1995: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Ukraine in 1995: forging an identity

Overcoming an identity crisis that had relegated this country of 52 million to obscurity somewhere between Europe and Asia, in 1995 Ukraine defined itself as an emerging democracy, a new state in the center of Europe, a player in the world community to be taken seriously.

"Ukraine strengthened its international image during the last year - and this is perhaps its most important foreign policy achievement in 1995," said Foreign Minister Hennadiy Udovenko at a year-end press conference, adding that Ukraine had adjusted comfortably to the role of bridge between East and West.

He praised President Leonid Kuchma for his work in promoting Ukraine abroad, on his trips to such countries as Japan, Italy, Germany, China, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Great Britain, the United States, Denmark and states of the CIS, 17 in all, where the chief executive emphasized economic cooperation with Ukraine, encouraged investment in this potentially rich nation and urged an increase in trade relations. He also observed first hand how the market system functions.

No doubt one of the highlights of 1995, said Mr. Udovenko, was Ukraine's accession to the Council of Europe. On October 18, Ukraine became the 37th member of the CE. It was officially welcomed at a ceremony in Strasbourg on November 9.

"Ukraine views its membership in this organization as a decisive moment in matters of state-building," said Oleksander Moroz, chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament. "What does Ukraine's membership in the CE mean? ... in joining the CE, not only has Ukraine committed itself to follow the path of democracy, but CE members have committed themselves to assist Ukraine on its path. Without Ukraine, the mosaic of Europe would not be complete."

With the privilege of joining the CE came a number of responsibilities, which Ukraine will have to fulfill by the end of 1996. Although Ukraine's entry into the CE was an act of recognition of its democratic reform achievements and the restructuring of the government system that Ukraine inherited from the Soviet Union, its primary goals now include adopting a Constitution, continuing reforms to develop its legal base, and raising its legal and judicial systems to European standards. One of the requirements of the CE is the abolition of capital punishment.

The U.S. government was very generous with Ukraine in 1995, making it the fourth largest recipient of U.S. aid, but perhaps even greater support was the morale boost given to the Ukrainian people by President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who paid a two-day visit to Kyiv on May 11-12.

On the steps of Kyiv State University, on a bright and sunny May morning, just as Kyiv's chestnut trees were beginning to bloom, the American leader proclaimed:

"It is a great honor for me and for our party to be in one of Europe's oldest nations and youngest democracies. This trip, which follows my stopover here in January 1994 and President Kuchma's trip to Washington last fall, will give us an opportunity to continue the tremendous progress we have made in building strong and productive ties between our countries."

Amidst chants of "Clinton, Clinton" from the crowds who came to see the U.S. leader on Ukrainian soil, Mr. Clinton spoke of further cooperation: "You should know this: as you build your future, the United States will stand with you." President Kuchma was no less gracious in his words of welcome to the American leader, pointing out that this was the first state visit by a U.S. president to independent Ukraine. "We believe that this visit will have a special place in the annals of Ukrainian-U.S. relations," noted President Kuchma.

President Clinton was not the only U.S. government official to visit Ukraine in 1995; throughout the year tens of delegations - of various levels - visited Ukraine to talk of bilateral cooperation in many spheres, from economic, to cultural, to military.

Among other distinguished U.S. government officials visiting Ukraine was U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry, who came to Ukraine twice in 1995 and is expected in Pervomaiske again on January 5 of next year. He came to Kyiv on March 31-April 1 - his fourth trip in two years - to move past issues of nuclear disarmament to questions of social protection, security, and military and economic cooperation. He then traveled to Pervomaiske to witness the destruction of an SS-19 missile, once upon a time aimed at U.S. cities. This trip, he noted, had formed a "new and deeper bond" between the U.S. and Ukraine.

[Ukraine's last nuclear missiles are scheduled to be withdrawn from its territory to Russia before the year is out, reported Col. Gen. Igor Sergeyev, commander-in-chief of the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces. The remaining 32 SS-19 rockets have been bought by the Russian Federation.]

