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Action Ukraine Report

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT"
In-Depth Ukrainian News, Analysis, and Commentary

"The Art of Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World"

"Ukraine faces critically important presidential elections this October.
Last month, I introduced a bipartisan resolution urging the Ukrainian
Government to ensure a democratic, transparent and fair election process.
Unfortunately, there have been serious problems in Ukraine's pre-election
environment.

Ukraine can do much to demonstrate its commitment to democracy and
the rule of law by conducting free and fair elections and fully and honestly
investigating those who were behind the murder of Heorhiy Gongadze.
The Ukrainian people deserve no less." [U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse
Campbell, Washington, D.C., article one]

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" Year 04, Number 104
Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC), Washington, D.C.
Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA), Huntingdon Valley, PA
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Washington, D.C.; Kyiv, Ukraine, FRIDAY, June 25, 2004

-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"

1. "NEW TWIST IN UNRESOLVED MURDER OF UKRAINIAN
JOURNALIST HEORHIY GONGADZE"
Congressional Record Statement
U.S. Senate, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO)
Co-Chairman, Helsinki Commission (www.csce.gov)
Washington, D.C., Thursday, June 24, 2004

2. "PROGRESS ON GONGADZE"
EDITORIAL, Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 24, 2004

3. WITNESS'S DEATH ADDS TO PUZZLE OVER FATE OF
UKRAINE JOURNALIST GEORGY GONGADZE
By Tom Warner in Kiev, Financial Times, London, UK, June 22, 2004

4. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT KUCHMA ACCUSES "OUR UKRAINE"
BLOC OF ONLY BEING INTERESTED IN A POLITICAL STAND-OFF
UTT1, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 24 Jun 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Jun 24, 2004

5. BACKGROUND: UKRAINIAN CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM BILLS
BBC Monitoring Service Research, UK, Thursday, 24 Jun 04

6. ROMANIA URGES UKRAINE TO STOP BUILDING DANUBE
CANAL UNTIL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDY FINISHED
Rompres News Agency, Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, 24 Jun 04

7. UKRAINE SEAMEN DETAIL IRAQ PRISON TORTURE
By Natasha Lisova, AP Online, Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Jun 24, 2004

8.UKRAINIANS WANT TO MOVE ABROAD, WISH THEY HAD NOT
BEEN BORN IN UKRAINE, DISTRUST EU, NATO, SURVEY SHOWS
Interfax News Agency, Moscow, Russia, Thursday, 24 Jun 04

9. POLAND SHOULD SUPPORT UKRAINE'S EU AMBITIONS
TO CONTAIN RUSSIA AND PROMOTE FAVOURABLE
CHANGES IN THE EU ITSELF
COMMENTARY on article by Slawomir Sierakowski,
Editor in Chief, "Political Critique" Quarterly
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Jun 24, 2004

10. "RUSSIA DOESN'T CARE ABOUT UKRAINE'S PRESIDENCY,
IT WANTS THE WHOLE COUNTRY"
OP-ED: By Andrey Ermolayev, Director, Sofia Center for Social Research.
Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Jun 24, 2004

11. UKRAINIAN POETRY: A VIRTUAL BREAKTHROUGH
By Dmytro Desiateryk, The Day Weekly Digest, Kyiv, June 15, 2004

12. "THE JAMES THAT WE DON'T KNOW"
June 11 marks forty days since the passing of James Mace,
our colleague and friend
By Natalia Dziubenko-Mace, The Day Weekly Digest in English
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 15, 2004

13. "LEGENDS DON'T DIE"....JACEK KURON
By Nadiya Tysiachna, The Day, Olha Vasylevksa
The Day Weekly Digest in English, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 22, 2004

14. "JACEK KURON WAS ALWAYS A GOOD FRIEND
OF THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE"
COMMENTARY by Prof. Stanislav Kulchtsky, D.S. (History)
The Day Weekly Digest in English, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tues, June 22, 2004
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 104 ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
=========================================================
1. "NEW TWIST IN UNRESOLVED MURDER OF UKRAINIAN
JOURNALIST HEORHIY GONGADZE"

Congressional Record Statement
U.S. Senate, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO)
Co-Chairman, Helsinki Commission (www.csce.gov)
Washington, D.C., Thursday, June 24, 2004

Statement of U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell:

Mr. President, for nearly four years the case of murdered Ukrainian
investigative journalist Heorhiy Gongadze has gone unsolved, despite
repeated calls by the Helsinki Commission, the State Department, and the
international community for a fair and impartial investigation into this
case. As Co-Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, I have met with
Gongadze's widow and their young twin daughters. Besides the human
tragedy of the case, the Gongadze murder is a case study of the Ukrainian
authorities' utter contempt for the rule of law.

Gongadze, who was editor of the Ukrainian Internet news publication
Ukrainska Pravda, which was critical of high-level corruption in Ukraine,
disappeared in September 2000. His headless body was found in November
of that year. That same month, audio recordings by a former member of the
presidential security services surfaced that included excerpts of earlier
conversations between Ukrainian President Kuchma and other senior officials
discussing the desirability of Gongadze's elimination.

Earlier this week, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's office announced that
Ihor Honcharov, a high ranking police officer who claimed to have
information on how Ministry of Internal Affairs officials carried out orders
to abduct Gongadze, died of "spinal trauma" while in police custody last
year. This came on the heels of an article in the British newspaper, The
Independent, which obtained leaked confidential documents from Ukraine
indicating repeated obstruction into the Gongadze case at the highest
levels. Furthermore, just yesterday, Ukraine's Prosecutor General announced
that investigators are questioning a suspect who has allegedly admitted to
killing Gongadze.

Many close observers of the Ukrainian authorities' mishandling, obfuscation
and evasiveness surrounding this case from the outset are suspicious with
respect to this announcement. Just one of numerous examples of the
Ukrainian authorities' obstruction of the case was the blocking of FBI
experts from examining evidence gathered during the initial investigation in
April 2002, after the Bureau had been invited by these authorities to advise
and assist in the case and earlier had helped in identifying Gongadze's
remains.

The Ukrainian parliament's committee investigating the murder has
recommended criminal proceedings against President Kuchma. This
committee's work has been thwarted at every turn over the course of
the last several years by the top-ranking Ukrainian authorities.

