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Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association
Vol. LXXIX No. 38 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2011 $1/$2 in Ukraine
Tymoshenko trial postponed until September 27
ties visited the detention facility on September 13 to review conditions there.Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc-Batkivshyna faction in Ukraine’s Parliament, near the Kyiv prison where former Prime
UNIAN/Aleksandr Prokopenko
Arseniy Yatsenyuk (center), leader of the Front for Change party, and Serhii Sobolev (left), vice-chairman of the
Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who heads the Batkivschyna party, is being held. A group of Ukrainian national depu-
Experts say Rada’s
new session will do
president’s bidding
by Mark Raczkiewycz
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly
KYIV – The ninth session of Ukraine’s legislaturehas its work cut out before it adjourns in January 2012,say lawmakers and political experts. But pro-presidential and opposition national deputies alike said theVerkhovna Rada will do President Viktor Yanukovych’slegal bidding as there is a comfortable pro-presidentialmajority to pass bills without resistance.“We plan to move ahead with the president’s socioeconomic plan,” said Oleksander Yefremov, head of thepro-presidential Party of Regions in Parliament.Mr. Yefremov told The Ukrainian Weekly that priority will be given to passing next year’s budget,enacting a parliamentary election bill ahead of next year’s election, and upgrading the country’s Soviet-era criminal, labor and residential codes.Opposition lawmaker Ostap Semerak of the YuliaTymoshenko Bloc faction added that Parliament willalso pass measures to open up the sale of agriculturalland, expand the privatization list of state enterprisesand possibly move to liberalize the energy market,namely to unbundle the state-owned energy firmNaftogaz into three separate entities to improvetransparency and corporate governance.Overall, Mr. Yefremov said more than 800 legislative bills are ready for votes having been reviewed bythe appropriate parliamentary committees.The European Council’s Venice Commission, anadvisory body comprising of experts in constitutionallaw, is currently reviewing the parliamentary electionlaw and criminal code.Mr. Yefremov said he expects the VeniceCommission to submit its preliminary findings on theelection law in one or two weeks, after which the legislature is expected to vote on it based on the advisory body’s recommendations.The election law, some experts say, is designed toensure that the Party of Regions remains the dominant party in the legislature. The bill foresees a 5 percent election threshold which could leave theCommunist Party out of the Verkhovna Rada for thefirst time, along with Parliamentary ChairmanVolodymyr Lytvyn’s eponymous party, whose ratingshover around 3 percent. Half of the Rada’s 450 seatswill be filled via single mandate, first-past-the-post races, and the other half is via a proportional systemin which voters vote for a particular political party.In the end, Prof. Oleksiy Haran of the NationalUniversity of Kyiv Mohyla Academy emphasized that Parliament will vote for anything the president wants.“If it looks like a mixed voting system (single mandate and proportional system) will suit the Party of Regions then that’s what they’ll pass,” said the political science professor. “But if it looks like they won’t beable to control the single mandate elections due tostrong candidates in many races, then they’ll go backto a proportional system,” he added.
