International Association of Ukrainian Studies seeks reform in ...

20 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JULY 10, 2005No. 28NEWSBRIEFS(Continued from page 2)signed last week. The new contract,according to Mr. Ivchenko, will allowNaftohaz Ukrainy to save $754 million onTurkmen gas supplies in comparison withthe old contract. (RFE/RL Newsline)Poroshenko pessimistic on NATOKYIV – National Security andDefense Council Secretary PetroPoroshenko said in an interview withInterfax on June 29 that Ukraine mayhold a referendum on NATO membershipin the future, as the current Constitutiondoes not allow the country to belong toany military alliance. Mr. Poroshenkoadmitted that at present no more than 35percent of the population supports theidea of NATO membership. “Public opinionpolls indicate that if a referendum [onNATO membership] were held tomorrow,the majority of the population inUkraine would not support it,” he said.“As things stand in 2005, NATO membershipis not on the agenda.” Touchingupon the well-publicized reprivatizationof the Kryvorizhstal steel mill, Mr.Poroshenko said the government expectsto obtain no less than $2.4 billion for thecompany at a repeat auction, that is, threetimes as much as paid by Ukrainian oligarchsRynat Akhmetov and ViktorPinchuk in 2004. (RFE/RL Newsline)Summonses still issued via mediaKYIV – Internal Affairs Minister YuriiLutsenko said in an interview withInterfax on June 29 that his ministry isdoing the right thing in summoning formerand current officials for questioningthrough the media. “Frankly speaking, Isee no problems here,” Mr. Lutsenkosaid. “At first people thought that callingfor questioning was nearly tantamount toconviction. Today people have got usedto this practice and know, for example,that the police have asked [formerInternal Affairs Minister Mykola] Bilokinfor interrogation. Where should we senda notice to him if he has 12 dachas inUkraine as a minimum? Where should Isend a notice to [former Prime MinisterViktor] Yanukovych, who now can beseen more often in Moscow than Kyiv,even though he has a multitude of housesin Donetsk and Transcarpathia?[Therefore] we invite him through themedia.” (RFE/RL Newsline)Ukrainians, Poles seek reconciliationLVIV – More than 500 priests of thePolish Roman Catholic Church and theUkrainian Greek-Catholic Church participatedin a ceremonial liturgy in Lviv onJune 26, at which they appealed toUkrainians and Poles for mutual forgivenessand reconciliation, Polish Radioreported. The bishops of the two churchesmade a similar call in Warsaw a weekearlier. (RFE/RL Newsline)Pora wins its court caseKYIV – A Kyiv court on June 29ordered the Ukrainian Justice Ministry tobackdate the registration of the Pora studentmovement as a political party. In theoryat least, the decision allows Pora,which played a key role in last year’sOrange Revolution that brought PresidentViktor Yushchenko to power, to take partin the upcoming parliamentary elections.The Pecherskyi District Court ruled thatPora should be retroactively registered asa political party as of March 24. YuriyPoliukhovych, the leader of Pora’s Kyivbranch and a member of Ukraine’sPopular Party, hailed the court ruling.“This is a renewal of justice and peopleare beginning to believe that commonsense can prevail,” he said. “This rulingshows that the 10,000 signatures that Porahad collected to register as a party were afair decision.” The court decision puts anend to a two-month struggle betweenPora and the Justice Ministry. Pora hadbeen seeking registration since March 24,when it held its founding congress as apolitical party. Arguing that only onethirdof the signatures of support collectedby Pora activists could be authenticated,the Justice Ministry first refused toregister the student movement, but did soon June 1. The belated decision came toolate for Pora, which was effectivelybarred from taking part in the March2006 election. Pora leaders have blamedJustice Minister Roman Zvarych for thedelay and organized street protests todemand his resignation. Mr. Zvarycheventually voiced support for Poraagainst his own administration. (RadioFree Europe/Radio Liberty)Conflict reported over Ternopil churchTERNOPIL – Ivan Stoiko, chairmanof the Ternopil Oblast Administration,issued a decree to temporarily close theChurch of the Exaltation of the Cross inthe village of Zazdrist, Terebovlia district,until the conflict between the localcommunities of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC) and theUkrainian Orthodox Church – KyivPatriarchate (UOC-KP) is settled. Thisnews was posted by zik.com.ua on June24. The conflict between the UGCC andthe UOC-KP communities over thechurch building in Zazdrist, which is alsothe home village of the former head ofthe UGCC, Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, haslasted since the early 1990s. According toYurii Zarutskyi, press secretary to theoblast chairman, Mr. Stoiko suggestedthat the two communities take turnsusing the church. Mr. Stoiko assigned theTerebovlia district and village administrationsto prepare a schedule and get itapproved by the two communities. Theschedule was to be completed andapproved by July 1. (ReligiousInformation Service of Ukraine)Lutsenko supports religious educationPETRIVTSI, Ukraine – At a trainingseminar for the police forces of Ukraineheld in Petrivtsi, Kyiv region, on June 16,Yurii Lutsenko, Ukraine’s minister of internalaffairs, stated that spiritual education isan important factor in the preparation ofpolice officers. “Today I had a talk withOrthodox priests. And if in the past we usedto say that spiritual education won’t harmpolice officers, today we emphasize that theknowledge our trainees receive during thepastoral talks is absolutely necessary,”pointed out Mr. Lutsenko. “Today’s experienceproves that we do not have the right toprotect people without the blessing of God.That is why I am particularly pleased thatour officers have an opportunity to trainboth their bodies and souls,” he stressed.(Religious Information Service of Ukraine)Church most trusted institutionKYIV – The Church remains the mosttrusted institution in Ukraine. This wasrevealed in a survey conducted by theInstitute for Social and PoliticalPsychology at the Academy of Pedagogyof Ukraine on May 3-10. Interfaxreligion.ruposted the news on June 16.According to Mykola Sliurevskyi, directorof the institute, the survey covered 1,217respondents in 370 locations in Ukraine.Approximately 63.7 percent of respondentsstated that the Church was the most trustedinstitution. Last year this figure was 57.4percent. Among other institutions with apositive support ratio were the armedforces of Ukraine, the system of education,and the Cabinet of Ministers. (ReligiousInformation Service of Ukraine)