Ukraine's parliament elected Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister tonight by the narrowest possible margin, in a striking political comeback likely to strengthen Ukraine's ties to the West and aggravate tensions with Russia.
Now the big question is whether the 47-year-old heroine of the 2004 Orange Revolution, which split the country between those who favor close ties to Moscow and those who seek greater integration with Europe, can hang onto her job.
Today marked the second time Tymoshenko has won the prime minister's post: her first stint ended after just seven months, when she was fired by her Orange Revolution partner Viktor Yushchenko.
Speaking shortly before the vote, Tymoshenko said it was critical that the two parties put their differences aside.
"Today's vote is a moment of truth for the democratic coalition," she told parliament.
Moscow openly endorsed the Orange Revolution's major foe, Viktor Yanukovych, in the 2004 presidential contest - and the Kremlin has bitterly denounced the results as part of an effort by the West to weaken and surround Russia.
But Moscow reacted with soft words, welcoming the prospect of a Cabinet taking shape in Ukraine.
Tymoshenko outraged the Kremlin in April, when the US magazine Foreign Affairs published an article in which she urged Western nations to oppose what she called Moscow's effort to restore control of its "lost empire."
More recently, she vowed to get rid of a company, half-owned by Russia's state-owned Gazprom, that acts as a middleman in Russian natural gas sales to Ukraine. She has called the sales arrangement "corrupt."
"There cannot be any mediators on the gas market," she said Tuesday.
Tymoshenko received 226 votes - the minimum required for confirmation by the 450-member parliament - from deputies in her bloc and Yushchenko's party.
US Ambassador William Taylor Tuesday called Tymoshenko's election a vote for reform."It's great to have a prime minister that we can now deal with, and we hope that this is the first step toward forming a reform-minded government," he said. "We hope there will be a stable government."
Yushchenko has consistently advocated moving the nation of 47 million closer to the West, pushing for quick membership in NATO and the European Union.