I am shocked by Moscow-based Jugal Bhurtel's highly polemic and illogical article 'The next great game' (#233). The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe that watched the elections in Ukraine and obviously registered the election fraud is an organisation of 55 states worldwide, including practically all of Europe and even the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other members of the old Soviet Union. Due to this, the Moscow-supported Victor Yanukovich won and for that reason the Russians with President Putin of course, did not want the outcome to be questioned. Fortunately, the Ukrainian people dared to protest. Maybe they dared because they knew the world was watching. What would have been more natural than to demand new elections?

Had Yanukovich's supporters been in the majority, they could have shown it even more clearly in the new elections. But this was not the case. So to claim that the OSCE has caused this outcome is ridiculous. Concerning the assertion that the supreme court was forced to order an unprecedented and utterly unconstitutional third round: do you think that the Ukrainian Supreme Court ordered new elections because it doubted the outcome of the first or that the 55 member states of the OSCE agreed to force it to take illegal action?
I think Russia is very irritated that the world is closely watching its authoritarian political practices of intimidation. Next it seems to fear for the regimes in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. To belittle the protesting organisations there Bhurtel ridicules them for choosing a colour for their movement. Some old Soviet states seem to be afraid of a new world order that asks for more transparency and more influence of their own citizens. What is easier in that case than to claim negative influences of outside forces? The author obviously tries to find supporters of his distorted ideas in Nepal. But where do you think you would find greater personal freedom and justice? Where would you rather choose to live? In the states of the old Soviet Union or in Europe? Please consider clearly the influences you open yourself up to.

Elisabeth Pitzenbauer,
Germany