Quotable notes
- "Do you see what Ukraine has finally come to? Today Ukrainian
women travel to Belarus to give birth. But some say that it is necessary
to close the borders, not to let people in. How can we forbid letting people
in? [Women need] to give birth, while they have no maternity wards [in
Ukraine]. As for us, we still manage [to have maternity wards] somehow."
- Belarusian President Aleyksander Lukashenka, quoted by Belarusian
Television on August 12.
- "We will begin [by making] Russian the second official language
[in Ukraine]. Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus will pull together as much as
possible and begin actively coordinating their domestic and foreign policy.
Together we will be able to get rid of the IMF's financial yoke and to
successfully develop [our] economy and culture. In my opinion, we can resolutely
introduce a common currency for external use. This will allow us to get
rid of the [U.S.] dollar's pressure. It is definitely necessary to restore
a single nuclear shield. We will find a positive solution to the issue
of dual citizenship in Ukraine. This will allow us to practically resolve
the problem of Crimea. Our union will be open for other Slavic states.
We, the Slavs, number 300 million. And we can look very impressive to the
rest of the world. Nobody will dare to behave toward us as NATO did in
Yugoslavia. In short, Ukraine's foreign policy will be oriented to the
northeast." - Ukrainian presidential candidate Natalya Vitrenko
on her election program in the August 17 Parlamentskaya gazeta.
- "I felt long agao that I can be useful [for Ukraine] ... When
I became a raion head [in the mid-1970s] ... this was a large-scale job
for me. But after three or four years of work I felt that I was at the
point of bursting open - not because of my ambitions or ego, but because
I simply felt that it was not enough for me, that I could be more useful."
- Ukraine's Parliament Chairman Oleksandr Tkachenko in an interview
with the newspaper Den on July 29.
(The above quotes are from RFE/RL Newsline and Ukraine Report.)
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August
29, 1999, No. 35, Vol. LXVII
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