Avdiyivka: Eastern Ukraine's Latest Flash Point
Avdiyivka: Eastern Ukraine's Latest Flashpoint
The shaky cease-fire between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian government troops appears to have fallen apart around the small industrial town of Avdiyivka. In recent weeks, battles have erupted around the strategically important crossroads in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region. European observers have reported the “highest level of cease-fire violations” since September 2015, with deaths reported on both sides. On April 2, photographer Maxim Tucker entered the area and spent a week documenting villages shattered by a conflict which is now entering its third year.
Barring any major developments, that ends the live blogging for tonight.
From our Brussels correspondent on visa liberalization:
BRUSSELS -- EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn says the European Commission plans to go ahead with its proposal for visa liberalization for Ukraine -- despite a Dutch referendum last week that rejected Ukraine’s Association Agreement with Kyiv.
Hahn told RFE/RL on April 12 that it would be “unfair” not to go ahead with visa liberalization for Ukraine because Brussels has “always asked certain conditions” from Kyiv.
Hahn told RFE/RL: “We have worked on this issue for some years. We have always argued that we are following a certain methodology. They have accepted it. They have delivered. Now I think it is a question of fairness to fulfill what we have promised.”
Sources in Brussels say the visa liberalization proposal for Ukraine is likely to come by the end of April and will allay fears in Kyiv that the nonbinding Dutch referendum will slow down the establishment of visa-free rules for Ukrainian citizens.
But it remains unclear when EU member states and the European Parliament would vote on the proposal.
The EU's 27 other members have ratified Ukraine’s EU Association Agreement and it went into effect in January.
Doesn't look like they'll be a vote on the coalition or government today. From Reuters:
Oleksiy Goncharenko, a deputy in Poroshenko's BPP faction, told journalists there was still no agreement on who would fill the ministerial posts of economy, energy, culture and health. The vote on the coalition and government would "hopefully" take place on Wednesday or Thursday, he said.
But MPs said the new cabinet would not include Yaresko and some other foreign-born technocrats brought in late in 2014 in the hope that their outsider status and international experience would help Ukraine root out corruption.
Her departure could be a disappointment for some of Ukraine's Western allies, who have praised her stewardship of the country's finances amid economic meltdown and a separatist conflict.
Cabinet talks continue in Kyiv:
Lawmakers in Ukraine are continuing efforts to agree a new coalition to end a political deadlock that has stalled billions of dollars in foreign loans.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his resignation on April 10, and current parliament speaker Volodymyr Hroysman has emerged as his likely successor.
Yatsenyuk, who survived a no-confidence vote in parliament in February, has been blamed in part for the country's slow pace of reform.
However, Hroysman, an ally of President Petro Poroshenko, has apparently raised objections to candidates to fill cabinet posts.
Hroysman has the backing of the president's Petro Poroshenko Bloc (BPP) and the People's Front party.
Earlier on April 12, deputy speaker of parliament Andriy Parubiy said four independent deputies had joined the BPP faction.
That would mean BPP and the People's Front party have enough members to form a coalition with a small majority.
Meanwhile, a new cabinet appears to be taking shape.
Oleksandr Danylyuk, a former investment manager, has been mentioned as the likely new finance manager.
He would replace U.S.-born Natalie Jaresko, who has been praised for her handling of the country's finances amid economic meltdown and a conflict with Russia-backed separatists in the east.
The 40-year-old Danylyuk is the deputy head of Poroshenko's administration.
Analysts say his nomination could raise concerns among reformists that the reshuffle under Hroysman will consolidate power in the hands of the president and his circle. (Reuters, AFP)