RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 129, 00-07-07

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RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 129, 7 July 2000

CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRMEN ON NEW KARABAKH MEDIATION MISSION

[02] VOTE FOR KARABAKH PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN TRIGGERS OPPOSITION

[03] AZERBAIJAN ADOPTS ELECTION LAW

[04] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT VISITS AUSTRIA

[05] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT SAYS SITUATION 'UNDER CONTROL'

[06] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL VISITS CENTRAL ASIA

[07] KAZAKH OIL FIND MAY ACCELERATE PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION

[08] KYRGYZSTAN, UZBEKISTAN DISCUSS BORDERS, AGREE ON VISAS

[09] TAJIKISTAN HOSTS 'SHANGHAI FIVE' SUMMIT

[10] CHINESE PRESIDENT VISITS TAJIKISTAN...

[11] ...AND TURKMENISTAN

[12] UZBEKISTAN DENIES JAILED POET MISTREATED

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[13] MILOSEVIC SEEKS EIGHT MORE YEARS IN OFFICE

[14] WHAT LIES BEHIND MILOSEVIC'S AMENDMENTS?

[15] SERBIAN OPPOSITION ANGERED AT CHANGES TO YUGOSLAV

[16] MONTENEGRIN PARLIAMENT TO MEET IN EMERGENCY SESSION

[17] U.S. SLAMS YUGOSLAV CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

[18] THACI 'SUSPENDS' WORK WITH UN ADMINISTRATION IN KOSOVA...

[19] ...BUT RUGOVA STAYS ON BOARD

[20] TENSIONS EASED IN SHTERPCE

[21] ARE FORMER YUGOSLAV WAR CRIMINALS MAKING A PROFIT IN THE

[22] ROMANIA IN ELECTIONEERING FEVER

[23] MOLDOVA TO BECOME PARLIAMENTARY REPUBLIC...

[24] ...DESPITE PRESIDENTIAL LAMENTS

[25] BULGARIA EASES REGULATIONS ON REAL ESTATE PURCHASES BY

[C] END NOTE

[26] THE MYTH OF RUSSOPHONE UNITY IN UKRAINE

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

[01] MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRMEN ON NEW KARABAKH MEDIATION MISSION

Group met in Baku on 2-3 July with Azerbaijan's President

Heidar Aliev and Foreign Minister Vilayet Guliev, both of

whom termed the group's efforts to mediate a solution to the

Karabakh conflict inadequate, ITAR-TASS and Turan reported.

On 3 July, the co-chairmen traveled to Stepanakert, where

they discussed the ongoing cease-fire and measures to

expedite regional economic development with Arkadii

Ghukasian, president of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh

Republic, and the enclave's foreign minister, Naira

Melkumian. The co-chairmen then met with Armenian leaders in

Yerevan on 5 July. French co-chairman Jean-Jacques Gailard

told journalists in Yerevan the previous day that a new peace

plan is currently being drafted, but he did not divulge

details, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. LF

[02] VOTE FOR KARABAKH PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN TRIGGERS OPPOSITION

The nine opposition Armenian Revolutionary

Federation--Dashnaktsutiun (HHD) deputies to the newly-

elected parliament of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh

Republic boycotted the vote for a new parliament speaker on 5

July to protest the failure to guarantee the secrecy of that

ballot, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The 13 deputies

from the Democratic Artsakh Union (ZhAM), which supports

President Ghukasian, and seven of the nine independent

deputies nonetheless supported Oleg Yesayan's re-election as

speaker The ZhAM and the HHD are also at odds over the number

of parliamentary committees the latter will chair. LF

[03] AZERBAIJAN ADOPTS ELECTION LAW

adopted the controversial law on elections in the second

reading on 4 July and in the third and final reading the

following day, Turan reported (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report,"

