New Year address: Kuchma looks to '96 with optimism (01/07/96)

New Year address

Kuchma looks to '96 with optimism

by Marta Kolomayets
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - In a televised New Year's Eve greeting, which has become a tradition in Ukraine, President Leonid Kuchma toasted Ukrainians around the world, wishing them a happy New Year and all the best during the Christmas holidays.

In a six-minute message broadcast just minutes before midnight on December 31, the Ukrainian leader reflected on the past year and told Ukrainian citizens that he looks to 1996 with optimism.

"The year 1995, which is coming to a finish, was the continuation of a difficult trial period for the Ukrainian people, as Ukraine attempts for the third time to achieve its renaissance," said President Kuchma.

"1995 will be recorded in the annals of history as the year that radical reforms were undertaken in Ukraine, as it tried to find its place in the family of developed nations," he continued.

The Ukrainian leader noted that he is "firmly convinced that if Ukraine stays on the course of reforms it has undertaken, then in 1996, dear countrymen, the majority of you will feel changes for the better."

"But to sow illusions that our social problems will be solved immediately is irresponsible, amoral and very dangerous," he cautioned.

"And, may our fears about the fate of Ukraine multiply our vigor and unite us into one big family. We want the kind of future where the individual will be number one, because without this we have no state. For me personally, the idea of a motherland loses its sense if it is detached from concrete people, when it does not include the life of every family," he explained.

President Kuchma said that 1995 once again underscored the wisdom - through the centuries - of the Ukrainian people and their level headedness. "Your dignity and patience neutralized any attempts at discord," he said, adding that "we were able to forgo the worst - political crisis."

President Kuchma noted that this was due to the constitutional accord signed between the president and the Parliament, which laid the foundation for a strong Ukrainian state. He added that he hoped 1996 would be the year that Ukraine adopts a new constitution - a constitution that will make Ukraine a well-known and respected state.

"I greet 1996 with a feeling of immense pride in my people, with a feeling of deep gratitude to all of you for your faith and patience, and with a feeling of strong hope for a calm and happy life for all."

President Kuchma extended special greetings to Ukraine's older generation, those "who carried upon their shoulders the heavy burden of this difficult century," with the wish that the "autumn of their lives be warm and calm."

He also had warm words for the youth of Ukraine - the country's future expressing hope that "1996 bring them success, faithful friends, confidence in themselves and passionate feelings."

President Kuchma also turned to the women of Ukraine - mothers, wives, sisters and mends (podruhy) - noting that they are the foundation 0f this country, without whom Ukraine could not survive.

Special words of thanks were extended to those who could not be part of the New Year festivities - those who are protecting Ukraine's streets and Ukraine's borders. In conclusion, President Kuchma also greeted all of Ukraine's citizens, its educators, its workers, its peasants, etc.

"On the eve of the New Year, let us try to cast aside everything petty, overcome personal differences and come to understand that what unites us is much more important than what disunites us. This concerns, first of all, politicians, representatives of political parties, organizations and religious confessions. We all have one history, one motherland," he emphasized.

"May Ukraine be the mother for all of those millions of Ukrainians who have been dispersed throughout the world. Our dear countrymen, please accept New Year's greetings from this land of ours," concluded President Kuchma.

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