2003: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Diaspora developments: news from East to West

Our diaspora continued to be active in 2003 on various fronts: political, humanitarian, cultural, social, etc.

As the year began, the relationship of the diaspora with Ukraine was in the forefront when the rights of Ukrainians abroad were discussed by the Verkhovna Rada. The result was that initial versions of two bills that would give ethnic Ukrainians who do not have Ukrainian citizenship special status and allow them simplified entry procedures into Ukraine were passed on January 17.

The bills, which would give diaspora Ukrainians official status and their own identification cards, were nearly identical except for almost negligible differences in the interpretation of the word "foreign-based Ukrainians" - the term used in both documents to identify the group that falls under the bills' provisions. The biggest difference between the two proposals is that one was developed by the opposition forces of Our Ukraine, while the other bill was prepared and presented jointly by representatives from both sides of the aisle in the Verkhovna Rada, which gives it a better chance of being passed.

Both proposed laws would allow those who can show a link to their ancestral homeland and who apply for the special status the ability to enter and live in Ukraine for up to 120 days annually without a visa. It also would allow qualified foreigners to live in the country for up to three years without requiring an invitation from either a Ukrainian individual or an organization. In addition, students who qualify would be able to study at a Ukrainian institution of higher learning without a formal invitation.

In both draft laws the definition of a "foreign-based Ukrainian" is a person "of Ukrainian nationality or of Ukrainian ethnic background with cultural and language awareness, who has the desire to obtain the status of a foreign Ukrainian, who is at least 16 years of age and is not currently a Ukrainian citizen." The Our Ukraine bill would extend that status to any person who can show that one of his parents is an ethnic Ukrainian. It also specifies that a child adopted by a person or persons who qualify as diaspora Ukrainians can obtain the status.

On April 18 the rights of diaspora Ukrainians were the topic of an April 18 roundtable discussion in Kyiv that was called to discuss the proposals before the Verkhovna Rada, and it was reported that the bill would soon come up for further debate. National Deputy Ihor Ostash cautioned that Ukrainians living in the United States or Canada should not expect to receive visa-free entry into Ukraine even if the Parliament passed a law giving diaspora Ukrainians the distinctive status of "Ukrainians from abroad." A more realistic goal in the post-9/11 era, he explained, would be a special document for speedy entry. He did say, however, that there were discussions to determine whether a special visa could be extended on a concurrent basis to those persons receiving the special designation of "Ukrainians from abroad."

Mr. Ostash emphasized that the draft law is first and foremost a political document: "It is evidence that there are at least 12 million and up to 20 million of us living abroad, and if these people work for Ukraine it will benefit the country." He noted also that the legislation was intended to stimulate a desire and smooth the way for the repatriation of Ukrainians. "Let's not forget that it also includes the development of a program of return of Ukrainians to Ukraine," he explained.

The idea for a law on diaspora status, to codify special legal rights and privileges for Ukrainians who were forced to emigrate for political or economic reasons, originated at the second World Forum of Ukrainians in 1997. The intention from the beginning has been to preserve and strengthen the national identity of the Ukrainian diaspora and recognize its special ties to Ukraine by developing a list of special benefits that would help maintain Ukrainian communities abroad and draw them closer to Ukraine.

Another issue that still needs resolution is how to treat Ukrainians living in regions that border Ukraine today, which ethno-historically are considered Ukrainian, such as parts of Slobozhanschyna in the north, Kuban in the southeast, Bukovyna in the southwest and the city of Peremyshl in the west. And then there was the matter of other ethnic groups that resided in Ukraine. National Deputy Refat Chubarov made a plea for the Tatar people of Crimea to be included in the bill and asked that the authors add verbiage to extend the special status being offered to ethnic Ukrainians "to those who consider Ukraine the homeland of their ethnic origin."

National Deputy Ostash said in April that he believed the Verkhovna Rada could pass the legislation in this session. (Last year a similar bill proposed by National Deputy Zhovtiak failed by five votes.) By year's end, however, no such bill had been passed. Nonetheless, Ukraine's new ambassador to the United States, Mykhailo Reznik, sounded a hopeful note in his first meeting with the Ukrainian American community, when he mentioned that the law remains a priority for Ukraine.

Occasionally during 2003 Ukraine showed its interest in the diaspora. A positive note was sounded on February 27 when Lidia Krushelnytsky and Rostyslaw Wasylenko were honored during a special ceremony at Ukraine's Consulate General in New York at which they received medals presented by the government of Ukraine in recognition of their contributions to the arts. Ms. Krushelnytsky, who is best known in the diaspora community as director since 1966 of her New York-based drama studio, was named a merited activist of the arts of Ukraine, while Mr. Wasylenko, a stage actor, director and pedagogue, who has been active in Ukraine, Germany, Australia, Canada and the United States, was named merited artist of Ukraine. Both designations were bestowed in accordance with a decree issued by President Leonid Kuchma on November 15, 2002.

At the same time, the diaspora continued to show its interest in Ukraine. On March 3 the Ukrainian World Congress released an appeal to member-organizations noting that "The UWC feels that the Ukrainian diaspora, and its national central coordinating representative organizations, in particular, can and should play a pivotal role in fostering better Ukraine-West relations."

"Despite ongoing Russian intimidation," the statement continued, "Ukraine continues to manifest its desire to integrate politically and economically into European and trans-Atlantic alliances and structures. Even with current U.S.A.-Russia collusion, much can be done in the West since U.S. policy has become very unpopular in segments of the global village. We urge our member-organizations to work towards a just and enlightened treatment of Ukraine by the international community, as we also urge them to work towards the establishment of Ukraine as a truly democratic and prosperous state of the Ukrainian people."

The catalyst for the statement was the UWC's feeling that "For almost one and one-half years, we have been witnessing a puzzling reversal in relations between the United States of America as the leader of the Western world and Ukraine. In particular, this perceptible change has occurred since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and the commencement of the U.S. war against terrorism." The UWC pointed out that "Unfortunately, Ukraine has been singled out as one of the most corrupt and abusive countries in the world."

Ukrainian representatives made themselves heard during 2003 at the United Nations. The 47th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) took place on March 3-14 at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The Commission on the Status of Women was established as a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council on June 21, 1946, to prepare recommendations and reports to the council on promoting women's rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields.

Participating in select parts of the CSW and NGO side events were Maria Szkambara, president of the WFUWO; Luba Silecky, president of the Women's Association for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine; and several WFUWO representatives: Iryna Kurowycky, (president of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America); as well as Hanya Krill, Nadia Shmigel, Daria Dykyj, Olha Stawnychy, Marta Kichurowska-Kebalo, Slava Rubel and Ulana Kekish-Solodenko. The WFUWO was joined by Olha Kobets, president of the Olena Teliha Society in Kyiv and vice-president of the National League of Women of Ukraine. Ms. Kobets came to the CSW session on the recommendation of WFUWO and the invitation of the U.N. Division for the Advancement of Women. NGO representatives of WFUWO held a working session on March 4 in order to exchange views and to plan their work for the future.

On May 11, The Weekly reported that the Ukrainian World Congress had formally become a non-governmental organization in special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which has offices in New York, Geneva and Vienna. The UWC established a separate United Nations Committee, chaired by Borys Potapenko of Warren, Mich., and has designated representatives to the U.N. New York office consisting of UWC President Askold S. Lozynskyj, Secretary General Victor Pedenko and Marta Kokolskyj in New Jersey as the lead representative. In addition to Messrs. Potapenko, Lozynskyj and Pedenko and Ms. Kokolskyj, the UWC's U.N. Committee includes Andriy J. Semotiuk in Los Angeles and the chairs of the World Social Services Council, Olga Danylak; World Coordinating Educational Council, Nadia Luciw; and Human and Civil Rights Committee, Jurij Darewych. The committee held its first meeting on Saturday, April 6.

The UWC delegation to the United Nations visited the U.N. headquarters in New York City on September 19 to receive its accreditation as a non-governmental organization. The UWC's U.N. delegation includes Messrs. Lozynskyj and Pedenko, respectively, president and chief administrative officer of the UWC and ex officio members of the delegation of the UWC/UN Committee, Mr. Potapenko, chair; Ms. Kokolskyj, permanent delegate; and Ihor Dlaboha and Andrew Lastowecky, alternate delegates; as well as Motria Chaban, UWC delegate to the United Nations office in Vienna.

In addition to receiving its accreditation, the delegates met with representatives of Ukraine's Mission to the U.N., including its permanent representative, Valeriy Kuchinsky, to discuss issues of mutual concern and to develop lines of communication for the long term. The UWC delegates also held their first formal meeting to consider specific areas of activity at the United Nations, in particular through ECOSOC and the International Organization for Migration, and such issues as migrant workers, trafficking of women, AIDS and assistance to orphanages.

