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DUMA COMMITTEE NARROWLY ENDORSES CHERNOMYRDIN AMBASSADORIAL APPOINTMENT. President Putin's nominee for Russia's ambassador to Kyiv, Viktor Chernomyrdin, on 16 May received the bare minimum number of votes in the Duma committee considering his nomination. Six members of the committee voted for his nomination, four -- including three communist deputies and one from the Russian Regions group -- voted against, and one abstained. PG
KORZHAKOV SAYS PROFESSIONALS BEHIND KREMLIN TAPES. At a press conference in Moscow on 16 May to discuss the publication of transcripts of tapes of conversations between presidential administration head Aleksandr Voloshin and powerful Russians, former director of the presidential security service Aleksandr Korzhakov said he published the tapes because they show the nature of Kremlin behavior, Interfax reported. He said that government security officers were involved, just as was the case in Ukraine. PG
The following is the final part of a three-part abridged version of the speech Czech President Vaclav Havel delivered on 11 May to the Bratislava summit of NATO candidate countries.
...The theme of borders of the individual entities and regional groupings has an immediate bearing on the allimportant question of where is the eastern end of the West, and thus the ultimate eastern border of NATO. In other words, it is a question of possible membership for the three Baltic states. As far as the NATO-Russia relationship is concerned, this is apparently the most important question of all at present. Belarus seems not to show much interest in NATO for the time being, and the Ukraine apparently sees its future rather in an independent position, guaranteed by treaty arrangements with both NATO and Russia.
The Baltic states, on the other hand, make it clear that -- not only geographically, but also through their history and culture -- they consider themselves to be part of the West and, therefore, have an eminent interest in joining NATO. We all know that they were independent states before the war and the Soviet Union annexed them by force on the basis of the criminal Ribbentrop-Molotov pact. I fail to understand why these three free countries should not be offered membership as soon as possible, especially as they are working hard to be ready for it. Yielding to some geopolitical or geostrategic interests of Russia, or perhaps merely to its concern for its prestige, would be the worst thing that the alliance could do in this respect. It would amount to returning to the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact; to confirming its legitimacy; to recognizing Russia's right to surround itself with a cordon sanitaire, or with a sphere of its interests euphemistically called "near abroad"; in short, to rededicating ourselves to the old principle of dividing the world and nations irregardless of their will....
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT CONSULTS ON PREMIER CANDIDATES WITH LAWMAKERS. Leonid Kuchma on 16 May discussed the appointment of a new prime minister with leaders of parliamentary groups, Interfax reported. Presidential administration chief Volodymyr Lytvyn told journalists that Kuchma mentioned Anatoliy Kinakh, head of the Ukrainian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, former Deputy Premier Serhiy Tyhypko, and Tax Administration chief Mykola Azarov as candidates to head the government. Meanwhile, the Democratic Union parliamentary caucus led by Oleksandr Volkov has proposed Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Viktor Medvedchuk, leader of the Social Democratic Party (United) as a candidate for the post. Green Party leader Vitaliy Kononov said Kuchma promised to name his nominee for prime minister on 17 May. JM
UKRAINIAN LAWMAKER SURPRISED AT INTERIOR MINISTER'S STATEMENT ON GONGADZE'S DEATH. Oleksandr Zhyr from the Reforms-Congress parliamentary group said on 16 May he is surprised it was Interior Minister Yuriy Smyrnov who made public the results of an investigation into the death of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 May 2001). Zhyr noted that the investigation is being conducted by the ProsecutorGeneral' s Office and the Security Service, not the Interior Ministry. Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz said "top leaders of the Interior Ministry have become so entangled in lies" in the Gongadze case that now they need to find some credible explanation for them. Smyrnov stated the previous day that Gongadze was killed for "purely criminal" reasons in a "spontaneous, impulsive" assault. Deputy Interior Minister Mykola Dzhyha provided more details by saying Gongadze was murdered by two drug-addicts who gave him a ride. But Gongadze's wife maintains her husband went missing on 16 September 2000 after leaving their apartment simply to put out the trash. JM
UKRAINIAN GOVERNMENT INCREASES 2001 ECONOMIC GROWTH FORECAST. Economy Minister Vasyl Rohovyy on 16 May said the dismissal of Premier Viktor Yushchenko's cabinet has so far not affected Ukraine's economy, Interfax reported. The State Statistics Committee reported that the country's GDP in January-April increased by 8.5 percent compared with the same period last year. Rohovyy said the government has increased its economic predictions for 2001 and now expects GDP to grow by 6.2 percent. The government announced previously that it expects the economy to grow 4 percent in 2001. JM
HUNGARY, SLOVENIA OPEN NEW RAIL LINK. Premier Orban and his Slovene counterpart Janez Drnovsek on 16 May inaugurated a newly constructed rail link between the two countries. Hungary and Slovenia had been the only two neighboring European countries without a direct rail link. The BudapestLjubljana railway will be part of the Fifth Pan-European corridor, which is to link Lviv in Ukraine to Venice in Italy. MSZ
The following is the final part of a three-part abridged version of the speech Czech President Vaclav Havel delivered on 11 May to the Bratislava summit of NATO candidate countries.
...The theme of borders of the individual entities and regional groupings has an immediate bearing on the allimportant question of where is the eastern end of the West, and thus the ultimate eastern border of NATO. In other words, it is a question of possible membership for the three Baltic states. As far as the NATO-Russia relationship is concerned, this is apparently the most important question of all at present. Belarus seems not to show much interest in NATO for the time being, and the Ukraine apparently sees its future rather in an independent position, guaranteed by treaty arrangements with both NATO and Russia.
The Baltic states, on the other hand, make it clear that -- not only geographically, but also through their history and culture -- they consider themselves to be part of the West and, therefore, have an eminent interest in joining NATO. We all know that they were independent states before the war and the Soviet Union annexed them by force on the basis of the criminal Ribbentrop-Molotov pact. I fail to understand why these three free countries should not be offered membership as soon as possible, especially as they are working hard to be ready for it. Yielding to some geopolitical or geostrategic interests of Russia, or perhaps merely to its concern for its prestige, would be the worst thing that the alliance could do in this respect. It would amount to returning to the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact; to confirming its legitimacy; to recognizing Russia's right to surround itself with a cordon sanitaire, or with a sphere of its interests euphemistically called "near abroad"; in short, to rededicating ourselves to the old principle of dividing the world and nations irregardless of their will....