(Continued on page 10)
PARSIPPANY, N.J. – The Kyiv judge presiding over thetrial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister YuliaTymoshenko on charges of abuse of office on September12 decided to adjourn the trial until September 27.Judge Rodion Kireyev’s unexpected decision came asthe trial entered its final stage, with a verdict expected assoon as this week, reported RFE/RL.The Pechersky District Court judge said he was postponing the trial after Ms. Tymoshenko had complainedshe did not have enough time to prepare her defense. Hehad previously denied such requests from theTymoshenko defense team.“Given the appeal of the defendant to provide moretime to prepare for the [court] debate, the court declaresa break until September 27,” Judge Kireyev was quoted bythe Ukrinform news service as saying.Ms. Tymoshenko told the news media the two-week break in court sessions showed the criminal case against her had “fallen to pieces.”National Deputy Serhii Sobolev of the YuliaTymoshenko Bloc-Batkivschyna faction in the VerkhovnaRada commented that Ukraine’s authorities announcedthe long break to see the reaction of the internationalcommunity at upcoming summits.Ukrinform reported that Mr. Sobolev said, “over themonths of the process this is actually the first defeat of theauthorities, which is frightened by pressures both domestically and outside, especially on the eve of important international summits.”“I think that with such baggage, with the arrested partyleaders who won in previous elections, it is impossible togo to the summit of Eastern Partnership. Therefore, thesetwo weeks – this is the best time not even for our team,but for their team to think about how to find a way out from this process,” Mr. Sobolev added.Reuters reported that some European Union memberssay the trial could block an agreement on closer ties andeasier trade with Ukraine.Reuters also cited a spokesman for the EU’s foreignaffairs chief, Catherine Ashton, who said she and U.S.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wrote to President Viktor Yanukovych on September 9. “It (the letter) wasprivate in nature,” said spokesman Michael Mann.But a Brussels-based diplomat familiar with the text told Reuters: “I think it’s fair to say the letter expressesconcern about the state of democracy in Ukraine andrefers specifically to the arrest and detention of Tymoshenko, which is troubling.”Meanwhile, Tymoshenko allies are angry that she willhave to wait in pretrial detention until the trial resumes.The opposition leader has been jailed since August 5.The Batkivschyna Party on September 12 released astatement demanding that Ms. Tymoshenko be immediately released from jail.“Today authorities acknowledged that there is not asingle legal argument for handing down a sentence in thegas trial of Yulia Tymoshenko. The case has fallen apart.At the same time, by taking a two-week-long break in thecourt trial, those who ordered and execute politicalrepressions against Yulia Tymoshenko left her in jailthough there are no legal grounds for this,” said the statement.Members of the Batkivschyna party, which Ms.Tymoshenko heads, also underscored that the formerprime minister has been imprisoned for 38 days and during this time the authorities have not allowed her to get an appropriate medical check-up due to the acute worsening of her health.“There is only one definition for this mockery – torture– which authorities use against their main political rival.Due to this Yulia Tymoshenko’s life is under real threat,”the statement read.Batkivschyna demanded “an end to political repressions and torture in jail of Yulia Tymoshenko, YuriiLutsenko and other opposition representatives, and theclosing of false-ordered cases.”Former Prime Minister Tymoshenko is accused of abuse of office by signing a natural gas import deal in
(Continued on page 9)
2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2011 No. 38
ANALYSIS
Khodorkovsky, Tymoshenko revive
old tradition of prison correspondence
by Daisy Sindelar
RFE/RL
There are nearly 850,000 men andwomen living behind bars in Russia. The vast majority live silent lives, with little connectionto the outside world and little sense that anyone, anywhere, is interested in their stories.But Russia’s most famous prisoner is trying to change all that. Mikhail Khodorkovsky,the jailed former chief of the Yukos energygiant, has begun publishing a regular columnthat looks not at his case or personal travailsbut at the lives of ordinary prisoners.Mr. Khodorkovsky’s column comes asother high-profile prisoners have alsosought to spread their message beyondthe confines of their cells.Former Ukrainian Prime Minister YuliaTymoshenko, currently serving time in aKyiv prison for contempt of court duringan ongoing trial for abuse of office, last week co-authored a commentary for TheWall Street Journal Europe.And elsewhere across the formerSoviet Union, political prisoners are likewise seeking to maintain a lifeline to like-minded supporters outside through letters, poetry and even songs.The debut of Mr. Khodorkovsky’s columnin Russia’s New Times independent newsmagazine last week begins with a chillingportrait of a fellow inmate he calls Kolya,who speaks to Mr. Khodorkovsky with afreshly stitched wound on his stomach.Asked what happened, Kolya says he cut open his own stomach and threw his intestines at prison guards to protest being chargedwith a crime he says he didn’t commit.