Mr. President, a serious and credible investigation of this case is long
overdue - one which brings to justice not only the perpetrators of this
crime, but all those complicit in Gongadze's disappearance and murder,
including President Kuchma.

Ukraine faces critically important presidential elections this October.
Last month, I introduced a bipartisan resolution urging the Ukrainian
Government to ensure a democratic, transparent and fair election process.
Unfortunately, there have been serious problems in Ukraine's pre-election
environment.

Ukraine can do much to demonstrate its commitment to democracy and
the rule of law by conducting free and fair elections and fully and honestly
investigating those who were behind the murder of Heorhiy Gongadze.
The Ukrainian people deserve no less. (END)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Contact Orest Deychakiwsky at the Helsinki Commission if you
need more nformation regarding this statement: orest.deychak@mail.house.gov.
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 104 ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
Current Events Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/events/index.htm
=========================================================
2. "PROGRESS ON GONGADZE"

EDITORIAL, Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 24, 2004

The Georgy Gongadze case, that long-running and almost unbelievably sordid
national scandal, has lurched its way back into the public consciousness.
This week prosecutors announced - finally - that the death of key Gongadze
case witness Ihor Honcharov wasn't natural, and that they will investigate
the incident.

Georgy Gongadze is of course the muckraking journalist who was abducted from
downtown Kyiv in September, 2000, before his decapitated body was found in
the woods outside Kyiv. Some allege that President Leonid Kuchma and other
top officials are implicated in murder of the pesky Internet reporter;
Kuchma and the others deny the charges.

Honcharov is the former police officer whose posthumously-released letters
indicate that he was a member of a criminal gang of ex-policemen known as
the Werewolves who abducted and murdered Gondagze (though Honcharov
denied in the letters that he participated in the deed). The incendiary
letters implicate top officials in the crime. When a man fingering powerful
people in capital crimes conveniently dies in custody, it raises eyebrows.
The Prosecutor General's Office's announcement that a medical study has
concluded that Honcharov died of "spinal trauma" due to a beating he
received is very welcome.

We lack complete faith that the Prosecutor General's Office, an often
compromised body, will launch an impartial investigation into this component
mystery of the Gongadze affair. Yet this announcement is a good step, even
if its lateness - Honcharov was cremated last August - raises the suspicion
that there's some secret political motive at work behind it.

This wasn't the only big Gongadze news of the week, as prosecutors also said
that a certain "Citizen K" in their custody has admitted to decapitating
Gongadze. It's possible - just possible - that the Gongadze case could be
moving toward its culmination. Let's hope Citizen K doesn't die in custody,
too. (END)
==========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 104 ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
Ukrainian Culture Gallery: http://www.ArtUkraine.com/cultgallery.htm
==========================================================
3. WITNESS'S DEATH ADDS TO PUZZLE OVER FATE OF UKRAINE
JOURNALIST GEORGY GONGADZE

By Tom Warner in Kiev, Financial Times, London, UK, Tuesday, June 22, 04

A key witness to the killing of Georgy Gongadze, a journalist whose death
has been linked to President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine, was himself killed in
prison last year, Ukraine's prosecutor- general's office said yesterday.

A medical study concluded that Igor Goncharov, a high-ranking police officer
who claimed to have inside information on how interior ministry officials
carried out orders to abduct Gongadze, died of "spinal trauma" caused by
physical blows received while he was in police custody, Sergey Rudenko, a
spokesman for the prosecutor-general, said at a press conference.

However, Mr Rudenko rejected allegations that the prosecutor-general was
quashing the investigation into Gongadze's killing in 2000, which prompted
large street demonstrations.

At the time, a former presidential guard published recordings that appeared
to show Mr Kuchma telling his then interior minister to "get rid" of
Gongadze. The journalist's body was found beheaded in November 2000 in
a forest outside Kiev.

In 2002, a Ukraine parliamentary commission accused Mr Kuchma of
involvement in the murder of Gongadze and urged law enforcement authorities
to bring criminal charges against the president. However, Mr Kuchma has
denied all accusations against him.

Later yesterday the prosecutor-general's office announced that it had a
suspect in custody who had confessed to killing and beheading Gongadze. The
suspect, who was not named, had been charged in the past with several other
killings that involved beheadings, according to a press statement.

Mr Rudenko also attacked an article published at the weekend in The
Independent, the UK daily newspaper, which said it had obtained Ukrainian
police records that "proved senior government officials had tried to wreck
investigations" into Gongadze's murder. Prosecutors had "great doubts" about
the claims made by The Independent's "mythical" unnamed sources, he said.

The Independent said it had obtained copies of interrogation records of
Ukrainian police who conducted surveillance on Gongadze and mapped out his
routine movements during the months before his disappearance on September
16, 2000. The interrogations were part of an investigation of a police
general who was briefly jailed last October on charges of destroying
documents related to the surveillance.

Mr Kuchma sacked the prosecutor-general who led that investigation, and his
replacement, the current prosecutor-general, ordered the release of the
police general.

The Independent said it had also obtained the original autopsy of Goncharov,
which concluded he died from an injection of Thiopental, an anaesthetic.

The controversy over Goncharov could add to pressure on Mr Kuchma and
his allies, who face a presidential election in October that polls show the
opposition likely to win. Mr Kuchma has said he will step down, while
supporting the presidential campaign of Viktor Yanukovich, his prime
minister.

Goncharov's testimony is known mostly from hand-written letters smuggled out
of prison and published after his death. Mr Rudenko said prison officials
were being investigated for "exceeding official authority". (END)
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 104 ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
Current Events Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/events/index.htm
=========================================================
4. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT KUCHMA ACCUSES "OUR UKRAINE"
BLOC OF ONLY BEING INTERESTED IN A POLITICAL STAND-OFF

UTT1, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 24 Jun 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Jun 24, 2004

[Presenter] The seventh Ukraine-Poland economic forum opened in Yalta
today. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and Polish President Aleksander
Kwasniewski are to take part in it. Participants in the two-day forum have
gathered to discuss collaboration in various branches of the economy, in
particular, cooperation in banking, finance, trade, investment activities
and European integration.

