Ukraine's foreign affairs minister has high praise for constructive atmosphere in relations with U.S. (03/19/06)

Ukraine's foreign affairs minister has high praise for constructive atmosphere in relations with U.S.

by Yaro Bihun
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

WASHINGTON - "I cannot recall such an exceptionally constructive and positive atmosphere in our relations."

That was how Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk, who says that in one way or another he has been involved in Ukraine's foreign affairs since independence, characterized the U.S.-Ukraine bilateral relationship with one meeting left on his schedule of talks here on March 9-10.

That last meeting - with the president's national security advisor, Stephen Hadley - turned out to include another, unscheduled participant, President George W. Bush himself.

It was an unprecedented conclusion to an unprecedented week, which saw another Ukrainian Cabinet member, Economy Minister Arsenii Yatseniuk, sign a bilateral World Trade Organization accession agreement here on Tuesday, March 7, the U.S. House of Representatives vote to free Ukraine from the economic shackles of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment on Wednesday, March 8, and the Senate passage of the House version of that legislation on Thursday, March 9.

The only other possible step in the process that remained - and some observers predicted it would happen after Mr. Tarasyuk canceled his scheduled Friday meetings in New York to stay in Washington - would be the signing of the Jackson-Vanik "graduation" legislation by President Bush. This did not happen, but observers see no obstacles to it happening in the very near future.

Minister Tarasyuk's visit, which began with a meeting with his counterpart Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, also included talks with Vice-President Dick Cheney and Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England.

He met with representatives of American businesses, many of whom, along with Ukrainian American groups, had lobbied Congress to get rid of the Jackson-Vanik constraints; with prominent members of Congress, among them Sens. John McCain and Richard Lugar; addressed a foreign policy audience at the Brookings Institution; and briefed a small group of Ukrainian American community leaders at the Ukrainian Embassy on the status of U.S.-Ukraine relations and Ukraine's relationship with its diaspora.

He also laid a wreath at the Taras Shevchenko monument, where he was the featured speaker on the program commemorating the poet's birthday anniversary.

During the briefing at the Embassy of Ukraine Mr. Tarasyuk said that the "exceptionally positive developments" over the past few months, including that week's events and the reinstatement of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits for Ukraine in late January, improved not only political but business relations between American firms and Ukraine. And this became very evident during his meetings with such firms as Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

"This is very serious," he said. "It means that all of these systemic decisions by the administration paved the way for our cooperation with U.S. high-technology industries," he added, predicting that in the next few years there will be increased close cooperation between U.S. and Ukrainian companies in such areas as aviation and space technology.

In his foreign policy address at the Brookings Institution, Minister Tarasyuk underscored the accomplishments of President Viktor Yushchenko's administration in building a democracy in Ukraine, where freedom of speech is flourishing - and used by opposition leaders - and where the media is now free from government interference.

"This level of freedom of speech wasn't dreamed of just a year ago," he said. As for the coming elections to the Verkhovna Rada, he expressed optimism about the results: "There should be no doubts that the pro-democracy parties are capable of bridging their differences and restoring the Orange coalition."

During his meeting with Ukrainian American community leaders, Minister Tarasyuk said that Ukraine's government decided that its relations with the diaspora will be coordinated through a special office at the Foreign Ministry which already has prepared a government plan of support for diaspora Ukrainians through 2010.

He recalled how in the first years after independence, when the Ukrainian government did not have the funds necessary to establish its diplomatic representations abroad, the diaspora came through with timely assistance, including helping fund the procurement of the Embassy building in Washington and other capitals.

"I always felt uneasy about this because Ukraine was not able to give anything back in return to these Ukrainian organizations," he said. Now, he added, the government is able to respond and will begin establishing Ukrainian cultural-information centers abroad that will work in cooperation with diaspora organizations.

Both at the Embassy briefing and at the Shevchenko monument, Minister Tarasyuk also thanked the Ukrainian American community for helping bring about what he characterized as the best U.S.-Ukraine relationship ever.

Standing in front of the statue of Shevchenko, he also noted that just over a year ago "a new Ukraine" was born. It is "a Ukraine of Taras Shevchenko's dreams - of your and our dreams."

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