Suffering for their principles
“After so many years in prison, I’m far fromidealizing the people I meet,” writes Mr.Khodorkovsky, who was detained on tax-evasion charges in 2003 and may spend a total of 13 years behind bars. “But many of theseinmates have principles… principles for whichthey’re prepared to suffer. And for real.”Mr. Khodorkovsky’s column, titled“Prison Folk,” is part of a long-standing tradition of prison writing in Russia and theformer Soviet Union. Writers like FyodorDostoyevsky, Yevgeniya Ginzburg, andAleksandr Solzhenitsyn all famously documented their time as inmates in Russianprisons and Gulag prison camps.Their writings, however, were often published years after their release. Mr.Khodorkovsky, by contrast, has publishedsteadily throughout his imprisonment, first in Moscow, then in Siberia’s Chita region and,since June, in a prison colony in Karelia nearthe border with Finland. Mr. Khodorkovsky –a sharp Kremlin critic whose stiff prison sentence is seen by supporters as politicallymotivated – used his earlier articles to criticize Russia’s corrupt political system.But “Prison Folk” is the first time theformer billionaire is writing specificallyabout life behind bars – a topic that mayprove equally uncomfortable for the rulingelite at a time when public anger is mounting over brutal prison conditions.Mr. Khodorkovsky’s lawyers have defended their client’s right to publish, and Westernnews media including the BBC have citedunnamed prison officials as saying Mr.Khodorkovsky is not breaking the law by publishing a regular column.
Gulag-era practices far from over
But lawyers for the former magnatehave also acknowledged that Mr.Khodorkovsky has been rebuked by prison officials in the past for earlier publications. Reprimands included being placedin a special punishment cell.Ilya Barabanov, the deputy editor of New Times, has declined to reveal how Mr.Khodorkovsky’s writings are transmittedto the magazine. Nor is he sure whether hiscolumn will eventually broaden to includeother topics. “It’s not like we get the opportunity to sit down and have an editorialmeeting with him,” he says.According to Mr. Barabanov, even though“the communication process is difficult,” thecolumn is due to come out every two or threeweeks. He maintains that it will inevitably beinteresting to the public for its glimpse intoMr. Khodorkovsky’s life in prison.“We hope that in addition to storiesfrom the prison and his own experiences inthat environment, our new columnist willalso share some of his thoughts regardingthe political situation in the country andwhat might await the country with thestart of the new [presidential] electioncampaign,” he says.The New Times became a platform forprison writings following the death of Sergei Magnitsky, the Russian attorneywho died in prison custody in 2009 aftersuffering profound abuse and medicalneglect at the hands of penal officials.Mr. Magnitsky, who was jailed afteraccusing Internal Affairs Ministry officials of involvement in a massive corruption scandal, wrote a series of handwritten lettersand petitions describing his dismal treatment over nearly a year’s incarceration.His lawyers publicized the writings,but few took note of the Magnitsky casewhile he was still alive.
Since then, his death has become a rallying cry for critics of Russia’s human rightsrecord and prompted the United States toimpose sanctions against Russian officialsinvolved in the case. New Times editorssaid the Magnitsky case made them realizethat Gulag-era practices were far from over.
The cruelty of prison life
While Mr. Khodorkovsky’s column mayshed a glaring light on the cruel insufficiencies of life in Russia’s prison system, fewprison writings focus directly on the conditions suffered by the writer himself.Some prisoners use more abstract language to convey their experience ratherthan penning an open description of theirsituation – particularly in post-Soviet countries notorious for their abuse of inmates.Khayrulla Hamidov, a popular radio journalist currently serving a protracted prisonsentence in Uzbekistan on charges of involvement in an Islamic extremist group,has focused on poetry and even songwriting while behind bars, many of which havebeen transmitted to outside media organizations, including RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service.Meanwhile, Ms. Tymoshenko, in herWall Street Journal commentary, launches a steely attack on her arch-rival,President Viktor Yanukovych, that beliesnone of the physical distress a month inprison might induce. Instead, in a blow-by-blow assault, she assails Mr.Yanukovych as a failure on virtually allfronts – in terms of the economy, foreignpolicy and particularly human rights.“Our nation can ill afford TV images,such as those seen at last week’sIndependence Day rally, of heavy-handed
