership arrives not only to meet but to tour a variety of
facilities.
It appears that this unusual meeting was called on comparatively
short notice; the first word appears to have come in late 1999,
according to spokesmen in Brussels, Washington and various
embassies. This suggests that the meeting is an outgrowth of the
events of late last year: when Russia's war in Chechnya was getting
underway and senior U.S. officials toured alarmed, neighboring
nations. The decision to meet in Kiev indicates a desire on the
part of NATO to send a message of support to Ukraine as well as a
warning to Moscow.
It is likely that this warning will be counterproductive. Russia's
First Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov visited Kiev on Feb.
22, in an apparent attempt to deepen Russia's influence over the
Ukrainian economy. After all, Putin, the acting Russian president,
draws support from the swells of Russian nationalism. An overly
bold Western gesture in Ukraine - perceived as vital by Russians -
will only strengthen nationalists. Further, a strategy of
confrontation will likely cause stress fractures within the
alliance. Also, the West has yet to offer the carrot as well as the
stick; Putin will refuse to back down if the only option is
resorting to a Yeltsin foreign policy.
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma seems to be scrabbling to stay
out of this brewing confrontation. Last week he left Kiev for a
two-week vacation in western Ukraine, according to a spokeswoman,
directing his foreign minister to deliver a speech to the NATO
gathering on his behalf. Neither in one camp nor the other, Ukraine
has been forced to gingerly tow a line between Moscow and Brussels.
With both now openly competing for Ukraine, Kuchma will find it
increasingly difficult - if not impossible - to maintain a balanced
policy.
Curiously, Moscow has not officially responded to the NAC meeting.
After meeting with Russian officials, German Defense Minister
Rudolf Scharping is currently en route from Moscow to Washington;
he is likely to carry at least a partial Russian response. Russia
seems to be waiting for the right time and place to voice its full
retort.
Like NATO, Russia has many cards to play. Ukraine's Russian
minority composes more than a quarter of the Ukrainian population.
Russian security services undoubtedly retain a strong presence. In
case of a conflict, no one in Kiev truly knows who would rally
behind the flag. Russian influence over Ukraine's economy is
deepening. Most importantly, despite the sheer size of Ukraine's
territory and population, it still shares a long and nearly
indefensible border with the Soviet Union's most powerful successor
state: Russia.
A showdown is quietly brewing. NATO is trying to expand its ability
to operate jointly with the forces of neutral nations and many
former Soviet states. But it would be a high-profile NATO push into
Ukraine that would ultimately tip the scale. Putin has decided that
Russia will no longer play second fiddle to the West; the Western
response is that if Russia wants a confrontation, one can most
certainly be provided. Such a message will only further fuel
Russia's nationalist fires.
(c) 2000, Stratfor, Inc. http://www.stratfor.com/
__________________________________________________
SUBSCRIBE to FREE, DAILY GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE UPDATES by clicking on
http://www.stratfor.com/services/giu/subscribe.asp
UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THE GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE UPDATES (GIU)
http://www.stratfor.com/services/giu/subscribe.asp
or send your name, title, organization, address, phone number, and
e-mail to alert@...
___________________________________________________
STRATFOR.COM 504 Lavaca, Suite 1100 Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512-583-5000 Fax: 512-583-5025
Internet: http://www.stratfor.com/
Email: info@...
___________________________________________________
--------- COORDINAMENTO ROMANO PER LA JUGOSLAVIA -----------
RIMSKI SAVEZ ZA JUGOSLAVIJU
e-mail: crj@... - URL: http://marx2001.org/crj
http://www.egroups.com/group/crj-mailinglist/
------------------------------------------------------------