Ukraine marks 80th anniversary of Western Ukrainian National Republic

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

LVIV - The Ukrainian government officially acknowledged for the first time the legitimacy of the 1918 Western Ukrainian National Republic (WUNR) with a visit here by President Leonid Kuchma on November 1 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the formation of the short-lived state.

Appearing before a packed auditorium of political, cultural and business dignitaries at the Lviv Opera House, President Kuchma made it clear that his government now recognizes the contributions of the western Ukrainian state toward Ukraine's democratic development.

"In its significance, political ramifications and impact on the future development of Ukraine, the establishment of the WUNR foretold of the coming freedom," said President Kuchma. He called the declaration of the WUNR in the wake of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's collapse "the revival of Ukrainian national statehood after a break of many centuries."

In more than seven years of independence, no Ukrainian government leader had officially acknowledged the existence of the Western Ukrainian government, which lasted for less than three months before it willingly united with the government of the Ukrainian National Republic in Kyiv on January 22, 1919, although it did keep its own governmental structure.

The president brought along a large political contingent to this city, often called the western capital of Ukraine. With him for the one-day visit were: Second Vice-Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Viktor Medvedchuk, Vice Prime Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Valerii Smolii, Minister of Foreign Affairs Borys Tarasyuk, Minister of Defense Oleksander Kuzmuk, Minister of Internal Affairs Yurii Kravchenko and Minister of Information Zinovii Kulyk, as well as Lviv Mayor Vasyl Kuibida and Kyiv Mayor Oleksander Omelchenko.

Also seated on the dais were representatives of the strongest political parties of the Lviv Oblast, including a large contingent of leaders of the Rukh Party and National Deputy Slava Stetsko from the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists.

In his address, President Kuchma smoothly made the transition from the past to the present. He complimented the leaders of the WUNR for putting political differences aside in order to build a strong Ukrainian state and called on today's political leaders to follow their example.

He quoted Symon Petliura, the supreme commander of the Ukrainian National Republic Army and the president of the Directory of the UNR: "Symon Petliura in a letter found not long ago in the national archives, which he wrote shortly before his demise, said, 'First of all we need a common understanding, without which we will not be able to mobilize for our common cause.' These words are accurate today, as well," said President Kuchma.

The president added, "Let's think about this: that in the eighth year of independence there still are divisions between the east and west [of Ukraine]."

He called the legacy of the WUNR "great but tragic" and stated that the mistakes as well as the accomplishments of the western Ukrainian government must be remembered.

Taking a political swipe at his political opponents in Ukraine's Communist Party, President Kuchma said, "We cannot repeat history, even though there are those today who want that."

The president also put the Verkhovna Rada, which is dominated by Communists, on notice that he would consider strengthening executive authority if the Parliament does not begin to build political coalitions and move away from the paralysis that has characterized its work in the last seven months. He said there are factions in Parliament that are trying to move legislation forward, but that they are being obstructed by "those who want to destroy, not build."

"The Verkhovna Rada must decide whether it can work effectively, or not. If not, then its authority must be transferred to the president or the Cabinet of Ministers," said President Kuchma.

While tipping his hat to the large representation of Rukh leaders and followers in the audience and on the dais when he alluded to the influence that Rukh as a political movement had on the path to independence in 1991, he also subtly criticized the party's continued internal bickering, which has made it politically ineffective at times.

"The separatist movement that exploded in Ukraine was a natural result of the years of forbidden independence and free will, which burst like a dam and pouring forth into all of its various streams," said President Kuchma. "Now that water must be harnessed."

Turning to foreign policy, the president underlined that Ukraine will continue to steer a course between NATO in the West and Moscow in the East. "Our foreign policy is not supposed to be pro-NATO, or pro-Moscow, but a policy that is pro-Ukraine."

Speaking of the Ukrainian-Polish war that followed the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, President Kuchma said that holding historical enmities would do Ukraine no good. "I am not calling for historical amnesia," explained President Kuchma. "I am calling for tolerance and understanding. What happened, happened. There is no reason to re-ignite bad memories. Poland today is our good friend and strategic partner."

The Kyiv press called the trip to Lviv a political visit and has proclaimed it the beginning of the presidential election season. In fact, President Kuchma spent what for him was an inordinate amount of time shaking hands with residents of Lviv.

After placing a wreath at the monument to Ukraine's national bard, Taras Shevchenko, located in the city center's Freedom Square, the president decided to walk the 300 meters to the Lviv Opera House. As he strolled with his coterie on a damp and blustery day surrounded by body guards, he veered toward the crowd of more than 5,000 on several occasions to press the flesh, make a comment about the rainy weather or tousle a child's hair.

At the Shevchenko Monument the president was officially greeted by contingents from several Ukrainian nationalistic organizations that have frequently criticized the president's policies, including veteran soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which marched onto Freedom Square 500 strong in official uniforms; members of the Ukrainian Kozak Movement in their historical garb; and the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen Organization.

Roman Pankevych, second in command of the Lviv Brotherhood of the UPA, said that although he was honored to be formally greeting a president of independent Ukraine, he also hoped that the president would officially acknowledge the World War II Ukrainian freedom fighters' place in Ukrainian history. "The president still has not recognized that we exist. We want a declaration from the Verkhovna Rada. The president can begin that process by initiating a bill," said Mr. Pankevych.

Vera Drozd, a member of the women's auxiliary of the brotherhood who spent 10 years in Soviet concentration camps for her part in the insurgency, said she was there to support the president. "Ukraine today is like a falling plane, and we must understand the positions of our president," she noted.

Although generally the president was greeted warmly in Lviv during his visit, there were those who turned out to express their displeasure with the policies of President Kuchma and his government.

About 1,000 members and supporters of three political organizations that are considered part of the extreme political right, the Ukrainian National Assembly, the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Social-Nationalist Party, gathered before the building in which the WUNR was proclaimed, a block from the proceedings on Freedom Square. Waving black-and-red banners, their colors symbolizing revolution, speaker after speaker called for a Ukrainian government free of former Communist apparatchiks and those who once persecuted Ukraine.

After listening to the speeches, a small group of the demonstrators then marched to two local cemeteries in which the remains of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen who fought in the Ukrainian-Polish war in 1918 are buried (see sidebar), where commemorations concluded peacefully.

Lviv cemetery site of second commemoration

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 8, 1998, No. 45, Vol. LXVI

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