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UKRAINIAN SPEAKER ACCUSES PRESIDENT OF DICTATORIAL DRIVE. Parliament speaker Oleksandr Moroz said at a meeting of the Council of the Socialist International in Geneva on July 2 that Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is trying to set up a dictatorship under the cover of his recent initiative to stage a constitutional referendum and introduce a two-chamber parliament (see "RFE/RL Newsline," June 28, 2007), Ukrainian news agencies reported. "This is a mask for dictatorial intentions, nothing more. This is a legal registration of dictatorship," Moroz reportedly said in Geneva about Yushchenko's constitutional-referendum idea. Moroz added that Yushchenko's "attempts to assume power even greater than that of [former President Leonid] Kuchma are becoming evident." Roman Zvarych, Yushchenko's representative in parliament, commented later the same day that Moroz's allegations regarding Yushchenko's are "election slogans." Meanwhile, the same day Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko echoed Moroz by alleging that Yushchenko wants to become a "nationalist dictator." "The course pursued by Mr. Yushchenko is a course for splitting Ukraine and creating a new, 'national and ethnic Ukraine' on the world map -- a country chaired by a nationalist dictator," Interfax-Ukraine quoted Symonenko as saying. JM
EU SAID TO BE UNSURE ABOUT UKRAINIAN ELECTIONS. Vitaliy Shybko, the head of Ukraine's permanent delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), told journalists in Kyiv on July 2 that EU politicians have doubts whether the early parliamentary elections in Ukraine scheduled for September 30 will indeed take place, Interfax-Ukraine reported. "To be honest, the European Union is at a loss," Shybko said. He added that, even though an agreement has been reached that European observers will come to Ukraine to monitor the September 30 elections, many still doubt whether these polls are legitimate. Shybko noted that some politicians speaking at a PACE session in June expressed fears that the preterm elections may constitute a "threat to the Ukrainian parliamentary system." JM
UKRAINE OFFERS TO HOST FORUM ON KOSOVA. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on July 2 offered to host "an international conference on frozen conflicts throughout the world, with Kosovo as one of its topics," the Serbian broadcaster B92 reported the same day. Yatsenyuk, who was visiting Belgrade, stressed that he anticipated that the gathering would provide an opportunity to "formulate positions" and would not be a venue for negotiations. His Serbian counterpart, Vuk Jeremic, called the initiative useful, but emphasized that "all conflicts that have a territorial and statehood dimension should be solved within the UN Security Council." Yatsenyuk also met with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who repeated his view that the UN Security Council would violate the UN Charter if it were to grant Kosova independence and, according to Radio-Television Serbia, claimed that Ukraine's and Serbia's positions on Kosova are "essentially in harmony." Yatsenyuk also visited Kosova, where Ukraine has nearly 200 soldiers serving in the international force, KFOR. Yatsenyuk's visit came shortly after a member of the Ukrainian contingent died in a road accident (see "RFE/RL Newsline," June 25, 2007). AG
UKRAINIAN SPEAKER ACCUSES PRESIDENT OF DICTATORIAL DRIVE. Parliament speaker Oleksandr Moroz said at a meeting of the Council of the Socialist International in Geneva on July 2 that Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is trying to set up a dictatorship under the cover of his recent initiative to stage a constitutional referendum and introduce a two-chamber parliament (see "RFE/RL Newsline," June 28, 2007), Ukrainian news agencies reported. "This is a mask for dictatorial intentions, nothing more. This is a legal registration of dictatorship," Moroz reportedly said in Geneva about Yushchenko's constitutional-referendum idea. Moroz added that Yushchenko's "attempts to assume power even greater than that of [former President Leonid] Kuchma are becoming evident." Roman Zvarych, Yushchenko's representative in parliament, commented later the same day that Moroz's allegations regarding Yushchenko's are "election slogans." Meanwhile, the same day Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko echoed Moroz by alleging that Yushchenko wants to become a "nationalist dictator." "The course pursued by Mr. Yushchenko is a course for splitting Ukraine and creating a new, 'national and ethnic Ukraine' on the world map -- a country chaired by a nationalist dictator," Interfax-Ukraine quoted Symonenko as saying. JM
EU SAID TO BE UNSURE ABOUT UKRAINIAN ELECTIONS. Vitaliy Shybko, the head of Ukraine's permanent delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), told journalists in Kyiv on July 2 that EU politicians have doubts whether the early parliamentary elections in Ukraine scheduled for September 30 will indeed take place, Interfax-Ukraine reported. "To be honest, the European Union is at a loss," Shybko said. He added that, even though an agreement has been reached that European observers will come to Ukraine to monitor the September 30 elections, many still doubt whether these polls are legitimate. Shybko noted that some politicians speaking at a PACE session in June expressed fears that the preterm elections may constitute a "threat to the Ukrainian parliamentary system." JM
UKRAINE OFFERS TO HOST FORUM ON KOSOVA. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk on July 2 offered to host "an international conference on frozen conflicts throughout the world, with Kosovo as one of its topics," the Serbian broadcaster B92 reported the same day. Yatsenyuk, who was visiting Belgrade, stressed that he anticipated that the gathering would provide an opportunity to "formulate positions" and would not be a venue for negotiations. His Serbian counterpart, Vuk Jeremic, called the initiative useful, but emphasized that "all conflicts that have a territorial and statehood dimension should be solved within the UN Security Council." Yatsenyuk also met with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who repeated his view that the UN Security Council would violate the UN Charter if it were to grant Kosova independence and, according to Radio-Television Serbia, claimed that Ukraine's and Serbia's positions on Kosova are "essentially in harmony." Yatsenyuk also visited Kosova, where Ukraine has nearly 200 soldiers serving in the international force, KFOR. Yatsenyuk's visit came shortly after a member of the Ukrainian contingent died in a road accident (see "RFE/RL Newsline," June 25, 2007). AG