Threat to split Ukraine in two as crisis grows
Artykuł pochodzi z pisma "Guardian"
Threat to split Ukraine in two as crisis grows
Nick Paton Walsh in Kiev
Monday November 29, 2004
The Guardian
Ukraine's electoral crisis threatened to split the country in two last night when leaders in the east voted to hold a referendum on regional autonomy, as the government ruled out the use of force to solve the week-long standoff.
The Donetsk regional council voted 164-1 to hold the referendum this coming Sunday on giving the region the status of a republic within Ukraine.
The call for a referendum came as the opposition gave their first ultimatum to the government in the crisis: Yulia Timoshenko, the firebrand deputy to leader Viktor Yuschenko, told outgoing president Leonid Kuchma that he had 24 hours to sack prime minister Viktor Yanukovich, who sparked the mass protests when he claimed victory in a vote marred by allegations of fraud.
Ms Timoshenko also called on Mr Kuchma to fire the heads of the regions threatening to secede and initiate criminal procedings against them, warning that opposition activists would block his movements unless he fulfills their demands within 24 hours.
"We know where he is, and we can prevent him from making a single step if he doesn't fulfill our demands," Ms Tymoshenko told tens of thousands of supporters gathered in central Kiev.
Earlier in the day, Mr Yanukovich warned that Ukraine was "a step away from abyss". He told a crowd at a sports stadium in Severodonetsk, in the east of the country: "I am pleading to you not to take any radical measures.
"If only one drop of blood is shed, we won't be able to stop the flow. It will remain on the consciences of the people who provoked the situation."
Fears have been growing that the industrialised and pro-Yanukovich south and east, which supplies much of Ukraine's fuel, might secede from the west and centre, which backs Viktor Yushchenko.
There was "a realistic threat" of the east splitting from Kiev "especially if it is supported by outside forces", the Polish president, Alexander Kwasniewski, who mediated in talks between the two side on Friday, warned yesterday. He added that a Yushchenko presidency was "likely".
Moscow overtly backed Mr Yanukovich's election campaign and has since condemned the interference of the US and the EU's refusal to recognise official results declaring him winner.
Mr Yanukovich's declaration that he won last Sunday's presidential run-off by 3% has been undermined by allegations of electoral fraud that led to a week of protests headed by Mr Yushchenko.
The Kremlin hinted at the weekend that it favoured the repeat elections which an emergency parliament session voted for on Saturday. Local officials in the east have threatened that their regions may unite with Russia. Yevgeny Kushnarov, governor of the eastern town of Kharkiv, told Reuters: "Kiev is 480km from [Kharkiv], while Russia is only 40km away."
Raisa Bogatyryova, head of Yanukovich's Party of the Regions, said: "If they tell us we must go to a new round of elections then we will not go and [instead] we will hold a referendum on setting up a south-eastern state."
Meanwhile, President Leonid Kuchma said after a meeting with his security council that "compromise is the only way to avoid unpredictable consequences".
He said on Ukrainian television that the blockade of parliament was "a gross violation of law. You know well that it would be unacceptable in any nation".
Yesterday, Mr Yushchenko told 100,000 supporters who have filled central Kiev for days,"stay here until the end. You will ask me how long we should stay here, is it worth staying here?" he said. "Even the Georgian revolution [last year] lasted for three weeks."
Yet the Yushchenko camp have grown increasingly bullish, saying they do not expect Mr Yanukovich to run in any repeat election and calling for a solution to the crisis in the coming days.
Today the supreme court will commence hearings on alleged irregularities in the election.
abyss - przepaść
allegation - zarzut
alleged- rzekomy, przypuszczalny
back- popierać
bullish - optymistyczny, zwyżkowy
commence - zaczynać
condemn - potępiać
conscience - sumienie
demand - żądanie
deputy - deputowany
firebrand- podżegacz
fraud - oszustwo
fulfill - spełniać
gross - karygodny
hearing - przesłuchanie
hint -wysuwać sugestie
increasingly - rosnąco, coraz bardziej
industrialised - zindustrializowany, uprzemysłowiony
interference - wtrącanie się
irregularity- nieregularność
meanwhile- w międzyczasie
measure - krok, posunięcie
mediate - pośredniczyć
outgoing - odchodzący
overtly - otwarcie
plead - prosić
presidency - prezydentura
radical - radykalny
round - runda
rule out - wykluczać
run-off - dogrywka, druga tura wyborów
sack - wyrzucić, zwolnić
secede - odłączać się, dokonywać secesji
set up - zakładać
shed (shed, shed) - rozlewać, dokonywać rozlewu (krew)
spark - wszczynać
split - rozpaść się, podzielić się
standoff- impas
supporter - zwolennik, poplecznik
supreme court - sąd najwyższy
undermine - podważać
unpredictable - nieprzewidywalny
violation - pogwałcenie
