Revolusjonen i Ukraina er en stor seier for demokratiet i Øst-Europa og Europa som helhet. For første gang har EU vist initiativ. USA har holdt seg i bakgrunnen og valgt å spille gjennom Polen.

Blant folk flest er amerikanere overmåte populære.

Most Ukrainians love the U.S., and to be an American here – any American – is to be a rock star. Protesters overhear me speaking English and line up to ask me to autograph their orange ribbons with a big «U.S.A.»

Skriver Nicholas Kristof fra Kiev. Og så kommer det: Since my father grew up in what is now southwestern Ukraine, I decided to come here to join my people – and I found that waging revolution has rarely been such fun.

Den som lidd et knustende nederlag er Putin og Kutsjma.

Mr. Putin seems to regard the Ukrainians as Russia’s serfs, bound to obey the will of their master. Mr. Putin was a co-conspirator with Ukraine’s outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma, to tilt the campaign and fix the election in favor of the pro-Moscow candidate, Viktor Yanukovich, whose criminal history (he served almost four years for robbery and assault as a young man) would make him a fine Putin stooge.

Det var ikke bare noe impulsivt og forhastet som fikk Putin til å gratulere Jakusjenko før resultatet var klart. Det var gudfaren som ville demonstrere sin makt.

Ett medlem av Valgkommisjonen i Ukraina forklarte seg torsdag for Høyesterett om hva som skjedde etter at valglokalene stengte:

In the most striking testimony, Ruslan Knyazevich, a member of the Central Election Commission, who refused to sign the official results, said that after polls closed on the night of Nov. 21, computer votes spiked. «One million more votes were thrown in,» he testified, adding that many of those came from the eastern regions where Mr. Yanukovich, who won by roughly 800,000 votes, polled strongly.

Det er interessant å legge merke til at Kristof uten å nøle betegner Russland som et kvasi-diktatur.

President Bush and other Western leaders need to make it clear to Mr. Putin that he has no right to extend his quasi dictatorship to other peoples.

We don’t need to be so solicitous of such a bully.

I was among the crowds in Independence Square when images of Mr. Putin were shown on the huge screens. The crowd yelled a deafening «boo.» We should be joining in.

Putin har tapt så det suser. Men han har falt for eget grep. Noen linjer ble klarere, og Norge bør snart våkne når det gjelder Russland.

Europa har fått et nytt medlem på 48 millioner mennesker. Det er en stor seier for folket. Forstår vi helt at dette var Ukrainas 1989?

Let My People Go

Putin Backs Ukrainian Leader, Dismissing Call for New Runoff