Ukrainian president's visit to Chicago marked by high-level meetings (04/17/05)

Ukrainian president's visit to Chicago marked by high-level meetings

by Marta Farion
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

CHICAGO - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's whirlwind visit to Chicago on April 4 and 5 triggered an emotional hero's welcome from the city's political and business leaders, and electrified thousands of Chicago's Ukrainian community with cheers and tears.

Organized by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, nonpartisan organization committed to building global awareness in Chicago and the Midwest, President Yushchenko's Chicago agenda included a head of state keynote address held in the Palmer House Hilton Grand Ballroom and subsequent dinner banquet in the State Ballroom on the evening of April 4 and a breakfast meeting with 50 Chicago-area business executives the following morning.

Two other special events were arranged for Ukraine's First Lady Kateryna Chumachenko Yushchenko, a Chicago native: a breakfast meeting with over a dozen members of Chicago's arts community, organized by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Chicago-Kyiv Sister Cities Committee, and a speech by Mrs. Yushchenko to faculty, students and friends, organized by the University of Chicago.

Although Chicago often hosts foreign heads of state, President Yushchenko's arrival on the night of April 4 will be remembered for the massive outpouring of enthusiastic affection. As the presidential motorcade swept into Chicago's loop, the streets surrounding The Palmer House were clogged and jammed by scores of vehicles and orange-clad Yushchenko supporters unable to get tickets for the event.

With an enthusiastic throng of 1,400 finally seated to see President Yushchenko and hear his speech, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and Chicago Council on Foreign Relations President Marshall B. Bouton escorted President Yushchenko to thunderous applause inside the large hall and the familiar chants of "Yush-chen-ko, Yush-chen-ko, Yush-chen-ko" and "Together we are many and will not be defeated."

Richard H. Cooper, a council board member and founder of Cooperfund Inc., introduced Mayor Daley, who, in turn, introduced the Ukrainian president with enthusiasm, calling Mr. Yushchenko a "hero for democracy."

"I'm proud to welcome President Yushchenko to Chicago - not only on behalf of our proud Ukrainian community, but on behalf of all three million residents of our city. I look forward to a continued friendship and good will between the people of Chicago and the people of Ukraine," said Mayor Daley.

When President Yushchenko addressed his large audience, he departed from the expected foreign policy speech and used the occasion to tell the city's large Ukrainian community that its support of his political career helped advance Ukraine's slow march toward democracy.

"I am particularly happy that the Ukrainian nation has risen from its knees," he said. "And we rose from our knees because you were with us. You were ambassadors of the new Ukraine that still did not exist on the map," he said. "The experience of the new Ukraine owes a lot to your contributions."

The Chicago audience roared when President Yushchenko said, "I am happy to have the Chicago community giving most of their votes to me," he said. "I think the count was 99.6 percent of the votes," referring to the 4,400 local Ukrainians whose Ukrainian citizenship permitted them to vote at the city's Ukrainian Consulate General in the recent election. "The turnout [in Chicago] was like it used to be when we had the Communists, although with the Communists sometimes the turnout was 102 percent," he joked.

Accompanying President Yushchenko to Chicago were several members of his Cabinet of Ministers, including Borys Tarasyuk, minister of foreign affairs; Petro Poroshenko, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council; and Evhen Chervonenko, minister of transportation and communication; as well as State Secretary Oleksander Zinchenko. Also attending were Mykhailo Reznik, ambassador of Ukraine to the United States, and Consul General Borys Bazylevski of the Chicago Consulate. A surprise addition to the Ukrainian delegation was Ukrainian boxing champion Vitalii Klitschko, who entered the hall unannounced but was greeted with thunderous applause and cheers when he was recognized by the large audience.

Ukraine's first lady briefly addressed her hundreds of hometown friends and acquaintances, saying, " I return to Chicago, the city of my birth and the home of one of the most active communities of the Ukrainian diaspora. We love you, and we thank you for your warm support."

Following President Yushchenko's address, a smaller group of approximately 300 guests drawn from the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations membership and invited representatives of local Ukrainian community groups convened in an adjoining banquet room for a head of state dinner. Following the traditional presentation of bread and salt and performances by Hromovytsia, a Chicago Ukrainian dance troupe led by Roxana Dykyj-Pylypchak, and the city's Ukrainian children's choir led by Irka Dychiy, Mayor Daley and President Yushchenko exchanged toasts and warm remarks. President Yushchenko again offered gracious appreciation to the Chicago community for its interest and support.