Vol. 3, No. 26, 30 June 2000). During the second reading, the

pro-presidential majority rejected President Aliev's

proposals, based on consultations with the OSCE's Office for

Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, to change from

100:25 to 75:50 the ratio of deputies elected under the

majoritarian and proportional systems, respectively, and to

reduce from 12 to six months the period between the official

registration of a political party and its eligibility to

participate in elections. Opposition parties criticized the

law as undemocratic and anti-constitutional and are

considering a boycott of the poll. The Azerbaijan National

Independence Party has recalled its representatives on the

Central Electoral Commission in protest. LF

[04] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT VISITS AUSTRIA

talks in Vienna on 3-5 July with Austrian President Thomas

Klestil and with Austrian Foreign Minister and OSCE

chairwoman-in-office Benita Ferrero-Waldner, ITAR-TASS and

Turan reported. Aliev termed his talks with Ferrero-Waldner

"productive," although he said she is not adequately informed

about the Karabakh conflict, according to Turan. Aliev was

also scheduled to hold meetings with OSCE and International

Atomic Energy Agency officials. LF

[05] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT SAYS SITUATION 'UNDER CONTROL'

traditional weekly radio address on 3 July, Eduard

Shevardnadze conceded that unnamed forces are intent on

trying to destabilize the internal political situation, but

he affirmed that the Georgian leadership is fully aware of

those attempts and has the situation under control, Caucasus

Press reported. He vowed that the toughest possible measures

will be taken against "enemies of the Georgian state."

Shevardnadze also announced that the celebrations of 3000

years of Georgia's statehood, which were to have been held

later this year, have been postponed for financial reasons.

LF

[06] NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL VISITS CENTRAL ASIA

held talks in Astana on 3-4 July with Kazakhstan's President

Nursultan Nazarbaev and Defense Minister Sat Tokpakbaev. He

told journalists on 4 July after those talks that the Central

Asian states' diplomatic ties to Russia should be balanced by

cooperation with the West, adding that the end of the Cold

War means that they no longer have to choose between those

two alternatives, Reuters reported. He noted that NATO and

Kazakhstan have common concerns, including terrorism and drug

trafficking. And he commented that Nazarbaev agreed on the

need for closer cooperation with NATO, RFE/RL's Astana bureau

reported. On 5-6 July Robertson met in Tashkent with Prime

Minister Utkir Sultanov and Defense Minister Yurii Akzamov to

discuss expanding Uzbekistan's participation in NATO's

Partnership for Peace program, according to dpa. On 6 July,

Robertson met in Bishkek with Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev,

Reuters reported. He again called on the Central Asian states

to "work together to make the region a secure place." LF

[07] KAZAKH OIL FIND MAY ACCELERATE PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION

the Kashagan oil field being developed by the Offshore

Kazakhstan International Operating Company (OKIOC) contains

huge quantities of good quality oil, Reuters reported.

Kazakhoil President Nurlan Balghymbaev had earlier estimated

the Kashagan reserves at over seven billion tons. Anatolii

Shatalov, deputy director of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium,

said on 5 July that the estimates of reserves at Kashagan may

impel the consortium to accelerate completion of that

pipeline, which is currently intended to go into operation in

November 2001, ITAR-TASS reported. LF

[08] KYRGYZSTAN, UZBEKISTAN DISCUSS BORDERS, AGREE ON VISAS

Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and his visiting Kyrgyz

counterpart, Muratbek Imanaliev, signed an agreement in

Tashkent on 4 July under which citizens of each country will

require a visa to visit the other, Reuters and RFE/RL's

Bishkek bureau reported. Residents of regions adjoining the

common border will, however, be exempt from that requirement,

which Kamilov said may be "only temporary." The two ministers

also discussed the formal delimitation of their 1,300-

kilometer border, along which 140 locations are disputed. LF

[09] TAJIKISTAN HOSTS 'SHANGHAI FIVE' SUMMIT

on 5 July, the presidents of Russian, China, Kazakhstan,

Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan signed a joint statement pledging

to cooperate in fighting terrorism, religious extremism, and

drug-trafficking and agreed to establish a joint anti-

terrorism center in Bishkek, Reuters and dpa reported. The

statement also repeated the commitment, added to last year's

summit declaration, to refrain from intervention in one

another's domestic political affairs (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"

26 August 1999). Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov, who

for the first time attended the summit as an observer,

expressed satisfaction that the "Shanghai Five" group,

originally set up in 1996 to address border issues, has

expanded its focus to play an increasing role in promoting

regional security, ITAR-TASS reported. LF

[10] CHINESE PRESIDENT VISITS TAJIKISTAN...

