Draft higher education law is retrogressive, obstructs integration

Contemporary Ukraine is a testing ground, not just for educational reforms but also for a fierce struggle being waged against Soviet and Russian colonial heritage and for the right to be part of a united Europe and in particular to be part of the European higher education area.

The appointment of Dmitry Tabachnik as minister of education and science in March 2010 was an attempt to turn back all of Ukraine's efforts towards integration with Europe on higher education issues.

The education policy of Tabachnik is based on his political views, which are viewed as being pro-communist and pro-Russian. In my view Tabachnik is a Russian chauvinist in his attitude to the Ukrainian language, culture and historical memory.

Read complete article here.

Source: University World News

Also very interesting program in Ukrainian
Спільна Правда випуск №6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=myn25jzaVIY#!

Спільна Правда - телепроект, завданням якого є донесення правдивої інформації про найголовніші події сьогодення.
Тема шостої програми - антиурядові студентські протести. Гості: Єлизавета Щепетильникова, президент всеукраїнської асоціації студентського самоврядування та Сергій Пархоменко, координатор "АнтиТабачної кампанії".
Ведучий: Олександр Данилюк.

Express newspaper says it faces censorship threat

The alleged pressure on Express is the latest in a string of incidents that many media experts say mark a decline in press freedom in Ukraine since President Viktor Yanukovych took office in 2010. Journalists complain of pressure to toe the official government line in coverage.

“Given the fact that the judicial branch is being transformed into an effective instrument of censorship, the editorial staff of Express has grounds to believe that the court ruling will favor the authorities,” said Viktoria Siumar, head of media watchdog the Mass Information Institute.

Read complete article here.

Source: Kyiv Post

WikiLeaks: Regions Party partly composed of ‘criminals’

Party of Regions true colors are being exposed. Read the following article here which was published in Kyiv Post last week.

Also enjoy the following clip which bring to light what type of President Ukraine chose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=gN_aVis8O-8

Source: Kyiv Post

No deal

President Viktor Yanukovych's administration has failed to deliver on his foreign policy priority of integrating with European Union and securing cheaper Russian natural gas this year.

Ukraine under President Viktor Yanukovych is in decline and becoming more dangerous, slinking into 2012 with diminished prospects on many fronts – including a new natural gas deal with Russia and closer ties with the European Union.

Click here to read complete article.

Source: Kyiv Post

Darth Vader claims land plot in Ukraine

Couldn't pass on not posting this one :-))

An Odessite dressed as the Star Wars villain visited the mayor's office this week to claim a free land plot citing Ukrainian legislation which grants every citizen the right to own 1,000 square metres of land.

Click here to read article and view video.

National Holodomor Awareness Week - November 21– 27, 2011

McGill Ukrainian Students’ Association Screening: “Genocide Revealed”http://www.ucc.ca/2011/11/09/mcgill-ukrainian-students-association-screening-genocide-revealed/

Harper 'deeply concerned' over jail term for Ukrainian leader

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, at an award reception in Toronto, reinforced Canada's opposition to the prison sentence given to a Ukrainian opposition leader.

Harper said he was "deeply concerned" by the case of Yulia Tymoshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhenko during a speech Friday to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress where he received the Shevchenko medal, the organization's highest award.

Tymoshenko, a former prime minister of Ukraine and a driving force behind the country's 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution, was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of abuse of power over a gas deal she signed with Russia in 2009.

Click here to read full article

Can the European Union afford to lose Ukraine?

The European Union needs to give Ukraine a clear path to accession in order to take advantage of the country's economic potential and encourage democratic reform, argues Martin Nunn. Martin Nunn is the Communications Director of the Ukrainian Foundation for Democracy "People First".
"There is almost nothing worse than a noisy and unruly neighbour. In most cases we would try to ignore them, put up with the noise and hope that they don't lean over the garden fence to strike up a conversation.
True, Ukrainian politicians do behave like unruly children that have yet to learn some of the European social skills, the finer points of democracy, the sanctity of the rule of law and just how to do business in the real world. But ask yourself, can the EU really call itself a 'European Union' without a long term vision of just how to integrate the countries of the east into the wider European family.

Click here to read full article.

Source: Euractiv