Special gear for Euro-2012German presents for Ukrainian police
On January 27, Hans-Jurgen Heimsoeth, Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine, handed German police helmets to Oleksandr Savchenko, deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, and Mykola Mishakin, deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Police Force of Ukraine. This symbolic gift summed up the aid Germany rendered to Ukraine in 2009. In the course of preparation for the European Championship, this country contributed 180 police helmets, 14 bulletproof titanic helmets, 90 personal protective equipment kits, computers, and office equipment to the total amount of over 200,000 Euros.
Thus, Germany is helping Ukraine prepare for Euro-2012 by providing police equipment and by holding trainings and seminars on safety measures during mass events. Moreover, German experts from the Society of Technical Cooperation (GTZ) will consult Ukrainian organizers on the matters of guest reception, fan management, housing, public viewing of matches, operation of stadiums and airports, transportation and stadium management, as well as legal issues.
New volume of Viacheslav Chornovil’s works launched in Kyiv
There is no doubt that the sixth volume should be discussed against the background of the five previously published volumes. Only in this way will it be possible to trace the strategic line of Viacheslav Chornovil, the founder of the People’s Movement of Ukraine. In fact, the publishers intend to publish four more parts of works to complete the 10-volume collection.
The new volume includes documents and materials dated from November 1985, when Chornovil was released from prison, until April 1990, when his state-building activity began. The book’s summary reads that it was a time when the publication of the magazine Ukrainsky Visnyk was legally resumed, the Ukrainian Helsinki Group was founded, rallies attracted large numbers of people in the 1980s, and radical ideas were incorporated in the Program of People’s Movement of Ukraine.
Osyp Zinkevych, founder of the Smoloskyp Publishing House, says: “The importance of the sixth book is in that it shows the events of early perestroika.”
“The second half of the 1980s was full of an extremely great number of events. There was a breath of freedom on one side and the communist regime’s agony on the other. The book offers a wide perspective of what the social and political life at that time was like, with Chornovil in the center. He fought for the principles of Ukraine’s independence in the most consistent way. Despite all the hardships, we all felt safe thank to his confidence and enthusiasm,” said Atena Pashko, Chornovil’s wife.
The sixth volume has nearly 1,000 pages of which almost two-thirds are appendices. This kind of structure was chosen first of all to fulfill the author’s wish. “Chornovil planned to publish his works while he was still alive, and he pictured it done just like that,” said his sister Valentyna Chornovil. She added that these appendices contain KGB materials declassified by Ukraine’s Security Service in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the foundation of People’s Movement.
“They can serve as a basis for researching difficulties in fighting for Ukraine’s independence. That is why the book can be of great interest not only for scholars, historians, and students, but also for average citizens who are not indifferent to the recent history of their country,” she emphasized.
