Damn those Ukrainians

As if being a fledgling new democracy is not enough, now, the recently emancipated people of Ukraine gets to have the most gorgeous Prime Minister in the world, hands-down. I am totally green with envy right now. Well, traditionally, the role of a Ukrainian PM is titular but I'm sure that will change when Yulia Tymoshenko takes over the office, possibly rivaling the powerful nature of the role of the PM in France. Rest assured that the new President, Viktor Yuschenko, is still the most powerful politician in Ukraine but Yulia is definitely the most popular (and the most good-looking too.)

Anyone that knows a senior minister of any country in the world that rivals the beauty of Yulia Tymoshenko please indulge me at once. No, Claire Short of the UK is not cute, and neither does Condi Rice, the US's new Secretary of State, or Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka. I think Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan is quite beautiful but she is out-of-power now and living in exile in London.

Anyway, I've been reading about Yulia for the past few years now since the day I was so awe-struck by a picture of her in the NY Times back in 2001 after she was released from prison-- a stunningly beautiful female politician does exist! Also, there was this Ukrainian woman that used to work as a part-time bookkeeper in my old office and it was kind of cool engaging her in talks about Ukrainian affairs, especially when she hasn't been back there in ages.

The Times at the time did a large piece on the opposition political forces in the Ukraine that were up against the iron-fisted rule of Leonid Kuchma. Yulia was this fiery, feisty, almost demagogic opposition leader, who broke away from the ruling coalition in the Parliament and formed her own political bloc.

I still cannot imagine this sweet and innocent-looking 44-year old mother of one standing up on the podium giving grandiloquent fire-and-brimstone speeches about the Ukrainian rotten state of affairs.

Yulia, you can talk my ears off any time, babe! Especially when my Russian vocabulary only comprises of three words: Da (Yes), Nyet (No), and Dosvidaniya (Good-bye).