President Imomali Rakhmonov held talks in Dushanbe on 3-4

July, focusing on bilateral cooperation, demarcating their

common border, and regional security, Asia Plus-Blitz

reported. The two presidents expressed satisfaction at the

continued increase in economic cooperation and bilateral

trade and signed a joint declaration on the further

development of good-neighborly relations and a protocol .

Rakhmonov stressed his support for the People's Republic of

China vis-a-vis Taiwan and noted that the Chinese and Tajik

positions on the need for a peaceful solution to the Afghan

conflict coincide. LF

[11] ...AND TURKMENISTAN

discussed political and economic cooperation with his Turkmen

counterpart, Saparmurat Niyazov, ITAR-TASS reported. The two

leaders signed an agreement under which Beijing will lend

Turkmenistan 100 million yuan ($55 million) and discussed the

possibility of building a 5,700 kilometer gas export pipeline

from Turkmenistan via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to western

China. Niyazov told journalists on 6 July that beginning in

2001, Turkmenistan will export 700,000 tons of liquefied gas

annually by rail to China. Jiang reportedly declined to

accept an honorary philosophy degree from the Turkmen State

University but did accept the gift of a thoroughbred Akhal-

tekke horse. LF

[12] UZBEKISTAN DENIES JAILED POET MISTREATED

issued in Tashkent on 4 July, the Uzbek Interior Ministry

rejected a Human Rights Watch report released last month

claiming that Mamadali Makhmudov's health has deteriorated as

a result of being tortured in jail, Reuters reported (see

"RFE/RL Newsline," 23 June 2000). The ministry said that

Makhmudov's health is satisfactory and that he has not

requested medical treatment. LF

[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

[13] MILOSEVIC SEEKS EIGHT MORE YEARS IN OFFICE

deputies from parties loyal to Yugoslav President Slobodan

Milosevic approved on 6 July three amendments to the federal

constitution aimed at strengthening his power. The first

amendment states that the president will be elected directly-

-instead of by the parliament, as is now the case--for up to

two terms of four years each. The second amendment specifies

that members of the upper house will be elected directly by

popular vote, instead of being elected in equal numbers by

the Serbian and Montenegrin parliaments, as current

legislation states. This will greatly reduce the influence of

Montenegro, whose population is approximately only one-tenth

of Serbia's. The third amendment allows the parliament to

appoint or sack individual ministers. At present, the cabinet

must be approved or dismissed as a body. This amendment will

enable Milosevic to intimidate or remove any minister who has

become politically inconvenient. PM

[14] WHAT LIES BEHIND MILOSEVIC'S AMENDMENTS?

