Ukraine crisis continued - room for hope
For a chronology of events and a by-the-minute look at the boom in global coverage over the last week: one, two, three , four, five, and some analysis - between them these provide a chronology of events and coverage from 7pm on Monday 22nd November until 5:30pm on Thursday 25th (London time), as well as an almost insane number of links to other blogs covering events, articles, news sources and the like.
If you've liked my coverage, please consider bunking a vote my way in The Deutche-Welle International Weblog Awards, where this blog has been nominated in the category Best Journalistic Blog (English) - it'd be much appreciated.
Blogger's been acting up again, but little has changed that hasn't already been covered by the mainstream western media - better late than never for them to get on the case, eh? Here's a quick round-up:
Although there was no agreement between Russia and the EU reached today (and although it looks unlikely that Putin will back down, especially now the bastion of democracy that is China has weighed in to say the elections were fair), there is much room for hope, even if this may prove to be just the first of an on-going series of confrontations between the EU and Russia.
The Ukrainian Supreme Court has announced that it feels the election to be dodgy, and has prevented any inauguration from taking place until the results have been investigated. Considering the number of defections from the government side already - including sections of the military and police - they haven't got reliable enough support to risk going against the Supreme Court, and certainly can't if they want to maintain their claims of a lawful win.
Also, the press has become much more free. Information is flowing within Ukraine in a way that has been impossible during the last few days, letting the people gain a far better idea of what is going on - even though no one yet truly knows. With knowledge of what has been going on in the government's name, perhaps yet more will join the Orange Revolution. Neeka provides a Ukrainian perspective.
Tonight, the actions of the Supreme Court and the growing refusal of the Ukrainian press to simply act as a government mouthpiece means that good old Victor Katolyk, who has done an amazing job covering the events over at The Periscope, has clocked off early. His final post?
"Everything seems to be great."
Time will tell. They aren't out of the woods yet, and with the wild card that is Putin on the scene, anything could still happen. But the world has woken up to the Orange Revolution, and international support is growing by the minute, and you can add yours here.
However, British Prime Minister Tony Blair today said in an interview broadcast on the BBC's "Newsnight" that he would refrain from making a definitive statement of support for either candidate until the situation is clearer.
He makes a very good point - with all the corruption it is important to remember that NEITHER candidate yet has a democratic mandate. Yushchenko may be the more appealing, and he may well have been denied many votes thanks to governmental corruption, but his claims to have won are based on no hard evidence. The only real solution is for the elections to be run again - this time with much, much closer independent scrutiny. This could still take a while...
Quick update: TulipGirl has one of those posts that just makes you feel all warm inside, from her friend Lena:
"Quite recently I didn't believe that my people able to resist to violence and humiliation. 2 month ago I guessed that I live in the worst country in the world. I was oppressed when I could not see a dignity in my fellow citizens, that I could not see the willingness to freedom and happiness in them...
"November, 22 I started to be really proud of my co-citizens. Now I can see that them are not passive mammals who want just to dig comfortable burrow, to generate they own posterity and to finish life in poverty, pretending that there is no another way. Since November, 22 there was not a crowd on the main square of my country. It is the PEOPLE. It is the NATION. Love, faith and hope filled up a whole space of capitol of my country and warm these people who spend the nights on the frost snowing street...
"We are the people in the most exalted and humane sense of this word. And not only number turns us to be the force, but exactly these LOVE, FAITH and HOPE which live in everybody now.
"Ukrainians, I am happy that I was so wrong about you before!
"--Lena, November 25, 2004"
Europhobia's Ukraine coverage continues here.
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