US-Ukraine Business Council

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT"
A Global Newsletter
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"

POLAND SERIOUSLY CONCERNED ABOUT RUSSIA'S
STRONG INTERFERENCE IN UKRAINE
Russia's Interference in Ukraine's Election and Business Decisions
Ukraine is vital for Poland's geopolitical security

"...strongest signal sent by the Russian president so far to the effect that
Russia did not intend to allow Ukraine to become part of the west."

"....the Kremlin, after months of deliberations, has finally decided
to interfere so openly with the Ukrainian election campaign. Will its
intervention prove successful?"

"...The West, in turn, lacked vision and policies, not only for Kuchma
and his team, but for the 50 million Ukrainians.

The West washed its hands, and Putin's increasingly powerful Russia,
which has never accepted the loss of Ukraine, kept wooing the country.

Separated from the West by a wall of indifference and visas, Ukraine,
willing or not, will find itself under Russia's influence. Unless the West
finally understands that it would be better to prevent it." [article one]

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" Year 04, Number 128
Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC), Washington, D.C.
Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA), Huntingdon Valley, PA
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net (ARTUIS)
Washington, D.C.; Kyiv, Ukraine, FRIDAY, July 30, 2004

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

1.UKRAINE'S SHIFT TOWARDS RUSSIA LEAVES POLAND WITH
SERIOUS CONCERN: RUSSIA'S INFLUENCE OVER UKRAINE
Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Jul 29, 2004

2. UKRAINIAN PIPELINE DECISION WILL KEEP POLAND
DEPENDENT ON RUSSIAN OIL
A fiasco for the only real plans to ensure Poland supplies of oil
from deposits that are not controlled by Russian concerns.
ANALYSIS: "Russia-Double Dependency"
Gazeta Wyborcza web site, Warsaw, Poland, in Polish 28 Jul 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Jul 29, 2004

3. RUSSIA'S GAZPROM FINDS NEW PARTNER FOR UKRAINE
Lucrative business of transporting Turkmen gas to Ukraine
By Tom Warner in Moscow
Financial Times, London, UK, Friday, Jul 30, 2004

4.UKRAINE SELLS ITS EUROBONDS WORTH USD 500 MILLION
Cheapest Eurobonds ever issued by Ukraine
Viktor Riasnyi, Ukrainian News, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 29, 2004

5. UKRAINE SCALES DOWN MISSIONS IN IRAQ, DISCUSSING
WITH USA AND POLAND A TIMELINE FOR WITHDRAWAL
Era, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 29 Jul 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Jul 29, 2004

6.KUCHMA TURNS AWAY FROM INTEGRATION WITH EUROPE
Decree removes NATO & EU from Ukraine's military doctrine
OUR UKRAINE UPDATE, Issue 21,
Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, July 29, 2004

7. MP BORIS TARASHUK: RUSSIAN PRESIDENT'S COMMENTS
BRING THE INFAMOUS SOVIET ERA AND KGB BACK TO MIND
Putin hints that Russia did away with the opposition, why not Ukraine
Interfax-Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, 27 July 2004

8. PUTIN AND KUCHMA MEETING IN YALTA HAS CREATED
MORE PROBLEMS THAN IT SOLVED UKRAINE MP STATES
Our Ukraine website, www.razom.org.ua, Kyiv, Ukraine, June 27, 2004

9. HELSINKI COMMISSION LEADERSHIP ENGAGE HEADS
OF NINE CIS COUNTRIES [INCLUDING UKRAINE]
Criticism of OSCE by Nine Draws the Response
By Elizabeth B. Pryor, CSCE Senior Advisor
CSCE DIGEST, Vol. 37, No. 13
U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Washington, D.C., Wednesday, July 28, 2004

10. UKRAINE'S THREE LEADING TV CHANNELS CONTINUE TO
OPENLY FAVOUR PM YANUKOVYCH'S PRESIDENTIAL BID,
WHILE STEPPING UP ATTACKS ON VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO
BBC Monitoring research in English 28 Jul 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, Thursday, Jul 29, 2004

11. VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO AND UKRAINE'S FUTURE
OP-ED By Bishop Paul Peter Jesep
Cleveland, Ohio, Wednesday, July 28, 2004
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.128 ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
========================================================
1. UKRAINE'S SHIFT TOWARDS RUSSIA LEAVES POLAND WITH
SERIOUS CONCERNS: RUSSIA'S INFLUENCE OVER UKRAINE

Polish News Bulletin, Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Jul 29, 2004

WARSAW - An unexpected shift in Ukraine's policy towards Russia
and away from NATO and the EU has raised concerns in Poland that
the country, vital for Poland's geopolitical security, could again find
itself under Russia's influence.

A new defence doctrine, saying nothing about Ukraine's EU and NATO
ambitions, was unveiled during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to
Ukraine. Putin's words that "western intelligence services are trying to
compromise the process of Ukraine's integration with Russia" were the
strongest signal sent by the Russian president so far to the effect that
Russia did not intend to allow Ukraine to become part of the west.

