Turning the pages back... November 8, 1998 (11/06/05)

Turning the pages back...

November 8, 1998

Back in 1998, The Ukrainian Weekly reported in its November 8 issue that the Ukrainian government had officially acknowledged for the first time the legitimacy of the 1918 Western Ukrainian National Republic (WUNR) with a visit to Lviv by President Leonid Kuchma to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the formation of the short-lived state. Appearing before a packed auditorium of political, cultural and business dignitaries at the Lviv Opera House on November 1, 1998, President Kuchma made it clear that his government now recognized the contributions of the WUNR toward Ukraine's democratic development, reported Roman Woronowycz of our Kyiv Press Bureau.

"In its significance, political ramifications and impact on the future development of Ukraine, the establishment of the WUNR foretold of the coming freedom," said President Kuchma. He called the declaration of the WUNR in the wake of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's collapse "the revival of Ukrainian national statehood after a break of many centuries."

Mr. Woronowycz noted in his news story that in the more than seven years since Ukraine's renewed independence, no Ukrainian government leader had officially acknowledged the existence of the Western Ukrainian government, which lasted for less than three months before it willingly united with the government of the Ukrainian National Republic in Kyiv on January 22, 1919, although it did keep its own governmental structure.

The president brought along a large political contingent to Lviv, often called the western capital of Ukraine. Also seated on the dais were representatives of the strongest political parties of the Lviv Oblast, including a large contingent of leaders of the Rukh Party and National Deputy Slava Stetsko from the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists.

In his address, President Kuchma smoothly made the transition from the past to the present. He complimented the leaders of the WUNR for putting political differences aside in order to build a strong Ukrainian state and called on today's political leaders to follow their example. Mr. Kuchma also referred to Symon Petliura, the supreme commander of the Ukrainian National Republic Army and the president of the Directory of the UNR: "Symon Petliura in a letter found not long ago in the national archives, which he wrote shortly before his demise, said, 'First of all we need a common understanding, without which we will not be able to mobilize for our common cause.' These words are accurate today as well."

He called the legacy of the WUNR "great but tragic" and stated that the mistakes as well as the accomplishments of the Western Ukrainian government must be remembered.

Source: "Ukraine marks 80th anniversary of Western Ukrainian National Republic," by Roman Woronowycz, Kyiv Press Bureau, The Ukrainian Weekly, November 8, 1998, Vol. LXVI, No. 45.

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