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November 24, 2004

My final update about Ukraine this week:

First, Dan Drezner discusses the issues involves, and reminds us that positive change is hard to come by in the regime. Good men don't always triumph.

Associated Press says that the official Ukraine elections commission declared PM Viktor Yanukovich the winner of the presidential election. New York Times writes that Secretary of State Powell has said that the United States does not accept as legitimate that declaration. The announcement sparked some fistfights between parliamentarians. The crowds of protesters remained in the center of Ukraine's capital Kiev--as many as 200,000, according to the Washington Post. (New York Times has additional coverage on the opposition demonstrators.) Yushchenko has so far refused to order his supporters to obey the advice of hardline opposition members, who want to seize state television and other facilities. Wall Street Journal mentions that yesterday Yushchenko took a symbolic oath of office. Several city councils throughout Ukraine have recognized him as president.

International condemnation swelled over the past twenty-four hours. According to the Journal, White House criticism was blunt: "The United States is deeply concerned by extensive and credible indications of fraud," said White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan. According to the International Herald Tribune, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Richard Lugar of Indiana was even blunter: He promised "consequences for those who beat up journalists and who threw people down the stairs." Lugar said that employers had in many instances told employees how to vote, and said following a trip to Berlin to meet Chancellor Gerhard Schroder that he was confident that Germany will support any U.S.-led actions to punish Ukraine. Associated Press and others quoted European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso as warning of "consequences" for the EU's relationship with Ukraine. Ironically, of course, shutting down links between Ukraine and the West (i.e., the EU and the U.S.) is exactly why Putin wanted Yanukovich to win.

New York Times reports that Russian observers and President Putin have declared the elections "open and honest."

Postmodern Clog is blogging from the site of the protests.

Posted by Paul Musgrave at November 24, 2004 01:57 PM

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