Ukrainian Americans on U.S. delegation to Yushchenko inauguration comment on experience (02/06/05)

Ukrainian Americans on U.S. delegation to Yushchenko inauguration comment on experience

by Andrew Nynka

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Traveling to Ukraine for the inauguration of President Viktor Yushchenko, three Ukrainian Americans watched the historic ceremony from an exclusive vantage point. Led by outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell, the official U.S. delegation watched from a balcony in the Verkhovna Rada as Mr. Yushchenko took the oath of office on January 23.

"It was just unbelievable," said Vera Andryczyk, a Ukrainian American member of the official U.S. delegation. "The whole place was just so energized when Mr. Yushchenko walked into the Verkhovna Rada," said Ms. Andryczyk, president of the Ukrainian Federation of America.

While the atmosphere inside the Parliament building moments before the ceremony was triumphant, said a second member of the delegation, the mood there changed.

"I was taken by the solemnity and seriousness once the ceremony began," said Nadia McConnell, president of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation. "Words are just inadequate, but there was a sense that generations had waited for this day."

Ms. Andryczyk also looked back on the moment when Mr. Yushchenko took the oath of office with a sense of awe. "Nadia and I both held hands and we just trembled. It was pride. I wish our ancestors who never saw this moment were there with us," Ms. Andryczyk said.

"It was an honor and a privilege. I wanted to remember the moment. I wanted to remember the atmosphere," Ms. Andryczyk said of the scene inside the Verkhovna Rada. Both outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and former President Leonid Kravchuk - present during Mr. Yushchenko's inauguration in the Verkhovna Rada - appeared "extremely uncomfortable" during the ceremony, she said.

"Kravchuk's applause was very meager and he looked very restrained," Ms. Andryczyk added.

Following the official ceremony inside the Parliament, the festivities moved outside to Independence Square, where Mr. Yushchenko addressed a crowd, estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.

A third member of the delegation, Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, called it one of the highlights of his life. "Standing in Maidan [Independence Square] I felt it was a metaphor for a cathedral of hope because everyone was so still and reverent," said Dr. Kuropas, an adjunct professor at Northern Illinois University.

The professor also described being stirred emotionally during the event. "I was moved to tears," Dr. Kuropas said. "Seeing the joy on the faces of the people - it was a feeling that I know I'll never have again. I don't think the people have ever been so united as they were on that day."

The delegation left from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on January 22 and flew with all of the regalia accorded the secretary of state. Although the three Ukrainian American members of the U.S. delegation were seated in a separate area from Mr. Powell while on the flight, the retired diplomat did make his way to the delegation, where the four members of the delegation spoke about the situation in Ukraine.

Dr. Kuropas said he asked the secretary whether the United States would continue to support Ukraine. Mr. Powell said absolutely, but that the final decision on U.S. support for Ukraine rests with the Ukrainian people.

Ms. McConnell also acknowledged a difficult road ahead for Ukrainians. "There is obviously so much work still ahead, but the sense there is that the shackles are off," she observed.

And much of that enthusiasm could be seen in the streets of downtown Kyiv just prior to Mr. Yushchenko's inaugural address on Independence Square, members of the U.S. delegation said.

"Everything clicked. It was like a big party," Ms. Andryczyk said. "The sun came out, the sea of orange, the people everywhere. It was incredibly friendly and very cordial. I never smiled so much in my life. There was so much pride."

The U.S. delegation landed at Kyiv's Boryspil airport on the night of Saturday, January 23, and was greeted at the airport by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst. Following State Department protocol, the three Ukrainian Americans came off the plane just behind Mr. Powell and his wife, Alma, and Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky.

The delegates traveled by motorcade to the center of the city, where they attended a number of pre-inauguration functions and after the official ceremony traveled to Independence Square to listen to President Yushchenko's inaugural address.

"Secretary Powell and his wife stood through the cold and stayed for the entire address," said Ms. Andryczyk, who, together with Ms. McConnell, stayed for the inaugural ball later that night while the remainder of the delegation traveled back to the United States that night.

Members of the delegation said they were honored to have been chosen to represent the United States and said they learned of being selected only days before the January 23 inauguration.

"To have been given the privilege to participate when so many other people could have been there - I was really very touched," Ms. McConnell said.

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