HIV/AIDS was the focus of the Ukraine-related activity of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America. In the spirit of U.S.-Ukraine programs for information exchange and to foster professional interaction on the ongoing challenges of HIV/AIDS, a series of presentations was prepared on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS, and these presentations were reproduced on a multi-media CD that was widely distributed. This public health effort was undertaken by authors-presenters from various private and public institutions in the United States, including many members of the UMANA. The purpose of the program was to share information on specific patient-related clinical issues, as well as public health efforts.

UMANA members also participated in a two-day community event organized and sponsored by the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center in Philadelphia on May 2-4. The event aimed to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, to promote prevention and to provide community support to children in Ukraine with HIV infection. The program included lectures and discussions, exhibits, a press conference, and a charity banquet and ball. Billed as the first AIDS in Ukraine Awareness Weekend the event featured the reigning Miss Universe, Ukrainian-born Justine Pasek, as the celebrity guest.

It became all too clear in 2003 that the Ukrainian diaspora now includes millions of Ukrainians who have traveled beyond Ukraine to work. According to RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report, Ukrainian ombudswoman Nina Karpachova on April 2 reported to the Verkhovna Rada that the problem of illegal migration of Ukrainians in search of work and earnings has become of "state importance." She stressed that Ukrainians abroad belong to "the most-discriminated-against and least-protected category" of citizens.

Ms. Karpachova noted that, according to various estimates, between 2 million and 7 million Ukrainians were working abroad, as a result of poverty and unemployment in Ukraine. She said she believed that no fewer than 5 million Ukrainians - or one in five employable citizens - may work seasonally abroad, and almost all of them illegally.

Ms. Karpachova also told lawmakers that, since most Ukrainians work abroad illegally and avoid contacts with Ukrainian consular missions, the Ukrainian state has only limited possibilities to help its citizens protect their civil and human rights. According to Ms. Karpachova, Ukrainians abroad are often forced to work 10 to 18 hours per day and are poorly paid or even not paid at all.

In other diaspora news, the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations reported in early April that Ukraine would soon open an Embassy in Canberra and that Chargé d'Affaires Oleksander Mischenko was to arrive from Ukraine on April 9 to make the necessary arrangements for the opening of the Embassy. The AFUO noted that it welcomed this major step by Ukraine in increasing its presence in Australia and that it was looking forward to promoting enhanced relations between Australia and Ukraine. Australian Ukrainians also established a Diplomatic Fund to assist Ukraine in establishing the Embassy. Stefan Romaniw, chairman of the AFUO said, "The Ukrainian community in Australia is a model community. It has integrated well, it has promoted Australian-Ukrainian relations. It now takes pride in the fact that Ukraine's diplomatic presence in Australia will be on par with other major nations."

At the same time the AFUO issued a statement calling on Australia "to take a major step in increasing diplomatic relations with Ukraine." Mr Romaniw noted that "Since the fall of the former Soviet Union, no new posts have been created in the Eastern European region. The old Moscow address remains. In one sense the region has moved on, while Australia has remained stagnant." Furthermore, Mr. Romaniw explained, "Australia still has only an honorary consul in Ukraine, while Ukraine has in the 10-year period opened a Consulate General with a full staff. It has now taken the next natural progressive step and is opening an embassy."

The flag of Ukraine was raised as part of the Australian celebrations of Ukraine's 12th anniversary of independence in the international flag display dedicated to the United Nations that encompasses the flags of all countries that maintain a diplomatic presence in the national capital. Ukraine's Chargè d'Affairs Mischenko and AFUO Chairman Romaniw had the honor of raising the flag in the presence of community leaders, including Church hierarchs, representatives of Ukrainian community groups in Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, as well as New Zealand.

In his address, Mr. Mischenko emphasized the importance Ukraine has placed on Australian relations and indicated that he is committed to increasing bilateral relations. Mr. Romaniw, in turn, said that the ceremony signified the efforts of the Ukrainian community in Australia in the past 50 years to see Ukraine's flag and Ukraine itself among the nations of the world.