The evening's events were covered by local TV stations, National Public Radio and Chicago newspapers.

In addition to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, the head of state address and dinner also were sponsored with the support of the following corporations: Project Finance Development International, LLC, Motorola, Boeing, Archer Daniels Midland, Holtec International, Cargill, Selfreliance Ukrainian Federal Credit Union and MB Financial Bank. The events were also co-sponsored by the following organizations: the Consulate General of Ukraine in Chicago, World Trade Center Chicago, Northwestern University and the Chicago-Kyiv Sister Cities Committee.

Breakfast meeting

More than 50 local business leaders met with President Yushchenko early Tuesday morning, April 5, for an invitational executive breakfast. Mr. Yushchenko outlined his vision for Ukraine's economic reforms and the need to change its foreign investment climate. Various business leaders asked specific questions about the prospects and problems associated with their entry into the Ukrainian marketplace.

The Chicago-based companies represented at the executive breakfast included Archer Daniels Midland Co., Brook Furniture Rental Inc., Boeing Co., Cargill, Inc., Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago Gas Technology Institute, CH2M Hill, Crate & Barrel, Datacard Group, Evans Food Products Inc., Holtec International, Hyatt Hotels Corp., Invenergy, JETRO Chicago, MB Financial Bank, MacArthur Foundation, Merrill Lynch & Co., Motorola Inc., National Strategy Forum, Project Finance Development International, Polly Service Ukraine, Reproductive Genetics Institute, Sachnoff & Weaver, Self Reliance Credit Union, Sidley Austin, Brown & Wood, SmithBarney Citigroup, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, Sea Launch Co., USG Corp. and World Trade Center Chicago. Corporate sponsors of the executive breakfast included Archer Daniels Midland, Boeing Co., Cargill, Inc., Holtec, MB Financial, Motorola, Project Finance/Datacard and Selfreliance Credit Union.

Following the executive breakfast, President Yushchenko met with the editors of the Chicago Tribune and reporters from CNN-TV for exclusive interviews, and also with representatives of the local Ukrainian press.

Chicago homecoming

While President Yushchenko met with Chicago business executives, Mrs. Yushchenko (née Chumachenko) attended two events organized by the Chicago Kyiv Sister Cities Committee and the University of Chicago, respectively.

A breakfast convened at the Chicago Cultural Center in honor of Mrs. Yushchenko was attended by more than a dozen representatives of Chicago's cultural community, including musicians Orbert Davis and Lynne Jordan, director of Visual Arts Exhibitions of the City of Chicago Gregory Knight, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Foreign Relations Head Valentine Judge, Chicago Kyiv Sister Cities Committee Chairman Marta Farion, as well as the presidents of Chicago's Ukrainian National Museum, Jaroslav Hankewycz, and the city's Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art Oleh Kowerko, and Ukrainian artists Liala Kuchma, Evhen Prokopov and Anatoly Khmara.

The breakfast was hosted by Maggie Daley, wife of the Chicago mayor, Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Lois Weisberg and the Chicago Kyiv Sister Cities Committee. Also present at the meeting were Iryna Reznik, wife of Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S., and Dr. Yulia Bazylevska, wife of Ukraine's consul general in Chicago. The breakfast included a presentation to Mrs. Yushchenko of paintings by children of the Chicago Ukrainian community from their teacher, Mr. Khmara.

Mrs. Yushchenko emphasized her support for the exhibit of Ukrainian Modernism, scheduled to be shown in the United States in 2006, and she repeated her invitation to Chicago's Mayor and Mrs. Daley to come to Kyiv. A large group of media reporters and photographers entered the meeting during the last 10 minutes, asking questions and recording the event for various media outlets.

Following the breakfast with members of Chicago's cultural community, Mrs. Yushchenko addressed an audience of faculty and students at Mrs. Yushchenko's alma mater, the University of Chicago. Mrs. Yushchenko greeted former classmates and addressed the audience about Ukraine's challenge in reforming its legal, trade, health and education sectors. The first lady stressed the need for continuing exchanges between the United States and Ukraine in these areas, and called upon American universities to expand their collaborative programs with Ukrainian universities.

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