IOC president declares the 21st Winter Olympic games closed.

VANCOUVER, March 1 (Itar-Tass) -- President of the International
Olympic Committee Jaqcues Rogge has declared the 21st Winter Olympic Games
over.
The relay for holding the next 22nd Winter Olympic Games was handed
over to Sochi.


. Yanukovich to pay first foreign visit to Brussels.

KIEV, March 1 (Itar-Tass) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich will
on Monday pay the first foreign visit to Brussels in his capacity as the
head of state to meet high-ranking EU officials.
"The visit's main purpose is to show the new president's devotion to
Ukraine's European choice," Sergei Levochkin, the Ukrainian president's
administration chief, said in an interview with a British newspaper. For
their part, leading political scientists in Kiev believe that Yanukovich
wants the European Union to demonstrate its support for Ukraine and
simultaneously dispel a myth on unconditional support by democratic Europe
for Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko.
At a recent working meeting the foreign ministers of the EU member
countries agreed that the European Union should closely interact with
President Viktor Yanukovich and the new administration in Kiev. An
official communique said that the ministers had made a long-sighted
decision, following the results of Ukraine's presidential elections and
the European Union's future relations with Ukraine. The report also
stressed the need of political and economic reforms in Ukraine.
The program of Yanukovich's one day visit doesn't include his meeting
with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. At the same time,
according to NATO's official spokesperson, NATO will continue supporting
political changes in Ukraine, help it to carry out a military reform and
contribute to further rapprochement.
Later this week, on March 5, President Yanukovich is planning to visit
Moscow. The Ukrainian president's first deputy administration chief, Irina
Akimova, believes that gas agreements will be one of the main topics for
discussion.
"The Ukrainian side will without fail raise the question of gas
agreements, prices for gas and organization of cooperation in the gas
transportation system," Akimova went on to say.

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