(Continued on page 21)
Ukraine vows trouble-free gas supplies
KYIV – Ukraine will fulfill all its obligations to allow for the transit of Russian gasto European consumers, regardless of theoutcome of negotiations with Russia torevise the gas contract, Energy and CoalIndustry Minister Yurii Boiko said onSeptember 9 at a joint meeting with ViceMinister of Foreign Affairs Viktor Maikowith representatives of the diplomaticcorps accredited in Ukraine. Mr. Boikoassured foreign diplomats that Ukrainecontinues to actively develop internationalcooperation in the energy sector andremains a reliable energy transit country toEurope. “Ukraine has witnessed its commitment to integration with the EuropeanUnion in the energy sector: it has become afull member of the Energy Community andwill conduct comprehensive work to bringthe energy sector in line with Europeanrequirements. Ukraine has always beenand will be a reliable transit country of energy resources to Europe,” he said.Minister Boiko also said that Ukraine ismaking every effort to resolve gas issueswith Russia. He emphasized that amendingthe 2009 contract to reduce the price of Russian gas for Ukraine is the principledstand of President Viktor Yanukovych.(Ukrinform)
Ukraine wants clarity on GTS operation
KYIV – Ukraine wants clarity fromRussia and the European Union on theprospects of using its transit system to supply Russian gas to Europe, the prime minister’s spokesman Vitalii Lukianenko toldreporters on September 14 while commenting on Russia’s launch of the NordStream pipeline. “Russia is building abypass pipeline around Ukraine. Ukrainewants to get a clear answer, whether in thefuture the Russian Federation plans to usethe Ukrainian gas transit system (GTS). If not, so its maintenance is unprofitable forUkraine,” Mr. Lukianenko emphasized. Healso stressed that in case there is no guaranteed transit of hydrocarbons throughUkrainian territory, Ukraine can either dismantle part of its gas transit system, or useit differently. Quoting Prime MinisterMykola Azarov, Mr. Lukianenko recalledthat the unique and essential component of the Ukrainian GTS is underground gas storage facilities located near the western border of Ukraine. They provide absolutelystable gas supplies to Western Europeunder any circumstances. At the same timethe bypassing pipelines – Nord Stream andSouth Stream – do not have such opportunities as they are laid on the seabed and aresubject to even more unexplored risks(weather, natural disasters, breakdowns of compressor stations located on the water).“If Ukraine discontinues the operation of itsGTS, this poses a very serious risk factor forEurope. Therefore, Ukraine also wants tolearn Europe’s plans for the Ukrainian gastransit route, which provides a guaranteedsupply of gas under all weather and environmental conditions,” Mr. Lukianenkounderscored. (Ukrinform)
Tymoshenko’s lawyers lodge new motion
KYIV – Lawyers of former PrimeMinister Yulia Tymoshenko on September14 filed a petition to Pechersky District Court on the resumption of a pretrial investigation in the criminal case against Ms.Tymoshenko which alleges abuse of officeat the time of the signing of gas contractswith Russia in January 2009. LawyerOleksander Plakhotniuk told the press onSeptember 14 that the reason for themotion is that the court “did not investigatecertain materials relating to the justification and being evidence on this criminalcase.” In particular, the court failed to submit an order of then Prime MinisterTymoshenko dated January 19, 2009, tothen Minister of Fuel and Energy YuriiProdan; and consolidated statements of Naftohaz Ukrainy for 2009, which indicatethat in 2009 Naftohaz had not been in deficit. This is contrary to the conclusions of the Procurator General’s Office. The lawyernoted that although these documents wereattached to the case, however, they werenot read out in court and that deprives thedefense of the possibility of referring to
(Continued on page 14)
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The Ukrainian Weekly, September 18, 2011, No. 38, Vol. LXXIX
Copyright
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2011 The Ukrainian Weekly
3No. 38
THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2011
NEWS ANALYSIS
Ukraine-Russia gas talks are deadlocked
by Pavel Korduban
Eurasia Daily Monitor
As winter approaches, the Ukraine-Russia gas price talks have been deadlocked, increasing the likelihood of a repetition of the “gas wars” of 2006 and 2009.Ukrainian officials pledged to avoid thisbut the situation is serious, with both sidesfirmly standing their ground.