In another signal of Ukraine's increasingly pro-Russian stance, its
government announced that it was changing the purpose of the strategic
Odessa-Brody oil pipeline. The pipeline, which was initially supposed
to pump Caspian Sea oil to Poland, thus linking Ukraine with the West,
will now transport Russian oil in the opposite direction.

Marcin Bosacki, Editorial Comment, "Gazeta Wyborcza"

Ukraine has made the most radical shift in its 13-year old history as an
independent country, a shift towards Russia. Why has the country's
president Leonid Kuchma decide to make such a step?

In recent years, one repeatedly heard in Brussels or Berlin that "only
Putin can put things in order beyond the Bug." Only the Poles kept
calling the West to take care of Ukraine. But Poland can't give its
eastern neighbour the billions it needs to reform its economy.

The West, in turn, lacked vision and policies, not only for Kuchma and
his team, but for the 50 million Ukrainians.

The West washed its hands, and Putin's increasingly powerful Russia,
which has never accepted the loss of Ukraine, kept wooing the country.

Now it has found a particularly favourable moment. To retain their
privileges, Kuchma's people have to beat the pro-western former Prime
Minister Victor Yushchenko in this year's presidential elections. Putin will
help them in that, also because he is worried by Yushchenko himself. As
one of the Kremlin's top advisers recently said, "Ukraine can't serve two
masters."

Piotr Koscinski, Editorial Comment, "Rzeczpospolita"

By changing its military doctrine, Ukraine has again found itself standing
astride between the European and Atlantic structures, and Russia.

Ukraine was standing like that for a couple of years before, officially
promulgating a policy of "multi-vectoriality," i.e. good cooperation with
both its powerful eastern neighbour and with the West. But in the long
run, such an attitude was unacceptable. Ukraine had to make a choice
either way.

For some time, Leonid Kuchma was increasingly emphasising Ukraine's
NATO and EU membership ambitions, a policy that was crowned with
the endorsement in June this year of a new military doctrine calling for
Ukraine's accession to the European and Atlantic structures.

Only a couple of weeks later that goal has been cancelled and Ukraine
again stands astride. This is bad for Ukraine, because it is not clear in
which direction the 50-million country wants to go; bad for the EU and
NATO, because a large European country has presented them with
something of a vote of no-confidence; and bad for Poland, because
Poland's entire policy of attracting Ukraine towards the West and
convincing its allies to do the same has now been deadlocked.

The worst thing that Brussels and Warsaw could now do would be to
turn their back at Ukraine. Neighbours are not something you can
choose.

Henryk Wujec, Chairman, Polish-Ukrainian Forum

There have been many signals suggesting that Ukraine is turning towards
Russia, such as Kuchma's and his people's frequent visits to Moscow. I
guess this is a campaign game. Kuchma's Prime Minister Victor
Yanukovich is less popular than the opposition leader, Victor Yushchenko.

Yanukovich's people are worried and are willing to make major
concessions towards Russia in return for Moscow's support for their
camp. The victory of Yushchenko, who has pledged to "cleanse" the
Kuchma camp and weed out corruption, is the worst scenario they can
imagine.

Pawel Wolowski, Eastern Studies Centre, Warsaw

This is a very important change showing how unpredictable Ukraine's
foreign policy has become. It's worth noting that the previous defence
doctrine, which recognised NATO membership as Ukraine's top foreign
and domestic policy priority. was being heavily criticised in Russia,
sometimes in a truly dramatic tone, with the press alarming that Ukraine
as heading towards the west and moving away from Russia.

This time, president Kuchma, who tells everyone what they want to hear,
has given Putin a nice gift. It needs to be remembered, however, that
Kuchma's era is coming to an end, and the crucial political decisions
will be made by his successor.

Vyacheslav Igrunov, Political scientist, former Russian parliamentarian

It has become an axiom among the Russian elites that Yanukovich,
president Kuchma's protege, is pro-Russian and his victory in the October
elections will be good for Russia. I don't think the support expressed by
Putin for Yanukovich was Putin's own idea. It looks like the doing of Kiev
which is terrified by the prospect of the opposition winning the October
ballot.

At the same time, the Kremlin has been unnerved by the US behind-the-
door efforts to undermine the attempts aimed at creating a common
economic area between Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

Besides, Kiev has recently made some major concessions towards
Russia. The modified defence doctrine saying nothing about NATO
and EU membership is honey to Moscow's ears.

This is why the Kremlin, after months of deliberations, has finally decided
to interfere so openly with the Ukrainian election campaign. Will its
intervention prove successful?

I think Yushchenko is going to lose, though this is not necessarily going
to be good for Russia. Why? Because Yanukovich is a leader of the
Donyetsk clan, and it is only an illusion, shared by so many in Russia,
that the clan's members speak Russian at home and are faithful to
Moscow.

In reality, they have their own interests, notably in the steel and coal
industries, which compete with Russia's own industrial groups.
Yushchenko, in turn, is not backed by any industrial interests and would
be forced to make compromises with Russia. (END)(ARTUIS)
======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.128: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
The Action Ukraine Report...Major source of news about Ukraine
======================================================
2. UKRAINIAN PIPELINE DECISION WILL KEEP POLAND
DEPENDENT ON RUSSIAN OIL
A fiasco for the only real plans to ensure Poland supplies of oil
from deposits that are not controlled by Russian concerns.