This event underscored Ukraine's presence in Australia, as this was the first official commemoration to be held in Canberra. An exhibition of Ukrainian costumes and artifacts on loan from the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church was presented in Australia's Museum in Canberra as part of the celebrations of Ukraine's Independence Day. The Embassy's new premises are in the heart of Canberra, on the top floor of a major office building in the capital. The premises and offices were furnished and most of the new technology and phone systems were in place thanks to funding by community organizations and Ukrainian community groups, including the cooperatives Dnister and Karpaty.

The Embassy of Ukraine in Australia established the Embassy Advisory Group. Co-chaired by Messrs. Mischenko and Romaniw, it will include Church and community leaders; and will look at issues of closer cooperation between the diplomatic and community sectors, set agendas for increased bilateral relations and examine ways of promoting Ukraine to the broader Australian public.

Ukrainians in Russia's Far East, where their predecessors were resettled some 120 years ago, tried during 2003 to maintain their community life, despite the fact that Ukraine does not provide either sufficient financial or moral support. News about the lives of Russia's Ukrainians was reported by The Weekly's stringer in Moscow, Maryna Makhnonos.

"Their community life is far from an appropriate level," said Andrii Popok, head of the department of Ukrainian Diaspora Affairs within Ukraine's State Committee on Migration, during an April 12 roundtable with some 50 heads of Ukrainian regional communities in Russia, including representatives from communities in Kursk, St. Petersburg, Yakutia, Magadan, Perm, Murmansk and Bashkortostan, as well as Moscow. The event was held to commemorate the anniversary of the forced resettlement of Ukrainians to the Far East region they dubbed "Zelenyi Klyn," which was ordered by Russian Tsar Aleksandr II in 1883.

Mr. Popok said that his department is too small to respond immediately to all the needs of the 20 million or so Ukrainians scattered across the world. Also, the government has dispersed responsibility for coordination with the diaspora among various institutions instead of establishing a centralized system to make actions effective. As a result, individual communities are often left to their own devices when it comes to resolving local problems.

For example, local authorities in Vladivostok in the Far East have banned a Ukrainian Sunday school so as "not to accentuate national issues," according to Mr. Popok. In other cases, local Ukrainians have no access to information about contemporary life in Ukraine, getting news only from U.S. radio outlets retransmitted in Russia. Many Ukrainian community centers continue to have problems finding stable facilities; some have been moved around for years. Other communities suffer from a cynical, Ukrainiophobic media.

Some 800,000 Ukrainians currently live in the Far East, and, while a resurrection of their cultural heritage is taking place, it continues to be weak. Ukrainians make up the second largest ethnic group in Russia after the Tatars. Russia's State Statistics Committee estimates that some 4.3 million ethnic Ukrainians live in Russia. However, unofficial estimates put their number at closer to 5.6 million.

From the capital of Russia, in fact, from the very heart of Moscow on the Arbat, came news during 2003 of the Ukrainian Cultural Center that publicizes Ukrainian culture, science and history. The center is located in a historic 200-year-old building, in front of which flies the Ukrainian flag. A Ukrainian bookstore operated in the building before it became the Ukrainian Cultural Center in 1993.

The center's activities, which range from scientific, historical and agricultural conferences to evenings of poetry, folk concerts and international art exhibitions, is one of the most active institutions of this kind. About 13,000 people annually attend events organized at the center - all of them offered for free with the goal of sharing the Ukrainian spirit with Russians and uniting local Ukrainians. The center also provides facilities for regional Ukrainian community organizations, visitors with their achievements at concerts, conferences and exhibitions, as well as hosting meetings of the Ukrainian Cinema club. In addition the center invites foreign missions to present their national arts exhibitions on its premises. It survives mostly on revenues from rent, while Ukraine's Ministry of Culture sends scarce funds.

Ukrainians in Poland encountered their own unique problems in 2003, as there was much talk, and concern, surrounding commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the so-called 1943 events in Volyn, during which the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) is accused of destroying Polish settlements and murdering from 30,000 to 60,000 Poles.

As Dr. Taras Kuzio wrote in his analysis of the situation, the friendly relations since independence between Poland and Ukraine were coming under increasing stress, with the commemoration plans bringing to the fore issues that had not been adequately dealt with by either Poland or Ukraine.

