Turning the pages back... January 2, 2005 (01/01/06)

Turning the pages back...

January 2, 2005

The United States - both the Bush administration and members of Congress - hailed the December 26, 2004, presidential election in Ukraine as a historic event, congratulated the Ukrainian people for their accomplishment and acknowledged America's responsibility to help them achieve their goals, reported Yaro Bihun in our issued dated January 2, 2005.

Speaking a day after the election, Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed the U.S. government assessment of the importance of what happened in Ukraine: "This is an historic moment for democracy in Ukraine," he said. Even though the election results were not yet official, he added "it appears that the Ukrainian people finally had an opportunity to choose freely their next president."

He said the election observers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe had already noted that while there were some shortcomings, overall the elections were very close to meeting international democratic standards. "The Ukrainian people can truly be proud of this achievement," Secretary Powell added.

"We have said that we are prepared to work closely with the winner of Sunday's election as long as the election was won in a free and fair contest," Secretary Powell said. "We are prepared to move forward on many issues of importance to Ukraine."

"Ukrainians own Ukraine. And what we're going to do is work with the Ukrainians to help them achieve their dreams and aspirations, help them improve their economy, and to help them improve their relations with us and with the rest of the world," he said.

Our Washington correspondent also reported that some members of Congress had spent their holiday recess in Ukraine as election observers, among them Jim Kolbe (R) of Arizona, Susan Davis (D) of California, Donald Payne (D) of New Jersey and Charles Taylor (R) of North Carolina, who shared their views at a press conference before returning home on December 27, 2004.

Rep. Kolbe, who chaired the House Subcommittee on Appropriations, expressed his admiration and congratulations to the Ukrainian people, as well as the Ukrainian and international press for their role in the process.

"The message that we will take back to our colleagues in Washington is that we have witnessed a tremendous demonstration by the Ukrainian people in support of freedom and of democracy," Mr. Kolbe said. "We will look forward to working with and supporting the new government of Ukraine, whoever the president that is sworn in might be."

On the other side of Capitol Hill, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote a commentary on the developments in Ukraine, published in the December 27, 2004, issue of the Financial Times (London). In her piece, she drew some lessons about democracy from what was going on in Ukraine.

"Democracy does not end with a constitution or the right to vote," she wrote. "The Ukrainian people have experienced both victories and struggles since they voted for independence 13 years ago. But, as we learned in our own country for more than 200 years, maintaining democracy is a never-ending struggle that we must face up to every day."

Source: "U.S. congratulates people of Ukraine," by Yaro Bihun, The Ukrainian Weekly, January 2, 2005, Vol. LXXIII, No. 1.

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