The Ukrainian Weekly, 2017
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
INSIDE: l Ukrainian World Congress marks 50th anniversary – page 3 l Dialogue with Timothy Snyder at the United Nations – page 8 l Our community: Osprey, Fla., and New York – page 15 THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXV No. 22 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MAY 28, 2017 $2.00 Ukraine remembers Poroshenko urges G-7 states to keep sanctions against Russia intact mass deportation by Mark Raczkiewycz KYIV – President Petro Poroshenko of Crimean Tatars urged the leaders of the G-7 group of indus- trialized nations to maintain sanctions RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service against Russia for illegally taking over KYIV – Ukraine commemorated the Crimea and for waging war in the Donbas. victims of Soviet dictator Joseph Due to Russia’s persistent warmonger- Stalin’s mass deportation of Tatars ing, there are “no grounds for the EU to from Crimea in 1944. cancel or ease economic and sectoral sanc- A minute of silence was observed at tions against the Russian Federation,” Mr. noon on May 18 across the country – Poroshenko said during a telephone con- except in Crimea, which Russia seized versation with European Council President in March 2014 after sending in troops Donald Tusk ahead of the G-7 summit tak- and staging a referendum boycotted ing place on May 26-27 in Sicily, Italy. by many Crimean Tatars. The West should “strengthen” restrictive In the Crimean capital, Symferopol, measures toward Russia, said Mark the Russian-imposed authorities pro- Galeotti, a senior researcher at the Institute hibited Crimean Tatars from gathering of International Relations in Prague. In an in the central square to mark the anni- opinion column for the European Council versary of deportation. Several activ- on Foreign Relations, the analyst of Russian ists were detained and later released. politics said there is “much more we can do Presidential Administration of Ukraine In Kyiv, by contrast, church bells to show that aggression has consequences, tolled for a minute to pay tribute to the President Petro Poroshenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during their even without risking further economic cost meeting in the village of Meseberg, north of Berlin, on May 20. victims of the deportation. to ourselves.” “Seventy-three years ago the For example, Mr. Galeotti said personal that she helped broker together with ex- more than 10,000 lives and displaced mil- Communist regime brutally expelled sanctions could be expanded on “key fig- French President Francois Hollande. lions of people. Crimean Tatars and representatives of ures within the Russian regime behind the Following Emmanuel Macron’s presi- “Today our main theme will be how to other ethnic groups from their home- aggression in Ukraine and Syria, and sub- dential election in France earlier this improve the security situation,” Ms. Merkel lands,” President Petro Poroshenko version in the West.” month, the German leader said she wants said. “The security situation... is the main said. “For the Ukrainian nation it is an Peace talks must be “re-started” German to bring him together with Russian precondition for making further political unhealed wound that especially hurts Chancellor Angela Merkel told her Ukrainian President Vladimir Putin and Mr. progress.” (Continued on page 16) counterpart near Berlin on May 20, refer- Poroshenko to discuss the continuing vio- ring to the 2014 and 2015 Minsk accords lence in eastern Ukraine that has claimed (Continued on page 16) Canada moves closer to enacting Magnitsky law Ukrainian Canadian lawmakers are key players in bill’s progress by Christopher Guly Special to The Ukrainian Weekly OTTAWA – Canada is closer to enacting Magnitsky-style legislation after Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, a Ukrainian Canadian, announced last week that the Liberal government would support a bill sponsored by Ukrainian Canadian Conservative Sen. Raynell Andreychuk that tar- gets global human rights abuses and foreign corruption. Bill S-226, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law) that Sen. Andreychuk Facebook/Chrystia Freeland Michelle Valberg Office of MP James Bezan introduced in the upper chamber last May, would freeze assets and impose travel bans on foreign nationals respon- Key players in securing passage of a Magnitsky-style law in Canada are: Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, Sen. Raynell Andreychuk and Member of Parliament James Bezan. sible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. that impose sanctions for human rights abuses and foreign The Magnitsky law would give the Canadian government The private member’s bill is named after Sergei corruption. the ability to freeze the assets and deny visas to foreign gov- Magnitsky, a Moscow lawyer who uncovered the largest The Canadian version won’t just target Russia, but will ernments and officials linked to gross human rights abuses tax-refund fraud in Russian history that unwittingly have a “global application,” said Ukrainian Canadian and massive corruption, “whether it’s China harvesting involved Hermitage Capital Management, a company run Member of Parliament James Bezan, who represents a organs from Falun Gong practitioners or Chechnya impris- by Chicago-born, hedge-fund manager Bill Browder. Manitoba riding for the opposition Conservatives in the oning and murdering gay men,” he explained. His tragic story inspired countries, such as the United House of Commons, and who sponsored Sen. Andreychuk’s States and the United Kingdom, to create Magnitsky laws bill in the House, where it was debated on May 19. (Continued on page 18) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MAY 28, 2017 No. 22 ANALYSIS Public sharply divided over Ukraine’s Visa-free travel begins June 11 information on the trials of political prison- ers, including guides on submitting letters BRUSSELS – The European Union’s deci- of support can be found on the website of sion granting visa liberalization for Ukraine ban on Russian social networks the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection has been published in the EU’s official jour- Group. (Ukrainian World Congress) by Christopher Miller Russian Federation, Roskomnadzor blocked nal, paving the way for the visa-free regime all our information resources, in particular, RFE/RL to enter into force on June 11, 20 days after Language quotas OKd for TV, radio Free Crimea,” Ukrainian political analyst its publication on May 22. The document KYIV – Censorship and a blow to free- Taras Berezovets wrote on Facebook, refer- KYIV – Ukrainian lawmakers have dom of expression, or a long-overdue move was signed on May 17 in Strasbourg by rep- ring to a nonprofit project that monitors approved a bill that would require in defense of national security? resentatives of the European Parliament and activities of Russian authorities on the Ukrainian television and radio stations that President Petro Poroshenko’s blanket annexed Crimean Peninsula. “Russians con- the European Council. Ukrainian President ban in Ukraine on several Russian Internet Petro Poroshenko, who attended the signing broadcast nationwide to have at least 75 stantly write letters demanding to ban percent of their programming in the services, including leading Russian-language materials from our sites to our German [ser- ceremony, called it a historic day for the Ukrainian language. The bill was supported social networks and a popular search vice] providers. So don’t be surprised that nation. “It is an absolutely historic day for engine, has struck a chord – or a nerve, for me this is a day of personal victory. Ukraine, for my 45-million nation, and I am by 269 lawmakers in its second and final depending on whom you ask. Vendetta is such a sweet word, I’ll tell you.” absolutely confident that this is a historic day vote in the 450-seat Verkhovna Rada on The ban, based on recommendations of In justifying the ban, the Security Service for the European Union,” Mr. Poroshenko May 23. The legislation, which would the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (SBU) said in a statement that said at the time, adding that “Ukraine returns amend laws on broadcasting, culture and (NSDC) put forth in April and issued on “Russian security agencies are waging a to the European family. Ukraine says a final languages, will become law if signed by May 16 by presidential decree, immediately hybrid war against the Ukrainian popula- farewell to the Soviet and Russian empire.” President Petro Poroshenko. The issue is triggered a wave of criticism from human tion, using in their special information Ukrainian citizens who have biometric pass- controversial among Russian speakers in rights groups and journalists, who claimed operations Internet resources such as VK, ports will be able to enter all EU member Ukraine, and Russia-backed separatists in it was undemocratic. Odnoklassniki, Mail.ru, and so on.” states other than Ireland and the United eastern Ukraine claim Kyiv is deliberately Meanwhile, many Ukrainians – particular- Andrei Soldatov, a Russian cybersecurity Kingdom without a visa and stay for up to 90 curtailing the use of the Russian language. ly from the government and security appara- expert, told RFE/RL that “it is true that VK days during any 180-day period. The visa- Kyiv denies the allegation. The legislation tuses – heralded it as a long overdue step to is extremely intrusive and known to be free regime also applies to four Schengen would also require local and regional TV combat Russian instruments of information cooperative