DOCSLIB.ORG

FROM DESPAIR to HOPE LGBT Situation in Ukraine in 2014

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
FROM DESPAIR to HOPE LGBT Situation in Ukraine in 2014 FROM DESPAIR TO HOPE LGBT situation in Ukraine in 2014 LGBT Human Rights Nash Mir Center Council of LGBT Organizations of Ukraine Kyiv 2015 From Despair to Hope. LGBT situation in Ukraine in 2014 This publication provides information that reflects the social, legal and political situation of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community in Ukraine in 2014. Here are to be found data and analyses on issues related to the rights and interests of LGBT persons in legislation, public and political life, public opinion, and examples of discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation etc. Authors: Andrii Kravchuk, Oleksandr Zinchenkov Project Manager of Nash Mir Center: Andriy Maymulakhin The authors would like to thank NGOs Association LGBT LIGA, Gay Forum of Ukraine, Lyudy Bukoviny, LGBT Union You Are Not Alone and all active participants in the LGBT Leaders e-mailing list and Facebook groups who collect and exchange relevant information on various aspects of the situation of LGBT people in Ukraine. Very special thanks to J. Stephen Hunt (Chicago, USA) for his proofreading of the English text and long-lasting generous support. The report is supported by Council of LGBT Organizations of Ukraine. The report “From Despair to Hope. LGBT situation in Ukraine in 2014” was prepared by Nash Mir Center as part of the project “Promoting LGBT rights in Ukraine through monitoring, legal protection & raising public awareness”. This project is realised by Nash Mir in cooperation with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, within the framework of the program "Promotion of human rights and rule of law for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in Ukraine" which is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Norwegian Government. LGBT Human Rights Nash Mir Center Postal address: P.O. Box 173, Kyiv, 02100 Office phone / fax in Kyiv: +38 044 2963424 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.gay.org.ua Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nashmircenter Council of LGBT Organizations of Ukraine Postal address: P.O. Box 173, Kyiv, 02100 Phone (Council Secretary): +38 050 3155457 Phone / Fax: +38 044 2963424 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://lgbt-rada.org.ua/ © Nash Mir Center, Kyiv, 2015 When using materials please provide a reference to Nash Mir Center as the source. The report (in Ukrainian and in English) is available on the website of Nash Mir Center. 1 Contents Summary ...................................................................................................................................................... 2 1. Legislation and Justice .............................................................................................................................. 4 2. State and Local Government .................................................................................................................... 6 3. Politics ...................................................................................................................................................... 7 4. Media and Society .................................................................................................................................. 11 5. Churches and Religious Organizations ................................................................................................... 12 6. LGBT Community .................................................................................................................................... 13 7. Discrimination and Violence against LGBTs ........................................................................................... 17 7.1. Hate Actions against LGBTs ............................................................................................................. 17 7.2. Relations with Law Enforcement Agencies ..................................................................................... 24 7.3. Provision of Goods and Services ..................................................................................................... 25 7.4. Employment .................................................................................................................................... 25 7.5. Education ......................................................................................................................................... 26 8. Situation in the Occupied Territories ..................................................................................................... 27 9. Conclusions and Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 29 10. Methodology and Authors of This Report ............................................................................................ 