Foreign minister speaks in New York about recent developments in Ukraine (10/01/06)

Foreign minister speaks in New York about recent developments in Ukraine

by Matthew Dubas

NEW YORK - On Saturday, September 23, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk met with the Ukrainian American community at the Ukrainian Institute of America to discuss recent developments in Ukraine.

Mr. Tarasyuk said that membership in NATO is in Ukraine's best interest due to the organization's goals of promoting stability and protection, with member-states maintaining democratic and military standards.

On Ukraine's multi-vector foreign policy, Mr. Tarasyuk said, "There is much criticism regarding multi-vector policies, but there is no other way. Ukraine can't look in only one direction - it's death."

When asked how much of what happened during Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's visit to Brussels was internal politics, Mr. Tarasyuk said that the prime minister's announcement in Brussels of a pause in Ukraine's NATO aspirations was not representative of the Ukrainian government position. He added that internal politics reflective of the prime minister's allegiance to the Party of the Regions and their agenda was out of line with the goals of the president, the Universal of National Unity and the Ukrainian government.

The foreign affairs minister expressed his fondness for what have become his regular meetings with the Ukrainian community in America and recognized the work that Ukrainian Americans have done for Ukraine's bilateral relations with the United States, most notably, the work that went into the graduation of Ukraine from the Jackson-Vanik Amendment earlier this year.

Mr. Tarasyuk highlighted the accomplishments of the fourth World Forum of Ukrainians and reinforced the suggestion made by President Viktor Yushchenko to not divide Ukrainians into those residing in Ukraine and those outside. The foreign affairs minister said that Ukraine should continue a dialogue and help all Ukrainians, wherever they may reside - recognition of the fact that large numbers of Ukrainians have been living and working abroad since Ukraine gained independence 15 years ago.

He also called upon the Ukrainian community to take an active role in the discussions titled "National Concepts: Cooperation with Ukrainians Living Abroad" that were initiated at the fourth World Forum of Ukrainians.

Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is preparing a budgetary program titled: "The West and the Formation of Ties with Ukrainians Who Reside Beyond the Borders of Ukraine." According to Mr. Tarasyuk, 14 million hrv have been allocated for national-cultural programs with over 500 projects carried out by various Ukrainian community organizations in over 43 countries.

In keeping with the directive of President Yushchenko, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has as a goal for the end of the year to open cultural-information centers in Austria, Moldova, Poland and France. Mr. Tarasyuk said he anticipates that 29 of these centers will be open by 2011, among them two in the United States. One of the offices will function with the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, while the other with the Consulate General in New York.

Also on the agenda for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are the preparations for the 75th anniversary of the Holodomor and its recognition by a United Nations resolution as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people. This was a topic at a roundtable discussion at the fourth World Forum of Ukrainians initiated by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Mr. Tarasyuk said. Over 150 representatives took part in the roundtable discussions on ways of getting the international community, governments, parliaments and international organizations involved. Also at the World Forum, there was a call for the Verkhovna Rada to pass a separate resolution on recognizing the Holodomor as genocide.

The Holodomor has been recognized as an act of genocide by 26 countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Estonia, Italy, Hungary, Latvia, Georgia and Poland. "This came as a result of the work of the Ukrainian diaspora," said Mr. Tarasyuk, "and we owe you our sincerest thanks."

Also as a result of the fourth World Forum of Ukrainians, Mr. Tarasyuk had an opportunity to meet with 70 delegations from 27 countries of immigrant Fourth Wavers and agreed to form a new international community organization called The New Wave. The goal of the organization will be cooperation between representatives of new immigrant community organizations and the government organs of Ukraine, and the promotion of unity among Ukrainians living abroad.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Tarasyuk reminded the audience of the words of President John F. Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what can you do for your country." He also encouraged audience members, now that visa restrictions to Ukraine have been lifted, to take the opportunity to visit their homeland.

The discussion concluded with Mr. Tarasyuk recognizing the work of Ukrainians in America and awarding Marta Farion, head of the committee of international sister-cities program between Kyiv and Chicago, the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, fifth degree.

The Order for Service, third degree, was awarded to: Peter Kapshuchenko, renowned sculptor; Bohdan Kekish, president and CEO of the Self Reliance (New York) Federal Credit Union; and Roman Smyk, renowned activist in the Ukrainian community in the U.S.

Mr. Tarasyuk thanked the medal recipients for their work with Ukraine and underscored that with such cooperation we can build a democratic and European Ukraine.

Audience members were then invited to pose questions to the foreign minister and to present commentary.

In his subsequent meeting with members of the press, Mr. Tarasyuk noted that Ukraine is the largest transit nation of Russian-Turkmen gas, with over 37,000 kilometers of pipelines. By the end of October, Ukraine will have 13 storage facilities capable of containing 20 billion cubic meters of gas. "Countries of the European Union will be guaranteed uninterrupted delivery of gas. No problems will come from the Ukrainian side," said Mr. Tarasyuk.

While in New York for the opening of the 61st session of the General Assembly, Mr. Tarasyuk had a meeting on September 25 with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. According to a news release from the Embassy of Ukraine, he underlined that Ukraine's foreign policy priorities remain with European and Euro-Atlantic integration, and that membership in the WTO would be realized by the end of this year. Also that day, the foreign affairs minister addressed the General Assembly.

| Home Page |