----- Original Message -----
From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 29, 2000 9:45 PM
Subject: [STOPNATO] Ukraine Hosts Top NATO Officials
STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG
(Yet another step closer to Moscow, by the exact route used by Napoleon
and Hitler. But first NATO's 'expertise' will be employed to crush
internal opposition - a majority in both houses of parliament oppose
both Kuchma and NATO memebership, and were recently forcibly ousted from
a protest in the parliament building.
Reminiscent of Boris Yeltsin ringing the Russian parliament buiding with
tanks - remember that? - and firing on the legally elected speaker and
assistant speaker, killing perhaps hundreds of protesters holed up
there. Bill Clinton's and England's John Major's response to this -
truly unprecedented - destruction of a nation's parliament by the
military? They both applauded Boris Yeltsin as the "saviour of Russian
democracy," just as Clinton later commented on Yeltsin's first Chechnya
campaign by calling him "the Abraham Lincoln of his country."
But, quick, wipe all the above from your memory; we're not supposed to
remember any of those things.)
______________________________________
Tuesday February 29 8:42 AM ET
Ukraine Hosts Top NATO Officials, Eyes Closer Ties
By Dmitry Solovyov
KIEV, Ukraine (Reuters) - NATO leaders arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday for
a meeting that Kiev hopes will be a major step toward closer links
between the Western alliance and the former Soviet state seeking
integration into European structures.
``For the first time, 19 NATO ambassadors, the Secretary General and the
chief of the military committee come to Kiev together for this historic
meeting,´´ said Natalya Melnichuk, head of the NATO Information and
Documentation Center in Kiev.
Wednesday's meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, to be chaired by
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, will be the 16th since Ukraine
signed a partnership charter with the alliance in 1997 but the first to
be held in Kiev.
Joining NATO is not on the agenda for Ukraine and Wednesday's meeting is
unlikely to take any key decisions. But Robertson, who previously
visited Kiev in late January, will stay on for an extra day for a
program of unofficial visits.
NATO and Ukrainian officials say the very composition of the gathering
will clearly demonstrate Western support for Ukraine's aspirations to
integrate into European structures.
Ukraine Seeks Place In Europe Via Ties With Nato
``I think Ukraine wanted to have a meeting in Kiev because it gives us a
chance to move the relationship forward, it raises (Ukraine´s)
profile,´´ a NATO official said.
``Ukraine has this policy of seeking greater integration into European
structures, and NATO sees this as completely in line with its own view
of NATO-Ukraine relations.´´
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma won re-election last November on
pledges to boost market reforms, build good relations with Russia and
integrate into Europe.
Experts say that after his landslide victory the timing is good for
Kuchma to demonstrate Ukraine's European vocation and cordial relations
with NATO, despite a strong leftist opposition in the country of 50
million.
``During the election voters supported Ukraine´s European
choice,´´ said presidential spokesman Olexander Martynenko.
``Ukraine sees its relations with NATO as ties with the most influential
European structure which is an important element of stability and
security in the region.´´
MOSCOW CLOSELY WATCHES UKRAINE-NATO RELATIONS Wednesday's meeting in
Kiev is likely to be closely watched by Ukraine's former imperial master
Moscow which froze its ties with NATO during the alliance's air strikes
on Yugoslavia last year. It agreed to revive relations only earlier this
month.
Ukrainian officials, under the pressure of public opinion in the
country, did not support the air strikes but at the same time condemned
Serbia for ethnic cleansing of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and never
suspended its ties with NATO.
``Now the military operation in Kosovo is over, Ukraine is taking part
in the KFOR operation there and what´s more, the president who got
re-elected can go ahead and pursue a strong policy with NATO,´´ the
NATO official said.
Ukraine has been an active participant in NATO military exercises within
the alliance's Partnership for Peace program with non-member states.
Unlike Russia, Ukraine did not oppose the accession of its neighbors
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to the alliance.
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