“Diplomacy with a human heart”: Canada's governor general in ...

No. 20Tarnished internal...(Continued from page 1)Democracy in Kyiv, which is funded by itsclients. “It was a tactical move, intendingto force the issue to a head when the Partyof Regions didn’t have enough votes, andlet him off the hook.”Prime Minister Tymoshenko assuredMr. Lutsenko that she didn’t want him toresign, said Volodymyr Horbach, a politicalanalyst at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation in Kyiv, which isfinanced by Western sources, includingthe U.S. government. His resignationwould have been potentially ruinous forher Cabinet, which is already lackingboth the finance and foreign affairs ministers,he said. Meanwhile, she can’treplace any ministers because she doesn’thave a majority in Parliament to approveher nominations.At the same time, the Communist Partyof Ukraine wants to keep its vice ministerof internal affairs, Vasyl Marmazov, inplace, and Rada Chairman VolodymyrLytvyn doesn’t want to risk losing the chairmanshipshould the coalition collapse.Ukraine’s leading politicians said theydidn’t want to make any judgment on Mr.Lutsenko’s fate until German prosecutorshand over an official version of theevents. On May 14 Ukraine’s ForeignAffairs Ministry announced German prosecutorscouldn’t transfer any documentswithout Mr. Lutsenko’s consent.Subsequently, Mr. Lutsenko’s presssecretary Inna Kisil informed theUkrayinska Pravda news site that Mr.Lutsenko’s lawyers were reviewing thatoption, as well as obtaining video footageof the incident.Even without official reports of Mr.Lutsenko’s May 4 arrest at the internationalairport in Frankfurt, the incidentreached scandalous proportions just fromthe police reports published in Germannewspapers.Every major actor in Ukrainian politicstried turning the incident to his advantagein the ongoing political battles. A swornenemy of Ms. Tymoshenko, PresidentViktor Yushchenko on the evening ofMay 12 called for Mr. Lutsenko’s resignation.“People who work, above all, indefense of the law should be beyond suspicion,”the president told the 1+1 televisionnetwork, adding, “it seems to methere’s one way… there are circumstancesfrom which it’s necessary to walkaway, in any case, walk away morally.”When Parliament convened on May 12,it became clear the Party of Regions hadspent the three-day weekend of the VictoryDay holiday plotting its attack, turning thesession hall into a grand protest againstMr. Lutsenko, festooning the walls withposters declaring outrage. Among the messages:“Drunken policeman – criminal,”“Drunk minister – shame for the country”and “Ministry of Internal Affairs – not adetoxification center.”To ensure their cause got serious attentionfrom the government, the media andabroad, Party of Regions deputies blockadedthe podium and prevented the sessionfrom convening. They also placed avodka bottle, topped with a police officer’scap, upon the podium.Suddenly, the party that for years wassynonymous with corruption and immoralityhad once again turned the tables onits Orange opponents, demanding ethicson their part.“Yulia Tymoshenko’s attempts tosilence Lutsenko’s German scandal cantestify to her very flippant attitude towardmoral principles and foundations that aredear to Ukrainians,” the Party of Regionsdeclared in a May 12 statement.“In concealing her own estimation ofMinister Lutsenko’s actions, YuliaTymoshenko forces the consideration thatTHE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2009 17she is ready for any compromise with herown conscience when it comes to stayingin power (without the votes of Lutsenko’sSelf-Defense, Tymoshenko won’t havesupport in Parliament). Once again, thisdemonstrates the cynicism of the ‘maidan’team, its lack of principles and amorality,which is occurring in practically allspheres of the nation’s life.”The Party of Regions was eager topounce on the scandal because it offeredyet another opportunity to discredit theTymoshenko government in the eyes ofvoters, who will be casting their ballotsfor a president in several months, observerssaid.And, since the nation’s two largest partieshave been negotiating to create a possiblenew coalition government, the pressurefrom the scandal would also give theParty of Regions an advantage in thetalks.Mr. Lutsenko’s resignation could havealso led to the government’s collapse,which would play into the hands of theParty of Regions.After keeping silent for more than aweek, Ms. Tymoshenko came to Mr.Lutsenko’s defense during her weeklyCabinet press conference on May 13,attempting to shift the media’s focusaway from the minister’s arrest and stirringup empathy for his 19-year-old sonOleksander, who suffers from thyroidcancer.She dismissed the report by theGerman tabloid Bild that the youngerLutsenko was drunk. German police laterconfirmed all that Bild reported about theincident, except that OleksanderLutsenko’s blood-alcohol content wasthree-thousandths of 1 percent.