Special status to E. Ukraine regions, amnesty to combatants - parliament

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Tuesday September 16, 2014 13:14

by KM

The Ukrainian parliament has approved laws on special status for the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions, as well as amnesty for those participating in the hostilities. The special status law has received 277 ‘yes’ votes from a total of 450 MPs, while the amnesty law was approved by 287 parliamentary members. The session of the Verkhovna Rada is underway during which MPs are to ratify an agreement with the EU. The law on the special status of Lugansk and Donetsk Regions guarantees the right to use and study Russian or any other language in Ukraine. It also states that local elections are to take place in the regions on December 7

It looks like victory but Aleksandr Zakharchenko has struck a cautious note:

The PM of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Aleksandr Zakharchenko has reacted to the news of the law being passed by saying it should first be signed by President Poroshenko, RIA Novosti reports.

“First let Poroshenko sign it, let it be published and come into force. Then we’ll translate it into Russian, read it and give an assessment,” Zakharchenko said.

Igor Plotnitsky is more upbeat but still has questions:
.
The head of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic, Igor Plotnitsky, earlier welcomed the law on special status for Ukraine’s eastern regions proposed by President Poroshenko.

“The law on the special status of Donbass generally reflects the priorities we voiced at the September 1 negotiations. That’s why, even though a lot remains unclear, we may say that a peaceful solution has received its first chance of being implemented,” Plotnitsky told RIA Novosti.

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On a lighter note:

Tue Sep 16, 2014 13:56

Hundreds of young men and women turned Amsterdam’s central Dam square into a blizzard of red gloop as they pelted each other mercilessly with over-ripe tomatoes.

In theory, the event was set up as a protest against Russian sanctions blocking imports of European fresh produce. In practice, most participants turned out to experience the joy of smacking a loved one — or total stranger — with tomato pulp at close range.

Hopefully there will now be an end to sanctions. Farmers shouldn't suffer because of NATOs ambitions.

Ukraine and neo-Nazis

Thu Sep 18, 2014 12:37

Ever since serious protest broke out in Ukraine in February the Western mainstream media, particularly in the United States, has seriously downplayed the fact that the usual suspects – the US/European Union/NATO triumvirate – have been on the same side as the neo-Nazis. In the US it’s been virtually unmentionable. I’m sure that a poll taken in the United States on this issue would reveal near universal ignorance of the numerous neo-Nazi actions, including publicly calling for death to “Russians, Communists and Jews”. But in the past week the dirty little secret has somehow poked its head out from behind the curtain a bit.

On September 9 NBCnews.com reported that “German TV shows Nazi symbols on helmets of Ukraine soldiers”. The German station showed pictures of a soldier wearing a combat helmet with the “SS runes” of Hitler’s infamous black-uniformed elite corps. (Runes are the letters of an alphabet used by ancient Germanic peoples.) A second soldier was shown with a swastika on his helmet..

On the 13th, the Washington Post showed a photo of the sleeping quarter of a member of the Azov Battalion, one of the Ukrainian paramilitary units fighting the pro-Russian separatists. On the wall above the bed is a large swastika. Not to worry, the Post quoted the platoon leader stating that the soldiers embrace symbols and espouse extremist notions as part of some kind of “romantic” idea.

Yet, it is Russian president Vladimir Putin who is compared to Adolf Hitler by everyone from Prince Charles to Princess Hillary because of the incorporation of Crimea as part of Russia.

History Does Repeat Itself: Novorossiya, Ukraine And Crimea

Thu Sep 18, 2014 12:49

History Does Repeat Itself: Novorossiya, Ukraine And Crimea

By Gaither Stewart

It has been said that a nation is simply the spiritual body that a people acquires during the course of its history.

Novorossiya or New Russia, so absent in mainstream media and so present in alternative news sources today, is popularly believed to be a fleeting matter, simply a new name created ex-novo for effect by the local militias of southeastern Ukrainians today fighting and defeating the Ukrainian regular army troops invading their territories. In doing so the people of Novorossiya are also shattering the dream of American President Obama. The truth is the people of this region are closely linked to the history of their lands.

According to Alexander Zakharenko, field commander and Prime Minister of the Donetsk Peoples’ Republic (DPR) in southeastern Ukraine speaking at a recent press conference, invaders from West Ukraine run or surrender at the first shot. The American-financed troops, conscripted by force by the puppet state in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, simply don’t measure up to the warriors of the southeast Ukraine who are defending their lands, their cities and villages, and their families. The point is that the regular army troops are demotivated and scared and want to return to their homes in West Ukraine. Besides, many Ukrainian soldiers do not want to shoot at their fellow countrymen. Therefore they either desert to the so-called Separatists of the DPR, or flee.

the cease fire etc is a scam to buy time for the kiev regime

by fred

Fri Sep 19, 2014 14:50

judging from this, the kiev junta have no intention of making peace long term with the seperatists.
The nazi junta were losing badly and needed to regroup that's all
Here clearly Poroshenko is begging the US for money and high tech weapons to wipe out the eastern Ukranians
The US of course are all gung ho for this:

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/09/19/ukra-s19.html

@Fred

Fri Sep 19, 2014 15:30

Looks bad.

I guess Aleksandr Zakharchenko was right to be cautious.

Solidarity with workers of Ukraine

by Jim Monaghan

Wed Nov 19, 2014 16:28

For objective new of worker struggles look at http://ukrainesolidaritycampaign.org/ and friend it at it's facebook page. The links are especially good. Look at the buried left tradition in Ukraine. http://ukrainesolidaritycampaign.org/links/

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Special status to E. Ukraine regions, amnesty to combatants - parliament

Comments (6 of 6)