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IS UKRAINIAN CONSTITUTIONAL DISPUTE MOVING TOWARD COMPROMISE? Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said on April 17 in Cardiff that he might suspend his decree dissolving the Verkhovna Rada and scheduling early parliamentary elections for May 27 in order to enact a number of bills essential for organizing the elections, Interfax reported on April 18. "We may agree that I suspend the decree as regards the date for the elections. Then...we decide, for instance, that the decree should be suspended for 20 days. We pass amendments to the laws and hold three or four Verkhovna Rada sessions in these 20 days. Once we have built the legislative base, the decree should be resumed," Yushchenko said. His announcement was welcomed by lawmakers of the Party of Regions caucus Vasyl Kyseliov and the caucus's leader Raisa Bohatyriova. Kyseliov and Bohatyriova stressed that political forces should seek a compromise on the basis of the Constitutional Court's ruling. Kyseliov also said that the Verkhovna Rada is prepared to pass bills essential for organizing the early elections. AM

UKRAINIAN OPPOSITION LAWMAKERS GIVE UP PARLIAMENT SEATS. Andriy Shevchenko, a lawmaker from the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc in the Verkhovna Rada, said on April 18 that deputies of his faction have signed statements giving up their seats, Interfax reported. Shevchenko did not disclose how many of the caucus members have signed such statements, but said that the move is a signal of readiness to give the Ukrainian president an additional argument to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada. The presidium of the opposition Our Ukraine People's Union also adopted a decision ordering caucus's members to give up their seats. According to the Ukrainian legislation, the work of the Verkhovna Rada becomes illegitimate when 150 deputies vacate their seats. The Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine caucuses have 125 and 77 deputies, respectively. AM

UKRAINE, POLAND JOINT BID WINS CONTEST FOR HOLDING EUROPEAN SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIPS. Michel Platini, the president of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), announced on April 18 that the joint bid by Ukraine and Poland has won the contest for organizing "Euro 2012", the European championships in soccer in 2012, Ukrainian and Polish media reported. The matches will take place in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Lviv, and the Polish cities of Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan, and Wroclaw. "The 'Euro 2012' finals will make us better-known in the world and help our capabilities grow. I believe there will be more such victories for the sake of our common European success," Ukrainian President Yushchenko said. AM

"RFE/RL Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova Report" is compiled on the basis of a variety of sources.

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