The Calling of Names

From the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, some fragments of Saturday's Russian NTV programme about the Kiev meeting of countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

Gleb Pavlovsky: In Kiev there has taken place the so-called forum of the Democratic Community, in which the president of Ukraine, on the president of Georgia's initiative, is organizing some bloc on the territory of Eastern Europe. In it there are countries that border one of the three seas [he is referring to the Community of Democratic Choice established in Kiev on Friday, although the criterion for its membership was democratic convictions, not any geographic location - Ed.] It’s surpising that Russia is the only country which borders the three seas but she's not in this bloc.

Natalia Vitrenko (the host of this programme – head of the [anti-western] Ukrainian Progressive Socialist Party): It's an old idea of the West, to create this Baltic- Black Sea corridor, the bow that would press Russia. The West appointed to the bloc its puppet presidents Saakashvili, Yushchenko, Adamkus, Kwasniewski was there - and they have really created this block [Poland was represented not by her president, but by Bogdan Borusewicz - speaker of the Senate - Ed.] Our nation has very nicely described this creature with the name of SUKA [bitch] i.e. Saakashvili, Yuschchenko, Kwasniewski, Adamkus. When I my interview to a Polish journalist yesterday, she asked me why such an offending word had been chosen. I replied - what's offensive about it – it’s just an abbreviation of the first letters of their surnames.

Pavlovsky laughs.

Vitrenko: - Well, that's the name people have given it, because that is the purpose of this bloc. Why do they bark at Russia? To cajole the West. Kwasniewski is out of the game, feelings in Poland have changed a bit, and now they want to strenghten the bloc, bringing in other countries.

Pavlovsky: But [the new] president of Poland still has a surname that begins with the letter K, so the abbreviation won't change.

Vitrenko: The abbreviation won't change and neither will the whole purpose of this Commonwealth.

(tr. Marius, my editing)