Jackson-Vanik in Exchange for CDs

The adoption of legislation designed to protect intellectual property and fair parliamentary elections are currently the two most pressing issues in Ukrainian-US relations. At any rate, one would think so from the topics discussed as William Taylor, US envoy for aid to Eurasian countries (i.e., CIS), met with Ukrainian leaders.

At a press conference summing up the meeting, the US State Department official repeatedly mentioned December 12, the deadline, past which the United States will impose sanctions on Ukraine unless CD piracy, is eliminated. US Ambassador Carlos Pascual stressed that his country is anything but interested in such sanctions, but Ukraine has been given long enough to legislatively straighten out its protection of intellectual property. Premier Anatoly Kinakh previously pointed out that US sanctions would mean $400 million lost by Ukraine annually. Perhaps Verkhovna Rada’s passage of a satisfactory bill might cause Washington to lift some of the restrictions mentioned by Mr. Taylor. Primarily these would flow from the ill-famed Jackson-Vanik Amendment forbidding the United States to have normal trade exchanges with countries violating the freedom of emigration. Kyiv, following Moscow’s example, has for the past decade tried to persuade Washington that the issue is no longer relevant.

Ambassador Pascual declared that free elections in Ukraine would enable this country to demonstrate that its can adhere to democratic principles and move closer to Europe. He believes the media will play a major role there. The US Embassy announced a contest for 25 grants worth a total of $200,000, with the emphasis on regional non- governmental media (particularly those working to proliferate the Internet in Ukraine). When asked by journalists about the possibility of the so-called dual elections in Ukraine (i.e., those open for foreign observers and those kept away from them, being undemocratic and actually involving the Ukrainian citizenry), Mr. Taylor said that much depends precisely on the media coverage. The United States is doing its best to support Ukrainian journalists.

Nor did the US ambassador overlook the anniversary of the cassette scandal. Mr. Pascual stated that the acuteness of certain aspects of that scandal has moderated somewhat, but that they remain relevant to the international community. He believes the situation with the freedom of expression has not changed in Ukraine, remaining the same as last year. In addition, he stressed that any allegations about US involvement in or with the cassette scandal are totally unfounded. “The last thing we would want is to destabilize Ukraine,” he stressed.