31 2 SUMMARY In 2014, the law relating to LGBT interests in Ukraine has undergone some changes. Amendments to anti-discrimination legislation theoretically facilitate the possibility of overcoming unequal treatment towards LGBTs, and the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU placed on our state a clear commitment to prohibit explicitly discrimination on the ground of sexual orientation in employment. However, these legislative changes only created the opportunity for further reform of Ukrainian legislation and implementation of European standards, but they led to no significant changes in the law’s practical application. We noted both a (hopefully temporary) refusal by the new Ukrainian government to include sexual orientation and gender identity explicitly in the list of grounds protected from discrimination, and a quiet abolition of all homophobic draft laws which were previously introduced before Parliament. During 2014 representatives of Ukrainian state bodies and local governments largely refrained from any statements and actions regarding LGBTs. The political life of Ukraine in 2014 was characterized above all by transition of ideological confrontation between the "Russian World" and modern West in the public consciousness to a real, bloody conflict. This process began in the events of the so-called Euromaidan in late 2013 – early 2014, and continued with the Russian occupation of Crimea and southern Donbas. Issues related to LGBTs faded away against the backdrop of these more encompassing events, becoming only a symbolic marker within the Russia/EU geopolitical choice. In such circumstances, Ukrainian politicians, who support a European future for Ukraine, divided into two groups: conservative, declaring tolerance towards LGBT people but not ready to give them equal rights, and liberal, rejecting any discrimination. Openly homophobic pro- Ukrainian political forces became marginal and lost early parliamentary elections. Pro-Russian politicians, whose essential marker is declarative homophobia, in the circumstances of Russia's war against Ukraine, mostly betrayed openly their homeland and left the Ukrainian political field. The difficult situation in the country in 2014 (political, economic and social crisis; occupation of Crimea; the war in Donbas) generally distracted the attention of the media and Ukrainian society from the rest of the topics, including issues related to LGBT life – all the more so since this situation has led to a noticeable decrease in public activity of the Ukrainian LGBT community. However, both the national media and the general public could not overlook paying some attention to the dramatic changes that took place during 2014 in relation to LGBT people around the world, especially in countries of the Western civilization zone. Leading Ukrainian churches noticeably reduced their homophobic activity back in 2013, and in 2014 this trend remained. Perhaps not wanting to look like defenders of “The Russian World traditional values”, they have moved from outright incitement of general hostility and hatred against LGBT people and calls for their discrimination, to a more moderate condemnation of LGBT organizations' public activism and criticism of the worldwide trend towards recognition of same-sex marriage and adoption of children by same-sex couples. 2014 was a year of dramatic and fateful events in Ukraine. The Ukrainian LGBT community participated in all these events – from Euromaidan to war with terrorists and Russian invaders in Donbas – along with all Ukrainian society as an integral part of it. In view of the difficult situation in the country, most of the Ukrainian LGBT community's activity this year was aimed at overcoming our nationwide crisis and defending the push for a European future for our country. Nash Mir Center has documented 54 cases of rights' violations on grounds of the victims’ sexual orientation or gender identity, covering the period from October 2013 to December 2014. The greatest number of cases occurred in Zhytomyr (14), Chernivtsi (12) and Kyiv (11). In addition, in Ternopil, Ivano- 3 Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, Odesa were documented 2 incidents in each city, and 1 incident in each of the cities of Cherkasy, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kryvyi Rih, Luhansk, Donetsk, and in AR Crimea. Zhytomyr and Chernivtsi dominated the number of collected cases among the other locations simply because in 2014 we conducted special projects focused on documenting cases in these target cities. This suggests that the real level of discrimination and violence against LGBT people in many Ukrainian cities would be much higher than shown in this report, if only we could provide more effective
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Committed During the Armed Conflict in Eastern Ukraine Between 2014–2018
    VIOLENT CRIMES Committed During the Armed Conflict in Eastern Ukraine between 2014–2018 Kharkiv Human Rights Publisher 2018 УДК 355.012АТО(477)’’2014/2018’’(047)=111 Н31 THE List OF abbreviations This report was prepared with financial support of AI — Amnesty International; MTOT — Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Terri- tories and Internally Displaced Persons; ATO — Anti-Terrorist Operation; NGO — Non-Governmental Organization CC — Criminal Code of Ukraine; NPU — National Police of Ukraine; CMA — Civil-Military Administration; OTDLR — Occupied Territories of Donetsk and Lu- СMPO — Chief Military Prosecutor’s Office; hansk Regions; СP — Checkpoint; OSCE — Organization for Security and Coopera- CPC — Criminal Procedural Code; tion in Europe; EXCP — Entry-Exit Checkpoint; PLWHA — People Living with HIV/AIDS; DSA — District State Administration; RSA — Regional State Administration; RS — Rome Statute; ECHR — European Convention on Human Rights; Yuriy Aseev, Volodymyr Hlushchenko, Boris Knyrov, Natalia Okhotnikova, Anna Ovdiienko, LNR — the self-proclaimed “Luhansk People’s ECtHR — European Court of Human Rights; Olena Richko, Gennady Shcherbak, Pavlo Shvab, Yanina Smelyanska, Igor Sosonsky, Republic”; Gennadiy Tokarev, Martha Vovk, Anastasia Yegorova, Yevgeniy Zakharov GC — Geneva Convention(s) of 12 August 1949; DNR — the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Н31 Violent Crimes Committed During the Armed Conflict in Eastern Ukraine between 2014–2018 / HRMM — UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission Republic”; compiler Yevgeniy Zakharov; CO “Kharkiv
    [Show full text]
  • Svoboda Party – the New Phenomenon on the Ukrainian Right-Wing Scene
    OswcOMMentary issue 56 | 04.07.2011 | ceNTRe fOR eAsTeRN sTudies Svoboda party – the new phenomenon on the Ukrainian right-wing scene NTARy Me Tadeusz A. Olszański ces cOM Even though the national-level political scene in Ukraine is dominated by the Party of Regions, the west of the country has seen a progressing incre- ase in the activity of the Svoboda (Freedom) party, a group that combines tudies participation in the democratically elected local government of Eastern s Galicia with street actions, characteristic of anti-system groups. This party has brought a new quality to the Ukrainian nationalist movement, as it astern refers to the rhetoric of European anti-liberal and neo-nationalist move- e ments, and its emergence is a clear response to public demand for a group of this sort. The increase in its popularity plays into the hands of the Party of Regions, which is seeking to weaken the more moderate opposition entre for parties (mainly the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc). However, Svoboda retains its c independence from the ruling camp. This party, in all likelihood, will beco- me a permanent and important player in Ukrainian political life, although its influence may be restricted to Eastern Galicia. NTARy Me Svoboda is determined to fight the tendencies in Ukrainian politics and the social sphere which it considers pro-Russian. Its attitude towards Russia and Russians, furthermore, is unambiguously hostile. In the case of Poland, ces cOM it reduces mutual relations almost exclusively to the historical aspects, strongly criticising the commemoration of the victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army’s (UPA) crimes.
    [Show full text]
  • QUARTERLY ACTIVITIES REPORT of Civic Network OPORA for the Period 1 July – 30 September, 2014
    01103, Kyiv, Pidvysotskoho St. 10/10, office 3 www.oporaua.org, [email protected] +38 044 286 26 70 QUARTERLY ACTIVITIES REPORT of Civic Network OPORA For the Period 1 July – 30 September, 2014 1 01103, Kyiv, Pidvysotskoho St. 10/10, office 3 www.oporaua.org, [email protected] +38 044 286 26 70 CONTENT SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................... 4 Political framework ................................................................................................................................... 4 PROGRAM ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................................................... 5 Objective 1: Fairness and integrity of key Ukrainian elections improved through domestic monitoring … 4 Long-term observation ............................................................................................................................. 5 Public reports covering long-term parliamentary observation: ............................................................... 6 Preparation of a questionnaire ................................................................................................................. 6 Software development ............................................................................................................................. 7 REPORT ON OPORA’s PUBLIC OUTREACH AND INFORMATION STRATEGYINFORMATION REPORT OF THE CIVIC NETWORK OPORA FROM 1 JULY
    [Show full text]
  • Ukrainian Far Right
    Nations in Transit brief May 2018 Far-right Extremism as a Threat to Ukrainian Democracy Vyacheslav Likhachev Kyiv-based expert on right-wing groups in Ukraine and Russia Photo by Aleksandr Volchanskiy • Far-right political forces present a real threat to the democratic development of Ukrainian society. This brief seeks to provide an overview of the nature and extent of their activities, without overstating the threat they pose. To this end, the brief differentiates between radical groups, which by and large ex- press their ideas through peaceful participation in democratic processes, and extremist groups, which use physical violence as a means to influence society. • For the first 20 years of Ukrainian independence, far-right groups had been undisputedly marginal elements in society. But over the last few years, the situation has changed. After Ukraine’s 2014 Euro- maidan Revolution and Russia’s subsequent aggression, extreme nationalist views and groups, along with their preachers and propagandists, have been granted significant legitimacy by the wider society. • Nevertheless, current polling data indicates that the far right has no real chance of being elected in the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in 2019. Similarly, despite the fact that several of these groups have real life combat experience, paramilitary structures, and even access to arms, they are not ready or able to challenge the state. • Extremist groups are, however, aggressively trying to impose their agenda on Ukrainian society, in- cluding by using force against those with opposite political and cultural views. They are a real physical threat to left-wing, feminist, liberal, and LGBT activists, human rights defenders, as well as ethnic and religious minorities.
