Ukrainians from 46 countries represented at World Forum (08/31/97)

Ukrainians from 46 countries represented at World Forum

by Khristina Lew
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Despite calls from leaders of Ukrainian organizations worldwide to work in a coordinated fashion for the good of Ukraine, the second World Forum of Ukrainians held in Kyiv on August 21-24 ended in conflict to the strains of Ukraine's national anthem "Shche Ne Vmerla Ukraina."

The four-day forum, titled "In Cooperation and Unity We Enter the 21st Century," brought together Ukrainians from 46 countries to review the work of the Ukrainian World Coordinating Council (UWCC), the umbrella body for Ukrainian organizations worldwide created at the first World Forum of Ukrainians, which was held in Kyiv as well, in August 1992, and to chart a course of organizational activity into the 21st century.

The event was jointly organized by the UWCC, a government committee created to organize the event and the Ukraina Society, an organization that maintains ties with Ukrainians in the diaspora.

The 650 delegates, 200 from the Eastern diaspora, 200 from the Western diaspora and 250 from Ukraine, and over 1,000 invited guests met in plenary sessions at the Ukraina Palace of Culture, worked in sections and roundtables at Kyiv State University, attended concerts, viewed films and participated in an ecumenical prayer service to mark the sixth anniversary of Ukraine's independence.

Most of the activity centered around two days of work in sections and roundtables that focused on issues of concern to the Ukrainian diaspora and community leaders in Ukraine: the protection of ethnic identity; the role of the diaspora in facilitating economic ties between Ukraine and other countries; cooperation between the diaspora and Ukraine in the sphere of science; the Ukrainian women's movement and problems encountered in Ukrainian families; ecology, health and Ukrainian medicine; the spiritual unification of Ukraine's Churches; Ukraine's national security; youth; the Ukrainian language; and legal and political issues that affect Ukrainians worldwide.

The work of the forum was disorganized. Delegates arriving at their Left Bank hotels on August 20 waited three hours to officially register for the event; activities were canceled and venues changed with no further information; tickets for the Independence Day gathering, concerts and banquets were hard to come by; voting procedures at the plenary session were ambiguous.

The second World Forum of Ukrainians was officially opened on August 21, and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma gave a 40-minute state-of-the-state address. Mr. Kuchma outlined Ukraine's achievements and shortcomings, urged all Orthodox Churches in Ukraine to unite into one Church, called upon Ukrainians in the West to facilitate economic cooperation between Ukraine and their respective countries, and encouraged the Western diaspora to work more closely with the Eastern diaspora in creating schools and assisting in the promotion of the Ukrainian language.

The Ukrainian President reminded the audience that "since 1991, Ukrainians abroad stopped becoming a diaspora without a nation" and applauded the efforts of Ukrainians in the West who maintained their Ukrainian identity.

Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksander Moroz acknowledged forum delegates, "some of whom represent organizations such as the Ukrainian National Association, which is 100 years old," as the "message-bearers to the world about Ukraine's potential." The delegate who represented the Ukrainian National Association was Wolodymyr Sochan, also a member of the forum's Nominating Committee.

Ivan Drach, head of both the Ukrainian World Coordinating Council and the Ukraina Society, gave a rousing speech in which he criticized Ukraine's former prime ministers, "who have aspirations of becoming the next Ukrainian president," and criticized the Ukrainian contingent of the UWCC (the council has 14 representatives from Ukraine, and 14 representatives each from the Eastern and Western diaspora) and the government committee created to organize the forum, which could only afford to pay 20 people to organize the event.

"Many people feel that we live not in a democracy, but in an untransformed remnant of the former Soviet Union. The Ukrainian state will not be built by the president, or the Verkhovna Rada, or the government. We alone can build the Ukrainian state," he said.

The forum was then addressed by leaders of the larger umbrella organizations, among them: Dr. Dmytro Cipiwnyk, president, World Congress of Ukrainians; Oksana Bryzhun-Sokolyk, president, World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations; Jurij Rejt, chairman, European Congress of Ukrainians; Askold Lozynskyj, president, Ukrainian Congress Committee of America; Dr. Bohdan Shebunchak, chairman of the National Council of the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council; and Oleksander Rudenko-Desniak, head of the Association of Ukrainians in Russia.

Notable was the address of Mr. Rudenko-Desniak who chastised forum participants for not following through on commitments made to the Eastern diaspora at the first World Forum of Ukrainians.

The remainder of the day and the following day were devoted to work in sections and roundtables.

The forum convened its concluding plenary session on August 23, during which time each section and roundtable put forth its recommendations and resolutions. Almost every section and roundtable recommended that the Ukrainian government recognize the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists-Ukrainian Insurgent Army (OUN-UPA) as a warring side against the Soviets and Germans in the second world war.

Mykhailo Horyn, representing the resolutions committee, then proposed that every recommendation and resolution proposed by the sections and roundtables be accepted as official documents of the forum, and his proposal was approved.

Mr. Horyn read the 11-page resolution of the second World Forum of Ukrainians, which called for, among other things: the use of the Ukrainian language in all spheres of life; both the Eastern and Western diaspora's assistance in creating a positive image of Ukraine; and assistance to Ukrainians in the Eastern diaspora.

A majority of delegates voted to approve the resolution with applause. After the approval of the resolution, National Deputy Slava Stetsko proposed that government recognition of OUN-UPA should be included in the general resolution. Mr. Horyn reminded her that the forum had approved a measure to treat all recommendations and resolutions of sections and roundtables as official documents of the forum, not resolutions from the floor.

Mr. Lozynskyj then proposed that recognition of OUN-UPA be included in the general resolution. His proposal was approved.

From that point on, streams of delegates approached the podium to put forth additional resolutions. On several occasions Mykola Zhulynskyi, head of the Nominating Committee, attempted to approach the podium to put forth a list of candidates for the new leadership of the Ukrainian World Coordinating Council. In an attempt to assist Mr. Zhulynksyi, Mr. Lozynskyj blocked other people from having access to the microphone in order to let Mr. Zhulynskyi address the forum.

Mr. Zhulynskyi proposed a list of 14 candidates each from Ukraine, the Eastern diaspora and the Western diaspora as one slate. Delegates objected, insisting that they wanted to vote for each group of candidates separately.

When the vote was called, it was not clear whether those who raised their hands in support of the single slate of candidates were delegates or simply guests. A little more than half of the auditorium voted to approve the candidates. When objections began to be raised about the voting procedure, the Ukrainian national anthem was played on the public announcement system, and the plenary session was officially closed.

Delegates then attended a concert and closing banquet attended by Vice Prime Minister Valerii Smolii and Yevhen Kushniarov, head of the President's administration.

| Home Page |