Russia and the Ukraine
... Excerpts
Ukraine: Act II
By Zhao Jinglun
March 01, 2014 "Information Clearing House - "China.org" - Act I of the proxy war in Ukraine ended in favor of the West - the United States and the EU, as their minions are in power for now. But Russia is far from down and out. It has deep political, economic, social, cultural and military ties with the former Soviet republic. Russia is the only country that put a US$15 billion aid plan on the table when Ukraine was on the brink of bankruptcy.
Now, act II is unfolding.
Russia is questioning the legitimacy of the new government. It came to power by means of a classical coup, not through democratic elections. Under the constitution, the president may resign or be impeached, but only after the case is reviewed by the Constitutional Court and then voted in by a three-quarter majority of the Parliament.
There was an extraordinary session of Parliament, which was held after most members were told there would be no session and many had left. And then, under the chairmanship of the radical party Svoboda, this rump parliament declared that the president had resigned.
Yanukovych has declared he is still the legitimate president. He was elected by winning 48.95 percent of the ballot to Tymosheko's 45 percent in a democratic election, called free and fair by international observers. So Western officials and media have launched a campaign to minimize the role of Svoboda and demonize the less than perfect Yanukovych, an antediluvian tactic.
But the neo-Nazi Svoboda and Right Sector, though in the minority, were instrumental in accomplishing the coup. They paved the way for the center-right to take over. And the latter immediately moved to further right. They introduced a resolution to outlaw the Communist Party, which is effectively the only remaining opposition party in Parliament. The consolidation of the power of the speaker of the Parliament and the acting president in a single individual, Olexander Turchynnov, gave him greater power than is allowed under the Ukrainian constitution, and he promptly called for the arrest of Yanukovych.
Now the Parliament rules without any representation from the majority party, since most of the deputies from the east and south of the country are afraid to set foot in Parliament. And all across the country, headquarters of parties are being sacked by their opponents. There are serious doubts whether the elections scheduled for May 25 will be fair and free.
As the new "government grapples with imminent economic collapse and separatism," the United States and Britain are trying to ease tensions over Ukraine, claiming it should not be a battleground between the East and West. British Foreign Secretary William Hague declared "We want to send our strong support for the territorial integrity and unity of Ukraine." What they really want is to consolidate what they have gained. The United States and the EU want the International Monetary Fund to help Ukraine avoid economic collapse, and try to set up a donors' conference for European countries to raise funding for Ukraine.
Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev said interim authorities in Kiev had conducted an "armed mutiny." The Russian Foreign Ministry accused interim leaders of passing laws aimed at infringing the humanitarian rights of Russians and other ethnic groups. Russia has recalled its ambassador to Ukraine for consultation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the EU and United States not to try to shape Ukraine's future.
With deep ties to Ukraine, Russia can afford to wait and see what will happen next. According to the BBC, Professor Andrei Zagorski, a political analyst at Moscow's Institute of World Economy and International relations, is examining the Kremlin's policy options in the current crisis. Moscow's primary focus could be to support the emergence of new political leaders with nationwide appeal who could replace Yanukovych's demoralized Party of Regions, particularly in eastern Ukraine. They could then challenge the interim authorities.
In a report by the Guardian, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered an immediate test of combat readiness of troops in central and eastern Russia in a move that will dramatically elevate fears of a separatist threat in Ukraine.
Russian Defense Minister Shoigu said that has nothing to do with the situation in Ukraine.
Let us watch what happens in Act III.
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Executive Intelligence Review.
This statement appears in the February 28, 2014 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.
United States and EU, with Ukrainian Terrorists, Establish Nazi Regime
by Natalia Vitrenkop
Feb. 24, 2014 (EIRNS)—Below is a statement made yesterday by Natalia Vitrenko, Chairman of the Ukrainian PSPU. In addition. today, Vitrenko keynoted a webcast, broadcast on the site of the Paris-based Solidarity and Progress (S&P) organization. A transcript of her remarks on that webcast is available.
[PDF version of this statement]
Statement by Natalia Vitrenko
The entire world is disturbed by the events in Ukraine. The heart of the matter must be understood. The Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, as a left opposition party that has fought and continues to fight against the domestic and foreign policy conducted both by the Orange forces under Yushchenko and by the alliance of the Party of Regions and the Communist Party of Ukraine, under Yanukovych, finds it necessary to present our evaluation.
On February 22, under the automatic-weapons barrels of the Euromaidan guerrillas and terrorists, the Parliament carried out a neo-Nazi coup d'etat.
Flouting all the provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine and of international law, and trampling on European values, the Parliament exceeded its authority and committed acts that are subject to criminal punishment. Washington and Brussels, who have been telling all the world that the Euromaidan is a peaceful action by the Ukrainian people, who have made their choice for Europe and are defending democracy and European values, must admit that none of this is the case. They have supported a Nazi putsch, carried out by the guerrillas, terrorists, and politicians of the Euromaidan in the geopolitical interests of the West.
