Yuschenko brings his message to New York and Washington (11/18/01)

Yuschenko brings his message to New York and Washington

by Andrew Nynka

NEW YORK - Victor Yuschenko, Ukraine's former prime minister and leader of the Our Ukraine (Nasha Ukraina) election bloc, journeyed to New York City on November 6. Meeting with leaders of business, representatives of major print media, and the Council of Presidents of major Jewish organizations, and later traveling to Washington to meet with officials from the State Department and members of Congress, Mr. Yuschenko seemed to be laying the groundwork for a future at the highest levels of Ukrainian political power.

At a meeting with the Ukrainian diaspora at the Ukrainian Institute of America, located on Fifth Avenue and 79th Street in Manhattan, Mr. Yuschenko highlighted the accomplishments of his reformist government during his tenure as prime minister, saying that Ukraine had seen, for the first time in its 10-year history, the first national budget without a deficit, the elimination of hyper-inflation, and "real growth in both the economic and industrial sectors on par with that of Europe."

However, Mr. Yuschenko also offered his critique of Ukrainian authority, saying that he deemed the government's inability to create an aura of democratic stability a major shortcoming.

As previously reported, the signing of a new Ukrainian election law on November 5 had, according to the Committee of Ukrainian Voters, effectively begun the race for the 450 parliamentary seats in Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada. With the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for March 31 of next year, Mr. Yuschenko's trip to New York seemed to signify that the campaign had indeed begun.

Mr. Yuschenko called the formation of Our Ukraine a new political project for his country, describing it as "an effort to bring together and consolidate the more than 120 political parties located on the ideological right to center-right who work for the good of Ukraine." He once again underlined that "this party is not looking for opposition but for supporters - we are looking for people to work with, not against."

Mr. Yuschenko sounded a strong note of unification as a goal for his bloc, saying that his party will strive to "join the east with the west, to bring together the forces of labor, democracy and patriotism throughout Ukraine." He noted that Ukrainian politics are notorious at separating the country's citizens, leaving the political landscape fractious and disorganized.

Earlier Mr. Yuschenko met with editorial board representatives from The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek and Time magazines, as well as with business mogul and philanthropist George Soros, a major supporter of pro-democracy programs in Ukraine, and with officials of Freedom House, a leading human and civil rights monitoring group in the United States.

Following his stay in New York, Mr. Yuschenko traveled to Washington where he was to meet with Vice-President Richard Cheney and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage as well as other senior Bush administration officials, Congressional leaders and representatives from major think-tanks and the NGO community.

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