With the kind permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, InfoUkes Inc. has been given rights to electronically re-print these articles on our web site. Visit the RFE/RL Ukrainian Service page for more information. Also visit the RFE/RL home page for news stories on other Eastern European and FSU countries.

Return to Main RFE News Page
InfoUkes Home Page

COMMUNIST LEADER WANTS MADELEINE ALBRIGHT BARRED FROM ENTERING UKRAINE. Petro Symonenko told journalists on 11 March that Madeleine Albright, U.S. secretary of state from 1997-2001, should be declared persona non grata in Ukraine, Interfax reported. "She is a threat to Ukraine," Symonenko said, referring to her article "How To Help Ukraine Vote," published in "The New York Times" on 8 March. "If the [2004 presidential] elections take place in the way we do not want them to, we will close all foreign accounts of natural and legal persons," Symonenko misquoted Albright as writing. "This is unprecedented impudence, and simply boorish behavior with regard to Ukraine." In fact, Albright wrote: "If, however, the elections are fraudulent, Ukraine's leaders should know that their entry into Western institutions will slow and that their own bank accounts and visa privileges will be jeopardized. The same should hold true if Mr. [President Leonid] Kuchma's faction manipulates the Constitution to its own advantage." JM

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CONCERNED OVER MEDIA FREEDOM IN UKRAINE. The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 11 March expressing concern about Ukraine's recent clampdown on media and specifically the recent court decision to shut down the opposition newspaper "Silski visti," the closure of the FM station "Kontynent," and a campaign against the independent Fifth Channel Television, UNIAN reported. The resolution also calls on Ukraine to ensure transparent and democratic presidential elections in October. The document has no binding impact on the policies of individual EU members. JM