While visiting Toronto, Petro Tyma, secretary of the Organization of Ukrainians in Poland (OUP), explained the political context of the commemorations and outlined their consequences both for Ukraine and Ukrainians in Poland. Ukrainians in Poland not only believe that the consequences of the commemorations will weigh heavily on their community, but that they will have a long term impact on the image of Ukraine in Europe. "Few Ukrainians outside Poland understand how important for Poles, for their image of Ukrainians and Ukraine today, have been the events which took place during the war and immediate post-war period on the territories in which both Poles and Ukrainians lived. These events, which are passed on from generation to generation, have, apart from historical memory, a political context (or even several political contexts)," Mr. Tyma told our Toronto correspondent Oksana Zakydalsky, whose article about the Volyn events appeared in June.

For Poles, the question of victims of Volyn is an important one, both for the elite and the general consciousness, Mr. Tyma said. During the years of Communist Poland, there was censorship of, not only the crimes of the Soviet or Polish Communists, but also the Ukrainian-Polish conflict on territories that after 1944 became part of the USSR. Yet one could always condemn Ukrainian bourgeois nationalists or the Ukrainian resistance which had been active in Zakerzonnia (ethnic Ukrainian lands that are part of Poland); there was no censorship on portraying the bestiality of Ukrainians in countless films and books. After the elimination of censorship in Poland in 1989, previously repressed memories flooded the market - stories of 500,000 victims of Ukrainian terror and a Polish genocide began to circulate.

Volyn was the region where both Ukrainian and Polish partisans (the Armia Krajowa, or AK) were very active. The behavior of the Polish underground towards the Ukrainian population was provocative and insulting. Both sides pursued policies that were mutually exclusive and fought over the same territory. By 1942 the AK was anticipating a war with Ukrainians over territory and the sizeable Polish partisan presence in Volyn could not but remind Ukrainians of Polish territorial claims. Although there are scholarly publications in Poland that deal more objectively with Polish-Ukrainian relations, they come out in small editions and do not get to the general public, whereas popular literature, with its negative images of Ukrainians, is widely circulated. That is the literature that is used by parliamentarians and recommended in schools, Mr. Tyma related.

Among Ukrainians in Poland there was concern about how Ukraine would react to Polish pressure to force an "apology" and make the Ukrainian president acknowledge Ukrainian responsibility for the killings in Volyn. There is a serious imbalance in the preparedness and understanding of the importance of this supposedly two-way question. On the Ukrainian side there is no official policy with respect to events of World War II, and the Soviet version of the war is still widely accepted, according to Mr. Tyma.

In May The Ukrainian Weekly had published a statement from the Ukrainian World Congress that was released in reaction to a joint statement by Ukraine's and Poland's presidents on mutual cooperation, good neighborliness and the historical record. The UWC said the joint statement was "not even-handed in its evaluation of the historical record and harmful to current and future Ukrainian-Polish relations. Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma acquiesced in rewriting Ukrainian-Polish history for the sake of political expediency. Poland's President Aleksander Kwasniewski seemingly took advantage of his counterpart's current weakened international position."

UWC President Lozynskyj and Secretary General Pedenko wrote: "Normally, apologies are helpful in healing old wounds and cathartic for inveterate guilt. The subject of wartime excesses in Volyn in 1943-1944 by Ukrainian partisans against Polish civilians is unique in terms of Ukrainian guilt against the Poles. Still, even this tragedy requires more than Polish eyewitness memoirs. It must be assessed by scholars within a wartime milieu and with recognition of its reciprocal character - consider the excesses of Polish partisans and Polish Nazi and Soviet collaborators against Ukrainian civilians."

They continued: "Unfortunately, Ukrainian-Polish relations are replete with tragedies involving Polish guilt against Ukrainians. In all instances Poland was the invader and Ukraine the victim. Even Volyn represents Ukrainian land forcibly occupied and settled by Poles pursuant to government policy. This does not justify the killing of civilians, and Ukrainians should apologize for their transgressions. Still Ukraine's apology should be preceded by a litany of apologies from the Polish side dealing with events as far back as the 14th century and culminating with the forcible dislocation of Ukrainians in Poland in 1947 from their ancestral lands (Akcja Wisla) and the discriminatory policies of Poland towards its own Ukrainian community after the dislocation - and as recently as the 1980s."

Ultimately, the presidents of Poland and Ukraine called for mutual forgiveness and reconciliation. "We cannot change this history, nor can we question it. We cannot silence it, nor excuse it. Instead we need to find the courage to accept the truth, to call a crime a crime inasmuch as only with respect for the truth can we build the future," they said in a joint statement issued on July 12. The Parliaments of the two countries a day earlier had passed identical resolutions commemorating the events in Volyn; the resolutions were drawn up by an inter-parliamentary committee representing the Sejm and the Verkhovna Rada. (See section on Ukraine's foreign relations.)

