Editorial (N Y Times)
Published: December 4, 2004
Ukraine's
Supreme Court made a courageous decision yesterday in calling for a
second
runoff election by Dec. 26. Now all parties should let Ukrainians make
their choice fairly. That is especially incumbent on President Vladimir
Putin of Russia, who, apparently forgetting that he's no longer in the
K.G.B., has been trying to ram last month's fraudulent election results
down the country's throat. The two-week dispute has raised tensions to
a boiling point in the divided country, and any new provocation could
lead
to violence and irrevocable division.
The Ukrainian government said it would abide by the decision of the 18-member court. But President Leonid Kuchma had hoped that the court would order entirely new elections, enabling him to dump his badly tainted candidate, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, and force the opposition to run someone other than its popular leader, Viktor Yushchenko. The court was right to heed the advice of European mediators and schedule a straight rerun, and quickly, to keep passions from getting out of control.
One of the most heartening aspects of the court's decision was that a Ukrainian institution was deciding the future of Ukraine. That was especially notable after a crude attempt by Mr. Putin a day earlier to lean on the court by summoning Mr. Kuchma to a quick but extensively publicized meeting at a Moscow airport. Mr. Putin might have thought that these demeaning theatrics would intimidate or impress the judges. In the end it made his political failure only more obvious.
Ukraine and Russia share much history: both spring
from
the same Kievan Rus state, and eastern and southern Ukraine residents
identify
closely with Russia in 
language
and religion. And it would be wrong to romanticize the widespread
protests
in the streets of Kiev, which carry a dollop of an unsavory form of
nationalism.
But these are issues for Ukrainians to work out themselves.
But why would Mr. Putin exacerbate a situation in which Russia really did not have much to lose? Mr. Yushchenko, after all, had already served as prime minister under Mr. Kuchma, and knows he must maintain close relations with Russia, the main source of Ukraine's energy.
Mr. Putin could have scored points by acting as a disinterested mediator. But, because the histories of Russia and Ukraine are so intertwined, Russia could emerge as the biggest political loser if Ukraine were to descend into violence or break up.
Mr. Putin has already suffered considerable damage
to
his standing in the West through his unnecessary public interference in
Ukraine's political process. Now that the court has ruled, he would do
well to accept its judgment and to abandon the foolish notion that
someone
is trying to steal "his" Ukraine.
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