Ukrainian National Information Service celebrates 25th anniversary (10/20/02)

Ukrainian National Information Service celebrates 25th anniversary

by Roman Woronowycz

WASHINGTON - Ukrainian and U.S. politicians and diplomats, as well as a smattering of journalists from Ukraine, helped the Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS) mark its milestone 25th anniversary on October 8.

The jubilee celebrations at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center was held in conjunction with an international conference organized by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) titled "Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood - Roundtable III: Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic Community."

During a reception in the Reagan Center, Ukrainian government officials, lawmakers and diplomats - including State Secretary for European Integraton at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleksander Chalii, Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, along with former Minister of Foreign Affairs Borys Tarasyuk and former Ambassador to the U.S. Oleh Bilorus, both of whom today are national deputies in Kyiv - mingled with U.S. politicians and Ukrainian community representatives and listened to speaker after speaker herald the accomplishments of UNIS.

While U.S. Reps. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio and Danny Davis of Illinois both praised the office for giving voice to the demands and desires of the Ukrainian community, others said its achievements went even further.

"UNIS has not only been the voice of the Ukrainian community, it has been the voice of justice and freedom," explained Askold Lozynskyj, the president of the Ukrainian World Congress and a former longtime president of the UCCA, the Ukrainian community umbrella organization under which UNIS operates.

Mr. Lozynskyj recalled how former U.S. President Richard Nixon, upon visiting Kyiv after Ukraine had declared independence, noted in public statements how "very strong and very vocal" the Ukrainian community in the U.S. had been in supporting the drive for an independent Ukraine. Mr. Lozynskyj ascribed much of that voice to the effectiveness of UNIS's work in Washington.

Indeed, UNIS can list a litany of accomplishments in its 25 years of service in Washington, where it has worked as a public relations and lobbying organization for various Ukrainian American causes.

UNIS began to accumulate achievements almost from the first days after the service was formed in 1977. It was given a two-pronged mandate by the UCCA: first, it was tasked with disseminating information about Ukraine and Ukrainian Americans and voicing the opinions of the UCCA on issues of concern to the Ukrainian community, while channeling that information to Congress, the administration and the news media; second, it was charged with gathering information on the activities of Congress and the administration in areas of interest to the Ukrainian American community and tracking federally funded programs of possible benefit to Ukrainian Americans.

For the last 25 years UNIS has helped Congress and seven presidential administrations receive information on Ukraine and hear the demands of the Ukrainian American community, including the plight of Ukrainian dissidents in the 1970s-1980s; the need to maintain the services of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; the facts about the artificially created Great Famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933; and the need to create a Famine memorial in Washington in connection with commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the genocide scheduled for 2008.

Julian Kulas, chairman of Chicago's 1st Security Federal Savings Bank - who later that evening would receive the Friend of UNIS Award for 25 years of dedicated financial support - in his introductory remarks listed UNIS's most recent successes, which include providing stimulus for the formation of the Ukrainian caucus in the U.S. Congress; taking part in a successful lobbying effort to have the first visit to Washington by President Leonid Kuchma upgraded from a working visit to a state visit; and lobbying the U.S. Congress on maintaining a certain level of foreign aid for Ukraine.

Michael Sawkiw Jr., president of the UCCA and director of UNIS, acknowledged several individuals who played key roles in keeping the fledgling information service on its feet during the first few years of its existence, including Bohdan Denysyk, George Nesterczuk, Andrij Bilyk, Vitaliy Garber, Eugene Iwanciw and George Woloshyn. The six individuals received UNIS Co-Founder Awards.

Mr. Sawkiw also announced that the Selfreliance (New York) Federal Credit Union had donated $15,000 in commemoration of the UNIS jubilee, while the Self Reliance (New Jersey) Federal Credit Union had pledged $7,500.

Summarizing the role of the UNIS, Mr. Sawkiw said: "In a word, UNIS is about dedication. In celebrating 25 years of the Ukrainian National Information Service, we are acknowledging the hard work, dedication, professionalism and accomplishments that UNIS has given to the Ukrainian community in its years of service."

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