From Hungary, there was news last year of a Ukrainian magazine named Hromada. A publication of the Ukrainian Cultural Society of Hungary (UCSH), the bilingual, Ukrainian Hungarian magazine, which is subsidized by the Hungarian government, has been coming out every two months since its inception in 1991, and is sent out to 5,000 UCS members. The 36-page glossy publication includes historical and cultural material deftly combined with contemporary issues. As a chronicle of the life of the Ukrainian community in Hungary, and of the UCSH specifically, the publication is instrumental also in delineating the society's goals and documenting its activity. The magazine's editor and the president of the Society of Ukrainian Culture in Hungary is Jaroslava Hartianyi.

From the magazine's content, it is clear that the UCSH has close ties with similar societies in Croatia and in Slovakia, as well as in other European countries. The society also has close contacts with Ukraine, as attested to by frequent visits to the region by prominent individuals and by numerous guest artists, choirs and ensembles.

Under the banner "Where Ukrainians Live, There Lives Ukraine," the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) held its eighth quinquennial conclave on August 18-21 in Kyiv. It was the first time the event was held in Ukraine and it brought together 247 delegates and nearly 400 guests, including participants representing 109 organizations and 24 countries. The Teacher's Building, once the seat of the Central Rada, was the site of the deliberations after the venue was changed from the Ukrainian Home, which is controlled by the presidential administration, due to ongoing renovations and despite the fact that the UWC had a signed agreement with the Ukrainian Home and had paid half of the contracted sum for use of the facility. (The deposit was ultimately returned to the UWC.)

Leading Ukrainian political and cultural leaders attended the gala opening on August 18, including National Deputies Viktor Yushchenko, Borys Tarasyuk and Ivan Drach, singer and National Deputy Oksana Bilozir, Ukrainian World Coordinating Council President Mykhailo Horyn and political activist Ivan Hel. The Ukrainian government was represented by Vice Prime Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Dmytro Tabachnyk. President Kuchma, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and Verkhovna Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn received invitations but did not find the time to attend.

Throughout the course of the convention, various artistic and cultural exhibits were on view, including those prepared by the World Scholarly Council, the Shevchenko Scientific Society, the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies and the Conference of Ukrainian Youth Organizations. The World Educational Coordinating Council displayed paintings by children in an exhibit called "The Famine-Genocide in Ukraine 1932-1933 Through the Eyes of a Child."

Summary reports were presented by the national and regional subdivisions of the UWC: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Kazakstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Transdniester, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uzbekistan and the Ukrainian European Congress.

The convention also featured a series of roundtable discussions: "Ukrainian communities in the Eastern Diaspora - Integral Components of the UWC, Current Status and Perspectives"; "Emigration from Ukraine"; "Status, Role and Future of the Ukrainian Language Outside Ukraine"; and "Participation and Role of Youth in the Life of the Ukrainian Communities Outside Ukraine."

The Ukrainian World Congress re-elected Mr. Lozynskyj, who ran unopposed, as its president. Also re-elected was General Secretary Pedenko. Maria Shkambara, previously first vice-president, assumed the post of second vice-president, while Eugene Cholij filled her former slot. Olga Danylak, was elected to the post of treasurer and Bohdan Fedorak, voted in as member-at-large, filled out the rest of the Executive Board.

"When I say that this congress is a turning point, I will not be exaggerating," explained Mr. Lozynskyj. "I call it a turning point because whereas we had one delegate from the Eastern diaspora at the Toronto convention [in 1998], this time there are more than 100." The UWC serves as the highest umbrella organization for Ukrainians living in the diaspora. It consists of more than 100 organizations in 25 countries, whose combined memberships, the UWC says, total close to 20 million people.

On August 20 more than 1,000 delegates, guests and Kyivans dedicated an evening to commemorating the victims of the Great Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933. They took part in a solemn procession along historic Volodymyrska Street from the Teacher's Building past St. Sophia Sobor and the Golden Gates to St. Michael's Golden-Domed Sobor, at the foot of which stands a small monument to the victims - the only such memorial in Kyiv. There, under a steady drizzle, the leader of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Archbishop Major and Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, and Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate officiated at a panakhyda (requiem service).