and vote on the amendments came as a surprise to the

opposition, since they had been announced by Milosevic's

supporters only the previous day. His supporters say the

moves are aimed at strengthening democracy. The amendments

will enable Milosevic to seek two more terms in office--his

current mandate runs out in 2001--and give him more leverage

in dealing with his rivals in Montenegro and in the federal

government. By strengthening his own position and reducing

the role of Montenegro, Milosevic is placing pressure on the

government of Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic either to

resist him or proceed with plans for a referendum on

independence. Djukanovic knows, however, that his supporters

in the international community do not want him to declare

independence. The result could be that Djukanovic is forced

into a politically untenable position. Some observers

suggest, moreover, that Milosevic is anxious to remain in

office so as to reduce the likelihood of his being sent to

The Hague, where the international criminal tribunal has

indicted him for war crimes. PM

[15] SERBIAN OPPOSITION ANGERED AT CHANGES TO YUGOSLAV

Several leading opposition politicians said in

Belgrade on 6 July that the amendments are in keeping with

what they called Milosevic's long-standing desire to hold on

to power, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Vladeta

Jankovic of the Democratic Party of Serbia told London's "The

Daily Telegraph" that "it is shameful that the constitution

is being changed for the sake of just one man." The Serbian

Renewal Movement's leader Vuk Draskovic said in Pirot that

the opposition must boycott the legislative and local

elections widely expected in the fall so as not to give them

legitimacy, the "Neue Zuercher Zeitung" reported. Observers

note that public opinion polls give Milosevic between 25

percent and 33 percent of the popular vote, were elections to

be held, with Draskovic trailing well behind him. Each of the

other opposition leaders would receive far fewer votes than

Draskovic, the polls suggest. PM

[16] MONTENEGRIN PARLIAMENT TO MEET IN EMERGENCY SESSION

Montenegrin legislature will hold an emergency session in the

evening of 7 July to discuss how to respond to the passage of

the amendments, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service. The

Montenegrin government withdrew its recognition of the

federal government after pro-Milosevic Montenegrin leader

Momir Bulatovic became federal prime minister in 1998.

Speaking in Podgorica on 6 July, Djukanovic called the

passage of the amendments "illegal." He added that

Milosevic's move "calls into question the future of the

constitutional system," arguing that Montenegro will find

unspecified "mechanisms" to defend its position. The

Montenegrin parliament's Deputy Vice President Predrag

Popovic said that Montenegrins who voted for the amendments

are "traitors." In Belgrade, the Democratic Party's leader

Zoran Djindjic argued that the passage of the amendments is

tantamount to the "end of the federation" between Serbia and

Montenegro, "Vesti" reported. Miodrag Vukovic, who is an

adviser to Djukanovic, told AP in Podgorica that the federal

parliament has destroyed the federation. He added that

Montenegro "is now forced into making [unspecified]

inevitable moves." PM

[17] U.S. SLAMS YUGOSLAV CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington on 6

July that "there appears to be a grotesque effort under way

by Milosevic to stifle prospects for a democratic, peaceful

change in Yugoslavia.... He is changing the rules because he

cannot win fairly now. He is stripping away legal formalities

behind which he's hidden. And the choice, we think, for the

people of Serbia and for his coalition is stark: It's either

him or democracy in Serbia," an RFE/RL correspondent

reported. PM

[18] THACI 'SUSPENDS' WORK WITH UN ADMINISTRATION IN KOSOVA...

Liberation Army and is now a prominent Kosovar Albanian

politician, said in Prishtina on 4 July that he is

"temporarily suspending" cooperation with the UN's civilian

advisory council, led by Bernard Kouchner. He said his move

is in protest at Kouchner's recent compromise with moderate

Kosovar Serb leaders, which prompted the Serbs to end their

boycott of the advisory council (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3

July 2000). Thaci argued that Kouchner's compromise "opens

the door" to the partition of Kosova into ethnically-based

cantons. He added that he is impatient with what he called

Kouchner's failure to end the de facto partition of

Mitrovica, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported on 6

July. In Tirana, the Albanian government said in a statement

that it also fears that Kouchner's compromise could lead to

the "cantonization" of Kosova. PM

[19] ...BUT RUGOVA STAYS ON BOARD

Democratic League of Kosova (LDK), which is led by Thaci's

arch-rival Ibrahim Rugova, said in a statement that it will

continue to work with Kouchner's council. The LDK also called

for the protection of Kosova's ethnic minorities, RFE/RL's

South Slavic Service reported. The moderate Serbian National

Council said in a statement that Thaci's move is an "attempt

to put pressure" on Kouchner's civilian administration,

"Vesti" reported on 6 July. Kouchner told his advisory

council that he has always taken the side of those who suffer

and that it is Kosova's Serbs who are currently suffering,

"Vesti" reported on 7 July. PM

[20] TENSIONS EASED IN SHTERPCE

freed from prison a Serb from Shterpce who was suspected of

taking part in the recent destruction of the UN office there

(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 June 2000). In Shterpce, KFOR

