UKRAINE: REGIONS LEADER YANUKOVYCH ON NEW

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIEV 002500 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2016 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINR SOCI SCUL KIRF UP SUBJECT: UKRAINE: REGIONS LEADER YANUKOVYCH ON NEW COALITION, ANTI-SEMITISM REF: KIEV 2462 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i., reasons 1.4 (b, d) Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) In a lengthy June 23 meeting with an American Jewish Committee (AJC) delegation, Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych claimed that anti-Semitic violence was infrequent in Ukraine and repeated the Soviet-era canard that such violence primarily occurred in "radical" western oblasts. Yanukovych committed to support communal property restitution legislation in the Rada. He deferred to his press spokeswoman, Regions MP Hanna Herman, to answer questions about the anti-Semitic Inter-Regional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP). Herman asserted that Yanukovych had criticized the foreign-funded diploma mill and had called on President Yushchenko to stop MAUP from distributing its anti-Semitic publications -- a challenge the president had "failed to meet," Herman claimed. Regions MP and foreign policy guru Leonid Kozhara pointedly blamed his nemesis, Foreign Minister Tarasyuk, for Yushchenko's "softness" on MAUP; Kozhara disingenuously claimed Tarasyuk protected MAUP and was to blame for Yushchenko postponing a planned July 2005 visit to Israel. ¶2. (SBU) On domestic politics, a still-smoldering Yanukovych criticized the coalition of Tymoshenko's bloc (BYuT),Our Ukraine (OU),and the Socialists formed June 22, saying it was comprised of people "who lacked the ability" to solve the country's serious economic problems, which would be aggravated by a looming hike in natural gas prices. Yushchenko had been "silly" not to green-light the formation of an OU coalition with Regions, Yanukovych said, adding that Yushchenko had bowed to "U.S. pressure" in opting to revive Team Orange. The spurned Regions was now on the warpath; he vowed they would hinder the Rada's work, including coming votes on the new prime minister and Rada Speaker. Regions was looking for a legal way to force new parliamentary elections and was already preparing for fall of the Orange coalition, Yanukovych boasted. Yanukovych's comments on NATO and the controversy in Feodosia, Crimea over the Sea Breeze exercise will be reported separately. End summary. Yanukovych Meeting With AJC: Anti-Semitism... -------------- ¶3. (SBU) In a June 23 meeting with a AJC delegation led by AJC Executive Director David Harris, Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych asserted that there were "infrequent individual acts" of anti-Semitic violence in Ukraine. Repeating a Soviet-era canard, he claimed that such violence occurred largely in western Ukraine, where people were "radical"; people in southern and eastern Ukraine (i.e., where Regions' support is strongest) were "normal." Yanukovych vaguely added that all of Regions' 186 MPs would support communal property restitution legislation in the Rada, and related that Regions MP/entertainer Jan Tabachnyk would be the party's point man on Jewish community issues. (Comment: Yanukovych's assertion about anti-Semitic violence being centered in western Ukraine is wrong. The last two major violent anti-Semitic assaults, in which Yeshiva students were seriously injured, occurred in Kiev and Dnipropetrovsk, a major eastern Ukrainian city. End comment.) ...MAUP... -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Yanukovych deferred to his press spokeswoman, MP Hanna Herman, and his foreign policy guru, MP Leonid Kozhara, to answer a question about the anti-Semitic Inter-Regional Academy of Personnel Management (known by its Ukrainian acronym, MAUP). Herman claimed that Yanukovych "paid attention" to MAUP's activities and had publicly criticized the diploma mill, which receives significant funding from several Middle Eastern governments (note: we later asked Herman for citations of Yanukovych's remarks; she said she would send them to us). Herman claimed that Yanukovych had called on the Yushchenko administration to stop MAUP from spreading anti-Semitic literature, a challenge that she said the president had "failed to meet." Anti-Semitic material was easy to buy in Kiev, and was even available on Independence Square (the Maidan),Herman claimed, in an obvious reference to the site of The Orange Revolution protests. ¶5. (C) Seizing an opportunity to bash his bete noir, Kozhara blamed FM Borys Tarasyuk for the Yushchenko administration's alleged "softness" on MAUP. Tarasyuk still chaired MAUP's Institute for Euro-Atlantic Integration, Kozhara KIEV 00002500 002 OF 002 disingenuously claimed, and Tarasyuk "does all he can" to protect MAUP and "allow it operate." Taking another poke at Tarasyuk, Kozhara told the delegation that the foreign minister had been behind the postponement of Yushchenko's planned July 2005 visit to Israel; if he had been the foreign policy adviser, Kozhara added, "I would have urged Yushchenko to go." (Comment: Tarasyuk cut his ties with MAUP in 2005, and the school only has an Institute for International Relations, not an Institute for Euro-Atlantic Integration. Kozhara neglected to mention to the delegation that his relations with Tarasyuk are extremely complex. Kozhara bitterly -- but perhaps justly -- blames Tarasyuk for his unceremonious dismissal from the Ukrainian diplomatic service following the Orange Revolution--he was serving as foreign policy adviser to then-President Kuchma in the Presidential Administration. We understand that he was dismissed under terms that denied him a pension and other benefits. End comment.) ...A "Weak and Divided" Orange Coalition.... -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Shifting to domestic politics, Yanukovych derided the new parliamentary majority which emerged June 22. The coalition was comprised of people "who lacked the ability" to solve Ukraine's pressing economic problems, including a massive upcoming hike in the price of natural gas. The coalition, according to Yanukovych, would not be effective and "would not last," as it had "serious internal contradictions" and could be easily divided. ...Yushchenko's "Mistake"... -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Reflecting on Our Ukraine's (OU) talks with Regions to form a so-called "Grand Coalition," Yanukovych said President Yushchenko had been "overconfident and silly" to spurn the powerful, professional, and united Regions. The talks with OU had gone smoothly, and there had been no major differences between the two sides he claimed. Yanukovych suggested that Regions might have even supported Yushchenko's reelection bid in 2009. While stressing that Regions was not anti-American and would not oppose USG policy in Ukraine, Yanukovych nonetheless alleged that Yushchenko had bowed to "U.S. pressure" in opting to form an Orange coalition. ...and Regions "On The Warpath" -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Echoing what a moderate Regions deputy leader told us June 22 (reftel),Yanukovych declared that Regions was now "on the warpath." Yushchenko, he ominously warned, now bore "full responsibility" for what happened in the country and would have to answer to the voters "in 2009 or earlier." According to Yanukovych, Regions would block the work of the Rada, only allowing passage of legislation that it deemed "non-political" and in the "national interest"; he predicted, moreover, that Regions would be able to prevent upcoming votes on the new prime minister and Rada Speaker. Regions' short-term goal was to force early parliamentary elections, Yanukovych said, adding that the party was examining its legal/constitutional options. Moreover, he boasted, Regions was already preparing for the fall of the Orange coalition, holding discussions with unidentified parties likewise convinced that Team Orange will soon falter. Gwaltney