Black Sea Fleet Accord Subject of Controversy

INSIDE: • Ukrainian Canadians seek allies in next Parliament — page 3. • Ottawa Chair of Ukrainian Studies holds first major conference — page 4. • Ukrainian presence at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition — page 9. HE KRAINI A N EEKLY T PublishedU by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profitW association Vol. LXV No. 24 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JUNE 15, 1997 $1.25/$2 in Ukraine Black Sea Fleet accord Canada sets up court in eastern Ukraine to gather war crimes testimony by Roman Woronowycz into the hole,” she recalled. After the the Associated Press, the Canadian subject of controversy Kyiv Press Bureau executioners had left, she and her friends Broadcasting Corp., a local television raced to the mine, where they discovered outlet and this correspondent, who was by Roman Woronowycz SELYDOVE, Ukraine — There is lit- freshly turned earth, but no bodies. present during the hearing held on June Kyiv Press Bureau tle visible evidence in this coal-mining Recollections like these are what drove 2. The case received very little play in town of 7,000 inhabitants about 30 kilo- the Canadian Ministry of Justice to set up the local newspaper. KYIV — Few people, if anybody, meters from Donetsk that 55 years ago thought that the Black Sea Fleet accord court in Selydove from May 26 to June 2 Mr. Bogutin’s attorney, Orest Rudzik, the Nazis killed hundreds of local Jews, to gather testimony about one of would pass into history without some con- said he believes the Canadian govern- as well as suspected Communists, as its Selydove’s own, who the Canadian gov- troversy. It has not. The rhetoric over the ment must show more. “I surmise that for war machine battered its way to its ernment says lied about his wartime activi- May 28 treaty that splits the Black Sea the government to kick out an 88-year- Armageddon at Stalingrad. ties to obtain entry into Canada, where he Fleet between Russia and Ukraine, and old man there must be a certain amount Little is left of those times: three eventually gained citizenship. It is investi- gives Russia a military presence in the of public opprobrium. He must be shown crumbling white-washed walls of the gating charges that Vasily Bogutin, an 88- Ukrainian city of Sevastopol, has ranged to have participated. The question is how post office behind which Nazis shot the year-old retired Canadian construction from “whose territory is it after all” to “just did he participate, if at all. There must be condemned; the German headquarters worker who is half Jewish, was a member some degree of criminality, or quasi- how many bays does Russia get anyway?” across the street, which is boarded up. of the Selydove auxiliary police set up by Political factions in both countries criminality,” explained Mr. Rudzik. The mine shaft on the other side of the Nazis after they occupied the town and Mr. Bogutin’s case is part of a renewed have decried the agreement as forfeiture town, where still others were shot, has actively participated in round-ups of Jews, effort by the Canadian government, begun of their territory. been leveled and covered. On its place beatings and the execution of at least one in 1985 with the appointment of the In Ukraine, National Deputy stand the figure of a soldier and another Jewish family. Deschenes Commission, to ferret out Vyacheslav Chornovil, the leader of the one of a bereaved mother — a memorial to However, Mr. Bogutin, who lives in Nazis and those who collaborated with Rukh faction in the Verkhovna Rada, the horror and the courage of the times. Toronto, was not here to defend himself. them, and who later slipped into Canada strongly criticized the Black Sea Fleet What does remain in vivid detail are His age, advanced emphysema and a heart illegally. In four previous trials the gov- accord on May 29, a day after Russia’s the memories of the surviving elderly condition do not allow him to travel. ernment failed to prove its case that defen- Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, townspeople who witnessed the atrocities But then the Canadian government was dants committed war crimes. This time it along with his Ukrainian counterpart Pavlo as children. not here to determine Mr. Bogutin’s guilt, is using a different tactic: administrative Lazarenko attached their signatures to the Maria Kryvonos, 67, was a 12-year- only to find out if he in fact was a member hearings to determine whether alleged agreement that gives Russia a leasehold on old rummaging through the attic of her of the auxiliary police, which would give Nazis collaborators lied on their entry three of Sevastopol’s bays for 20 years. mother’s house with friends when they them grounds to revoke his citizenship and applications as to their wartime dealings. He said, “Given Russia’s imperialistic saw a flurry of activity at the entrance to begin deportation proceedings. One advantage this