Yushchenko nominates arch-rival as PM

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko says he will put forward his opposition rival Viktor Yanukovich for the post of prime minister, ending months of political paralysis. Rival parties had struggled to agree on a coalition government after inconclusive elections in March. Yanukovich, the leader of the pro-Moscow Regions Party, was beaten by Yushchenko in the so-called Orange Revolution of 2004.

From Russian-speaking east Ukraine, Yanukovich is not as keen as Yushchenko on the country’s push for NATO and EU membership – key tenets of the Orange Revolution. Western-leaning Yushchenko says he decided to appoint Yanukovich after he agreed to sign a declaration of principles safeguarding Ukraine’s policies of closer European integration and market reforms.

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