"WE DON’T NEED NATO"
Gennady Savransky (Kiev), Oleg Zorin
Kommersant, Russia
july 10 2007
Ukraine-US Exercises Begin With Clashes
Yesterday in Odessa the US andUkraine began their "Sea Breeze 2007"
joint exercises, the most extensive exercises this year to be carried
out on Ukrainian territory. The beginning of the exercises was
marred by clashes between law enforcement and opponents of Ukraine’s
increasingly close relationship with NATO.
In actuality, the Sea Breeze 2007 exercises are multinational. The
Ukrainian and American sailors in Odessa are working together with
officers, observers, and naval divisions from eleven countries:
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Greece, Canada, Latvia, Macedonia,
Moldova, Germany, Romania, and Turkey. In total, 2,500 people are
participating in the exercises, which will last until July 22 and
are taking place in the southwestern quadrant of the Black Sea and
on the territory of the Odessa and Nikolaev regions. Sea Breeze 2007
also includes 22 ships and numerous airplanes.
"The exercises have great significance for all sides; during this
joint work we plan to acquire useful practical experience," said first
vice-admiral of the Ukrainian Navy Viktor Maksimov, the leader of the
exercises. "The exercises are aimed at organizing the cooperation of
forces on the Black Sea and are exclusively peacekeeping in character,"
clarified Rear Admiral Robert Clark, the director of the US Navy’s
Maritime Partnership program in Europe.
Nevertheless, the organization of the exercises has so far been fraught
with difficulties. After the ceremonial opening and press conference,
the officers were met at the exit of the building by a demonstration
organized by representatives of the Progressive Socialist Party of
Ukraine (PSPU), who shouted slogans such as "We don’t need NATO"
and "NATO, get lost" and carried signs denouncing the North Atlantic
alliance.
Once the participants in the exercises had managed to get to the port
of Odessa and shut the port’s gate behind themselves, several PSPU
demonstrators appeared outside the gates anyway. A short distance
away, several hundred members of the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU),
led by the party’s leader Pyotr Simonenko, were also gathered for a
demonstration. "These exercises will bring nothing useful for Ukraine,"
said Mr. Simonenko confidently at the picket, which lasted for a
little over an hour. The Communists were joined in their opposition
by a picket organized by Black Sea Cossacks and members of the social
organization United Fatherland. "We oppose the deployment of foreign
troops on our soil, because that could lead to war between Slavic
peoples," said Black Sea Cossack leader Oleg Dryanin.
After an hour, the epicenter of events had moved to near the
entrance to the port’s military harbor, where a crowd of several
hundred demonstrators, including representatives of the KPU, United
Fatherland, a Russian organization called Proryv ("Breakthrough"),
the PSPU, and the Black Sea Cossacks. Half an hour after the start of
the demonstration, several dozen sailors came out of the gates and
cordoned off the entrance to the harbor. After speaking with them,
Ukrainian Communist leader Pyotr Simonenko was allowed inside, where
he disappeared for more than thirty minutes. After the journalists had
left, the demonstrations swiftly packed up their signs and dispersed
as well.
The demonstrations did not pass without any physical clashes,
however. Yesterday around a hundred supporters of the PSPU who had
set up tents in the town of Odessa refused to obey a court order to
take them down and resisted violently when the police came to clear
them away. A scuffle ensued between the protestors and the police.
Odessa City Hall called the actions of the opponents of the naval
exercises "a gross violation of a court decision from July 5 that
forbade any protest actions while the Sea Breeze 2007 exercises are
being conducted." Undaunted, PSPU leader Natalia Vitrenko promised
to employ "bolder methods of struggle" if "the authorities attempt
to ban events directed against the NATO exercises."