    [Show full text]
  • Ukraine's Rich Get Richer
    INSIDE: • Taras Hunczak on Ukraine and Russia — page 6. • “The Red Prince,” Ivan Vyshyvanyi — page 8. • “Generation Uke”: music and film — page 11. HE KRAINIAN EEKLY T PublishedU by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profitW association Vol. LXXVI No. 27 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JULY 6, 2008 $1/$2 in Ukraine Ukraine’s rich get richer Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Ministry Country now has 23 billionaires issues report on bribes in 2008 by Zenon Zawada by Danylo Peleschuk aide, Channel 24 reported. The single Special to The Ukrainian Weekly Special to The Ukrainian Weekly highest bribe – in the sum of $5.2 million (U.S.) – went to a township council mem- KYIV – Ukraine’s rich are getting even KIYV – Nearly 17 years into its inde- ber in Crimea. richer as there are now 23 billionaires in the pendence, Ukraine is still experiencing “The overall sum of bribes is increas- country, compared to nine billionaires just widespread corruption, particularly in the ing dramatically,” said Leonid Skalozub, two years ago, according to an annual sur- public service and real estate sectors. head of the economic crime unit of the vey of the 50 wealthiest Ukrainians con- According to a report released last Internal Affairs Ministry, said during a ducted by Kyiv’s Russian-language week by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, press conference in June. “But [the min- Korrespondent magazine. the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast ranks first the istry] is the single driving force behind Rinat Akhmetov’s wealth has swelled to country’s regions in terms of the amount stopping bribery and economic crime, and $31 billion, making the 41-year-old Donbas of bribes accepted this year.
    [Show full text]
  • Polarizing the Country? YANUKOVYCH’S AUTHORITARIAN GAME BETWEEN RUSSIA and the EU on the EVE of UKRAINE’S 2012 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
    Polarizing the Country? YANUKOVYCH’S AUTHORITARIAN GAME BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE EU ON THE EVE OF UKRAINE’S 2012 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo No. 204 June 2012 Olexiy Haran University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Ukraine is too regionally and politically diverse to allow a single entity to monopolize power—this “pluralism by default” makes the Ukrainian political system more balanced than the Russian one. The electoral divide between, on the one hand, Ukraine’s south and east and, on the other, its west and center has persisted in every election since 1990. However, in the 2004 presidential election, Ukrainian politics were deliberately and dangerously polarized by former president Leonid Kuchma, who relied on Kremlin support to secure the succession of his prime minister Viktor Yanukovych. By contrast, opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko managed to move beyond traditional voting patterns, whereby national-democrats existed mainly in the geographic west and center. Yushchenko concentrated on slogans common to the whole country—European values, social justice, rule of law, and the struggle with corruption. This proved to be an important factor in his electoral victory and in the Orange Revolution struggle against electoral fraud. Nonetheless, due to polarizing strategies that his opponents employed, including pro-Russian slogans and an anti-Western, anti-American propaganda campaign, the country emerged from the 2004 elections extremely polarized. Polarization Under Yanukovych: A Useful Strategy? To a great extent, President Yushchenko’s policies appeared counterproductive and reinforced polarization. The anti-corruption struggle remained only on paper and reforms stalled. As a result, Yushchenko’s ratings dropped to only 3-5 percent by 2008.
