Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Ukraine

Tymoshenko Says Ukraine's Independence Under Threat

Supporters of Yuliya Tymoshenko rally outside the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, on July 18 (epa)

July 21, 2006 -- Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko says a new "anticrisis" coalition of pro-Russian parties threatens the country's independence.

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July 21, 2006

In an open letter to President Viktor Yushchenko today, Tymoshenko's party again calls on the president to dissolve parliament and call new elections.

The letter was read out at an open meeting of the party's parliamentary faction.

In it, the party also said it will boycott parliament until July 25, when Yushchenko could dismiss parliament over its failure to form a new government.

Tymoshenko said that in a new election, democratic forces should run on a single ballot.

The "anticrisis" parliamentary coalition includes the Party of Regions, the Socialist Party, and the Communists.

It was formed after the Socialists left a planned coalition with their former Orange Revolution allies, the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc and Yushchenko's Our Ukraine.

(UNIAN, Interfax-Ukraine)

The Key Players

BEHIND THE IMAGES: Click on the links below to read RFE/RL's profiles of some of the key players in Ukraine's March 26 legislative elections:

Viktor Yanukovych

Yuriy Yekhanurov

Yuliya Tymoshenko

Oleksandr Moroz

Rynat Akhmetov

Volodymyr Lytvyn

Click on the image for background and archived articles about Ukraine's March 26 elections.

Click on the image to see RFE/RL's coverage of the Ukrainian elections in Ukrainian.

Click on the image to view a photo gallery of some of the key players in the Ukrainian elections.

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