EAST OF THE E.U.

Steven Boyd Saum, Editor-in-Chief, The Commonwealth Poland joined the European Union this year. More recently, Belarus and Ukraine held elections that have reminded the world that democracy is not well east of the European Union. Europe's Last Dictator On October 17, Belarussian President Aleksandr Lukashenko overwhelmingly won a referendum allowing him to run for a third term. Official results put 80 percent of the votes in the yes column. But the Election Observation Mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) noted the elections clearly "fell short from being free and fair." In the days following the referendum, thousands of protesters gathered in the Belarussian capital of Minsk and, on October 19, some 50 people – among them journalists and opposition leaders – were detained and beaten, according to journalists writing for Transitions Online. And on October 20, well-known Belarussian journalist Veronika Cherkasova was stabbed to death in her home. Lukashenko's official web site notes, "Being the President, I sometimes have to take unpopular decisions," and "protect[ing] people is my main job." He has also accused opposition members of ties to international terrorism. Meanwhile, on October 26, President Bush signed the Belarus Democracy Act, passed unanimously by Congress to authorize U.S. aid to Belarussian political parties, non-governmental organizations and independent media. Ukraine Is Not Dead Yet So declares Ukraine's national anthem. The hopes of two presidential candidates are still alive as well, despite an October 31 election marked by "serious violations" in electoral procedure, according to the U.S. State Department and European observers. From a field of 24 candidates in which none won the requisite 50 percent to claim the presidency, the two top candidates to emerge were Viktor Yanukovich, the current Ukrainian prime minister, and reformist Viktor Yushchenko, a former prime minister. Each polled about 39 percent of the vote before the count was stopped (with some 94 percent tallied) by the Ukrainian Central Electoral Commission amid accusations of ballot box stuffing. Yushchenko supporters say a complete count would show their man ahead. What's at stake in this nation of 48 million? Yanukovich offers a firm pro-Russia stance and is backed by the outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma, as well as "entrenched business interests," as The Christian Science Monitor has mildly put it in an editorial. Yushchenko offers a more pro-Western message. Weeks and even months before the election, observers expressed fear that the election would be stolen through fraud. State-run media strongly backed Yanukovich, opposition rallies were disrupted, independent journalists assaulted and media outlets shut down. Yushchenko even claimed someone had tried to poison him. The runoff election is slated for November 21. Close This Window