    [Show full text]
  • Ukrainian Dialogue Issue 05
    Sept 2014 UKRAINIAN DIALOGUE 05 ISSUE Maidan: The Aftermath A story in images Kurkov’s Diaries An exclusive extract Snap Elections A Who’s Who of the candidates A PUBLICATION OF THE BRITISH UKRAINIAN SOCIETY UKRAINIAN BUSINESS CENTRE IN LONDON SERVICES: ã© 3)©AMKN?LW©DMPK?RGML© ã© +CCRGLE©PMMKQ©GL©*MLBML© ã© !MKN?LW©QCAPCR?PG?J© ã© .PMNCPRW© ã© AAMSLR?LAW© ã© #BSA?RGML©GL©RFC©3)© ã© 4GPRS?J©MLjAC© ã© 'KKGEP?RGML©RM©RFC©3)© 50 Broadway T: +44 (0) 20 7152 4650 St. James’s Park ǔƏ ƏƏƏƏƏ London [email protected] SW1H 0RG www.ubcl.co.uk 1/ CHAIRMAN From the Chairman Ukraine has been thrust into the forefront of international news since the release of our last issue in October 2013. I recently visited Ukraine where under a cloudless blue sky, Kyiv’s golden domes illuminated the peaceful splendour of the city. By total contrast, all the TV channels were continuously carrying the death, destruction and mayhem in Eastern Ukraine as their top story. Almost all the shops in Kyiv had sales signs, and the hot water supply was erratic. As the economy slides into deep recession, and the currency has been hard hit. Next month there will be parliamentary elections, and after that the implementation programme of the EU Association Agreement will begin, based on a comprehensive domestic Action Plan. A well- educated younger generation of Ukrainians is emerging into public life. They will begin to replace those who so spectacularly failed to build on the spirit of the Orange Revolution.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ukrainian Weekly, 2019
    INSIDE: l Canada set to recognize Tatar deportation as genocide – page 7 l Review: At The Ukrainian Museum’s film festival – page 9 l Ribbon-cutting highlights renovations at Bobriwka – page 17 THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association, Inc., celebrating W its 125th anniversaryEEKLY Vol. LXXXVII No. 26-27 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JUNE 30 -JULY 7, 2019 $2.00 Ukrainian delegation bolts, Ukrainian Day advocacy event held in Washington Zelenskyy ‘disappointed’ as PACE reinstates Russia RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service Ukraine’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has walked out in pro- test and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has voiced his “disappointment” over Russia having its voting rights reinstalled at the body after a three-year hiatus. In a June 25 statement on his Facebook page, President Zelenskyy said he tried to convince French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in separate meetings to not allow Russia back into Europe’s main human rights body until it meets PACE’s demands on adherence to princi- ples of rule of law and human rights. Ukrainian Day participants at the breakfast briefing session. “It’s a pity that our European partners didn’t hear us and acted differently,” Mr. Zelenskyy said of the lop- and a former co-chair of the Congressional Ukrainian sided vote from the Council of Europe’s 47 member On the agenda: Russia sanctions, Caucus, delivered observations from the perspective of states, where only 62 of the 190 delegates present energy security, occupation of Crimea, Congress. “Members of Congress highly value and appreci- ate the efforts of their constituents to visit Washington, opposed a report that made it possible for Russia to continued U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Ukraine's Security Forces: Bloated, Incompetent and Still Neo-Soviet Taras Kuzio
    Eurasia Daily Monitor -- Volume 10, Issue 22 Ukraine’s Security Forces: Bloated, Incompetent and Still Neo-Soviet Taras Kuzio More than 20 years after independence, Ukraine’s security forces are over-manned, incompetent and largely remain neo-Soviet in their operating culture. On January 18, the prosecutor’s office accused former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko of being in league with Pavlo Lazarenko (prime minister in 1996–1997) for the murder of Donetsk oligarch Yevhen Shcherban. Allegedly, she paid $2.329 million from her accounts, while Lazarenko paid another half a million dollars in cash for the murder (http://www.gp.gov.ua/ua/news.html?_m=publications&_t=rec&id=115177&fp=40). When asked why the prosecutor’s office had not initiated these criminal charges when he was in power, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma replied, “The Prosecutor-General [Mykhaylo] Potebenko, in his reports, said at the time there were no grounds for legal action [against Tymoshenko]. And that is it.” “And against Lazarenko, at that time, there were [grounds for opening a case],” Kuchma added (http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2013/01/24/6982168/). Interviewed on Russian television, Kuchma remains adamant that Tymoshenko had nothing to do with the murder of Shcherban (http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2013/02/3/6982753/). Under Presidents Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine’s moribund security forces and prosecutor’s office were unable to find evidence linking Tymoshenko to the Shcherban murder. The new “information” against Tymoshenko is part of a concerted campaign to remove her forever from Ukrainian politics and “prove” to the West her case is allegedly not political.
