House Speaker Hastert comments on Ukrainian Supreme Court decision

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) on December 3 made the following statement regarding the Ukrainian Supreme Court decision to invalidate the country's recent presidential election results. The statement was disseminated by U.S. Newswire.

The road to democracy for emerging countries is never easy as we've seen in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and most recently in Ukraine. Since the Eastern European nation declared its independence from the Soviet Union 13 years ago, Ukraine has attempted to pave a path to freedom for its people, embracing and advancing democratic values, practices and institutions.

As Americans, we must continue to support Ukraine and other emerging democracies to meet these principled goals. That's why today's decision by the Ukraine Supreme Court to hold a new election on December 26 is just, right and responsible for the people of Ukraine and their country's future.

In order for democracy to flourish, citizens must be able to exercise their votes freely, fairly and without intimidation. Hopefully, Ukraine's election in three weeks won't experience the rampant voting problems, reports of fraud and allegations of campaign corruption that marred last month's contest. Ukrainians have the right to be heard and their votes accurately counted at the ballot box.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, December 12, 2004, No. 50, Vol. LXXII

| Home Page |