: Of course this was to coincide with the return of Russia to
: revised Soviet status, in order to balk the One world govt:
: perhaps Bush/others are trying to force Russia's
: hand--provoking them into acting prematurely and on their
: own initiativ, rather than under F2's direction?

Thursday April 26 1:05 PM ET
Ukraine Ditches Reformist PM, Turmoil Looms

By Tony Roddam

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's parliament ousted Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko on Thursday, ditching the West's brightest hope for liberal economic reform in the former Soviet state and intensifying the country's political crisis.

Deputies, angered by the former central banker's austerity programs and efforts to clean up Ukraine's notoriously murky economy, ended the premier's one-and-a-half-year term in office in a dramatic Communist-sponsored no-confidence vote.

Western diplomats, businessmen and analysts fretted that his demise would put the brakes on the impoverished country's faltering reforms, end any chance of resumed funding from the International Monetary Fund and drive Kiev closer to Moscow.

They predicted that Ukraine, racked by months of political crisis and mass street protests against President Leonid Kuchma over the scandal of a murdered reporter, was set for a year of turmoil ahead of parliamentary elections in 2002.

Yushchenko left parliament with tears in his eyes, but vowed to continue the fight in what diplomats said was a signal that Ukraine's political crisis was set to escalate, not go away.

``This is not good, not good at all,'' one Group of Seven diplomat said. ``Enough of our countrymen are quitting their business here already. This will accelerate that. I just see more problems ahead for Ukraine.''

Ukraine's power vacuum will be deepened by the prospect of parliamentary elections in early 2002. Analysts suggested politicians would use the year to consolidate support, diverting energy and resources from the job of running the country.

They said heavyweight candidates would want to wait for the polls to be able to take power with a clean, credible mandate, away from the shadow of the current government.

An Honest Man In Ukraine

Experts bemoaned the loss of a politician regarded in the West as the country's best hope for effective reform and a man whose reputation for honesty -- a rare commodity in a country rife with corruption -- made him popular with voters.

As some 15,000 people marched through Kiev to denounce the vote, the biggest demonstration yet in the Ukrainian capital, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he regretted Yushchenko's departure. He urged Ukraine, a key buffer state between central Europe and Russia, not to abandon reforms.

``I would like to insist that Ukraine will commit a very important mistake if they change the way that economic and political reforms are taking place,'' Solana said in Brussels.

In Moscow, officials said the changes would not affect the close ties between the two ex-Soviet neighbors.

``Ukraine is a friendly neighboring state enjoying close constructive relations with Russia. This is an internal matter and should have no effect on relations between our two states,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko told reporters.

But analysts and Western diplomats predicted that any future government, probably molded to a large degree by the powerful Communist faction, would have a natural bias toward Moscow.

They argued that the country of 49 million people was tied geographically, emotionally, culturally and, increasingly, financially to its one-time colonial master.

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