Feb. 20th update on the situation in Kiev

En mail modtaget fra en udvikler bosiddende i Kiev, altså udenom medierne.

Dear partners and colleagues

In the last couple of days we have clearly seen an escalation of the situation in Kiev and I would like to give you an update on things from my office. There are a few points I would like to get across:

1. Business is running “as usual”, meaning the offices are open, internet is working and we don’t see any reason why that should change. Naturally we have appropriate plans in place should anything change.

2. It has been a bit harder than normal to get to the offices as the Metro lines have been closed for the last two days. The head of the city administration has now left the ruling party (Party of Regions) and declared himself to be on the side of the protesters. As a result, the Metro has now been re-opened. That should help to normalize the situation. On some roads there is slightly more traffic but it is not a problem to get safely around by car although there are indications that in the evening there are parts of the city you should avoid. The violence is restricted to the area around Maidan (the Independence Square). Many customers have told their teams that they can work from home if they prefer.

3. The offices in the regions are peaceful



The political situation

The western press in my opinion has a tendency to focus their attention on where most of the action is taking place. There are many rumors that are being put on air uncritically, and there is no doubt that both sides are using hard rhetoric to try to make the other side back down. It is naturally very emotional and we are all of cause also deeply moved by the deaths and brutality.

We have now got to the point that the president will have to step down, and new elections will come. The president has very little support left. When I talk to our offices in Kharkov and Dnepr (originally the heartland support area for the president’s party) the message is that people want him to step down but there are some who just want peace and stability – not risking their jobs, pensions, salary from state own business etc. – and they are naive enough to think that they can get this by having the army clean up Maidan.

At this moment as I write this, the fighting has stopped in the streets, the president is being grilled by foreign ministers (Polish, French and German), meaning he is pressured to resign under threat of having his assets confiscated and being banned from travel.

The parliament has assembled and there are now so many from the government party who have defected to the opposition or left the country that it looks like the opposition gets majority. More are expected to switch, and when 2/3 is reached they can kick out the president. It is expected and hoped that they will vote for various laws that will take the power from the president (he as a person is generally seen as the problem) and de-escalate the situation by e.g appointing a new Army chief who is an opposition supporter. We are currently watching the debate on live stream.

So the hopes are that we now will see a de-escalation

We will keep you posted

Er der en eller anden stats-overhovede der har fusket et valg eller hvad sker der? (jeg læser ikke nyhedsmedier)

#2 Præsidenten har, mod flertallets(?) ønske, valgt at underskrive en samarbejdsaftale med Rusland i stedet for EU.
Det er der ret mange der er utilfredse med, så der har været demonstrationer siden november, de sidste dage har det dog nærmere lignet krig mellem politiet og demonstranterne.
Tror ca. det er sådan, kort ridset op.

Nu har Janukovitj i det mindste lovet at der vil blive udskrevet valg (efter pres fra Polen, Tyskland og Frankrig)...

Jeg er mest overrasket over Klitschko - ikke nok med at han er HWC, så er han 2+ meter høj, går ind for politik, og har en PhD o_O

Sammenlignet med boksere som Tyson eller vores egen Brian Nielsen - så er manden jo et geni!

Han slår ikke Manny Pacquiao....

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manny_Pacquiao

Førend man hopper på "det er befolkningen mod præsidenten" vognen skal man lige stoppe op og analysere.

Der er store grupper i Ukraine som er pro-vestlige og store grupper som er pro-russiske.

Og det er ikke nogen ny situation.

Præsident valget 2010:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%D0%94%D1%80%D1%...

2004:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ukraine_Presiden...

Landet er simpelthen delt.

Enten må ukrainerne lære at indgå kompromiser så der er plads til alle. Eller så må landet deles.

Det er vel rimeligt at præsidenten skal gå af - han har fejlet med hensyn til at håndtere konflikten.

Men dagen efter han er afgået så er der stadig en meget stor pro-russisk befolknings-gruppe.

Det er bare en ny person som har fået den vanskelige opgave at løse konflikten på fredelig vis.

#7

http://politiken.dk/udland/ECE2214829/overblik-ukr...

har lidt flere detaljer - og beskrivelsen af oppositionslederne lyder ikke lovende for fremtiden.