Carla del Ponte is Gone but Her Cause Lives On

It is easy to imagine how many people in Central and Eastern Europe responded with enthusiasm to Swiss Federal Prosecutor Carla del Ponte's appointment to the International Tribunal investigating crimes in former Yugoslavia. Ms. del Ponte used to fly like a stormy petrel from one post- Soviet capital to the next, then all over the post-Yugoslav states. Now Mr. Milosevic or Dr. Franjo Tudjman would see her in their nightmares, just like Pavlo Lazarenko did.

However, the Corriere della Sera's recent series of articles about Russian President Yeltsin's and his family's alleged corruption, which all observers associate with the name of the new international prosecutor, proved that Ms. del Ponte decided to slam the door noisily. Her friends (or agents) pitched a heavy boulder in the muddy waters of post-Soviet politics, causing ripples that will continue for quite some time, frightening the ever tremulous frogs, but even more the proud storks from the West. As things are, Russia's reputation is becoming more and more like that of Ukraine (also formed with Ms. del Ponte's aid). The same corruption, all the way up and down, same illusions of economic reform — except that the Russians appear to be better actors than the naive Ukrainians who have failed to throw enough glitter in the stork's eyes to keep it dazzled.

We might reproach Ms. del Ponte for building such an attractive image of Ukraine, so beautiful and beloved by investors. Good grief! One must agree, however, that it took a woman like that Swiss Italian, born near Milan and ready to fight the Mafia everywhere, to challenge Mother-Russia. As a result, we can again expect money from the West. Why not? Moscow proves to be no better than Kyiv, so why should they say no to us and where can they point an approving finger as an example for us to follow? Maybe Warsaw?

Perhaps, but Poland is no Soviet Union which, in Ms. del Ponte's studies, once again rises from the ashes in its unity of tradition and criminal predilections.