agreed to provide escorts for convoys into Serbia following

an agreement with moderate Serb leaders, RFE/RL's South

Slavic Service reported. PM

[21] ARE FORMER YUGOSLAV WAR CRIMINALS MAKING A PROFIT IN THE

The Hague-based tribunal is investigating persistent

but unconfirmed press reports in the former Yugoslavia and

elsewhere that attorneys for indicted war criminals pay their

clients kick-backs. The lawyers are allegedly hired by some

clients on the condition that they pay those clients some 20

percent to 40 percent of their attorney's fees, London's "The

Independent" reported on 7 July. Such salaries range up to

$110 per hour and are paid out of the tribunal's budget. PM

[22] ROMANIA IN ELECTIONEERING FEVER

Isarescu does not intend to join any political party and

believes his "political neutrality" could be advantageous

if he heads the next coalition, government sources cited by

Mediafax said on 3 July. Also on 3 July, the Union of

Rightist Forces endorsed the National Peasant Party

Christian Democratic proposal to back President Emil

Constantinescu for another term in office and Isarescu as

premier. But divisions have emerged in the National Liberal

Party (PNL). PNL Deputy Chairman Dinu Patriciu said a PNL-

Alliance for Romania electoral alliance was " just a

personal viewpoint" of PNL First Deputy Chairman Valeriu

Stoica and that "common sense" calls for endorsing a

Constantinescu-Isarescu ticket. Ion Iliescu, leader of the

opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR),

said on 5 July PDSR First Deputy Chairman Adrian Nastase is

the party's candidate for the premiership. MS

[23] MOLDOVA TO BECOME PARLIAMENTARY REPUBLIC...

to five, Moldova's 101-members of parliament have approved

an amendment to the constitution transforming the country

into a parliamentary republic, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau

reported on 5 July. In an earlier reading of the bill,

which took place on the same day, only four votes were cast

against. The next president is to be elected by the

legislature, instead of by popular vote. The parliament

also voted to increase the government's prerogatives and

enable it to rule by issuing decrees that have the power of

law. Deputy Sergiu Burca of the Christian Democratic

Popular Party, who submitted the bill, said the legislation

was a response to President Petru Lucinschi's attempts to

"usurp power" by transforming Moldova into a full-fledged

presidential republic. MS

[24] ...DESPITE PRESIDENTIAL LAMENTS

the amendment is likely to plunge the country into chaos

and could hamper efforts to settle the Transdniester

conflict, but he added that he will not exercise his veto

right. Such an attempt could in any case have been

overridden by a two-thirds majority in the legislature.

Lucinschi said, however, that he may call a referendum

asking citizens if they want the country to become a

parliamentary republic. MS

[25] BULGARIA EASES REGULATIONS ON REAL ESTATE PURCHASES BY

The parliament on 6 July eased regulations for

the purchase of real estate by foreigners, BTA reported. The

legislature abolished the provision whereby foreigners were

required to obtain permission from the Finance Ministry to

purchase real estate. The move is aimed at attracting more

foreign investment. Also on 6 July, the government decided to

abolish custom duties on some 480 food products from the EU

countries in an effort to conform with EU regulations.

Bulgaria and the EU also agreed on duty-free imports of large

quantities of pork, poultry, lamb. sausages, tomatoes,

cheese, and other products, AP reported. MS

[C] END NOTE

[26] THE MYTH OF RUSSOPHONE UNITY IN UKRAINE

In the second round of Ukraine's July 1994 presidential

elections, the incumbent, Leonid Kravchuk, won the majority

of votes west of the River Dnipro and his main challenger,

Leonid Kuchma, the majority east of that river. The larger

urban and industrial centers of eastern Ukraine gave Kuchma a

modest lead over Kravchuk. Since those elections, the

prevailing view among many scholars and policymakers in the

West has been that Ukraine is clearly divided into two

linguistic halves: "nationalist, pro-European, and

Ukrainophone" western Ukraine and "Russophile, pro-Eurasian

and Russophone" eastern Ukraine.

Unfortunately, this framework for understanding post-

Soviet Ukraine has failed when it has been applied to the

Kuchma. When elected in 1994, Kuchma was an eastern Ukrainian

Russophone, and it was predicted that he would return Ukraine

to Eurasia. Instead, Ukrainian foreign policy has remained

consistent throughout the 1990s, regardless of the language

spoken by the president or his support base. The Ukrainian

Ministry of Foreign Affairs defined this policy in 1996 as

"Integration into Europe, Cooperation with the CIS," which

continues to rule out Ukraine's participation in the military

and political structures of the CIS.