Ukraine repeatedly rejected Russianoffers to join the Customs Union withBelarus and Kazakhstan or for Russia tobuy into Ukraine’s oil and gas industryin exchange for lower prices. Kyiv isexerting psychological pressure onMoscow, ranging from plans to radicallycut gas imports, to the threat to sueRussia in international courts.Ukrainian President ViktorYanukovych discussed gas issues withhis Russian counterpart DmitryMedvedev in Sochi on August 11, but thetalks produced no results. On August 12Russian news agencies cited Kremlinsources as saying that Mr. Medvedevinsisted on Ukraine’s adherence to theexisting gas contracts and that he rejected the 3+1 formula for Ukraine’s cooperation with the Customs Union, whichwas offered by Mr. Yanukovych to avoidboth angering Russia and misunderstanding with the European Union (withwhich Ukraine hopes to complete freetrade talks) (Interfax, August 12).On August 15, Gazprom chief AlekseiMiller said that the model of gas tradewith Belarus could be used in relationswith Ukraine. This means that Gazpromwants full control of Ukraine’s gas transit facilities as Gazprom owns 50 percent of Beltransgaz, the Belarusian pipelines operator, and will purchase theremainder by the end of this year.Ukrainian Prime Minister MykolaAzarov on the following day flatly rejected Mr. Miller’s offer saying that Ukrainewould “go its own way” (RIA Novosti,August 16).On August 22 the Ukrainian energyminister, Yurii Boiko, announced that Russian gas imports would be cut from40 billion cubic meters (bcm) this yearto as little as 12 bcm within five years.He said Ukraine would increase domestic gas extraction from new deposits,replace gas with domestically extractedcoal where possible and cut gas consumption with the help of energy-savingprograms (Channel 5, August 22). Inresponse, Miller said that Ukraine has topay for at least 33 bcm of gas each yearaccording to the 2009 gas contract (www.lb.ua, August 31).On September 2, Mr. Azarov declaredthat the national oil and gas companyNaftohaz Ukrainy would be restructuredand ultimately liquidated. This, he said,would entail renegotiation of all contracts with Gazprom. Mr. Azarov addedthat an independent gas extraction company and a gas transit company wouldbe set up to replace Naftohaz (UNIAN,September 2). On the same day,President Yanukovych issued a formalrequest to Prime Minister Azarov to formulate a plan by October 1 to restructure Naftohaz in line with earlier agreements with the European Union (www.president.gov.ua, September 2).Mr. Miller responded by stating that Naftohaz would indeed be liquidatedafter a merger with Gazprom. However,Mr. Azarov’s press service specified that Naftohaz’s restructuring was Ukraine’sdomestic affair and does not involveGazprom (Interfax-Ukraine, September2).Mr. Azarov said he hoped Mr.Yanukovych would find a compromisesolution on Naftohaz and Russian gasprices during a meeting with Mr.Medvedev at the Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Tajikistanon September 3 (Kommersant-Ukraine,September 5). But there was no propermeeting. Mr. Medvedev’s press servicesaid the two presidents only had “anexchange of opinions” on the summit’ssidelines. Mr. Medvedev also warnedUkraine against using Naftohaz’srestructuring or liquidation as a pretext to breach the 2009 gas contract (Interfax, September 3).Mr. Yanukovych clarified during thesummit that Naftohaz’s merger withGazprom, on which Moscow has beeninsisting, was not on the agenda. At thesame time, Mr. Azarov said in a TV interview that Ukraine would adhere to thecontracts until they are changed bymutual consent with Russia. He claimedthere would be no new “gas war” withRussia (Inter TV, September 4).Mr. Yanukovych made it clear in hisSeptember 6 interview with the newspaper Kommersant-Ukraine that Kyivwould stand its ground in the talks withRussia. He said Ukraine was not readyto make concessions to Russia inexchange for lower gas prices. Instead,the 2009 gas contract should bescrapped, as it was concluded in violation of earlier bilateral agreements,according to Mr. Yanukovych.He said the entire country wants a“fair” price since Ukraine, despite itsproximity to Russia, pays more forRussian gas than Germany. Mr.Yanukovych said the two countriesshould return to annual gas contractsinstead of the 10-year contract concluded in 2009. He reiterated that Ukraine isready to sue Russia over the contract ininternational courts. Russian ForeignMinister Sergey Lavrov suggested onSeptember 5 that Moscow was ready todefend the contract in courts (Interfax,September 5).Too much is at stake for the Ukrainianpresident. If Russia does not lower gasprices, Ukraine will have to raise domestic gas prices. Otherwise, Naftohaz’s deficit will spiral out of control, which willultimately derail loan agreements withthe International Monetary Fund. Highergas prices will spoil the ruling Party of Regions’ campaign for the October 2012parliamentary elections.Polls show that the Party of Regions’ratings are already dangerously low.According to an opinion poll in August conducted by the Razumkov think tank,only 15 percent of Ukrainians wereready to vote for the party, while 14 percent would have cast their votes for former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’sBatkivschyna Party (www.zn.ua, August 22).
