LETTER TO THE EDITOR (06/27/99)

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

UACC official clarifies position

Dear Editor:

The June 6 issue of The Ukrainian Weekly contained a report written by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj on the plenary meeting of the Presidium and the Secretariat of the Ukrainian World Congress in Toronto on May 14-15. In the absence of the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council's president, Ihor Gawdiak, I represented the UACC at this meeting.

Mr. Wynnyckyj reports that "representatives of the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America agreed to drop their direct membership in the UWCC and encourage other U.S.-based organizations to do so as well." During our deliberations on the need for potential amendments to the Ukrainian World Coordinating Council by-laws, the president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress expressed the opinion that the UWC alone should represent all its member-organizations in the UWCC.

I want to state unequivocally, however, that at no time did I agree with such a proposal. In fact, the UACC has every intention of maintaining its direct membership in UWCC. The Ukrainian World Congress was created to coordinate the activities of member-organizations and does not have a mandate to dictate to which other bodies its member-organizations may belong. It would also be most presumptious of the UACC to try to influence other U.S.-based organizations on their policy in this matter.

Also, reporting on the discussion of UWC's representation at the United Nations, Mr. Wynnyckyj states that "at the plenary meeting of May 14-15 it was agreed that the UWC will be formally registered in Canada, but a 'U.S. Section' will also be given legal standing." In fact, after some reservations on this issue were raised by me and another participant at the meeting, it was agreed that a special committee will be set up to consider the pluses and minuses of such a move and to obtain the consent of all UWC member-organizations.

Volodymyr Procyk
New York

The writer is vice-president of the UACC and member of UWC executive committee.

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