USA interfering with parliamentary elections in Ukraine

The coming parliamentary elections in Ukraine are attracting more and more of Washington’s attention. Washington lobbies the pro-American political forces, and, therefore, resists the politicians oriented toward cooperation with Russia. Publication houses and the centers of political science, which exist on Western grants, are the tools of the campaign, the tools to form public opinion. They have recently been publishing a lot of research materials that were ordered by someone, analytical articles with an explicit anti-presidential implication to cause damage to President Leonid Kuchma, who has made a lot of real steps towards Russia recently. Ex-premier Viktor Yushenko, who does not conceal his nationalistic and pro-American position, is being praised a lot.

Razumkov's Center for Economic and Political Research has been quite active in this respect. This organization turns out a lot of printed materials of such content. Its financial sources are rather interesting. As became known the other day, the first issue of this center’s magazine, National Security and Defense, received the sum of 20 thousand dollars from a foreign embassy. The following issues will be backed up with ten or fifteen thousand dollars a month. Fifteen thousand DM have been assigned to the polls to determine the popularity ratings of the political parties.

The management staff of Razumkov’s Center resembles the old Soviet joke about scientists of art in civilian clothes. The scientists of politics in the management staff also wear civilian clothes, but their clothes are made by better American tailors:

- President of the Center for Economic and Political Research Anatoly Gritsenko graduated from the Institute of Foreign Languages of the US Defense Ministry in 1993; in 1994, he graduated from the Strategic Department of the US Air Force University;

- the director of the military programs of the center, Leonid Polyakov, graduated from the US Infantry Military College in 1995;

- the coordinator of the programs of the center, Aleksey Melnik, graduated from the Institute of Foreign Languages of the US Defense Ministry in 1993; in 1994, he graduated from the School of Squadron Commanders of the US Air Force University; in 2001, he took courses on the supervision of the air traffic of the US Air Force.

For your reference, such respectable educational institutions as the Institute of Foreign Languages of the US Defense Ministry or the Infantry College train specialists for the intelligence department of the US Defense Ministry. All the foreign students who study there enjoy the special attention and care.

The current activities of the former American students are realized with the use of methods that are typical to special services rather than scientists of politics. Furthermore, they try to attract specialists of the state organizations, those specialists who have access to top secret documentation.

In addition, Mr. Gritsenko, who earlier worked (until November of 1999) as the chief of the analytical service of Ukraine’s Council for National Defense and Security, had to leave his post after an investigation discovered that he was using the secret documents very freely. It is also worth mentioning that Gritsenko was corresponding by e-mail with foreign “colleagues,” so to speak.

In general, this does not raise any doubts that the struggle for honest elections in Ukraine is in the confident hands. These hands will do their best to have as much of pro-American deputies in the parliament as possible. The American embassy will not be sorry for any grants. Therefore, the fate of Ukrainian democracy is in the “reliable hands.”

Sergey Stelmakh

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov