EDITORIAL: The wrong message (07/22/01)

EDITORIAL

The wrong message

Last week we learned that the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, chaired by Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), had made a recommendation to cut U.S. aid to Ukraine. The Appropriations Committee adopted that recommendation and proposed that aid to Ukraine for Fiscal Year 2002 be cut from the $169 million proposed by the Bush administration to $125 million. The committee report ed that its proposal is based on the completion of nuclear safety projects, "continuing setbacks" to reform," and "unresolved deaths" of dissidents and journalists in Ukraine.

The latter is an obvious reference to, first and foremost, Heorhii Gongadze, whose murder case appears to be no closer to resolution than in mid-May, when Ukrainian law enforcement officials made the incredible claim that they had solved the case and that the murderers were dead. To be honest, Ukraine's officials, from the president on down, don't deserve any credit for the way they've handled the Gongadze investigation. But neither does all of Ukraine deserve to be penalized.

That point was made quite eloquently in a letter to members of Congress sent by Myroslava Gongadze, who stated that her husband's murder should not be cited as justification for cutting aid to Ukraine - a prospect that she characterized as alarming.

"If Congress uses my husband's murder as justification to reduce U.S. aid to Ukraine, this will send absolutely the wrong message to those honorable people who are still working (and with whom I worked) so hard to build a democratic nation. ... My husband sought the development of a free and independent media, of non-governmental and of local organizations to build a civil society in Ukraine - these entities are the ones that desperately need America's help."

Similarly, several members of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus took issue with the House Appropriations Committee's reference to stalled reforms and called for maintaining the level of U.S. aid to Ukraine. "While we understand, share and appreciate many of the concerns that you have raised regarding the need for continuing reforms in Ukraine," they wrote, "we are respectfully concerned that this reduction sends the wrong message to those fighting for the very reforms you seek." The U.S. message should be one of "expectant support, rather than ... dissatisfied penalty."

The House members, led by Bob Schaffer of Colorado, underlined quite correctly that: Ukraine "has built a solid foundation for a strong democracy and a free-market economy. Ukraine's economy ... is growing at over 8 percent, ... Private cultivation in agriculture has increased from 25 percent to 75 percent of the land cultivated in just a year. ... Private businesses cite the current economic climate as perhaps the most promising thus far in Ukraine." They also cited Ukraine's many foreign policy successes during the first decade of its independence and its clear desire to align itself with the West, and pointed to the upcoming parliamentary elections, emphasizing that "we should be increasing our outreach to non-governmental groups in Ukraine."

We strongly agree with both Ms. Gongadze and members of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus that now is not the time to cut aid to Ukraine. Though all is not perfect, there is progress in Ukraine - progress that should be acknowledged and must be supported by continuing a certain level of assistance. Otherwise, Ukraine will be pushed further into the embrace of Russia, which continues in various ways to entice Ukraine, whether by carrot or stick. Thus, U.S. assistance is critical, indeed vital, if Ukraine is to remain a strategic partner of the United States.

Two of our community organizations, the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council and the Ukrainian Federation of America, called for "urgent action" to save for U.S. aid to Ukraine. They urged readers to contact Chairman Patrick Leahy of the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Foreign Operations and all his committee members, who are to address the issue within a few days.

Our action must be immediate if we are to have any hope of succeeding.

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