colder. Establishing a political bloc could help opposition parties preserve informal networks created
during rallies as they prepare for the presidential election in early 2015. The new bloc, however, lacks a clear
leader, being co-chaired by Klitschko, Tyahnybok, Arseny Yatsenyuk, head of Batkivshchyna (Fatherland)
party, and Yulia Tymoshenko, a jailed former prime
minister and Batkivshchyna’s first leader. The lack of
tangible achievements is wearing down protesters,
said Mykhailo Pohrebinsky of the Kiev Center of Political Research. But it could also push some towards
more radical action and spark violence.
Ukrainian opposition leaders urged supporters at a
rally on Sunday to stay on Kiev’s main square through
New Year and Christmas, as street protests appeared
to be losing momentum. About 100,000 people gathered at Kiev’s Independence Square to demonstrate
for the fifth weekend in a row against President Viktor Yanukovich’s decision to shelve a trade deal the
European Union and pursue closer ties with Russia.
Although it was a relatively strong showing - enough
to fill the square and adjacent streets - the number
was the lowest this month, and around half the previous weekend’s turnout which was estimated at up to
200,000 people. In the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s
calendar, Christmas falls on January 7.
Seeking to consolidate the protest movement, leaders of major opposition parties said they were establishing a nationwide political movement called
Maidan, a reference to the Ukrainian name of the
protest site, Maidan Nezalezhnosti. However, despite
securing support from Western powers and many of
Kiev’s inhabitants - who are donating money, food
and other supplies - the protests have failed to deter Yanukovich. Last week, he secured a $15 billion
bailout from Russia along with a hefty price cut for
natural gas, which Ukraine imports from its neighbor
to heat homes and fuel industry. The initial euphoria
- prompted by huge rallies and protesters’ ability to
repel riot police - is wearing thin, and keeping people on the streets will become harder, especially with
holidays approaching and the weather likely to get
Thousands of Swedes took to the streets of Stockholm on Sunday in a protest against racism following a
neo-Nazi attack on a similar but much smaller rally last
weekend. The protest followed events last weekend
when arou