Fears of Ukraine break-up mount: East sets referendum on autonomy
KIEV, Nov 28: Ukraine edged a little closer towards a break-up on Sunday as a powerful eastern region backing the Moscow-backed prime minister in a disputed election for president set a December referendum on autonomy.
The decision, at a rally near the Russian border, raised the temperature in a national feud between backers of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich and his liberal opposition rival Viktor Yushchenko over the results of a run-off election.
The region set a referendum for Dec 5 on forming a republic within a federal Ukrainian state. The council in Donetsk region in the Donbass coalfield voted 156 to one to stage the vote in response to efforts to overturn Yanukovich's victory in last week's presidential election.
"We see no other way to defend the interests of Donbass," said council head Boris Kolesnikov. The very notion of turning Ukraine into a federation is viewed with horror by liberals who see it as undermining the state's fragile post-Soviet identity.
In Warsaw, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, a pivotal regional figure who has credibility on both sides in Ukraine, said a break-up was a real threat. He said Yushchenko was likely to become next president.
Yanukovich, attending a packed meeting in Severodonetsk, did not endorse the decision by delegates to a regional conference from Russian-speaking parts of the east and south in favour of a December referendum "to determine the region's status."
Asked by Reuters whether he supported the idea of a referendum on autonomy, Yanukovich replied: "No." But he said mass protests by pro-Yushchenko demonstrators paralysing the capital Kiev had pushed Ukraine to the edge of disaster.
"Today we are on the brink of catastrophe. There is one step to the edge," he declared, urging supporters not to take any radical action that would lead to bloodshed. In Kiev, Yushchenko, addressing tens of thousands of his supporters, accused authorities of playing "the dangerous card of separatism."
"Those who are calling for separatism are committing crimes and will definitely receive severe punishment," he declared. The spectre of break-up has been on the lips of Ukraine's leaders since the crisis erupted, underscoring the longstanding divide between the nationalist west, supporting Yushchenko, and the industrial Russian-speaking east solidly behind the premier.
As Ukraine seethed anew with mass street rallies by supporters from both camps, the outgoing president reported little progress behind the scenes to work out a compromise.
Yanukovich was officially declared winner of the Nov 21 run-off, triggering the protests in Kiev and western parts by supporters of Yushchenko who says he was robbed of the election by cheating.
Passions rose after parliament, in a symbolic vote on Saturday, declared the election invalid, noting widespread fraud in the vote. Parliament cannot overturn the election result but it did boost Yushchenko's bid to force a fresh poll.
Ukraine's Supreme Court has also blocked Yanukovich's inauguration until it has considered a complaint by Yushchenko about alleged electoral irregularities. "As I understand, the (working group) talks are going on with considerable difficulty. No one can say what sort of compromise can be found or whether one will be found at all," outgoing President Leonid Kuchma said.
"But I believe ... that a compromise is very necessary for Ukraine," he added, opening a meeting of the National Security and Defence Council. Yushchenko, 50, has already said he stands for a new presidential vote on Dec 12. But Yanukovich, 54, and strongly backed by Russia, has yet to say whether he is ready for a re-run, as advocated by the European Union.
Nationalists and liberals would see autonomy for the east as a national failure 13 years after Ukraine won independence from the Soviet Union. The Russian-speaking regions of the east provide the economic muscle of the country. -Reuters
