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Of course, an important question of Ukraine comes into the equation. Its recent Presidential election was one between the current Prime Minister and pro-Russian advocate, Victor Yanukovich (on Dec 1, the Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, passed a vote of no-confidence at the government of Prime minister Yanukovich. He refused to stepdown, and the current incumbent, the outgoing, Yanukovich-backing Leonid Kuchma refused to fire him) and the pro-West Victor Yushchenko (who had a brief stint as Prime Minister in the late ‘90s). Although exit polls showed Yushchenko winning by an overwhelming margin, the electoral commission declared Yanukovich the winner, and almost immediately, (in what is now viewed by international sources as a foolish move) Putin called Prime Minister Victor to offer his congratulations. Only the election was declared rigged, and a new election is due to be called soon, with greater transparency. Yushchenko is expected to win by a landslide (More than a hundred thousand Yushchenko supporters, in freezing temperatures, camped in the streets of Kiev and protested against the election result) and Putin could hardly be more upset. Yanukovich, in his electoral campaign, pledge to make Russian a official language in Ukraine and Russian-Ukrainian citizenship possible. That he failed in winning the Presidency shows, at least, that something is going right. In this election, far too many things have gone wrong - the fraudulent result and the dioxin poisoning of Victor Yushchenko. Nowadays, you see international figures flying in and out between Kiev, Brussels and Washington trying to short out the crisis. Ukraine is important because it remains one of the West’s bridges to fulfilling the promise of full democracy in Russia and its former States. Strategically, it is an important ally for the governments of Messrs Bush and Blair and even more important would be that, assuming the victory of Yushchenko, Ukraine would be free to join the EU in the near future, showing that a country, narrowly close to being drawn back to the Cold war days still would become a major player on the international scene. Whatever it is, there is still threat that Russia may one day regain the power it once held. The ambition is definitely there and if Kremlin stooges like Victor Yanukovich and Alexander Lukashenka still remain in office, that day might not be a long way off. The Bush administration has already neglected enough of the world’s more critically important affairs or muddled up the critical affairs in its first term. Now back by demand of 3% of the electorate to office, the likes of Condi Rice and Donald Rumsfield, must focus on the more ciritical affairs that are hatching in Europe. Kristiano Ang is the founding Publisher of Vainquer Teens (http://www.vainquer.net) -The UNICEF supporting digital teenage magazine for young people around the world. Among his interviewees include American Idol 3 runnerup Diana DeGarmo and New Zealand sensation Hayley Westenra. His inspirations include Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Virgin Chairman Richard Branson and CNN founder Ted Turner. Located in Singapore, he can be contacted at kristiano7@ gmail.com (space between @ and Gmail meant to protect against spambots) What you should read: http://www.ilhr.org/ilhr/regional/belarus/protests/gore.html http://www.economist.com AUTHOR: Kristiano Ang  TAGS: Life world BOOKMARK: Digg it | Add to Del.ICIO | Add to FARK ACTIONS: Comment Save Print Register free acount 
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