“I can confirm that the minister’s sonis an oncologically sick child who had anoperation,” Ms. Tymoshenko said. “Thischild takes special medicine that isincompatible with using even a gram ofalcohol. And already this falsehood castsdoubt upon all the information.”Mr. Lutsenko was wrong to arrive latefor the flight and try to force his way onboard, but at the same time, “every fathershould defend his child, particularly oneso ill. And that they made a mountain outof a molehill is simply amoral,” Ms.Tymoshenko said.In his own brief and vague descriptionof the incident to the press on the morningof May 12, Mr. Lutsenko acknowledgedthat Lufthansa staff did not allowhim to board the plane because they suspectedhe was drunk, contradicting statementsthat he was denied entry simplybecause he was late, as insinuated by Ms.Tymoshenko and asserted by ministryofficials Serhii Kaliuk and Serhii Diatlov.In their initial public relations defenseas the scandal broke, Internal AffairsMinistry officials and Mr. Diatlov alsoclaimed no handcuffs were involved, yetMr. Lutsenko acknowledged that both heand his son were arrested.He also didn’t deny that a brawl erupted,injuring officers.“After a certain time the police werecalled, who without any explanation surroundedevery member of the delegationthat exited the plane toward me, and laterarrested my son,” Mr. Lutsenko explained.“At that point, one of the police officersgripped his recently-operated-upon neckfrom behind while another applied handcuffs.Of course I couldn’t be calm in thissituation. At first I loudly informed thepolice that my son was operated on recently.When that didn’t help, I tried in anyway to stop the violence against my son.After a while I was arrested as well.”The day after his press conference, Mr.Lutsenko called upon Parliament to forma temporary investigative commission todetermine the facts of the incident, addingthat he would give permission to theGerman courts to release information forsuch a commission.Ukraine's...(Continued from page 1)confirm a new election day and refrainingfrom endorsing January 17.“We will consider that the president bargainedfor several more months from theConstitutional Court,” Ms. Tymoshenkosaid at her weekly press briefing on May 13,adding, “The date established by theVerkhovna Rada in accordance with theUSCAK sends...(Continued from page 9)all share allows us to meet new people andexpand our network and become closerfriends.” In fact, several players have beentraveling to different countries for variousother attractions and happenings the lastseveral years as a result of meeting whileplaying soccer. Many of the players fromGreat Britain have come to Canada forToronto’s Malanka, New Jersey forUkrainian Week at Wildwood and NewYork to head to Soyuzivka. On the flip side,many North American players have traveledTurning the pages...(Continued from page 6)Other countries showed support ofUkraine’s political revolution by wavingorange flags, or wearing orange shoes. Thecontest’s theme for 2005, “Awakening,” wasalso a reference to the revolution.In a Eurovision first, a national president,in this case Viktor Yushchenko,appeared on stage to congratulate thewinner, Ms. Paparizou. “This is a specialprize from Ukraine with the hope thatyour song unites all of Europe,” Mr.Yushchenko said, as Ukrainians led aConstitution and effective legislation will bethe date of the election.”In fact, Judge Ivan Dombrovskyi saidParliament doesn’t have to abide by thepresident’s January 17 proposal.“This is a political-legal document, andthe Verkhovna Rada can use different argumentsto reach a decision,” he said. “Even ifit contradicts the Constitution but is notappealed in the Constitutional Court, then itwill be valid.”to Great Britain for several of their events aswell.A good number of these players have metand traveled together for international soccergames of Ukraine’s National Team. In fact itwas at the World Cup in Germany in 2006that Mr. Salawaga met other Ukrainian soccerplayers and the idea and motivation forthe first IUFT was born. It goes to show thatsoccer indeed is the biggest sport in theworld and can be spoken in any language,including Ukrainian.For more information on the InternationalUkrainian Football Tournament readers mayvisit www.iuft.net.chant of “Yu-shchen-ko.”Ukraine’s serious treatment of Eurovisionstood in contrast with the contest’s status inplaces such as Great Britain and France,where it is treated as more of a spectacle.Some of the performances appeared morelike parodies and acts than actual artists.Mr. Kalyn of Greenjolly commented,“Most of all, I am very happy for Ukrainethat it organized the competition and it tookplace in our country,”Source: “Kyiv hosts Eurovision finals,Greece’s entry wins song contest,” by ZenonZawada, The Ukrainian Weekly, May 29,2005.