Under Kuchma, Ukrainian foreign policy has shifted

westward more decisively, especially with regard to NATO.

Ukraine has also been instrumental in preventing Russian

regional hegemony through its membership in the pro-Western

GUUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Moldova)

regional group, which in effect split the CIS into two groups

of an equal number of states.

Using language as the sole or main criterion by which to

analyze post-soviet Ukrainian developments has proved to be

flawed for two reasons. First, it assumed that Ukrainians

belonged to either one or the other linguistic camp--

Ukrainophones or Russophones. Most observers argued that

language data in the 1989 Soviet census were flawed and that

the actual number of Ukrainophones was far smaller than the

number of Russophones in Ukraine. Moreover, a large

proportion of Ukrainians, perhaps even the majority, are

bilingual and therefore cannot be characterized as either

purely Ukrainophone or Russophone. Kuchma himself, for

example, uses Ukrainian in public but has a Russian wife and

almost certainly speaks Russian in the private sphere. Which

of the two linguistic groups does he belong to?

Data from an Intermedia National Survey in late 1999

conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology

asked "In which language is it easier for you to talk?" Of

the respondents, 44.2 percent said in Ukrainian and only 38.7

percent said in Russian. In response to the question "which

language do you speak at home?" 47.8 percent said Ukrainian,

36.3 percent Russian, and 14.4 percent both.

Second, there has been no evidence of the mobilization

of Russophones as a group or lobby. Indeed, there is strong

evidence that Russophones in Crimea, Odesa, the Donbas, Kyiv

and western Ukraine have very distinct separate identities

and have developed different attitudes toward the Ukrainian

language, nation-building, and foreign policy. A recent study

found that Russophones in Odesa and the Donbas exhibit

"language retention," while in Kyiv and Lviv they favor

assimilation or "language integration." A large number of

Kyivites, for example, continue to use Russian as their main

language but have not opposed sending their children to

Ukrainian language schools, which now account for 80 percent

of all schools in the city.

A recent poll conducted in Kyiv by the National

Democratic Initiatives Center among a representative sample

of Kyivites was aimed at gauging the attitudes of Russian

speakers and demonstrated this lack of uniformity among

Russophones. Five main results emerged from the poll.

First, 53 percent of Kyivites speak Russian always or

most of the time. Of these respondents, 70 percent were

brought up in a Russian-language environment.

Second, half of these Russophones believe that the

"Ukrainian language is an attribute of Ukrainian statehood."

They feel that its usage in all spheres in the capital city

does not reflect its state status and that there is still a

need to raise its prestige. Moreover, according to these

Russophones, state officials should take exams in the

Ukrainian language to prove their proficiency. Only 30

percent of Russophones in Kyiv disagreed with these views.

Three, two-thirds of Russophones in Kyiv feel that their

rights as Russian speakers are not infringed on within a

Ukrainian language information space.

Four, 70 percent of Russophones in Kyiv believe that

Ukrainian citizens should know the Ukrainian language well

and 44 percent believe that they personally should improve

their Ukrainian because it is important for them to do so.

And five, only 43 percent of Russophones in Kyiv agreed

raising the status of Russian to second state language.

The organizers of the poll concluded that only up to

one-third of Russophones in Kyiv are opponents of

Ukrainianization. Meanwhile, 50-55 percent use Russian but

remain positively disposed toward increased use of the

Ukrainian language and do not see such a development as in

any way harming their national dignity.

Contemporary Ukrainian studies await further research

into the myth of Russophone unity in Ukraine. Clearly the

situation in Ukraine is far more complicated than a

simplistic division of the country into two linguistic groups

, one oriented toward Europe (Ukrainophones) and the other

toward Eurasia (Russophones). If Ukraine's elites wish to

maintain an independent state, they have no alternative but

to continue with a policy of "Integration into Europe,

Cooperation with the CIS."

The author is a post-doctoral fellow at Yale University.

07-07-00

Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org

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