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01-26-2008, 02:11 AM
Ukrainians protest NATO membership bid
KIEV, Ukraine, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Protesters took to the streets of Kiev Friday to voice their opposition to Ukraine joining NATO, news reports said.
The Russian information agency Novosti said about 1,000 marchers denounced NATO as "slavery for Slavs" and echoed calls by lawmakers for the government to take back the request for membership in the alliance.
Novosti said the protest appeared to reflect a tepid nationwide response to NATO membership. Ukraine's Democratic Initiatives foundation published a poll recently in which about half of Ukrainians surveyed opposed NATO membership and feared it could drag their country into unwanted military conflicts.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/01/25/ukrainians_protest_nato_membership_bid/7348/
Ukraine's opposition lawmakers protest NATO membership request
The Associated PressPublished: January 18, 2008
KIEV, Ukraine: Opposition lawmakers blocked the Ukrainian parliament's work on Friday, protesting the government's latest efforts to seek NATO membership for this ex-Soviet republic.
Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko traveled to Brussels on Friday and handed NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer a formal request for Ukraine to join NATO's Membership Action Plan — a crucial step on the road to joining the alliance.
NATO membership is a highly controversial issue in Ukraine, where opinion polls show that over half of the country opposes it. Pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko, however, has declared joining NATO a priority.
The statement, signed by Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Parliament Speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk asked that Ukraine's bid for the Membership Action Plan be considered at a NATO meeting in Romania in April.
While Yushchenko and Tymoshenko have pledged to let Ukrainians decide on NATO membership in a referendum, they said that their Friday request does not contradict the promise since it is not binding nor final.
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But the Russia-friendly opposition Party of Regions — the largest faction in the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada — said the move was inappropriate, and lawmakers angrily swarmed the parliament hall's main podium, halting the chamber's work.
"The powers-that-be ignored the people's will and made a decision on an issue that should be made only by the Ukrainian people following a public discussion," Olena Lukash, a senior member of Party of Regions, said in a statement.
Ukraine's NATO bid also faces strong opposition from Russia, which has been angered by NATO's eastward expansion and deployments close to its borders and argues that the alliance is a Cold War relic that should be replaced by other international security arrangements.
A survey of 2,012 Ukrainians taken in December by the Razumkov Center found that 58.9 percent opposed NATO membership, while 21 percent favored it. The rest of respondents were undecided.
The poll's margin of error was 2.3 percentage points.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/18/europe/EU-GEN-Ukraine-NATO.php
KIEV, Ukraine, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Protesters took to the streets of Kiev Friday to voice their opposition to Ukraine joining NATO, news reports said.
The Russian information agency Novosti said about 1,000 marchers denounced NATO as "slavery for Slavs" and echoed calls by lawmakers for the government to take back the request for membership in the alliance.
Novosti said the protest appeared to reflect a tepid nationwide response to NATO membership. Ukraine's Democratic Initiatives foundation published a poll recently in which about half of Ukrainians surveyed opposed NATO membership and feared it could drag their country into unwanted military conflicts.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/01/25/ukrainians_protest_nato_membership_bid/7348/
Ukraine's opposition lawmakers protest NATO membership request
The Associated PressPublished: January 18, 2008
KIEV, Ukraine: Opposition lawmakers blocked the Ukrainian parliament's work on Friday, protesting the government's latest efforts to seek NATO membership for this ex-Soviet republic.
Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko traveled to Brussels on Friday and handed NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer a formal request for Ukraine to join NATO's Membership Action Plan — a crucial step on the road to joining the alliance.
NATO membership is a highly controversial issue in Ukraine, where opinion polls show that over half of the country opposes it. Pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko, however, has declared joining NATO a priority.
The statement, signed by Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Parliament Speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk asked that Ukraine's bid for the Membership Action Plan be considered at a NATO meeting in Romania in April.
While Yushchenko and Tymoshenko have pledged to let Ukrainians decide on NATO membership in a referendum, they said that their Friday request does not contradict the promise since it is not binding nor final.
Today in Europe
Searching for a definition of Britishness: Fine, but 'no motto, please'Prodi out, Italian politicians gear up for a fight over election timingMerkel faces judgment on attempts to modernize party
But the Russia-friendly opposition Party of Regions — the largest faction in the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada — said the move was inappropriate, and lawmakers angrily swarmed the parliament hall's main podium, halting the chamber's work.
"The powers-that-be ignored the people's will and made a decision on an issue that should be made only by the Ukrainian people following a public discussion," Olena Lukash, a senior member of Party of Regions, said in a statement.
Ukraine's NATO bid also faces strong opposition from Russia, which has been angered by NATO's eastward expansion and deployments close to its borders and argues that the alliance is a Cold War relic that should be replaced by other international security arrangements.
A survey of 2,012 Ukrainians taken in December by the Razumkov Center found that 58.9 percent opposed NATO membership, while 21 percent favored it. The rest of respondents were undecided.
The poll's margin of error was 2.3 percentage points.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/18/europe/EU-GEN-Ukraine-NATO.php