The following day the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, in conjunction with the UWC conclave, held a roundtable on the 70th anniversary of the tragic event. Natalia Zarudna, deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informed those in attendance that the Ukrainian delegation at the U.N. was preparing to table a resolution in the General Assembly to have the Great Famine officially recognized as genocide. Cardinal Husar noted that recognition of the Famine for what it was would only work if true repentance "within the heart" took place. Ivan Pliusch, a former chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, noted that in Ukraine too many are still not cognizant of what happened in Ukraine's eastern and southern regions in 1932-1933, for which the current regime should hold blame.

Speaking at a press conference at the close of the conclave, Mr. Lozynskyj emphasized that while he and two other members of the executive body had been re-elected to second terms, the organization as a whole was undergoing "cardinal" changes. "We want the UWC to become a truly global organization," explained Mr. Lozynskyj. "We are trying to establish ties in Azerbaijan and in Vietnam. We want to be everywhere where Ukrainians live."

After the election of its leadership, the UWC passed a deluge of resolutions, ranging from a demand to recall Russia's Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin to a call by the delegates to have the United Nations recognize the Great Famine of 1932-1933 as genocide against the Ukrainian nation.

The highlight of the four-day conclave was the appearance of Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko, who received a standing ovation. The future presidential candidate directed a slashing rhetoric at those who hold the reigns of power in Ukraine today. "This regime killed the Ukrainian idea, so as to announce afterwards that it had not developed," said Mr. Yushchenko.

Several months after the eighth Ukrainian World Congress, The Ukrainian Weekly interviewed Mr. Lozynskyj. The New York-based attorney commented on controversial statements he had made regarding Mr. Yushchenko and the regime of President Kuchma, including the issues of building a democracy and fighting corruption. He also spoke about the focal points of the UWC conclave. "One is that we focused on the elections in the year 2004 in Ukraine. The people who are citizens of Ukraine have the right to vote. In the past there have been serious abuses in this regard by the presidential administration in particular, and by the powers that be in Ukraine, because most of those people don't necessarily vote for the powers that be. The [election] law says that, provided they are in a foreign country on a legal basis, they still have a right to vote. The legal basis refers only to legality as far as Ukraine is concerned - meaning, if you have a valid Ukrainian passport, irrespective of whether you've overstayed your visa in the United States, for example, you still have the right to vote in Ukraine. But in the past they [the powers that be] would not allow them the right to vote."

"Another aspect is the status of Ukrainians living in foreign countries," Mr. Lozynskyj continued, "This is particularly true of these burgeoning communities in Spain, Portugal and Italy - where in Italy there is no agreement thus far between Ukraine and that country regarding status. Italy has passed a law, but they're very slow in actually implementing the law." He added that there are more than 7 million citizens of Ukraine who currently reside or work outside of Ukraine.

Queried about what is the top priority for the UWC, the president said, "What we need to do now is we need to implement what we call the world Ukrainian community. Basically, what the UWC did in the first five years was open the doors to the communities in the Eastern diaspora and the new arrivals. It's meaningless if all we're going to do is just say that we have Ukrainians in Kazakstan and Uzbekistan. We need to establish a network of mutual assistance, mutual communication, different programs where people will travel back and forth, where people will be in constant communication. If they are in any way either offended or if any of their rights are violated, they have to feel secure that the communities outside of that country, the Ukrainian communities, will do something to support them. We'll put pressure on international organizations, or even on their own governments."

Regarding the UWC's membership as an NGO in the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Mr. Lozynskyj said: "During the observances of the 70th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-1933, we were able to use our position at ECOSOC to distribute a statement on the 70th anniversary of the Famine. We issued a much stronger statement [than the statement issued by Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations], but it wasn't signed by 26 countries. It was signed merely by the UWC and the World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations. The UWC statement was circulated among 190 or so governments, the missions at the U.N., and some major non-governmental organizations. Were we not members of ECOSOC we would not have been able to do that. Now, particular attention is going to be paid to workers and migration issues dealing with Ukraine - workers' rights and migrant workers' rights in particular. And that's important for our communities; in particular in central Europe, Italy, Sweden and Portugal. Women's trafficking is also a very important issue."

In September, one month after he declined to meet with representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora who were in Kyiv at the eighth Ukrainian World Congress, President Kuchma met privately in New York with three representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora. It was not clear why President Kuchma, who was in New York City for the opening of the 58th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, requested the meeting with the UWC president; Ihor Gawdiak, president of the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council; and Michael Sawkiw Jr., president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.

