Campaign to nominate Kuchma for Nobel prize launched (12/08/96)

Campaign to nominate Kuchma for Nobel prize launched

MISSISSAGUA, Ontario - In an attempt to realize the Ukrainian community's aspiration for a Ukrainian Nobel Prize laureate, the Petro Jacyk Educational Foundation has initiated a campaign for the nomination of President Leonid Kuchma for the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his active support of global nuclear non-proliferation and his prominent role in combating and reducing the threat of global nuclear catastrophe.

The foundation's nomination letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee was co-signed by seven prominent professors, representing prestigious universities in North America, Great Britain and Japan, who support the view that President Kuchma has played a pivotal role in the process of Ukraine's ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Ukrainian Parliament's decision to surrender and destroy Ukraine's powerful nuclear arsenal. President Kuchma is the first representative of Ukraine to ever be officially nominated for the Nobel Prize. Following his nomination, the Petro Jacyk Foundation has approached several Novel Prize laureates and prominent scholars with the request that they back the foundation's initiative with their own letters of support.

The Petro Jacyk Educational Foundation is a charitable organization established by well-known Canadian businessman and philanthropist Peter Jacyk with the aim of providing the most effective support for the development of Ukrainian scholarship and education, and for the dissemination of objective scholarly information about Ukraine in international academic circles. The foundation was instrumental in the establishment of Ukrainian studies programs and scholarly centers at prominent universities in New York, London, Edmonton, Cambridge, Mass., (Harvard) and Toronto. These institutions develop and implement research and educational programs in Ukrainian studies, educate the next generation of scholars and professors in the field, produce important publications about Ukraine, its history, culture and current international status, organize international scholarly conferences and educational programs about Ukraine for Western diplomats and businessmen, etc. Taking advantage of its well-established contacts within the international academic community, the foundation has become actively involved in several important projects which promise to have a marked influence on the formation of a new international attitude toward Ukraine and Ukrainians.

Presently, one of the foundation's most important tasks is the English-language publication of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's History of Ukraine-Rus'.

The nomination letter to the Nobel Committee was prepared by foundation coordinator Dr. Marko Stech. For more information about the foundation, please contact: Petro Jacyk Educational Foundation, 1260 Eglinton Ave. East, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L4W 1K8, telephone: (905) 238-0467, fax: (905) 625-8445.

The text of the nomination letter follows:

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Honorable Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee,

We, the undersigned, hereby express our support for the nomination of Leonid Kuchma, president of Ukraine, for the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his active policy for the implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in Europe and his prominent role in the process of reducing the global nuclear threat. Formerly a high-level official in the Soviet nuclear arms industry, President Kuchma voluntarily relinquished this role and became the principal advocate of the Ukrainian Parliament's decision to surrender and destroy Ukraine's powerful nuclear arsenal. Today, he is one of the world's foremost political figures to champion the cause of global nuclear disarmament.

Recently, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize to Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs in recognition of their total dedication to the cause of nuclear non-proliferation. In the case of President Kuchma and the Ukrainian Parliament, the cause of nuclear disarmament has been taken to a new level in the international power hierarchy since it is being actively and officially propagated by the state. Adding to the fundamental significance of Ukraine's decision is the fact that Ukraine was the third largest nuclear power, surpassed only by the United States and the Russian Federation. President Kuchma's and the Ukrainian Parliament's courageous act in favor of global peace sets an example for all other nations of the world.

The decision to renounce and destroy Ukraine's nuclear weapons capability is all the more remarkable and commendable when examined within the context of regional security. Under President Kuchma's leadership, Ukraine has been striving toward expanding and strengthening its independence and in the process has often encountered external threats to its national security.

However, in the important international issue of nuclear non-proliferation, President Kuchma decided to put Ukraine's commitment to international peace ahead of its own defensive military capability and thus played a crucial role in the process of Ukraine's ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

President Kuchma's commitment to national and international peace is also confirmed by his government's internal policies and Ukraine's leading role in Eastern Europe in the areas of human rights and national minority rights. Apart from the Baltic states, Ukraine is the only former Soviet republic which has obtained and preserved its independence without civil strife, and which continues to be politically stable today.

We strongly believe that President Kuchma's contribution to the process of global nuclear disarmament and the cause of peaceful co-existence between nations deserves the highest possible international recognition. Furthermore, we are firmly convinced that once you, the Honorable Members of the Nobel Committee, have had the opportunity to examine and analyze President Kuchma's political history and record of achievement, you will also assent to the validity of our position.