ANALYSIS: Yushchenko's visit to U.S. heralds return to "golden era" (04/10/05)

ANALYSIS

Yushchenko's visit to U.S. heralds return to "golden era"

by Taras Kuzio
Eurasia Daily Monitor

April 4

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's official visit to the United States on April 4-6 is set to radically transform U.S.-Ukraine relations and return them to the "golden era" that existed under President Bill Clinton. U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst predicted, "We expect not only the revival of the friendly ties that existed between our states seven to nine years ago, but the establishment of a qualitatively new level of relations" (Kievskiy Telegraf, March 25-31).

Orest Deychakiwsky, staff advisor at the U.S. governmental Helsinki Commission said: "Despite the typical past rhetoric about visits leading to a qualitatively new relationship between the United States and Ukraine, this one really does." This is, "because for the first time you have a Ukrainian leadership truly devoted to democracy and the rule of law and determined to integrate with the Euro-Atlantic community. In short, it's the first time you have a relationship based on shared values."

Mr. Deychakiwsky continued, "This will become clear throughout the visit and cannot help but to influence U.S.-Ukraine relations in a positive way, including building meaningful, substantive relationships in the security, democracy, and trade and economic spheres."

Trust in President Yushchenko's integrity and sympathy for the poisoning he endured last year is very high in Washington. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who visited Kyiv last month as part of a U.S. congressional delegation, declared that Mr. Yushchenko is "an international hero" (Ukrainska Pravda, March 26).

Mr. Yushchenko's visit is not likely to see any major policy issues resolved, but it will serve to break the ice after four frosty years of U.S.-Ukrainian relations.

The latest State Department report on human rights outlines how the United States assisted Ukraine in its election year (state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41715.htm).U.S. support included assistance for the rule of law, independent media, civil society and human rights organizations. The report also highlights numerous congressional visits to Ukraine during the presidential campaign, including one by President Bush's special representative, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), during the second round. These visits repeatedly underscored Washington's insistence that Mr. Kuchma hold free and fair elections.

A Senate Republican policy committee paper titled "Promoting a Robust U.S.-Ukraine Agenda: Securing the Orange Revolution in Ukraine" was released on the eve of President Yushchenko's visit and distributed to the legislative assistants, legislative directors, policy advisors and counsels in all Republican Senate offices (rpc.senate.gov).

The policy paper argues that it is in the interest of the United States for the Bush administration and Congress to strongly back President Yushchenko. Among the recommendations are repeal of the Jackson-Vanik amendment, support Ukraine's membership in the WTO, and inclusion of Ukraine within the Millennium Challenge Account. The policy paper also looks at ways to improve U.S.-Ukraine cooperation and transparency to block trafficking in weapons, narcotics and humans. The paper also calls for ensuring "a legitimate and stable venue [for Ukraine] to meet its security concerns. Membership in NATO provides such a platform."

President Yushchenko's visit also represents a break with the Kuchma administration's security policy toward the United States, according to Oleksander Potekhin. During the Orange Revolution, Mr. Potekhin led a rebellion among Ukrainian diplomats while he was based at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington (foreignpolicy.org.ua). The Kuchma administration believed it would gain Washington's blessing by supplying troops to coalition forces in Iraq but was willing to turn to Moscow if Washington failed to meet its expectations.

Mr. Yushchenko's three-day visit started off with a meeting and lunch with President Bush followed by a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Later that day Mr. Yushchenko spoke at Georgetown University, where Kateryna née Chumachenko, Mr. Yushchenko's American-born wife, earned a bachelor's degree in 1982.

On April 4-5, the Yushchenkos will visit Chicago. Mrs. Yushchenko was born in Chicago and received an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1986. President Yushchenko will speak at the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.

On the last day of his visit, President Yushchenko will address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, a rare honor previously accorded to other U.S. - recognized "freedom fighters" such as Lech Walesa, Vaclav Havel, Nelson Mandela and Boris Yeltsin. Mr. Yushchenko may use this occasion to return an original copy of the 1776 Declaration of Independence recently found in Ukraine's archives.

That same day he will lay a wreath at Washington's monument to Ukraine's national bard, Taras Shevchenko, which was unveiled by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1964. Mr. Yushchenko, whose father spent most of World War II in Nazi concentration camps as a German POW, will also visit Washington's Holocaust Memorial Museum.

President Yushchenko's final evening in the United States will be crowned first by a joint reception organized by the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute. IRI and NDI chairs, respectively, Sen. John McCain and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, are strong supporters of recent democratic changes in Ukraine. The reception will be followed by a banquet in the Ukrainian president's honor organized by Ukrainian diaspora organizations.

Taras Kuzio is visiting professor at the Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University. The articles above, which originally appeared in The Jamestown Foundation's Eurasia Daily Monitor, are reprinted here with permission from the foundation (www.jamestown.org).

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