There was speculation, however, that President Kuchma would try to use the September 24 meeting for political purposes: to show Ukrainians that he is actively involved in and cares about relations with the Ukrainian diaspora. Officials from the presidential administration were not available to answer questions about why President Kuchma requested the meeting in New York City, why he chose the time he did for the meeting or what was discussed. When asked the same questions, officials at Ukraine's Permanent Mission to the United Nations - who helped coordinate President Kuchma's trip to the United States - simply said the meeting in New York had been "convenient" for the Ukrainian president. They did not respond when asked if it had been inconvenient for the Ukrainian president to meet with members of the diaspora in Kyiv a month earlier.

Messrs. Lozynskyj, Gawdiak and Sawkiw said during a press conference later that same day that they presented the Ukrainian president with an open letter. Foremost among their concerns, they said, was Ukraine's recent entry into a common economic market with Russia, Kazakstan and Belarus. According to the three diaspora leaders, President Kuchma said during the meeting that the agreement, signed in Yalta on September 18, would not interfere with Ukraine's goal of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union or the World Trade Organization, and that the agreement would actually entice Europe to pull Ukraine toward Euro-Atlantic structures.

Participants of the meeting also discussed the matter of a United Nations resolution marking the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine and declaring it a genocide. However, the UWC president noted, Russia is strongly opposed to such a resolution, "and that means the United States also will not support a Famine resolution." Mr. Lozynskyj said he expected the United States to side with Russia and oppose a Ukrainian Famine resolution in the United Nations in exchange for Russia's support in the U.N. of the U.S. war on terror. "Without the Russian and American votes in the United Nations Ukraine will not see a resolution regarding the Famine," Mr. Lozynskyj said. (See section on the 70th anniversary of the Famine-Genocide.)

Mr. Lozynskyj said the three leaders also raised issues involving the murder of journalists, politicians and other figures associated with the political opposition in Ukraine, language issues in the country, the role of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine, and the status of efforts to obtain official recognition of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

President Kuchma often brought up Our Ukraine leader Viktor Yushchenko, Mr. Gawdiak said. At one point during the meeting, the UACC leader noted, the president said that if the situation at present in Ukraine is deemed bad, people should wait and see what it might be like if Mr. Yushchenko takes over as the country's next president.

The diaspora representatives also said Mr. Kuchma repeatedly turned to his relations with the Ukrainian diaspora, often asking: "Why doesn't the diaspora understand me? Why don't they support me?" Future cooperation between the Ukrainian president and representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora were not talked about in specifics, Mr. Sawkiw said. Both sides agreed on future cooperation but left the matter open-ended.

As regards youth activity in the diaspora and in Ukraine, Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization held its 15th triennual world conference in Ukraine on October 29-November 2, during which it re-elected Lubomyr Romankiw as nachalnyi plastun (chief scout) and Yaroslava Rubel as the head of the Supreme Plast Bulava (command). The world conference, known among Ukrainian scouts as a KUPO (an acronym for Conference of Ukrainian Plast Organizations), decided to increase cooperation among all the country organizations by developing an Internet web portal and in stimulating an exchange of educational and instructional materials among them.

During its second world conference ever in Ukraine, the KUPO continued to put the accent on developing and strengthening the Ukrainian country organization, which was revived there during the collapse of communism at the end of the 1980s and has now begun to develop strong roots. The 150 delegates and guests from four continents decided to put Plast-Ukraine on a path towards financial independence to bring it into line with Plast's policy in each of its eight other country organizations. Plast-Ukraine has grown in membership from zero to some 10,000 in the 15 years since it was reintroduced in Ukraine after a half-century absence. The organization has 120 separate local organizations in 22 of Ukraine's 25 oblasts, plus another 13 city organizations in the Crimean Autonomous Republic. It is now actively working to develop membership in the country's eastern, most Russified oblasts.

During its meeting in Kyiv, the KUPO decided that Plast would represent Ukrainian scouting at the World Bureau of Scouting. In support of such a move, Mr. Yurchyshyn noted that most of the other scouting organizations in the country were not against Plast as their representative at the world body and that the State Committee of Family and Youth acknowledged that Plast was the largest scouting organization in the country with the most extensive history and tradition.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 11, 2004, No. 2, Vol. LXXII

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