Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KIEV986
2006-03-14 15:30:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kyiv
Cable title:  

UKRAINE: MFA ON MAUP-RELATED VISA CASE

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PINR SOCI 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L KIEV 000986 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINR SOCI
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: MFA ON MAUP-RELATED VISA CASE

REF: 05 KIEV 1695

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sheila Gwaltney for reasons 1.4 (b) an
d (d).

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L KIEV 000986

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINR SOCI
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: MFA ON MAUP-RELATED VISA CASE

REF: 05 KIEV 1695

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sheila Gwaltney for reasons 1.4 (b) an
d (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) MFA Director General Borys Bazylevsky told Consul
General March 14 that the Ukrainian Government was
considering banning the entry into Ukraine of AMCIT David
Duke. The move would be part of a broader GOU effort to rein
in the activities of the anti-Semitic Inter-Regional Academy
of Personnel Management (MAUP). Bazylevsky said Foreign
Minister Tarasyuk had asked him to consult with the USG on
the matter. End summary.

MFA Call-In on MAUP...
--------------


2. (SBU) MFA Director General Borys Bazylevsky called in
Consul General March 14 to preview a possible move by the GOU
aimed at curbing the activities of the anti-Semitic
Inter-Regional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP).
Bazylevsky, noting that the MFA had recently received a
letter from Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA) calling for action
against MAUP, stressed that the GOU had already made progress
to limit the activities of "this so-called academy": MAUP's
license was under review by the Ministry of Education; MAUP
branches in several (unspecified) regions were in the process
of being closed; and, the Prosecutor General's Office had
opened a criminal case against the MAUP publications
"Personnel" and "Personnel Plus" (reftel).

...And David Duke
--------------


3. (C) As part of the broad effort to "limit" MAUP's
anti-Semitic activities, Bazylevsky related that Ukrainian
law enforcement agencies were considering banning the entry
into Ukraine of AMCIT David Duke, who has an honorary
doctorate from MAUP and has taught at the school's Kiev
campus. Bazylevsky said that Duke had last entered Ukraine
in June 2005 to attend an infamous MAUP conference that,
among other things, called for the expulsion of all Jews from
Ukraine. The presence of such a "famous anti-Semite and
xenophobe" had generated media interest in the June 2005
conference and had deeply offended Ukraine's Jewish
community, Bazylevsky explained. The GOU was looking to
prevent Duke's attendance at future, similar MAUP events and
wished to avoid "another blow-up."

USG View?
--------------


4. (C) Bazylevsky said he had been asked by Foreign Minister
Tarasyuk to consult with the Embassy about denying Duke entry
into Ukraine; the GOU did not want to do something that might
"cast a shadow" on the bilateral relationship. Bazylevsky
indicated the GOU might ask the USG for information about
Duke, particularly his criminal record.


5. (C) Consul General thanked Bazylevsky for the information,
underscoring that every country, including the U.S., had the
right to control its borders and determine whom to let in and
keep out -- especially for security reasons. So long as the
criteria for denying entry were not discriminatory -- for
example, not based on race or nationality -- and had legal
basis, the U.S. would not be in a position to second-guess
Ukrainian border decisions. She noted, for example, that
U.S. consular officers regularly denied visas to applicants
who had committed crimes of moral turpitude. Since Duke was
a convicted felon, CG understood that the GOU might have
similar grounds upon which to deny his entry. She said the
USG would do its best to respond, within the guidelines of
the Privacy Act, to any questions the GOU might have about
Duke.
Gwaltney