In Riga, McCain focuses comments on Belarus, Ukraine (03/07/04)

In Riga, McCain focuses comments on Belarus, Ukraine

WASHINGTON - Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), speaking at a conference on "The Future of Democracy Beyond the Baltics," in Riga, Latvia, on February 6, focused his remarks on Belarus and made several references to Ukraine.

According to ARTUIS, the U.S. delegation - which included Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Bob Graham (D-Fla.), Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Tex.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Reps. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) and Jane Harmon (D-Calif.) - met with two members of the Verkhovna Rada, Borys Tarasyuk of the Our Ukraine coalition and Oleg Bilarus of Batkivschyna, to obtain a first-hand account of the attempts at constitutional reform in Ukraine and preparations for the October presidential election.

Following are excerpts of Sen. McCain's speech at the conference, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia.

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"... I am honored to be in the company of heroes who serve and sacrifice under the most trying conditions for the cause of a free, democratic and sovereign Belarus. I am also pleased to be joined by leaders of the democratic opposition in Ukraine, who bravely struggle for your people's basic rights to freely choose their leaders, and for a country where rights are protected by law. ...

"I'd like to say to our Ukrainian friends that your people's freedom is as important to the West as that of your Belarusian neighbors. In Ukraine, the United States and Europe should work assertively for free and fair elections this fall. We should pledge at NATO's Istanbul summit that Ukraine will be welcomed into Euro-Atlantic institutions as soon as it meets basic standards of democracy.

"Ukraine may be one election away from a new democratic, pro-Western orientation that would be consequential for your people as it would be for the wider trans-Atlantic community.

"But neither the Ukrainian people nor its Atlantic allies can accept the manipulation of the Ukrainian constitution to extend one man's term in office, or to change the terms by which elections are held on the eve of the presidential campaign.

"As the Council of Europe has stated, such behavior is inconsistent with the democratic values of the West and will exclude Ukraine from the company of Western democracies. It is because we in the United States and Europe want Ukraine to succeed, and want to deepen our partnership, that we must be rigorous in demanding that free and fair elections are held this October, without judicial, constitutional or political manipulation, and that their results are honored. We look forward to welcoming a democratic Ukraine into the Euro-Atlantic community and to deepening our friendship with the people of your great nation.

"... The history of the consciousness of freedom should give all of us great hope for the coming democratic transformation of Belarus and Ukraine, and with it the hopes and dreams of millions of your citizens for a new day. It is coming, and we in the West will stand by you until it does."

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