    [Show full text]
  • Police Reform in Ukraine Since the Euromaidan: Police Reform in Transition and Institutional Crisis
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2-2019 Police Reform in Ukraine Since the Euromaidan: Police Reform in Transition and Institutional Crisis Nicholas Pehlman The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3073 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Police Reform in Ukraine Since the Euromaidan: Police Reform in Transition and Institutional Crisis by Nicholas Pehlman A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Political Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2019 © Copyright by Nick Pehlman, 2018 All rights reserved ii Police Reform in Ukraine Since the Euromaidan: Police Reform in Transition and Institutional Crisis by Nicholas Pehlman This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Political Science in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Date Mark Ungar Chair of Examining Committee Date Alyson Cole Executive Officer Supervisory Committee: Julie George Jillian Schwedler THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii ABSTRACT Police Reform in Ukraine Since the Euromaidan: Police Reform in Transition and Institutional
    [Show full text]
  • Travel to Ukraine Promoted at New York Times Travel Show
    InsIde: • More on Yanukovych in Moscow and Brussels – page 3. • Ukaine’s new Cabinet of Ministers – page 10. • Noted Ukrainian writer Yuri Andrukhovych – page 13. THEPublished U by theKRA Ukrainian NationalIN AssociationIAN Inc., a fraternal Wnon-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXVIII No.11 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 2010 $1/$2 in Ukraine Changing the rules, factions Yanukovych travels to Moscow form a new majority coalition after being welcomed in Brussels Mykola Azarov is PM in pro-Moscow Cabinet by Zenon Zawada held view in the Ukrainian political estab- Kyiv Press Bureau lishment that they’ve violated the coun- try’s Constitution. KYIV – Ukraine’s pro-Russian parlia- National deputies of the pro-Russian mentary factions on March 11 formed a forces spent the last two weeks passing coalition government that will work in legislation that allows rogue deputies – tandem with the newly elected president, those expelled from their respective par- Viktor Yanukovych, ignoring the widely liamentary factions – as well as defectors to help form the coalition. Only with their participation was it possible to form a majority of 235 national deputies. Opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko and former President Viktor Yushchenko declared that the parliamentary coalition and the Cabinet of Ministers were illegal Official Website of Ukraine’s President and illegitimate. “It’s very shameful that Ukraine’s newly inaugurated president, Viktor Yanukovych (left), meets with Yanukovych is starting this way,” said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow. Ms. Tymoshenko. Their claims were supported by politi- by Zenon Zawada ing Europe first and then offered gener- cal and legal experts, who agreed that the Kyiv Press Bureau ous concessions – demonstrated he’s inef- Constitution of Ukraine only allows par- fective in defending Ukraine’s interests liamentary factions, not individuals, to KYIV – European leaders welcomed before the Russian government.
    [Show full text]
  • Kyiv, Ukraine: the City of Domes and Demons from the Collapse Of
    Roman Adrian Roman Cybriwsky Kyiv, Ukraine is a pioneering case study of urban change from socialism to the hard edge of a market economy after the Soviet collapse. It looks in detail at the changing social geography of the city, and on critical problems such as corruption, social inequality, sex tourism, and destruction of historical ambience by greedy developers. The book is based on fieldwork and an insider’s knowledge of the city, and is engagingly written. Roman Adrian Cybriwsky is Professor of Geography and Urban Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, USA, and former Ukraine Kyiv, Fulbright Scholar at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. He divides his time between Philadelphia, Kyiv, and Tokyo, about which he has also written books. “Roman Cybriwsky knows this city and its people, speaks their language, feels their frustrations with its opportunist and corrupt post-Soviet public figures Roman Adrian Cybriwsky who have bankrupted this land morally and economically. He has produced a rich urban ethnography stoked by embers of authorial rage.” — John Charles Western, Professor of Geography, Syracuse University, USA “Kyiv, Ukraine is an interdisciplinary tour de force: a scholarly book that is Kyiv, Ukraine also an anthropological and sociological study of Kyivites, a guide to Kyiv and its society, politics, and culture, and a journalistic investigation of the city’s darkest secrets. At this time of crisis in Ukraine, the book is indispensable.” — Alexander Motyl, Professor of Political Science, Rutgers University, USA The City of Domes and Demons “Filled with personal observations by a highly trained and intelligent urbanist, Kyiv, Ukraine is a beautiful and powerful work that reveals from the Collapse of Socialism profound truths about a city we all need to know better.” — Blair A.
    [Show full text]