Leonid Kuchma has already arrived in Crimea, where he has paid a visit to
the Artek international children's centre. Answering questions from
journalists, he jokingly dubbed the appointment of Oleksandr Zinchenko as
[opposition Our Ukraine bloc leader] Viktor Yushchenko's election campaign
manager as one of the most brilliant special operations by the United Social
Democratic Party of Ukraine, [which Zinchenko demonstratively quit, citing
disagreements with the party's leader Viktor Medvedchuk, who is deemed to
be Yushchenko's main antagonist].

The head of state also said that yesterday's vote on political reform
indicated that Our Ukraine remains opposed to amendments to the constitution
[parliament gave initial approval to majority-proposed constitution changes
despite Our Ukraine's protests].

[Kuchma] What did the events in parliament yesterday indicate? To my great
regret, [they indicated] that Our Ukraine once again remained on the other
side of the barricades. They are interested in having the political
stand-off continue in this country. If that is the democracy that Our
Ukraine offers us in the future, if it wins the election, then forgive me,
but the Ukrainian people do not need that kind of democracy. [Passage
omitted: Kuchma visits the Artek centre.] [Audio and video available. Please
send queries to kiev.bbcm@mon.bbc.co.uk] (END)
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 104 ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
Current Events Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/events/index.htm
=========================================================
5. BACKGROUND: UKRAINIAN CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM BILLS

BBC Monitoring Service Research, UK, Thursday, 24 Jun 04

The Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday 23 June gave initial approval to
constitutional reforms backed by President Leonid Kuchma, two months after
similar moves were thrown out by deputies. This time, a slightly modified
draft was overwhelmingly passed (by 276 to five) on the first reading with
the support of the pro-government and Socialist Party factions.

The bill, No 4180, would cut the powers of future Ukrainian presidents, and
extend those of parliament. It is virtually identical to a previous bill
that failed to receive the 300 votes needed for adoption in second and final

reading on 8 April. The opposition argues that voting on a bill similar to
the one that failed breaches the constitution which prohibits repeat voting
on amendments for a year. Three opposition factions - Our Ukraine, the
Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc and the Communist Party - voted against the bill.

The following are the main provisions of bill No 4180:
- direct presidential elections abolished after the 2004 poll
- president elected by parliament
- parliament's term extended from four to five years starting from the 2006
election year
- elections are held entirely on the basis of proportional representation,
doing away with single-seat constituencies which elect half of the current
legislature
- the newly elected parliament forms a governing coalition which appoints
prime minister
- prime minister nominates members of the cabinet for approval by parliament
- MPs elected on the list of one party may not leave it or join another,
otherwise they would lose their seat
- MPs are allowed to hold government posts

Yesterday, parliament also took a vote on an opposition bill on
constitutional reform, no 3207-1, which received only 118 votes - short of
the required majority.

The bill, proposed by the Our Ukraine bloc, also increases the parliament's
powers and has the following key features:
- president continues to be elected by popular ballot
- parliament elected by proportional representation only
- parliament continues to be elected for a four-year term
- the party that gains the most votes at the election appoints prime
minister; if unable to form a majority it forms a coalition with other
parties;
- prime minister nominates ministers for parliamentary approval, except for
the defence and foreign ministers;
- the president nominates the defence and foreign ministers, the
prosecutor-general and the head of the Security Service for parliamentary
approval
- no provision for an MP to hold a government post
- 226 rather than 300 votes needed to start presidential impeachment
proceedings, final decision rests with Supreme Court
- local councils to have executive powers (these currently are performed by
state administrations formed by the president-appointed governors)
- amendments take effect after 1 January 2005

This bill favours Our Ukraine which won the largest number of seats on the
party-list system (but not in single-seat constituencies, which eventually
prevented it from leading parliament)

Opposition politicians have complained that the aim of Kuchma's proposed
reform is to deny any real power to their candidate if he wins the
presidential election in October. But Mr Kuchma has said the changes are
needed to bring Ukraine closer into line with Western democracies.

Bill 4180 now goes to the Constitutional Court and will be put to parliament
again later this year. At least 300 deputies must vote in favour to make the
changes legally binding. (END)
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 104 ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
Check Out the News Media for the Latest News From and About Ukraine
Daily News Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/newsgallery.htm
=========================================================
6. ROMANIA URGES UKRAINE TO STOP BUILDING DANUBE
CANAL UNTIL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDY FINISHED

Rompres News Agency, Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, 24 Jun 04

BUCHEREST - Through diplomatic channels, Romania urged Ukraine to cease
digging the Bystroe canal in the Danube Delta until an environmental impact
study has been conducted. The appeal was made by Foreign Secretary of State
Bogdan Aurescu who met Ukrainian ambassador in Bucharest Teofil Bauer on
Wednesday [23 June].

A ministry press release indicates that the Romanian side has asked Ukraine
to produce all the technical details regarding the Bystroe project, in
compliance with the international environmental protection conventions
signed by Ukraine. Romania has also demanded bilateral consultations with
Kiev officials on the matter.

The Bystroe canal connecting the Danube Delta with the Black Sea, designed
to be 160-km long and cross the natural reserve on a stretch of several
kilometres, is expected to be opened in August, when the first phase of the
works is completed. The second part of the project is to commence in
September and to last at least a year. The Danube Delta Natural Reserve has
been part of the UNESCO World Heritage since 1991. A Ukrainian official
from the President's Office has recently declared that "in no way was
Ukraine
to renounce the Bystroe project".

The meeting in Bucharest and the new stands in Bucharest on this affair are
happening while an official from the Council of Europe is making a trip to
the Danube Delta to assess the impact the digging of the canal might have
upon biodiversity.

The Director of the Natural Heritage and Biological Diversity Directorate at
the Council of Europe, Eladio Fernandez-Galiano, is already in Romania
accompanied by an expert. Fernandez-Galiano is here further to a letter
Romania had written to the council on 15 June. After the trip, the two
experts will draft a report that will be presented at the upcoming meeting
of the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention.

The source quoted reports that the European official told the Romanian
authorities that the Bern Convention Secretariat's approach to the Bystroe
canal would be in cooperation with the UNESCO 'Man and Biosphere'
Programme and with the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Humid
Areas of Special Importance.

