Kerry: 'Disturbing' Trend Of Authoritarianism In Eastern Europe

Enlarge this image toggle caption Tobias Hase/EPA/Landov Tobias Hase/EPA/Landov

Secretary of State John Kerry has criticized what he calls a "disturbing trend" among governments in eastern and central Europe to "trample the ambitions" of their people.

Speaking at an international security conference in Munich, Germany, Kerry said:

"The aspirations of citizens are once again being trampled beneath corrupt, oligarchic interests — interests that use money to stifle political opposition and dissent, to buy politicians and media outlets, and to weaken judicial independence and the rights of non-governmental organizations."

NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, reporting from Munich, says Kerry singled out the crisis in Ukraine, saying that nowhere is the fight for a democratic European future more important than there.

"The offers of President Yanukovich have not yet reached an adequate level of reform and an adequate level of sharing of the future," Kerry said.

Embattled Yanukovich, who has been the target of a months-long campaign by anti-government protesters opposed to his government's cozy relations with Moscow, signed into law an amnesty for demonstrators detained during the unrest.

But Reuters reports that the move "was not likely to be enough to end the sometimes violent anti-government protests on the streets of Kiev and other cities."

Reuters writes:

"The 63-year-old leader, who looks increasingly isolated in a tug-of-war between the West and Ukraine's former Soviet overlord Russia, suddenly withdrew from view on Thursday, complaining of a high temperature and acute respiratory ailment. He was not seen in public on Friday."

At the conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov slammed Western support of the Ukrainian opposition and suggested it was leading to the escalation of violence.

The Associated Press writes: