Ukrainian president addresses World Summit at United Nations (09/25/05)

Ukrainian president addresses World Summit at United Nations

by Andrew Nynka

NEW YORK - Speaking before the United Nations and some 150 world leaders, Viktor Yushchenko told a milestone summit, which sought to re-evaluate the U.N.'s role as an international organization, that Ukraine stands ready to help form a new Europe.

"At this meeting the international community shapes its new guidelines in the third millennium," Mr. Yushchenko said. "New Ukraine - free and independent - follows it together with the whole family of democratic nations. I believe that the efforts and experience of my country will contribute to finding important benchmarks."

In his six-minute address on September 15, Mr. Yushchenko said overhauling the United Nations Security Council - the body charged with maintaining peace and security between nations - was a prerequisite to reforming the U.N.

"To perform adequately, its membership should reflect present realities," Mr. Yushchenko said of the Security Council. "It would be fair if all regional groups, including the group of Eastern European states, are represented in the council. The voice of the region, which is shaping new Europe, deserves to be heard."

Mr. Yushchenko's speech came 10 days after a United Nations report said the number of people killed as a result of the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster would ultimately be much less than previously expected. Though he didn't address the report directly, the Ukrainian president stressed that the consequences of Chornobyl were still affecting his country. He noted that the world will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the catastrophe next year.

"I strongly believe that this will be an important opportunity to realize the universal social and cultural depth of this tragedy; it will enable us to combine our efforts to mitigate its consequences," Mr. Yushchenko said.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with Mr. Yushchenko that same day. According to the Ukrainian president's press service, the two men discussed a plan to hold a U.N. General Assembly meeting to mark the 20th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster. They agreed that the world should do more to raise funds to construct a shield over the nuclear power plant.

World leaders were also reminded of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933. Mr. Yushchenko stressed during his speech that the U.N. should work to prevent crimes against humanity.

"I am referring to you as a representative of the nation that lost 10 million human lives in the Famine-Genocide," President Yushchenko said. "At that time, the governments of many countries turned their eyes from the genocide that was organized to destroy our people. We insist that the international community should tell the truth about this crime."

Mr. Yushchenko's speech before the U.N. was part of the 2005 World Summit that brought presidents and heads of state from over 150 countries together on the 60th anniversary of the United Nations. The U.N. billed the summit as the largest ever gathering of world leaders and as an opportunity to reshape the world body for the challenges of the 21st century. Nearly all of the world leaders who attended the three-day summit also spoke.

The summit produced a 35-page final document that established a new Peacebuilding Commission to help countries make the transition from war to peace, and agreed that there is an international responsibility to protect people from genocide, war crimes and ethnic cleansing.

Addressing that responsibility during his speech, Mr. Yushchenko said that only through collective efforts could humanity respond to a variety of international threats.

"We believe that the international community should do everything possible to destroy the environment nourishing the virus of terror - intolerance, tyranny, poverty and humiliation," President Yushchenko said.

He also said his country would recommit to the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals - which include halving poverty and achieving universal primary education by 2015 - that Ukraine stands ready to "provide our support for their full achievement."

Ukraine's Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk accompanied Mr. Yushchenko during his trip to the United States. The two men met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss cooperation between the two countries and the current situation in Ukraine.

Mr. Yushchenko said that dismissing his Cabinet of Ministers, as well as National Security and Defense Council Secretary Petro Poroshenko, had helped to stabilize the situation in the country. He also stressed that the new government would spare no effort to overcome stagnation in the economy.

According to the presidential website, Dr. Rice assured Mr. Yushchenko that Washington supports Ukraine as it works to eradicate corruption. Dr. Rice said the United States welcomed Ukraine's democratic advance.

While in New York, Mr. Yushchenko also met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the presidential website reported. The two men agreed that Ukraine's new prime minister would visit Brazil in October to spur trade and economic relations between Brazil and Ukraine.

Messrs. Yushchenko and da Silva also discussed ways to cooperate in the aerospace field, as the two countries reportedly want to create a joint company to launch space satellites. Mr. da Silva reportedly accepted Mr. Yushchenko's invitation to visit Ukraine next year.

Mr. Yushchenko also met with former President Bill Clinton, the Ukrainian press agency Ukrinform reported. The meeting was held within the framework of Mr. Clinton's Global Initiative conference, which took place in New York City during the U.N. summit.

During the meeting, Messrs Yushchenko and Clinton discussed the political situation in Ukraine, Ukrinform reported. They also dealt with cooperation between the Clinton fund and the Health Ministry of Ukraine, particularly in combating HIV/AIDS. According to the press service, Mr. Clinton accepted Mr. Yushchenko's invitation to visit Ukraine.

Mr. Yushchenko also visited the New York Stock Exchange, where he met with the NYSE Manager John Thain. Mr. Thain briefed the Ukrainian delegation about the NYSE's proceedings and noted that the NYSE is interested in cooperating with Ukraine, Ukrinform reported.

While the focus of Mr. Yushchenko's trip to the United States, which took place on September 14-18, was his participation in the World Summit, he also took the opportunity to address a number of other issues.

In New York, Mr. Yushchenko met with representatives of leading financial corporations, religious leaders and representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora. He also paid a visit to The Ukrainian Museum.

He met with representatives of American Jewish organizations, who told the president they intended to ask the U.S. Congress to repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment, the presidential website reported.

Mr. Yushchenko was greeted at a reception hosted by the law firm Chadbourne and Parke, and later attended a banquet hosted by the Orange Circle organization (see story on page 5).

The law firm held a small VIP reception and question and answer session for the president at Chadbourne's offices, according to the Action Ukraine Report.

The 75 guests at the reception included Chadbourne attorneys and firm clients as well as former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, former Carter administration National Security Advisor Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, former U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills, former Canadian Prime Minister John Turner and ex-New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir. Also attending were the president's wife, Kateryna, and Orange Circle representatives.

President Yushchenko was also the guest of honor at a Ukrainian community banquet attended by over 300 people on September 16 at The Pierre Hotel in New York City.

In his 50-minute speech in Ukrainian, Mr. Yushchenko used humor to address the recent political events in Ukraine.

"Something tells me I need to say a few words about Tymoshenko," he said, referring to former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, as the crowd laughed. He explained that he regarded her as a trusted ally, but that favoritism and secretive decisions marred her administration.

In response to criticism that he has not delivered on the reforms he promised during the presidential campaign, he said, "Give us time - we cannot do in one year that which people could not do in 20 years."

During another speech at the banquet, President Yushchenko's wife, Kateryna, called for people to invest in Ukraine's health care network. In Ukraine there should be only the best hospitals and every region of the country should have a first rate medical center, Mrs. Yushchenko said.

The Ukrainian first lady also thanked the Ukrainian diaspora. "When the world did not know about Ukraine, you stood out and said that it exists," she said. "You've held on to our language. Continue doing what you have been doing. Democracy is not an event, but a process."

The president was joined on the dais by Mr. Tarasyuk, Ukraine's acting minister of foreign affairs; Askold Lozynskyj, president of the Ukrainian World Congress; masters of ceremoniesUlana Kekish of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America and Michael Sawkiw Jr., president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America; the Very Rev. Bernard Panczuk of St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church in New York; and the Rev. John Lyszyk of St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Church in New York.

| Home Page |