A priority for Ukraine's foreign policy direction was relations with the G-7. Indeed, since his election President Kuchma has visited all the countries in the group except France, where a state visit is planned for 1996.

The Ukrainian government has also worked closely with the European Union, and in early 1996, it is expected that a temporary agreement will be signed that will allow Ukraine to cooperate with the EU in trade relations.

Another European structure that Ukraine is expected to join in the near future is the Central European Initiative, and Ukraine's membership should be finalized in March.

Ukraine's parliamentarians played a significant role at the fourth annual assembly of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe, held in Ottawa on July 4-8, and participated in the adoption of amendments to resolutions concerning democracy, human rights and humanitarian questions, as well as economic affairs, science, technology and the environment.

In 1995, Ukraine defined its position regarding NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. First Deputy Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk, who later was appointed ambassador to the Benelux countries and also serves as Ukraine's representative to Brussels-based organizations like NATO, said Ukraine regards NATO as a guarantor of stability and peace, as a cornerstone for post-war Western European security. However, he noted that Ukraine's position on NATO's eastward expansion is that no country has the right to veto NATO expansion except NATO itself and the country concerned.

Ukraine was the first among the CIS countries to join the NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace in the summer of 1994. Defense Minister Valeriy Shmarov has said that he approves of NATO's go slow approach. However, he added that if NATO changed its "evolutionary policy," Ukraine, theoretically a neutral country, could find itself in the middle of two hostile camps.

Recently, Ukraine's peacekeeping troops in the former Yugoslavia, which had been involved in the mission since 1992, were transferred from the United Nations to NATO forces, under French command.

In June, 55 Ukrainians were held hostage by Bosnian Serb troops; they had been captured, divided into groups of three or four and used as human shields at NATO air raid targets. A few weeks later, peacekeepers in the U.N.-designated "safe area" of Zepa were used as a human shield by both Bosnian Serbs and the Bosnian government, while in Goradze, the Ukrainian commander of 80 troops was taken hostage by the Bosnian government. For days the situation remained extremely tense.

Ukrainian-Russian relations

Despite the fact that Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin did not make it to Ukraine in 1995, cooperation between the two neighbors actually improved during the year, and most significantly after two Sochi summits - one presidential, one military, in early June and late November, respectively.

In February, Ukrainian and Russian government delegations initialed a wide-ranging political treaty in Kyiv. Originally, the treaty was to be signed by the presidents of both countries on April 1, but the latest speculation is that Presidents Yeltsin and Kuchma may sign the treaty on January 19, in Moscow, during a CIS heads of state summit.

Initially, the signing of the treaty was stalled because of the dual citizenship issue, which Mr. Yeltsin originally had insisted be an integral part of the full-scale political treaty. When it was finally dropped, the complex issue of the division of the Black Sea Fleet became a point of contention.

When the two presidents met in Sochi in June, President Yeltsin declared that "we've closed the book on the problem of the Black Sea Fleet," and that he could come to Kyiv in the summer because they had signed an agreement bringing to an end a three-year dispute on the fate of the aging, rusty fleet.

The pact, which divided the fleet into two: the Black Sea Fleet of Russia and the Naval Forces of Ukraine, was hailed as a major breakthrough in the summer by the two leaders. However, not much else has been done since.

However, the Sochi talks in late November between the defense ministers of Ukraine and Russia, Mr. Shmarov and Pavel Grachev, did indeed signal a new phase in relations between the two countries, as the governments decided to work "removing obstacles, working from the bottom up, step by step."

Although Ukraine worked on bilateral relations with member-states of the Commonwealth of Independent States, it had little to do with any CIS unions and structures, preferring to remain an associate member, or hold observer status.

President Kuchma traveled to the yearly summit of CIS heads of state in Almaty in 1995, but he voiced skepticism concerning the CIS, calling it an "amorphous structure." He said he viewed structures such as the CIS as "ones without any prospects."

