2006年VOA标准英语-Crimea Cautiously Welcomes New Ukraine Governme

By Lisa McAdams
Feodosia, Crimea
09 August 2006

Many in Ukraine, particularly in the Russian-speaking south and east, remain hostile to the United States - their former Cold War foe¹. Russia has warned that relations between the neighbors would suffer if Ukraine joined NATO. In one such territory, Feodosia, protests broke out in June on the arrival of a U.S. cargo² vessel³ ahead of scheduled NATO training exercises.

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Entrance to Feodosia port, site of recent mass protests against Ukraine's membership bid to join NATO  
  
The anti-NATO demonstrations⁴ across Ukraine's southern autonomous⁵ region of Crimea in May and June were the first such protests of any kind in this sleepy port city on the Black Sea. Still, they lasted nearly one month and brought well over 2,000 people into the streets. There, they burned American flags and chanted "USA go home."

Opponents of President Viktor Yushchenko have been energized⁶ by his party's humiliating, third-place finish in March parliamentary elections, and the difficulty of the country's various parties to put together a governing coalition⁷. Mr. Yushchenko has made NATO membership a top priority and has been pushing for potential partners to commit to that goal.

Anatoly Sitkov in his office in port city of Feodosia  
  
One opponent, Anatoly Sitkov, first secretary of Feodosia's Communist party, says Ukraine's recent pro-Western moves under President Yushchenko are not to be taken lightly, especially when it comes to the question of Ukraine joining NATO.

Sitkov says Crimea has no ill will toward the West, America in particular, but he says, all the same, Crimea does not want to host all these foreign troops.

He says there are only two real powers in the world today, the United States and Russia and, in his view, these exercises risk breaking that delicate balance as Russia remains⁸ firmly opposed to NATO. He says he also opposed the NATO bombing campaign in former Yugoslavia years back and would not like to see Crimea drawn⁹ into similar situations in the future.

At the same time, Sitkov says, he takes some comfort in the fact that the recent unity¹⁰ agreement, signed by President Yushchenko and returning Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, establishes that a national referendum must be held before any decision is made on Ukraine's bid for membership in NATO.

Sitkov says his party will participate in a referendum, if and when it is held. But he says the West should still expect more protests in Crimea.

 
The port in Feodosia, Crimea, site of recent anti-NATO protests
  
Viktor Buleyko, a war veteran, tells VOA that there is no practical reason for NATO troops to come to Crimea.

"The only reason they would need to do so," he says, "is as a first step to 'occupy' the Black Sea. After that it will then be possible for NATO to attack Russia."

"What help can we expect to get from these troops," Buleyko cries, visibly disturbed. "Crimea is not Iraq, not Iran, not Israel. It is Ukraine," he says, "and standing¹¹ with us is Russia."

Alexander Evanovsky, a soldier with Crimea's border guard service, too, expresses support for the recent protests.

"Wherever NATO goes, there is war," the soldier says. "But our people are for peace. We do not need foreign troops here."

Evanovsky also rejects the notion that NATO might be a good thing for Crimea if, for example, it shared updated training and equipment. "I have all that I need," he replies tersely¹².

Pensioner¹³ Valentina Leontyevna remembers the night the U.S. ship came into Feodosia's port. She says people protested in the streets for nearly 30 days, sleeping in tents they pitched in a park adjacent to the port. The protests forced the cancellation¹⁴ of at least six scheduled exercises.

Valentina says the people of her town cautiously welcome the confirmation¹⁵ of pro-Russia Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

"We need to wait and see what he does," she says, and then wishes aloud that he had not signed the national unity pact¹⁶ with Ukraine's president. It calls for allowing foreign troops to hold training exercises in Ukraine, such as those the people of Feodosia managed to halt through protests.

After twice rejecting such legislation, Ukraine's parliament, or Rada, this week approved the exercises, the first of which started on Monday in Ukraine's region of Nikolayev. At least three other international anti-terrorism training sessions will be staged in September.

Asked how they will react if foreign troops again come to their shores, the people of Feodosia are clear. They say if Ukraine ultimately opens its windows to the West (i.e. NATO) as appears, it must be sure not to close the door to Russia.

1 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

2 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

3 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

4 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

5 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

6 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

7 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

10 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 tersely   

adv. 简捷地, 简要地

参考例句：

• Nixon proceeded to respond, mercifully more tersely than Brezhnev. 尼克松开始作出回答了。幸运的是，他讲的比勃列日涅夫简练。
• Hafiz Issail tersely informed me that Israel force had broken the young cease-fire. 哈菲兹·伊斯梅尔的来电简洁扼要，他说以色列部队破坏了刚刚生效的停火。

13 pensioner   

n.领养老金的人

参考例句：

• The tax threshold for a single pensioner is$ 445.单身领退休年金者的纳税起点为445英镑。
• It was the pensioner's vote late in the day that influenced the election of Mr.Sweet.最后是领取养老金者的选票影响了斯威特先生的当选。

14 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

15 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

16 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。