UKRAINE: VOTE FUELS FEARS OF BREAK-UP AS PRIME MINISTER YANKOVICH MEETS SUPPORTERS
Record ID:
328685
UKRAINE: VOTE FUELS FEARS OF BREAK-UP AS PRIME MINISTER YANKOVICH MEETS SUPPORTERS
- Title: UKRAINE: VOTE FUELS FEARS OF BREAK-UP AS PRIME MINISTER YANKOVICH MEETS SUPPORTERS
- Date: 29th November 2004
- Summary: (W7) SEVERODONETSK, UKRAINE (NOVEMBER 28, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF SUPPORTERS OF UKRAINE PM VIKTOR YANUKOVICH OUTSIDE CONFERENCE HALL/ WITH FLAGS AND BANNERS; MV YANUKOVICH SUPPORTERS HOLDING UP PORTRAITS OF THE PRIME MINISTER; SCU SIGN ON BUILDING READS: "Yanukovich, president of Ukraine"; UKRAINE AND YANUKOVICH SUPPORTERS' FLAGS 0.18 2. WIDE INTERIOR OF SPORTS HALL; MV YANUKOVICH SUPPORTERS HOLDING UP HIS PORTRAITS; SLV YANUKOVICH WALKS ONTO STAGE AND WAVES TO CROWD; WIDE OF HALL/ CROWD CHEER; YANUKOVICH SUPPORTERS (6 SHOTS) 0.56 3. MV MOSCOW MAYOR YURI LUZHKOV IN HALL 1.01 4. SLV UKRAINIAN COSSACKS IN HALL; SLV YANUKOVICH TAKING SEAT ON STAGE 1.16 (U6) SEVERODONETSK, UKRAINE (NOVEMBER 28, 2004) (REUTERS) 5. (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) VICTOR TIKHONOV, CHAIRMAN OF THE CONGRESS, SAYING: "The participants of the congress decisively condemn the anti-state and anti-national actions of the so-called opposition that push Ukraine towards a territorial split and catastrophe. Therefore, in the case of further development of the coup d'etat and illegitimate president coming to power we the participants of the congress reserve the right to take adequate steps for the self-defence of the citizens of our regions and all Ukraine." 1.45 6. VOTING 1.50 (W7) SEVERODONETSK, UKRAINE (NOVEMBER 28, 2004) (REUTERS) 7. WIDE OF STAGE WITH YANUKOVICH AND OFFICIALS; SLV CROWD APPLAUD INSIDE HALL; WIDE OF YANUKOVICH AT PODIUM ADDRESSING CROWD 1.56 8. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) UKRAINE PRIME VIKTOR MINISTER YANUKOVICH SAYING: "Today the payments in the budget have practically stopped; a litte bit more (more political instability) and everything will fall into an abyss. I appeal to you to stop this; let all of us here agree that only peacefully, on the basis of laws and constitution we will build our future." 2.29 9. WIDE OF HALL WITH TELEVISION CAMERAS/ FLAGS; MV PEOPLE HOLDING UP SIGN: "Donetsk for Yanukovich!" 2.38 10. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) UKRAINE PRIME MINISTER VIKTOR YANUKOVICH SAYING "I appeal to you to avoid any radical measures; I repeat, do not take any radical steps. I repeat, none When the first drop of blood is spilled, we will not be able to stop it. And if this happens it will be on the conscience of those people who provoked this situation." 3.01 11. WIDE OF HALL 3.09 (U6) SEVERODONETSK, UKRAINE (NOVEMBER 28, 2004) (REUTERS) 12. SLV TIKHONOV CLOSES THE CONGRESS 3.22 (W7) SEVERODONETSK, UKRAINE (NOVEMBER 28, 2004) (REUTERS) 13. SLV CROWD OF YANUKOVICH SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE BUILDING; MV YANUKOVICH AND HIS AIDES ON STEPS OF BUILDING OUTSIDE WAVING TO CROWDS; SLV YANUKOVICH SUPPORTERS (4 SHOTS) 3.47 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 14th December 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SEVERODONETSK, UKRAINE
- Country: Ukraine
- Reuters ID: LVA4SH3Y24EYDFX5MGNYJ37DNMKI
- Story Text: Vote in eastern Ukraine fuels fears of break-up as
PM Yanukovich meets supporters.
Ukraine edged a little closer towards a break-up on
Sunday (November 28, 2004) 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.
Feelings ran high at the congress, with delegates
berating the United States for interfering in Ukraine's
affairs and giving a standing ovation to Moscow mayor Yuri
Luzhkov. Some hinted eastern Ukraine would be better off as
part of Russia.
Up to 5,000 supporters massed outside the hall.
Yanukovich, who has denied his rival's allegations that
he stole the Nov. 21 presidential election by mass fraud,
strode beaming into the hall packed with his supporters.
"The participants of the congress decisively condemn
the anti-state and anti-national actions of the so-called
opposition that push Ukraine towards a territorial split
and catastrophe. Therefore, in the case of further
development of the coup d'etat and illegitimate president
coming to power we the participants of the congress reserve
the right to take adequate steps for the self-defence of
the citizens of our regions and all Ukraine," announced
Viktor Tikhonov, chair of the congress.
Leaders from Ukraine's Russian-speaking east and south
regions raised the stakes in the standoff between the two
rival presidential candidates, by voting in favour of a
referendum on autonomy.
Yanukovich looked on as delegates voted unanimously for
"a referendum to be held in December this year to determine
the region's status".
Yanukovich distanced himself from the referendum, which
would contravene the constitution and worry nationalists
and liberals who would see autonomy for the east as a
national failure 13 years after Ukraine won independence
from the Soviet Union.
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.
He was backed by delegates who ordered opposition
leader Viktor Yushchenko to drop his demands for a new
election or face a country split down the middle.
"Do not take any radical steps. I repeat, none. When
the first drop of blood is spilled, we will not be able to
stop it," Yanukovich told the delegates.
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.
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. The
election has highlighted Ukraine's centuries-old
divide between the Russian-speaking east and
Ukrainian-speaking west.
The east, whose chemical, steel and coal industries
generate much of Ukraine's wealth, is largely Orthodox
while the west, which relies on small-scale industry and
agriculture, has a 5 million-strong eastern-rite Catholic
minority.
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