The Romanian Foreign Ministry stresses, in the release, that UNESCO and the
Ramsar Convention on Humid Areas of Special Importance are concerned about
the attitude of the Ukrainian authorities who, disregarding the resolutions
and recommendations of the various relevant international organizations,
continue to work on the Danube-Black Sea canal, putting the balance of the
delta at risk. (END)
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 104 ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
The Genocidal Famine in Ukraine 1932-1933, HOLODOMOR
Genocide Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/famineart/index.htm
=========================================================
7. UKRAINE SEAMEN DETAIL IRAQ PRISON TORTURE

By Natasha Lisova, AP Online, Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Jun 24, 2004

KIEV - Two Ukrainian merchant seamen, who ended up in Abu Ghraib prison
after being arrested in August, were kept naked and hooded for hours during
their 10 months imprisonment, a top human rights official said Thursday.

Nina Karpachova, Ukraine's ombudsman for human rights, refused to specify
whether American troops were involved in the alleged torture, but said, "we
know who was in charge of Abu Ghraib." The American-run prison is at the
center of allegations that coalition forces in Iraq have abused prisoners.

Tanker M/V Navstar captain Mykola Mazurenko and first mate Ivan Soshchenko
were arrested in August by the British navy in the port of Umm Qasr for
alleged oil smuggling and sentenced to seven years in prison by an Iraqi
court. The two were extradited recently on condition they serve the rest of
their sentence at home.

Mazurenko and Soshchenko reportedly claimed that while in Abu Ghraib they
were frequently "subjected to sleep deprivation, kept naked for hours and
hooded," Karpachova told a news conference.

Prisoners were often "gassed with tear gas" and forced to "lick food
straight from the floor," Karpachova said, citing letters she recently
received from the seamen. Karpachova said the two "are in serious health
condition."

Markiyan Lubkivskiy, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the seamen's claims
would be investigated and "if it is true ... we will raise the case to the
international level and do everything to protect the rights of our citizens
including financial compensation." He said Mazurenko and Soshchenko "did
not inform Ukrainian diplomats in Iraq about alleged mistreatment" at Abu
Ghraib.

In Baghdad, Lt. Col. Barry Johnson said the U.S. military "will investigate
any and all formal complaints by both current and former detainees." Six
American soldiers accused of torturing prisoners at Abu Ghraib face military
trial in Baghdad.

Ukraine has the fourth largest non-U.S. contingent in Iraq. Some 1,650
Ukrainian troops are serving in the Polish-led force patrolling southern
Iraq. Six Ukrainian soldiers have been killed, three of them in combat. Two
of the combat deaths came last month. (END)
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 104 ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Historical Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/histgallery.htm
=========================================================
8. UKRAINIANS WANT TO MOVE ABROAD, WISH THEY HAD NOT
BEEN BORN IN UKRAINE, DISTRUST EU, NATO, SURVEY SHOWS

Interfax News Agency, Moscow, Russia, Thursday, 24 Jun 04

KYIV - A public opinion survey has suggested that more than one-third of
Ukrainians (35 per cent) are ready to move abroad and 29 per cent wish
they had been born or lived in a foreign country.

The poll was carried out by the Social Monitoring Centre for the UN
Development Programme and its Human Development and Ukraine's Millennium
Development Goals projects.

The survey's results were presented by Valeriy Hladkiy, the UN Human
Development project's coordinator for Ukraine, and Olena Babak, the Social
Monitoring Centre's project coordinator.

Twenty-six per cent of respondents mentioned Ukraine's entry into the
European Union and its membership in the Common Economic Space, which is
being jointly created by Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, as the
country's top foreign policy priorities.

Forty-one per cent of those polled suggested that the EU views Ukraine as a
low-cost workforce market, 32 per cent as a source of raw materials for the
EU economy, and 14 per cent as a potential fully-fledged member of the EU.

Forty-one per cent of respondents expressed disapproval over Ukraine's plans
to join NATO, making the alliance the least trusted organization among
Ukraine's citizens.

Thirty-nine per cent expressed scepticism over their country's integration
with Russia, while 22 per cent mentioned the EU, 24 per cent the Common
Economic Space, and 18 per cent the World Trade Organization. (END)
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 104 ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/index.htm
=========================================================
9. POLAND SHOULD SUPPORT UKRAINE'S EU AMBITIONS
TO CONTAIN RUSSIA AND PROMOTE FAVOURABLE
CHANGES IN THE EU ITSELF

COMMENTARY on article by Slawomir Sierakowski,
Editor in Chief, "Political Critique" Quarterly
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Jun 24, 2004

WARSAW - The recent article by Krzysztof Iszkowski ["Poland's Support For
Ukraine's EU Ambitions Stems From Anachronistic Thinking and Is Inconsistent
With Polish Interests,"covered in the 10 June issue of the PNB Weekend
Supplement], trying to prove that Ukraine's accession to the EU would be
contrary to Polish interests, has prompted a response from Slawomir
Sierakowski, editor in chief of the "Political Critique" quarterly.

After reading the lead of Iszkowski's article, writes Sierakowski, one
thought to himself: have we finally found someone who will bravely refute
the at least century-long Polish eastern policy paradigm in line with which
the sovereignty and occidentalisation of the nations living between Poland
and Russia, and Poland's opening towards the, are the best guarantee of
Poland's security in the east?

Refuting this obvious, actually axiomatic principle of Poland's foreign
policy would be a revolutionary achievement. Such endeavours usually result
in either a great success or a shameful failure. Iszkowski fails
completely. - Aid But the Smallest Benefit of Membership

Iszkowski, writes Sierakowski, mentions three reasons why Poland should not
help Ukraine in joining the EU. The first of these is that "any enlargement
including a country poorer than, or as poor as, Poland" would be
inconsistent with Poland's interests. Ukraine's accession, even if it were
to take place 10 years from now, would mean for Poland the prospect of
sharing EU regional aid with someone else, or the abandonment of such aid
altogether. Iszkowski is aware that the argument is rather primitive,
because he writes: "The above argument can, of course, be rejected as a
manifestation of the Kali mentality raised by the Spanish or Portuguese it
invariably irritated Poland. That, however, does not make it less
valid."However, Iszkowski seems not to understand why the argument is
primitive.

He also lacks the civic courage to concede that if it is right in the
substance, then it was also right when it was being raised by the countries
on the other side of the Pyrenees, and that it is in Europe's well meant
interest for Poland not to be an EU member. Only recently Iszkowski was
saying something precisely the opposite.

The point is not only that the Kali ethic is a complete contradiction of
European thinking. It is that Iszkowski identifies the benefits of EU
membership solely with aid transfers. Yet such transfers are but the
smallest and most transient of the benefits that poor countries gain from
accession. Above all, integration means a favourable and safe economic
environment, reduced investment risk, and increased capital inflows,
resulting in more jobs and stronger growth. The acceding states also benefit
from larger and easier trade with the "old"members. The benefits are
actually mutual.

It was not altruism and a sense of European solidarity that caused Germany
to become the advocate of Poland's European ambitions. Germany will simply
benefit economically if their large eastern neighbour starts growing more
dynamically. The same applies to Poland and Ukraine, which us why Poland
should support Ukraine's EU ambitions. The economic benefits for Poland of
Ukraine's accession would far exceed the potential negative impact of an
eastward shift in EU structural aid. Isolationism, in turn, always leads to
protectionism and nationalism. - Important Message for Ukrainian Democracy

The second reason why, according to Iszkowski, Ukraine's integration with
the EU would harm Polish interests is that "because of its size, different
political tradition, and poverty, Ukraine would not be able to adapt to
community regulations at a pace acceptable to the old member states. In the
name of the EU's efficient functioning, integration would have to be slowed
down, and in some cases even reversed."That, Iszkowski believes, would
inevitably lead to a Europe of different speeds, with Poland in the
slower-speed group. But, asks Sierakowski, is it not precisely the same
argument that was used by the opponents of this year's enlargement?

There are huge differences in the quality and functioning of public services
and courts between Poland and western Europe, and yet Poland was allowed
to join. Poland would be extremely hypocritical if it now used the argument
against other potential candidates. And if it forgot that many things in
Poland changed under the EU's pressure after all.

Similarly, Ukraine, if it were given a promise of membership, would become a
different country. Civic rights standards would improve, and that at a
breakthrough moment when the future of the Ukrainian nation hangs in the
balance. The outcome of the upcoming presidential elections will determine
in which direction the Ukrainian state and people will go, which makes
support from Poland all the more important.

"Today, like perhaps never before, Europe's declaration is needed on
Ukraine's European and euroatlantic prospects," Poland's Adam Michnik and
Ukrainian presidential contender Victor Yushchenko wrote recently. "Firstly,
it would send a message to the Ukrainian people that no one is closing the
door before a country with a European cultural identity, and a long
tradition of fighting for democracy and human rights."

"A different decision would mean a failure of the idea that lied at the root
of European integration in the 50s and 60s, and in 1989-1991 mobilised the
Central and Eastern European and former Soviet Union nations to fight for
their freedom."

"Secondly, it would send an important message to the democratic forces and
the millions of their supporters in Ukraine that Europe appreciates their
adherence to European values. The example of Poland and the other Central
European countries shows that a clear perspective of EU membership aids
reforms and helps make them acceptable to the people." - Weakening Russia
by Strengthening It?

Iszkowski's third argument is that Ukraine's accession would mean more
Russian influence in the EU, something that Poland should fear. Iszkowski
writes: "Preventing a rise in Russia's influence by handing it a tool to
meddle with the EU's ? and thus with Poland's ?internal affairs is an idea
so stupid that one is hard pressed to believe in the honesty [of the Polish
government's] declared motives.

"This, says Sierakowski, is an extremely weird argument. What Iszkowski is
saying in effect is that because of its fear of Russia, Poland should block
Ukraine's EU accession, thus pushing it straight into Russia's embrace, and
destroying the "safety cordon" of Russia's independent neighbours, which
would only strengthen Russia's imperialistic ambitions.

When things in Russia are clearly going for worse, the democratic process is
in retreat, and virtually no civilised parties are represented in the Duma
following the latest elections, Iszkowski writes that "there is a limit to
history's repeating itself, and it is hard to believe that even the worst
Russian nationalist plans to capture Warsaw by force. Zhirinovski, for
instance, speaks of Russian soldiers washing their feet in the Indian Ocean,
not the Vistula."Does Iszkowski believe that Russia strengthened by the
satellite states and pushed away from Europe would threaten not Poland but
India?:

That may be possible, but it is better and safer to believe that it is in
Poland's interest for not only Ukraine but also Russia to become more
democratic and occidental, and for that to happen, Russia would have to
renounce imperialism. Iszkowski, in turn, would like to strengthen Russia's
imperialism by handing Russia Ukraine on a plate. It is much wiser to
continue the salami-tactic policy of gradually attracting the post-Soviet
states, and of wise engagement of Russia, cooperation with which is also
favourable for the EU.

What is also surprising, says Sierakowski, is that Iszkowski's line of
thinking is anti-European. A country that says "I will only do what my
interests dictate" has no place in a coalition, an alliance, a community ?in
united Europe. And even if Ukraine's accession were really to harm Poland's
economic and political interests, Poland, which has kept appealing to the
old EU for more solidarity, should promote further enlargement. For
enlargement is clearly one of the main change factors in the EU itself, as
well as in Poland, which is good. And it can also be good for Ukraine. -
Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz foreign minister

The main strategic challenge for Poland is Eastern Europe ? the space
between the current EU border and Russia. The geopolitical and
civilisational future of this area is being determined before our very eyes.
Unfortunately, this is happening in an unnoticed way, because the West's
attention is focused on the modernisation of the Middle East. As a result,
the failure of the West's policies on issues such as autocratic government
in Belarus, the Dnestr conflict, or the Ukrainian deficit of democracy, goes
unnoticed.

Stopping the European and transatlantic integration processes on Poland's
eastern border threatens to peripheralise Eastern Europe and petrify its
civilisational underdevelopment. For Poland, this means remaining for years,
if not centuries, a frontline state, with all the historical complexes
related thereto.

This is why the modernisation of the European east remains Poland's number
one strategic challenge. The goal for today is to create EU and
NATO membership prospects for Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus. A system
of incentives should be put in place to mobilise our neighbours to make the
right political choices ? also in the context of the upcoming presidential
elections in Ukraine.

Eastern Europe's integration would be made complete by a lasting partnership
between Europe and Russia. The prospect of Ukraine's integration will only
bring it forward. Nothing will do more to tie Russia to Europe than
Ukraine's NATO and EU membership. (END)
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 104 ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
=========================================================
10. "RUSSIA DOESN'T CARE ABOUT UKRAINE'S PRESIDENCY,
IT WANTS THE WHOLE COUNTRY"

OP-ED by Andrey Ermolayev, Director, Sofia Center for Social Research.
Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Jun 24, 2004

It should be understood that the Kremlin is trying to influence this year's
Ukrainian electoral campaign. So as not to mystify the matter, we have to
broadly characterize its interests in the presidential race, and define
their extent.

Most importantly, the Kremlin considers Ukraine a sympathetic player on the
geopolitical map of Europe and Eurasia. The Common Economic Space project,
with its eventual transformation into a regional political-economic union
(in the tradition of the EU, as Russian politicians have said) is an
important component of the Russian strategy. Kyiv's belief that the CES was
dreamt up for the occasion of the Ukrainian election is a costly illusion,
one that will disappear by next year.

Geopolitical solidarity with Ukraine is important to Russia. It's a solution
to Russia's accumulated internal problems: an insufficiently modernized
economy, pressing infrastructural and structural reforms and the need to
maintain and strengthen the country's position in its traditional external
markets.

Active flirtation with the EU and the attempt to disengage the European
Union from pan-Atlantic cooperation - not to mention the desire to play
around with the Euro-Asiatic map - demand of the Kremlin a supple policy
toward the West, coupled with forceful action within the parameters of the
Commonwealth of Independent States, where Russia retains its high status.
Resource-rich Ukraine is important in this strategic context: Not only does
it have economic and territorial integrity, but it has unresolved identity
problems. Plus, there exists a tension between its societal problems and the
capacity of its ruling elite to do anything about them.

The second important factor for Russia is its desire to modernize its
national economy, with a minimum of risk to its industrial base, and maximum
effective use of its technological potential. Russian businesses would
benefit greatly from the resources of Ukraine.

This is the case in a number of sectors: energy, transportation,
communications, military contracting, machine-building, metallurgy,
shipbuilding, and so on. And the crux lies in the character and constitution
of the Ukrainian government that will be established after the presidential
elections.

It's also important that the Kremlin considers economic modernization a
constituent of social modernization. That's why Ukraine's new "project" is
coming from outside Ukraine - thanks to Moscow's more than sufficient
media resources.

The third important factor is the formation of a Ukrainian government
sympathetic to the Kremlin, and capable of managing Russia's economic,
socio-cultural and geopolitical projects here.

Given all this, the Kremlin's strategy for the Ukrainian election is capable
of manifesting itself in unexpected ways. Ukrainian politicians and experts
expect Russian money and political strategists to appear, and for Russia to
exert active diplomatic and political influence on the campaign. They also
expect that the pro-Kremlin elite will participate in the election, in the
capacity of agitators and people who can make an impact in the news.

But in fact the opposite can happen. Instead of money, we'll get stealthy
pressure, as we've already gotten when it comes to oil and the Russian
language; instead of political gameplaying, we'll get, more subtly, new
cultural ideas and concepts; instead of political support for one group or
another, we'll see Russia in a dialogue with everyone who's running for
president.

The point is that the Kremlin's not so much interested in a certain winner,
as in the composition of the future national government in the widest sense,
including parliament, the Presidential Administration, and the president's
staff. That's what's important, not the presidency itself.

In 2002 Russia used this approach, implanting representatives of the Russian
business groups at work in this country in Our Ukraine. Meanwhile, the
pro-presidential block For a United Ukraine, whose nominal leader was
Volodymyr Lytvyn, wasn't often mentioned in Russia.

The formula that leading Russian politicians and political strategists often
repeat sounds simple: "We'll work with anybody." They can't get who they
want elected, but they will work with anyone.

NEW WAYS TO INFLUENCE

The Kremlin's most effective tactic for dealing with Kyiv in recent years
has been to turn the Ukrainian elite's mistakes to its own advantage. The
Ukrainian power class's urge to preserve its position at any cost has
already led to positive consequences for the Kremlin: Official Kyiv's
criticisms of the West have been intensifying, and such criticisms require
no foreign investment. Ukraine's growing economic dependence, particularly
in the realm of energy, is also pulling Ukraine into the CES framework,
while the split within the elite and the country's political problems are
sharpening the problem of the "two Ukraines": the socio-cultural split
between the western part of the country and the eastern. (Indeed, they're
turning a part of the Ukrainian population towards Russia.)

The Kremlin didn't have to spend big money or invest major political capital
to pull this off; it had only to exploit the problems created in Ukraine by
its own elite. We can be confident that, during the campaign, Russia will be
glad to spend as little as it can, and exploiting Ukrainians' mistakes as
much as it can.

Cultural politics will also intensify. They won't only have to do with
anything as banal as the transmission of information - the Russian mass
media long ago lost its influence on the Ukrainian mainstream. Rather,
cultural expansion will come about through the active presence in Ukraine of
Russian art of all types and classes, working on the symbolic level.

The important aspect to all of this is that Russia is forming a system of
political and economic lobbying inside Ukraine, a system that works through
business concerns - powerful Russian businessmen, banks and investment
groups - and Ukraine's cohort of pro-Russian politicians, who are tightly
allied with political circles in Moscow.

In summary, Kyiv fears the Kremlin. That's Kyiv's main mistake and main
weakness. Only a consolidation of the Ukrainian business and political elite
can neutralize the Kremlin; that, and a Ukrainian politics that leads to a
new national understanding, or pact.

A whole range of European countries have experienced that sort of pact, and
the soil for it exists in Ukraine. Whether a compromise that leads to it
will develop is the key question of this June and July. [Translated from
Russian by Andrey Slivka.] (END)
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 104 ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
=========================================================
11. UKRAINIAN POETRY: A VIRTUAL BREAKTHROUGH

By Dmytro Desiateryk, The Day Weekly Digest, Kyiv, June 15, 2004

Despite its obvious significance, this event has been not duly appreciated.
A multilingual Poetry International Web site has launched a Ukraine section
with pages created by Ukraine's most prominent poets.

The Poetry International Web (www.poetryinternational.org) is an online
poetry resource featuring original poems by international authors and their
best renderings into English. The Web site is the brainchild of the Poetry
International Foundation based in Holland, which is known for its world
famous annual Rotterdam Poetry Festival. The site contains pages of its
member countries, which are updated on a quarterly basis, and a central
international section. Ukraine joined the project late last year alongside
Australia, Greece, Zimbabwe, Israel, India, Italy, China, Columbia, Morocco,
Holland, Germany, South Africa, Portugal, Slovenia, France, and Croatia,
and the membership is growing.

The Poetry International Web stands out from all other online poetry
resources primarily for its emphasis on poetry translated into English as a
means of international poetic communication. Aside from several hundred
poems, the Web site posts news, interviews with famous poets, critical
essays, and Camera Poetica videos of poets reading their own works. The
personal pages of every poet contain a brief introduction followed by an
overview of the poet's life and work.

Quarterly updates of every country's page are preceded by an editor's
foreword about the poetic climate and main events in the country in
question. Every week editors of the central section select the poet of the
week, which means that one poem from the chosen poet's oeuvre is mailed to
thousands of subscribers on the mailing list. The editors post all materials
on the Web site with permission from authors and translators.

Our section is called Poetry International Web - Ukraine, created under the
auspices of the Dutch Embassy in Ukraine and the Renaissance Foundation.
Interestingly enough, every country is identified by its own distinctive
letter; in Ukraine's case, it is " I' " - a hard "g" as in "goose."

Meanwhile, the first Ukrainian female poet to be represented on the Poetry
International Web is Natalka Bilotserkivets, who took part in the 2002
Rotterdam Festival. The Ukrainian section now contains the personal pages of
Yury Andrukhovych, Serhiy Zhadan, and Oleh Lysheha. Updated in May, the
section now includes Ivan Malkovych's page.

Toward the end of the year the section will also add Oksana Zabuzhko, Andriy
Bondar, and Viktor Neborak. Remaining true to the high standards of their
poetry resource, the editors have posted translations of poetry by arguably
the best translators: Bohdan Boichuk and Liza Stefaniuk, James Bresfield,
Olena Jennings, Askold Melnychuk, Michael Naidan, Dzwinia Orlowski, Lisa
Sapinkopf, Virliana Tkach and Wanda Phipps, and Vitaly Chernetsky.
Thus, our literature in its currently most interesting - poetic - expression
has at last been duly represented in cyber space. (END)
=========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 104 ARTICLE NUMBER TWELVE
Historical Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/histgallery.htm
=========================================================
12. "THE JAMES THAT WE DON'T KNOW"
June 11 marks forty days since the passing of James Mace,
our colleague and friend

By Natalia Dziubenko-Mace, The Day Weekly Digest in English
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 15, 2004

Amsterdam, Paris, Warsaw, Budapest, Prague, London, Madrid, Tel Aviv,
Jerusalem, Berlin, the remotest parts of the US, Canada, Australia.
Ukrainians in this country and throughout the world, including the
President, the Chairman of Verkhovna Rada, the Minister of Defense,
Ukrainian diplomatic missions in a number of countries, the Ukrainian
Mission at the UN, public and state-run organizations, and ordinary people,
all responded with grief and shock to the sudden death of James Mace.

I know that people who knew my husband and loved him received the tragic
news especially painfully. Holodomor eyewitness sent heartfelt telegrams to
Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko, requesting that Jim be buried at Baikove
Cemetery. It was the least they could do for him.

These lines are filled with pain. I am grateful to all the people who
responded to Jim's death and are trying to support me in my grief. I will
not even try to name them; there are thousands, along with millions that
were numb with shock upon hearing of the irreparable loss.

I am deeply moved and imbued with hope, knowing that this immense outpouring
of grief was caused by the passing of a private person, not a politician or
renowned leader, but an individual who had earned no government or civic
awards, but one who had simply worked honestly and selflessly in the name of
Ukraine and for its benefit, a person who had actually become a citizen of
the world-a world of peace, understanding, and mutual respect-among the
different peoples that he cherished in his dreams and in whose creation he
believed.

Basques, Armenians, Poles, Americans, and Iraqis all considered him their
champion. James was a humanist and simply a kindhearted and open individual.
I cannot share my pain with anyone; it is my cross to bear. I know that he
will continue to struggle for his cause and be happy as long as he remains
alive in people's hearts.

I would like to express special gratitude to Larysa Ivshyna, Editor-in-Chief
of The Day, and all the staff who shouldered the burden of making the
funeral arrangements. In my state of helpless despair their assistance was
invaluable. Thank you all, my dear ones, for your support, attention, and
help! Also special thanks to the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy National University
that James so loved and in whose graduates he profoundly believed, regarding
these incorruptibly decent personalities the true future of this land.

Emerging from all those letters, telegrams, and phone calls was a James Mace
about whom I knew nothing. The totality of these views, impressions,
demonstrations of affection, and responses to his journalistic, research,
and public endeavors are a great legacy that must be accessible to all
people of good will. Perhaps the most important lesson that James taught is
that man, contrary to circumstances and tragic events, can reach the
greatest summits of the spirit. Jim was a man lit up by the sun and this is
the way we shall remember him. (END)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: "DR. JAMES E. MACE MEMORIAL HOLODOMOR FUND"

A special "Dr. James E. Mace Memorial Holodomor Fund" has been
established by the Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA), Zenia Chernyk;
Chairperson and Vera Andryczuk, President.

Donations to the "Dr. James E. Mace Memorial Holodomor Fund" can
be made by making out a check or other financial instrument to the
Ukrainian Federation of America, in U.S. dollars, designating the donation
for the "Dr. James E. Mace Memorial Holodomor Fund," and mailing the
check to: Zenia Chernyk, Chairperson, Ukrainian Federation of America
(UFA), 930 Henrietta Avenue, Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania 19006-8502.
Your financial support is needed to continue the important work about the
Ukrainian genocidal famine of 1932-1933, the Holodomor.

For additional information about the special "Dr. James E. Mace
Memorial Holodomor Fund" and the recent meetings in Kyiv with Mrs.
Natalia Dziubenko-Mace and other holodomor scholars, commemoration
leaders, and The Day to establish specific programs in honor of Dr. James E.
Mace, please contact E. Morgan Williams, Executive Director, Ukrainian
Federation of America, morganw@patriot.net. (END)
=======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 104 ARTICLE NUMBER THIRTEEN
Your financial support for The Action Ukraine Report is needed.
=======================================================
13. "LEGENDS DON'T DIE"....JACEK KURON

By Nadiya Tysiachna, The Day, Olha Vasylevksa
The Day Weekly Digest in English, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Jacek Kuron, a noted public and political figure, one of the leading
champions of the European humanistic tradition, known in Poland and far
beyond its borders, died June 17 in Warsaw, after a grave disease.

