FOR THE RECORD: Rep. Henry Hyde's remarks at hearing on Ukraine's next steps (12/12/04)

FOR THE RECORD

Rep. Henry Hyde's remarks at hearing on Ukraine's next steps

Below is the statement of Henry Hyde, chairman of the House Committee on International Relations Committee, delivered at the hearing on "Ukraine's Election: Next Steps" on Tuesday, December 7.

Although far away and unfamiliar to most Americans, Ukraine is presently host to a dramatic struggle between the past and the future, between liberty and oppression. It is a struggle for the future of one of the largest countries in Europe, one which has been reborn after centuries of oppression, including the deliberate engineering by the Soviet regime of an artificial Famine in the 1930s that killed more than 5 million people in an attempt to destroy the Ukrainian nation once and for all.

This contest is being played out in the ongoing election for the next president of Ukraine. But the stakes extend far beyond Ukraine itself and embrace the security of the European continent and, by extension, that of the United States.

Since before recorded history, Europe has suffered repeated invasion from the East. Over the past three centuries, first the Russian, and then the Soviet, empires subjugated much of Europe and posed a waiting, permanent threat to the rest. By 1945 Soviet armies were massed in the heart of the continent, having overrun Central and Eastern Europe and poised to conquer the rest. It was this overwhelming threat that necessitated the historic guarantee of Europe's security by the United States and brought about the formation of NATO.

With the collapse of the Soviet empire, its menace disappeared as well. But we have too quickly and mistakenly become used to the idea of permanent peace. There is no guarantee that a similar threat from the still-unsettled East can never be reconstituted - no guarantee, that is, except for an independent Ukraine.

Without Ukraine's 50 million people and extensive resources, and denied access to a strategically situated territory larger than that of France, no would-be imperial power could easily assemble a threat to Europe. An independent Ukraine allied to the West, then, is the key to security in the East.

Freed from the Soviet empire for only 13 years, and ruled by remnants of that regime, Ukraine is being pulled in opposite directions - toward integration with the West or toward a closer relationship with and increasing dependence on Russia. The former would secure Ukraine's independence; the latter is a road leading perhaps to a progressive loss of autonomy and potential subjugation by some new overlord.

These two positions are given form by the two candidates for president. As all the world is aware, the election was so compromised by open fraud that Ukraine's population took to the streets, determined to preserve their newfound liberties and prevent the installation of an illegitimate regime. Given that resistance and near-universal condemnation by the international community, the once all-powerful government has been forced to admit that the election it presided over was fraudulent. A new run-off may soon be scheduled for December 26.

I focus on the need for an independent Ukraine but also stress the importance of democracy. Why is the latter important? Because if Ukraine's independence is to be made secure, it must be fully integrated into, and protected by, the West and its institutions. I do not know what the European Union may do toward this end, but I believe that Ukraine's independence can only be guaranteed by its becoming a full member of NATO. And it can become a member of NATO only if it has become a true democracy.

Full membership may not be possible in the immediate future, but many of its benefits can be harvested by making our commitment clear now. Given that Russia is usually cited as the principal threat to Ukraine, it may surprise many to hear that among the greatest beneficiaries of a guarantee of Ukraine's independence would be the Russian people. For centuries, the greatest enemy of those promoting democracy and freedom in Russia has come from its leaders' pursuit of empire, a goal that required autocratic rule and a massive military establishment to accomplish. Without the prospect of dominating Ukraine, the Russian people will at last be liberated from their leaders' vision of an empire in Europe, one that has been instrumental in justifying their long centuries of oppression.

On June 6, 1944, American and Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy to begin the liberation of Europe. It did not end in 1945. We have steadily advanced in that mission for over half a century, first freeing and transforming Western Europe and then embracing the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. With Ukraine's democratization and its integration into NATO, we will have achieved the last great piece remaining in our effort to liberate and secure Europe that began on those beaches so long ago.

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