Visiting USA, Ukrainian Opposition Leader Speaks on Home Politics, NATO Entry

Opposition leader Yuliya Tymoshenko has said that Ukraine will not be able to implement effective foreign policy without improving its constitution. Tymoshenko was speaking to journalists in the US national press club during her visit to the USA, the UNIAN news agency said in a report released at 1754 gmt on 2 March.

“Today there are actually two publicly elected governments working in Ukraine – parliament and the president,” Tymoshenko said. “Because of the drawbacks of the constitution, these two branches of power do not cooperate but rather compete. The rules for this competition have not been clearly established. As a consequence, it is not clear who is setting Ukraine’s foreign policy now – it is everyone and no-one,” UNIAN quoted Tymoshenko as saying.

The Interfax-Ukraine news agency said at 1848 gmt that Tymoshenko urged a serious information campaign regarding NATO and the prospects for joining this organization.

Tymoshenko said that President Viktor Yushchenko, as well as all Ukrainian cabinets under Yushchenko’s administration, were doing everything needed for the Euro-Atlantic integration, until president’s powers were significantly reduced as a result of political reform.

“It would be good to launch a serious, comprehensive information campaign in Ukraine regarding NATO, its functions and the consequences of joining this structure for Ukraine,” Tymoshenko said.

In another report released at 1902 gmt, Interfax-Ukraine quoted Tymoshenko as saying at the same news conference in the USA that Russia’s intention to invest into the development of infrastructure in Crimea is politically motivated.

Her statement came after Moscow mayor Yuriy Luzhkov said on 21 February in Simferopol that the government of Moscow and Russian commercial companies were ready to invest billions of dollars to develop the eastern bank of Crimea.

“We believe that this is a political investment, which objective is to destabilize the political situation in Ukraine,” Interfax- Ukraine quoted Tymoshenko as saying.

Sources:

UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1754 gmt 2 Mar 07;

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1848 gmt 2 Mar 07;

Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1902 gmt 2 Mar 07

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