Ukrainians attend White House briefing (12/22/02)

Ukrainians attend White House briefing

by Eugene Iwanciw

WASHINGTON - The White House held a briefing on December 11 on the expansion of NATO and its changing role. Among the about 20 participants representing Central and East European ethnic communities were five Ukrainian Americans including: Stefan Kaczaraj and Eugene Iwanciw of the Ukrainian National Association, Michael Sawkiw of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Oksana Xenos of the Ukrainian National Women's League of North America and Ihor Kotlarchuk of The Washington Group.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice commenced the briefing with comments about the changing role of NATO in Europe. She noted that the traditional defensive role of NATO is now shifting to one that focuses on combating terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

In response to a question about U.S.-Ukrainian relations, Dr. Rice stated that the United States considers Ukraine an important country geopolitically. She noted that, while she does not travel a great deal except with the President, she has visited Ukraine. The presidential-advisor did point out that the Bush administration is concerned about the direction Ukraine is taking. "While economic reforms have been proceeding slowly, political reforms have been reversed," she stated. Dr. Rice concluded that the administration is also concerned that the problems in Ukraine could have a negative impact on Russia.

Ambassador Dan Fried of the National Security Council staff continued the briefing and fielded additional questions. In response to a question about the role of NATO, Mr. Fried stated that the new role of combating terrorism and proliferation would not undermine the traditional defensive obligation that NATO membership entails. Many of the questions focused on the process of integrating the newly invited members into NATO.

Following the briefing, the Ukrainian American delegation informally met to discuss the briefing. It was agreed that Ukraine is increasingly being isolated as well as held to a different standard than Russia.

Eugene Iwanciw is second vice-president of the Ukrainian National Association.

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