There are indisputable proofs that this is the case:
1) changing the state system in an unconstitutional manner. This violates the European principle of the rule of law. In violation of Section XIII of the Constitution of Ukraine (which describes in detail the procedure for changing the Constitution) and without any participation by the Constitutional Court, the state system of our country has been changed by a Resolution of the Supreme Rada of Ukraine;
2) exceeding its authority and flouting Article 19 of the Constitution, the Parliament has appointed supervisors for
- the Ministry of Internal Affairs,
- the Security Service of Ukraine,
- the Prosecutor General's office.
These supervisors have been appointed for the purpose of the Euromaidan's coercing the Constitutional institutions of the state, in order to satisfy the interests of the West in an unconstitutional manner;
3) President of Ukraine Yanukovych (whose policies our party has openly opposed for his entire four years in office) has been stripped of his Constitutional authority, in gross violation of the Constitution of Ukraine. The Constitution does not endow the Supreme Rada of Ukraine with the right to strip the President of his authority on the invented pretext of his having removed himself from office. The Constitution prescribes a procedure for impeachment. Again, however, guided not by the rule of law but by revolutionary expediency, and flouting the European principle of the presumption of innocence, Yanukovych has been removed from office and new Presidential elections scheduled, in violation of the Constitution of Ukraine;
4) the Parliament, protecting the Euromaidan guerrillas and terrorists, has amnestied and declared to be heroes all of its participants, initiating a process of giving them high positions in the government. This means that those who took up arms and killed innocent citizens and members of law enforcement who were guilty of no crime, those who seized and destroyed administrative buildings and weapons depots, and those who organized summary justice and committed blackmail and kidnapping, will escape any responsibility for their actions. Thus, the basis for the formation of a neo-Nazi, repressive state machine is being created.
Washington and Brussels should heed our warnings. We charge them, and the political forces they have brought to power, with full responsibility for the establishment of a totalitarian, Nazi regime in Ukraine, with the inevitable gross violation of the rights and freedoms of millions of our fellow citizens.
The U.S.A. and the EU should know, that the political parties and movements that have seized power, among which are neo-Nazi forces (such as Svoboda and Right Sector), announced as they did so, that they were carrying out a national revolution under the slogans
- "Ukraine for Ukrainians,"
- "Glory to the Nation — Death to the Enemies!",
- "Knife the Muscovites and Hang the Communists!", and so forth.
As of February 22, those now in power bear complete responsibility for all Ukraine and for violations of the rights and freedoms of citizens.
The Euromaidan guerrillas and terrorists continue to seize administrative and government buildings in southeast Ukraine. Voters are being stripped by terrorist methods of the right to have the representatives they elected function in local councils. Civilians attempting to defend their elected officials are being mercilessly shot from Kalashnikovs as well as non-lethal weapons, as happened February 22 in Luhansk.
The guerrillas, without possessing any government authority and in the absence of a state of emergency, have arrogated to themselves to block major highways with axes and cudgels, to run checkpoints, and to inspect vehicles and the documents of their passengers, barring those they disapprove of from leaving Kiev. They are blockading the access roads to airports, thereby grossly violating the European Convention on Human Rights and Basic Freedoms, which guarantees the inviolability of the individual, freedom of movement, the presumption of innocence, and the right to security and life. They are abasing the dignity and rights of the entire people of Ukraine.
On February 23, representatives of those now in power announced the formation of a Ukrainian ethnic community: everyone who uses the Russian language is to be stripped of the status of member of the titular Ukrainian ethnic community and subject to discrimination in civil and political rights.
The intention to ban the transmission of Russian Federation television channels in Ukraine, as being mouthpieces of a hostile state, has been announced. This is how the new authorities are defending European values like freedom of speech and opinion.
Lists for "lustration" [the disclosure of personal information] have begun to be drawn up. This mechanism will be used to strip the civil and political rights of those who do not share the neo-Nazi views of the new Ukrainian authorities.
Sickening vigilante justice continues throughout the country. Deputies of the Supreme Rada of Ukraine who are disapproved of are beaten (including hit with stones), and there is mass intimidation of elected local council members that their families will be destroyed (especially their children) if they fail to carry out the political aims of those now in power. The offices of political parties that are disapproved of are being burned on a mass scale, while political parties and public organizations that do not share the ideology and goals of the new Ukrainian authorities are receiving public threats of persecution and banning.
A Euromaidan guerrilla takeover of the Kiev-Pechora Monastery, an Orthodox holy place, and its transfer to the schismatic Filaret [Ukrainian Orthodox Church/Kiev Patriarchate], has begun. This would proceed to the seizure of all Ukrainian Orthodox Church/Moscow Patriarchate churches, with the goal of subordinating them to the Vatican.
On behalf of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, I declare:
We do not recognize as legal the coup d'etat that has been carried out, and we do not recognize as lawful the activity of the new Ukrainian authorities. We condemn their total violation of the rights and freedoms of the citizens of Ukraine on the basis of ethnic, cultural, religious, or political factors.
We appeal to the European Parliament and the UN Security Council, demanding immediate intervention in what is transpiring in Ukraine, to defend the rights and freedoms of citizens, and to prevent the new Ukrainian authorities from unleashing a Third World War on the Eurasian continent.
—Natalia Vitrenko
—Chairman of the PSPU
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