EVENT

Azarov calls for compromises with EU

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Mykola Azarov has called for mutual compromises and concessions with the EU regarding the free trade area agreement. He said this in Luxemburg at a joint press conference with Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for External Affairs and Security Policy. “We will concede in some areas, and we expect EU countries to make concessions to us on other issues. We are sure to find mutually-beneficial compromises,” Azarov said. The Ukrainian premier also favors drawing up a clearer plan to modernize the Ukrainian gas transit system (GTS) in 2011. “I think we must find a solution for this problem in the summer and map out a more concrete program to modernize our GTS in 2011,” he added. Mr. Azarov also assured EU representatives that the Ukrainian government would not be breaking constitutional norms that guarantee the freedom of speech. “Both the president and the Ukrainian Cabinet will go on fulfilling the constitutional provisions that guarantee our citizens freedom of speech, among other things,” he said.

The world helps Kyrgyzstan

The US has offered about 600,000 dollars in humanitarian aid to Kyrgyzstan, where mass-scale riots in the south claimed 170 human lives. Washington also intends to hand over, after consultations, first-aid items and medical appliances worth about 200,000 dollars to that country’s provisional government. At the same time, according to the Kyrgyz news agency 24.kg, Estonia’s Foreign Minister Urmas Paet has announced that the European Union is also prepared to help Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, in his words, EU member states are going to “immediately” begin supplying relief to that country. The OSCE head, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev, and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have agreed to redouble OSCE and US efforts to organize assistance to Kyrgyzstan. Nikolai Bordiuzha, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, has also stated they are prepared to help the country. In his words, the organization’s secretaries have suggested that immediate assistance be rendered to the country’s law-enforcement bodies. In particular, according to the secretary general, the Kyrgyzstan police is short of fuel and lubricants, and lacks equipment, transport, and aviation.

Estonia pays homage to 1940s deportation victims

On June 14 Estonia witnessed rallies in commemoration of the 69th anniversary of the deportation of Estonians under the Soviets. That day was marked by official mourning, with public buildings and offices showing the national flag at half-mast. “Today we’re paying homage to all those innocent victims taken away from their home by the communist authorities and deported to remote, cold parts of Soviet Russia. Many of them would never return home. We bow before all those who suffered that tragic lot, whose life was cut short by the totalitarian regime,” reads a statement signed by the Estonian President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Speaker Ene Ergma, and Prime Minister Andrus Ansip. The Estonian political leadership noted the great deal of work done in order to uncover the truth about these tragic historical events. This was important for the nation-building process, for Estonia’s national security, independence, and future. According to the Estonian Foreign Ministry, over 10,000 nationals were deported from Estonia to Russia’s Kirovsk and Novosibirsk oblasts on June 14, 1941. In 1949, prior to the start of collectivization, over 20,000 more were deported.