Moroz, who unsuccessfully ran against Kuchma in the recent election and now seeks to replace him, said that the current Ukrainian president has blocked reforms in the economy, cultivated an authoritarian political style, and actively interfered in the country's national and religious life. A longtime Communist Party official in Soviet times, Moroz provided few clues as to what kind of Ukraine he would like to see. Some 400 policemen on 1 March cordoned off the tent city erected by opponents of President Leonid Kuchma on Kyiv's central Khreshchatyk Street, dragged some 100 occupants out of the tents, and dismantled the camp, Reuters and AP reported. Opposition activists and witnesses said some 30 protesters were detained. It was an absolutely correct decision by the authorities to show that they are the authorities, and everyone should remember that for the future.
Nobody is against the opposition sitting in tents.
Soros also urged the West to take a clear position by denouncing Kuchma's behavior and discontinuing doing business with the Ukrainian president until an impartial investigation has been completed. The volume highlights problems faced by ethnic minorities in education, access to public services and media outlets, local level public participation, and linguistic rights, plus policy recommendations to encourage public administration reforms on multi-ethnic issues in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine. President Leonid Kuchma said on 6 March that state officials have one week to publicly renounce ties to the opposition or resign their posts. President Kuchma harshly criticized a draft law proposed recently by the opposition to change the constitution in order to transform Ukraine into a parliamentary republic. Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana on 6 March met in Berlin with his German counterpart Joschka Fischer and other officials to discuss bilateral relations, Romania's quest to join the EU and NATO, and the prospects of increasing German investments in Romania.