The article above is reprinted fromEurasia Daily Monitor with permission from its publisher, the JamestownFoundation,www.jamestown.org.
Russia slams EU plan for trans-Caspian gas pipeline
Voice of America
the international legal and geopolitical sit-completion of a trans-Caspian pipeline diversify its purchases to become lessuation in the Caspian basin. that would connect Turkmenistan to dependent on Russia, which has periodi-WASHINGTON – Russia has criticized aHe added that the issues concerning Azerbaijan via the Caspian Sea. Gas from cally cut off the gas supply.European Union decision to open discus-the natural gas should be decided only by that pipeline would be fed into the EU- The Russian Foreign Ministry spokessions with former Soviet states Azerbaijanthe five countries bordering the Caspian and U.S.-backed Nabucco pipeline and man also pointed out the possible dangersand Turkmenistan on a pipeline project Sea: Russia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, transported to Western Europe on a route of building a pipeline in the Caspian, athat could deliver the Caspian region’sKazakhstan and Iran. He also said the five that bypasses Russia.landlocked body of water that has height-vast natural gas reserves directly tonations had signed a 2007 agreement that Russia is currently developing a South ened seismic and elevated tectonic activi-Western Europe.binds them to finding consensus on major Stream pipeline in the same region, which ty.In a statement on September 13,issues such as the laying of international rivals the Nabucco project.Russian Foreign Ministry spokesmanpipelines.None of the EU nations border the
Some information for this VOA report
Alexander Lukashevich said such anThe EU on September 12 agreed to pro-Caspian. The EU buys about one-quarter
was provided by the Associated Press,
agreement would fail to take into account pose a union-wide treaty supporting the of its natural gas from Russia and wants to
Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
EU sends confusing signals on Ukraine and Belarus
by Taras Kuzio
Eurasia Daily Monitor
The European Union is sending contradictory signals toward its EasternNeighborhood, which indicates it has not learned its lessons from dealing withBelarus. The EU continues to talk toughabout not dealing with Minsk, because of its political prisoners, while refusing touse this same term with Ukraine, whichhas approximately 40 political prisoners(see the list:http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&¬e_id=184320688308163%3E&¬e_id=184320688308163).The EU is being pushed in this direction by the actions of the Ukrainianauthorities in two ways. The first is theimprisonment of Yulia Tymoshenko onAugust 5, which “crosses a line on respect for democratic principles,” fourWashington-based senior think-tankerswrote to the EU (The Economist, August 31). The second is the lack of dialoguebetween Kyiv and the West over humanrights questions, which are a bad portent for Kyiv’s intentions and future relations.Usually post-Communist countries areeager to show their commitment to“European values” in the approach tomembership of the EU and then lapseafter they have joined (as was the casewith Romania and Bulgaria).Ukraine has rejected all criticisms of Ms.Tymoshenko’s arrest (see Eurasia DailyMonitor, August 11). It is unlikely that Ukraine will become more open to dialogue and, for example, release Ms.Tymoshenko and other political prisoners,after joining the Deep Comprehensive FreeTrade Agreement (DCFTA) with the EU.Miroslav Lajcak, the director of theEU’s External Action Service, neverthelessbelieves that the EU’s harsh response toBelarus “is delivering results.” He addedthat relations will only improve after all“prisoners of conscience” are released(www.rferl.org, July 8).Belarusian President AlyaksandrLukashenka has promised to release all of his country’s political prisoners within sixweeks. President Viktor Yanukovych hasnot offered to do likewise. And yet, the EUcontinues to negotiate with Ukraine for aDCFTA and is “determined to finalize thetalks by the end of December,” accordingto a Polish diplomatic source speakingwith Reuters on September 3.The Poles – who currently hold therotating presidency of the EU, just hostedthe Krynica Economic Forum (September8-9) and wi ll host the EasternPartnership summit (September 30) –are putting a positive spin on a deteriorating situation.
(Continued on page 21)
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