Jacek Kuron was born in Lviv, in 1934. He graduated from the history
department of Warsaw University and was a member of the Polish United
Workers Party for some time before he was expelled for his principled civic
stand, lost his job, and was even thrown behind bars after writing an open
letter to the party members. In 1988, Kuron became a member of the
Solidarity's organizing committee headed by Lech Walesa. Under Prime
Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki, he became minister of labor and social policy.

He was elected to the Sejm and chaired the national and ethnic minorities
commission; he was an active researcher and journalist, and the author of
several books. In 2002, Jacek Kuron was the third Pole (after John Paul II
and Zbigniew Brzezinski) to become an honorary citizen of Lviv. He was also
awarded the Ukrainian Order of Saint Volodymyr.

Jacek Kuron cut a significant figure for Ukraine as well; he was among the
first to show understanding of the Ukrainian stand in the Lviv military
cemetery conflict. He wrote an article titled I Understand the Ukrainians ,
carried by the Den' (March 2002). Radio Liberty informed about his death,
stressing that he was one of those Polish dissidents who tried to establish
contact with Ukrainian anticommunist dissidents even under the communist
rule.

In the late 1980s, he acted as a go-between when arrangements were made for
an informal meeting between Solidarity, Ukrainian Helsinki Committee, and
Czechoslovak anticommunist movement activists in the Polish mountains.
Later, as a veteran chairman of the parliamentary ethnic minorities
commission, Jacek Kuron actively defended the rights of the Polish Jews,
Germans, White Russians, and perhaps above all, of the ethnic Ukrainians...

Visnyk UVKR quoted Kuron as saying, in an interview with the Polish
newspaper Nasze Slowo (June 7, 2002), "Each of us has the great Fatherland,
whose language he speaks and thanks to which he has his self-identity. Each
of us also has a small homeland, where his home stands and his ancestors are
buried... This homeland is the source of strength of every human being... I
am proud to have the same small homeland as the Ukrainians, that we are sons
of one homeland."

"This common homeland is our strength that must be enhanced and expanded,"
he wrote in an open letter to the City Council of Lviv, adding that
"animosity is aimed against the independence of our nations," that
Polish-Ukrainian friendship grows with the younger generations in both
countries, and that the future belongs to them.

In another article carried by the Den' (March 2003), dedicated to the
anniversary of the events in Volyn, Jacek Kuron wrote that Western Ukraine
and Southeast Poland have been close neighbors for 1,000 years. Their
history has beautiful pages, but is still permeated with grievances and
revenge. The land has not absorbed all the blood; this blood begets avengers
and no one can tell now who was the first to start all that and when. In the
19th and the first half of the 20th century, when mass national
self-consciousness was forming almost simultaneously in Poland and Ukraine,
Poland had on two occasions made it impossible for Ukraine to achieve
independence. Ukraine has never done that to Poland.

Despite all this, the Poles and Ukrainians profess the same Word and Jesus
says, addressing all of us, Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy
brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thy own eye. This is
precisely why (Kuron wrote) the Ukrainians should forgive the Poles.
Although neither the Ukrainians nor the Poles have reached that stage of
perception, they are moving in that direction every day, every year. (END)
=======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 04 ARTICLE NUMBER FOURTEEN
Your financial support for The Action Ukraine Report is needed.
=======================================================
14. "JACEK KURON WAS ALWAYS A GOOD FRIEND
OF THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE"

COMMENTARY by Prof. Stanislav Kulchtsky, D.S. (History)
The Day Weekly Digest in English, Kyiv, Ukraine, Tues, June 22, 2004

Electronic and printed media carry materials about Jacek Kuron after he
died, June 17, at age 70, after a grave disease.

He was referred to as the Polish Andrey Sakharov. Indeed, his role and
importance in the intellectual life and dissident movement of Poland, in the
1960s-1980s, matched those of Andrey Sakharov in Soviet public and political
life.

Jacek Kuron could also be described as a Polish shistdesiatnyk (man of the
sixties'). He joined the ruling Polish United Workers Party in 1957, but
quickly disowned communist ideology. In 1964, hr set up a political debating
club at the Warsaw University (where he worked at the time) and published a
manifesto condemning the national economic policy. After he was expelled
from the party, Kuron addressed an open letter to his former comrades. This
cost him three years in jail. In 1968, he took an active part in
antigovernment student rallies and was jailed again. He was released in 1971
and became one of the most reputed leaders of the democratic opposition.

In 1976, Kuron and a group of dissidents founded the Workers' Defense
Committee (known as KOR) that would serve as the basis of Solidarity in
1980. After the martial law was enforced in Poland (December 1980), he was
interned and then arrested. Pressured by world public opinion, the
authorities released him in 1984 (formally under an amnesty).

In 1989, Jacek Kuron was among the organizers of a round table between the
organized opposition and the government, that would commence the velvet
revolution. In the joint elections of 1989, he became a member of the Sejm
and minister of labor and social policy in Tadeusz Mazowiecki's first
noncommunist government, later to join Hanna Suchocka's cabinet.

He was an historian by training and often published excellent newspaper
articles. Now and then he would compile them and publish them as books
abroad, or as samizdat editions in Poland. In 1995, he ran for presidency,
but lost the campaign to Alexander Kwasniewski.

Jacek Kuron enjoyed marked respect at home and abroad. On the thirtieth
anniversary of the events of March 1968, he was conferred the highest Polish
award, the Order of the White Eagle. The French government awarded him a
Legion d'honneur, the German government, the Cross of Merit, and the
President of Ukraine, the Order of Yaroslav the Wise.

Jacek Kuron was born in Lviv and he was always a good friend of the
Ukrainian people. The City Council of Lviv conferred on him the status of an
honorary citizen of Lviv; he was the third Pole to receive it - after John
Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) and Zbigniew Brzezinski.

For as long as his health permitted, he worked for the Ukrainian-Polish
Forum, founded in 1996 as a nonprofit organization aimed at expanding
Ukrainian-Polish cooperation. His passing is a great loss for both the
Polish and Ukrainian peoples. (END)
==========================================================
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