KYIV. May 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) - About 1,000 people held a march in Kyiv on Saturday organized by Orthodox Christian and pro- Russian groups to protest Ukraine's proposed entry into NATO.
"Orthodox Christians in Ukraine are categorically against Ukraine's entry into NATO as an act of drawing our country into Western culture, which is absolutely alien to us," said Pavel Baulin, deputy chairman of the Russian Movement in Ukraine, one of the groups that organized the protest.
Orthodox Christians believe "entry into NATO would lead to the loss of their Orthodox identity," he said. "Besides, everybody knows that it's an aggressive bloc, with one of the most aggressive countries in the world behind it, the U.S."
Baulin said members of the All-Ukraine Workers Union and the Ukrainian Communist Party also took part in the march, during which prayers were continuously sung and numerous icons and religious banners were carried.
Posters were also held that read, "Stop NATO aggression," "The peoples of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus are brothers," "Entry into NATO means betrayal of the memory of the perished," "The new world order only needs us as slaves," and "Shall we feed NATO soldiers?"
The march is to move through streets in the city center and end in a rally.
Copyright 2004 Interfax News Agency
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