CHENEY ORDERS COALITION IN UKRAINE

Ukrainian newspaper Segodnya and Russian site www.informacia.ru reported that the reunion of the orange coalition had been achieved under US pressure. The reports say the coalition that had collapsed last fall reunited after a call by US vice-president Dick Cheney. Speaking with Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko he threatened an imminent cooldown in the US-Ukrainian relations in case of any other coalition but orange and recommended to appoint Julia Timoshenko as a prime minister, reports say.
The orange coalition is made up of the nationalistic Our Ukraine, Bloc of Julia Timoshenko and socialists. Together they form the largest fraction in Parliament. The Party of Regions (labeled as “pro-Russian” by western media) that won the elections on March, 26 is shut out of any decision making process. This would outrage the South-East regions where the Party of Regions got the majority of votes. The Tavrichesky Kurier (www.freecrimea.org) notes that the Party of Regions has no other way to keep its prestige but to declare independence of the South East and to proclaim the Republic of Malorossia. This senario may be real in a case of failure of the new orange government.
On the other hand, it is hard to believe that Mrs. Timoshenko will be able to restore the economy which is in a dismal shape. The Ukainian debt for natural gas has risen. Russia now says that the natural gas prices will be raised. Observers say they may hit $250 for one thousand cubic metres. This is still lower than the world prices. A bargain for Mr. Cheney, should he also decide to be generous and provide the Ukraine with cheap oil and gas.