Talk of the CIS was absent throughout much of the year, and a heated debate only emerged at the end of 1995, as the Ukrainian Parliament put accession to the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly on the fall session's agenda.

It seemed almost as if the left-wing forces wanted to finagle a favor out of the Supreme Council for agreeing to join the Council of Europe. But even Supreme Council Chairman Moroz, who supports joining the CIS-IPA, could not be coerced into the scheme, saying that lawmakers who wanted to link the CE accession to the CIS-IPA issue were "illogical."

The debate on the accession to the Interparliamentary Assembly proved to be such a thorny issue that democrats in the legislature, who see joining the CIS-IPA as a step back in time that will try to bring back the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, stalemated the work of the session for close to three weeks, refusing to register and take part in daily plenary meetings.

Finally, they won the argument temporarily - at least until the 1996 state budget is passed.

Domestic affairs

When Prime Minister Vitaliy Masol, regarded as a Soviet holdover in Mr. Kuchma's progressive government, had stepped down as Ukraine's prime minister on March 1, Yevhen Marchuk was named acting prime minister. He was named prime minister by decree on June 8.

In other developments, the draft law on government powers, which was passed on December 28, 1994, as envisioned by President Kuchma was intended to give the president more power, such as the authority to form a Cabinet of Ministers without the approval of the Parliament, to disband the Parliament if the legislature disagrees twice with a government plan of action and to veto legislation passed by the Parliament.

President Kuchma worked hard for six months, lobbying the various factions in Parliament, even threatening to hold a national plebiscite on the powers bill. Parliament finally came to an agreement, resolving the deadlock on the division of powers and signing a constitutional accord on June 7.

The constitutional accord, toasted with champagne at a lavish signing ceremony between the president and the Parliament chairman on June 8, canceled the president's plan to hold a plebiscite, and serves as a "petit Constitution" until a new Constitution is drawn-up and accepted by the Parliament. The accord is in force until June 1996, when a new Constitution is to be adopted.

The constitutional accord gave President Kuchma a free hand in naming a new government; the first Kuchma government had resigned on April 4, the result of a power struggle between the largely conservative legislature and the reform-minded president.

With his new powers, President Kuchma appointed what some government critics have called "the Dream Team," while others have dubbed them the "Young Turks." On July 3, Mr. Kuchma, with Premier Marchuk at his side, named a new government that was expected to continue a policy of economic reforms. (Although Viktor Pynzenyk was named a bit later to the post of deputy prime minister in charge of economic reforms, he is also in the new government, as are Roman Shpek, Mr. Shmarov, Yuriy Kostenko, Volodymyr Horbulin.)

President Kuchma has remained steadfast in his commitment to reform - making him the darling of the Western world. Just last month, he stressed the irreversibility of the course of economic reforms. Expressing cautious optimism regarding Ukraine's progress along this path, he told reporters there would be no going back. "There is no alternative to our economic reform course, and the transformation of our economy is irreversible."

President Kuchma was skillful also in handling such domestic problems as the restive Crimean Autonomous Republic. By the end of the year a certain calm had overtaken the peninsula, and relations between the capitals of Symferopil and Kyiv were cordial.

Overall, however, studies and reports issued in 1995 continued to paint a bleak picture of Ukraine.

A U.N. human development report, released for the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in March, showed that in Ukraine unemployment is soaring, disease is spreading and life expectancy is falling. The report stated that Ukraine is 52nd among 173 countries in terms of living standards, and since 1991 living standards have fallen by 80 percent.

As some pensioners receive no more than $20 a month, and most government workers have not received their wages since September, it is no wonder that a survey released by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, working with the U.S. International Foundation for Electoral Systems, found that 91.7 percent of Ukrainians are dissatisfied with the current situation in Ukraine.

However, an overwhelming majority also expressed hope for the future - as 84.9 percent agreed that "we must educate young people about the democratic process - so they can help make good decisions about our future."

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, December 31, 1995, No. 53, Vol. LXIII

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