Krachtig taalgebruik oppositie Oekraïne (en)

Ukraine political rivals this week for the first time used force in a dispute over a key legal appointment, with analysts alarmed by the escalating crisis in the EU neighbour state.

The former-Soviet country of 48 million people was shocked on Thursday (24 May) by images of special police forces loyal to prime minister Viktor Yanukovych surrounding the office of prosecutor general Svyatoslav Piskun in Kiev.

The move - to reinstate Mr Piskun - came after he was dismissed by president Viktor Yushchenko. The prosecutor said his dismissal was political revenge for refusing to take action against three anti-Yushchenko constitutional court judges.

Following the events, president Yushchenko called an emergency session of his national security council and said "this is an attempt at a quiet coup d'etat." Yushchenko-loyal defence minister Anatoly Hrytsenko said the army might be used "if events unfold in a dangerous direction."

Meanwhile, prime minister Yanukovych cut short a trip to south Ukraine and sped back to Kiev. His Party of the Regions said in a statement that Mr Yushchenko's actions "suggests that a military scenario of power seizure is now being implemented in Ukraine."

The complex dispute began two months ago, when pro-EU and NATO president Yushchenko dissolved parliament and called snap elections, saying the Russia-friendly prime minister Yanukovych was bribing MPs to defect to his side, undermining democracy.

But the rivalry dates back to the 2004 Orange Revolution, when president Yushchenko ousted Mr Yanukovych from power following fake elections. Mr Yanukovych in 2006 returned to government in free and fair elections.

Ukraine in limbo

The situation has paralysed Ukraine's highest state organs: pro-Yanukovych MPs deny parliament has been dissolved; president Yushchenko says the constitutional court is compromised and the Central Electoral Commission has taken collective sick leave.

"It's difficult to know what is going on. The president and prime minister hold hours-long talks almost every day. Things go quiet for a while and everybody thinks there will be a solution. Then suddenly it gets worse," a Ukraine official said.

Thursday's events at the prosecutor general's office have alarmed Polish analysts, such as Pawel Wolowski of Warsaw's Eastern Studies Institute. "A certain threshold has been breached - security organs have been used to bring into life a decision of one the sides of the conflict," he told Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza.

"I just hope somebody's nerves don't crack and that it really doesn't come to sending soldiers out onto the streets, because, unfortunately, in this country everything is possible," Andrzej Gil of the Central and Eastern Europe Institute in Lublin told the newspaper.

Semblance of normality

The EU has repeatedly called for calm and warned that the deadlock will delay agreement on a new EU-Ukraine treaty and free trade deal. But some semblance of normality remains, with Ukraine diplomats in Brussels on Thursday holding a regular round of treaty talks.

"This situation is internal. It doesn't necessarily impact on foreign policy," another Ukraine official said.

Analysts and officials believe a Yushchenko-Yanukovych political deal is still possible, pointing to the fact the two leaders have remained in close personal contact throughout the turbulent past eight weeks.

Earlier on Thursday, ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko sparked interest by saying the pair have agreed on a date for the early general elections. "I know this date but I am not authorised to make it public. Let them do it," she said, Interfax reports.