[spectre] Andy Rowell: The hidden hand behind the Orange Victory

[geert]

Ukraine: The hidden hand behind the Orange Victory
Andy Rowell, 21 December 2004

When the Ukrainian elections are re-run on December 26th, it is now widely
expected that the opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko will win. The
result will be seen as a victory for democracy, the latest velvet
revolution where a corrupt regime is swept away by an orange mass of
people power. It will be a personal victory for Viktor Yushchenko who has
battled poisoning and disfigurement.

But mainly it will be seen as a victory for the tens of thousands who
battled freezing temperatures outside the parliament building in Kiev
refusing to accept a rigged election. For a country split between a new
Europe on its western borders and old Russia on the east, Yushchenkos win
will move Ukraine towards the west. But how much is it a victory for
people power or the hidden influences behind the scenes?

PBN  strategic communications

The company that handles public relations for Viktor Yushchenko is the PBN
company, an "international strategic communications consultancy"
headquartered in Washington DC, that specialises in the former Soviet
Union. It has offices in London, Moscow, Kiev, Riga, Almaty and Chisinau.
The managing director for PBN in the Ukraine is Myron Wasylyk who is also
the Chairman of the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce in the
country.

Wasylyks past is revealing in that he has worked for the US Departments
of State and the Interior; and the Republican National Committee. For the
Republicans, Wasylyk worked on the election campaigns of former U.S.
presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush senior.

The closeness of Wasylyk to Yushchenko and the Ukrainian opposition is
revealed by the fact that Wasylyk and PBN registered the oppositions
website: http://www.ourukraine.org; that in turn redirects to Yushchenko's
own campaign website at http://www.razom.org.ua/. The relationship between
Yushchenko and the PBN dates back to at least 2001. In November that year
PBN issued a press release concerning a conference held by Yushchenko at
the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in Washington. Wasylyk is given
as the press contact, as he has been during Yushchenkos presidential
campaign.

(more on www.spinwatch.org)