gives the authorities is and aggressive tendencies vis-á-vis the shaft of the coal mine about 100 The proceedings in Selydove were that the standard of proof is reduced, as in Crimea in general and Sevastopol in par- yards away. “They brought kids and open to the public and held in accordance the United States. ticular, which is reflected in the several older people to the mine shaft and shot with Canadian court procedure. Among declarations of the [Russian] State them one by one in the head. They fell the news media covering the story were (Continued on page 3) Duma, to leave the Russian Black Sea Fleet [in Sevastopol] for 20 years is to force a pervasive and permanent atmos- phere of agitation and strain not only in Conference explores consequences of NATO expansion Crimea but in Ukraine.” by Irene Jarosewich NATO expansion, how NATO expansion for Security and Cooperation in Europe, A day later Mr. Chornovil presented a affects intra-regional relations in Central not NATO.” plan to de-militarize the Black Sea basin, NEW YORK — As the date for the and Eastern Europe, the effect of NATO Ms. Nuland had high praise for which he said he would propose to the NATO meeting in Madrid draws near, the expansion on Russia’s behavior, and the Ukraine’s recent foreign policy stance, government. He called on Ukraine, debate about the need for NATO expan- vulnerability of Ukraine and the Baltics to stating that “Ukraine played the last year Russia, Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria and sion, as well as which countries should be Russian hegemony. and a half, diplomatically, very brilliantly” Turkey, all countries adjoining the Black invited, intensifies. Within the context of As project director for an independent forging a strong, independent stand Sea, to sign a charter to that effect. A this debate, Freedom House, a non-profit task force on NATO sponsored by the between a “grumpy, trapped Russia and statement released by Rukh on June 4 organization dedicated to promoting CFR, Ms. Nuland summarized the find- an empowered, robust NATO.” called for the countries “to remove the democracy around the world, and the ings of the task force report “Russia, Its Whereas Ms. Nuland portrayed the constant tension in the Black Sea region” Ukrainian Institute of America (UIA) co- Neighbors and An Enlarging NATO,” positive aspects of NATO expansion, by de-militarizing it under the Partnership sponsored a daylong conference, “After released this May. The report recom- most notably for Europe and the U.S., Dr. for Peace program, a NATO- sponsored NATO Expands: Consequences for mends the expansion of NATO as neces- Motyl was more skeptical. According to program that encourages military coopera- Ukraine and the Baltics” at the institute on sary to increase stability in Europe, states Dr. Motyl, while NATO expansion may tion with the alliance, and to which all the June 4. that there is no presumption in NATO be good for the West, it is not necessarily Black Sea basin countries belong. Participating in the panel discussion expansion that Russia is an enemy, and good for countries such as Ukraine and “The implementation of substantial were Victoria Nuland, State Department that Russia can benefit from the expansion the Baltics. The issue of NATO expan- restrictions on military activity in the fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations process. The commitment from NATO of sion, stated Dr. Motyl, uncovers the real Black Sea aquatorium, specifically of (CFR); Dr. Alexander Motyl, associate moving forward encourages countries to issue of security, and regardless of all the flotillas with strategic design, would director of the Harriman Institute at find mutual solutions to old problems, documents and charters, a very real delin- exclude the need and opportunity for the Columbia University; Riina Kionka, said Ms. Nuland, citing recent charters eation “between those that are in and basing of the Black Sea Fleet in counselor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of and treaties such as Ukraine’s agreements those that are out of NATO” will occur. Sevastopol,” stated the document. Estonia; and Ambassador Yuri with Russia, Poland and Romania as posi- Not a supporter of NATO expansion, Dr. Mr. Chornovil said at the time that he Shcherbak, Embassy of Ukraine to the tive consequences of the NATO expan- Motyl explained that the current strategy did not see how his faction could vote to United States. Adrian Karatnycky, presi- sion process. makes Russia a threat by implication. A ratify the accord and called some of its dent of Freedom House, served as moder- Dissenters to this opinion, however, security vacuum will be created for those articles unconstitutional. ator. Carlos Pascual, director for Russian, include prominent task force members countries that are “out” of NATO and vul- The Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S.

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