Yushchenko to visit New York, Philadelphia on September 13-18 (09/04/05)

Yushchenko to visit New York, Philadelphia on September 13-18

by Andrew Nynka

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko will address the United Nations and more than 170 heads of state, as the highlight of his upcoming trip to the United States, during a U.N. summit in New York City, Ukrainian diplomats said.

While in New York, Mr. Yushchenko will hold several bilateral meetings. The president will also attend various community events in New York and Philadelphia.

As part of his five-day trip to the United States, Mr. Yushchenko will attend the 2005 United Nations World Summit held at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on September 14-16. He is scheduled to speak on September 15, Ukrainian diplomats said, and his speech will focus on several issues, including economic development and international security.

The trip to the U.S. will be Mr. Yushchenko's second here as Ukraine's president. In April of this year Mr. Yushchenko met at the White House with U.S. President George W. Bush and spoke before members of both houses of Congress.

The 2005 World Summit will include four closed, interactive roundtables dealing with the summit's four agenda items: freedom from want, freedom from fear, freedom to live in dignity and strengthening the U.N.

The summit will also feature plenary meetings presided over by world leaders and decisions are expected to be made in the areas of development, security, human rights and reform of the United Nations.

Member-states are expected to adopt a final document that will contain a number of decisions and recommendations for future action. Aside from making a speech, Mr. Yushchenko's role in the summit is not known.

Following his speech at the U.N., Mr. Yushchenko will receive the 2005 Philadelphia Liberty Medal during a public ceremony held in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center at 2 p.m.

The medal, established in 1988 and administered by the non-profit Philadelphia Foundation, honors an individual or organization that has "demonstrated leadership and vision in the pursuit of liberty of conscience or freedom from oppression, ignorance or deprivation."

Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street will present the medal on September 17, America's Constitution Day. The medal, which comes with a $100,000 prize, is typically awarded on American Independence Day, July 4, but the date had to be changed this year because of a scheduling conflict.

That evening, following the award ceremony, a gala dinner and celebration will honor President Yushchenko. The dinner, a by-invitation-only, black-tie event, will be hosted by the directors of the Philadelphia Liberty Medal and the trustees of the National Constitution Center, where the reception will be held.

Mr. Yushchenko is expected to arrive in the United States on September 13. He is expected to visit The Ukrainian Museum, as well as St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church and St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Church, all in New York City.

His schedule will include a banquet two days later, where he will be the guest of honor at the founding dinner of the Orange Circle, a new initiative launched to "represent the essence of Ukraine's Orange Revolution," a website for the non-profit organization notes. The event will take place in the Rainbow Room at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City and tickets are $500 per person.

The following evening, September 16, the president will be the guest of honor during a gala banquet prepared by the Ukrainian American Community Committee. The event will take place at The Pierre Hotel, located at Fifth Avenue and 61st Street in New York City. Ticktes are $300.

While Mr. Yushchenko is in New York, his wife, Kateryna Yushchenko, will hold a reception for invited women at the Ukrainian Institute of America on September 15. The reception will "celebrate the cultural heritage of Ukraine," an invitation for the event notes.

Mr. Yushchenko is scheduled to leave the United States and return to Ukraine on September 18. Other details of his schedule were not available at press time.

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