Turning the pages back... May 7, 2000 (05/01/05)

Turning the pages back...

May 7, 2000

Five years ago, The Ukrainian Weekly's issue of May 7, 2000, included a story by Roman Woronowycz of our Kyiv Press Bureau on commemorations of the 55th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. While Ukraine celebrated a three-day holiday after the Easter weekend, which included two days off for May Day, wrote Mr. Woronowycz, President Leonid Kuchma flew off to Belgorod, Russia, for a one-day meeting with the presidents of Belarus and Russia in a display of Slavic unity. Following are excerpts from his report.

The commemorations included a memorial service during which the three leaders jointly rang a bell symbolizing their spiritual unity and the unveiling of a monument to those who fell during the Battle of Kursk - which some Russian historians consider the defining battle of World War II.

It was a meeting in which the varying aims of the three leaders stood in contrast, muted by affirmations of cooperation and friendship.

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka took the opportunity to once again tout the need to form a great Slavic state and reunite the three countries - declarations that President Vladimir Putin fell just short of making. The Russian president merely implied that the three independent states are part of one larger nation. "We met our enemies together and achieved victory together," said Mr. Putin, according to the Associated Press. "We have a common fate, common culture and religion. We are one family."

President Kuchma was far more restrained in giving any such endorsement and called only for the need for closer and more open relations, as well as mutual support and cooperation.

Although it is not certain what President Kuchma hoped to achieve in a symbolic display of unity with his fellow Slavic leaders, one political analyst said it was a symbolic act aimed at World War II veterans in Ukraine who have showed little support for their president.

"It was a bow to [World War II] veterans and that is why Kuchma agreed to do it," said Yevgeny Volk, director of the Heritage Foundation's Moscow office. "But symbolic acts will not affect Ukraine's foreign policy."

The leaders gathered mainly to begin celebrations of the 55th anniversary of the fall of Nazi Berlin and the end of World War II, which occurred on May 9, 1945. For Ukrainians it is a Soviet holiday, "Victory over Fascism Day."

Source: "Presidents of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine mark World War II victory in Belgorod," by Roman Woronowycz, Kyiv Press Bureau, The Ukrainian Weekly, May 7, 2000, Vol. LXVIII, No. 19.

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