ANALYSIS: "Russia-Double Dependency"
Gazeta Wyborcza web site, Warsaw, Poland, in Polish 28 Jul 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Jul 29, 2004

Ukraine has decided that it will not send Caspian oil to Poland along the
Odessa-Brody pipeline. Just like in the case of gas, we will be left with
supplies of oil from Russia.

"The filling of the Odessa-Brody pipeline with oil, preceding its normal
operation, will begin as soon as 1 August," announced Yuriy Boyko, head
of the Ukrainian fuel concern NAK Naftohaz. He did not say in which
direction the oil in the pipeline will flow. But the fact that he made his
declaration at a meeting between Russian and Ukrainian business leaders,
and backed it up by asserting that the pipeline should benefit the economy
of both countries, leaves no doubt that he meant exports of Russian gas
via Odessa and the Black Sea.

Yuriy Boyko has long been known as an advocate of this sort of use of
the pipeline, which was built at the end of 2001 for a completely opposite
purpose - to supply high quality raw material from deposits in the Caspian
Sea basin to Europe. Deposits that are not controlled by Russian oil
concerns.

LOOKING BAD FOR PLOCK

Kiev's choice calls into question the Polish-Ukrainian international
agreement signed on 16 January on extending the pipeline to Plock and
supplying Caspian oil to Poland. These plans were backed by the European
Commission and the United States. Pursuant to the arrangements made at
that time, we were supposed to receive the first supplies of Caspian oil
(for the time being by rail) no later than the end of May. To date, supplies
have not started.

On the other hand, Kiev is very rapidly putting the "Russian option" into
effect. Less than one month ago, the prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine
decided in Moscow that the state-owned companies NAK Naftohaz and
Transneft would develop plans for the use of the pipeline. Two days later,
the Ukrainian Government officially abandoned the reservation it adopted
in February, that the pipeline could only be utilized for transporting oil
from Odessa to Brody.

Several days later, it authorized the company Ukrtransnafta, the operator of
Ukrainian pipelines, to sign an agreement with the Russian-British concern
TNK-BP for the export of 9m tonnes of Russian oil a year through the
pipeline. The concern is also supposed to extend credit for the supply of
oil used to fill the pipeline.

The agreement was signed on Tuesday [27 July], and is to remain in force
for three years. Will it be possible, during this time, to extend the
pipeline from Ukraine to Plock, and to begin supplies of Caspian oil to
Poland starting in 2008? This date was spoken of by President Aleksander
Kwasniewski in Ukraine in June. This suggestion seemed to be confirmed
by the notarized deed signed on 12 July, establishing the Polish-Ukrainian
company called the "Sarmatia" International Pipeline Company that is
supposed to investigate the feasibility of the investment.

Experts doubt the realism of these plans. One week ago, the agency Fitch
Ratings reported that "the decision of the Ukrainian Government to
temporarily reverse the flow in the Odessa-Brody pipeline, of Russian oil
from the north to the south, could become a lasting decision." In the
opinion of the Fitch agency, this is favourable for Russian concerns, which
will not have to fear, for example, competition from Caspian oil on the
southern portion of the Friendship pipeline leading through Slovakia, the
Czech Republic, and Hungary.

In Fitch's opinion, the change in Kiev's decision also casts doubt on plans
to extend the pipeline to Plock. The lack of supplies of Caspian oil, after
all, reduces the credibility and feasibility of the costly project. "Fitch
believes that this is also favourable for Russian oil producers," the
agency's communique states. Finally, it is not out of the question that the
Sarmatia company will complete its work by asserting that constructing the
pipeline from Brody to Plock will be unprofitable for the very reasons that
Fitch is now indicating.

DEFICIT AND OTHER MINUSES

All of this would spell a fiasco for the only real plans to ensure Poland
supplies of oil from deposits that are not controlled by Russian concerns.
During the period of Democratic Left Alliance rule, there has been no
confirmation of the gas contracts signed in 2001 with gas producers from
Scandinavia, which were supposed to reduce our dependence on Gazprom.

Today, we import more than 90 per cent of the oil and gas for our needs
from Russia. At the same time, these two raw materials account for close
to 90 per cent of Russian exports to Poland.

Since 1999, following the increase in world oil prices, this dependence has
caused a gigantic deficit in our trade with Russia, to our disadvantage. For
the past four years, it has amounted to more than 3bn dollars a year, even
exceeding 3.7bn dollars in 2000 and 2003. We do not have such a trade
deficit with any other country.

The cessation of Russian gas supplies to Poland this year showed what it
means to be dependent upon a single supplier. In the case of oil, will it
also only be after the tap is turned off that our drivers will understand
how very dependent they are upon deposits in Siberia? (END)
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.128: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
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========================================================
3. RUSSIA'S GAZPROM FINDS NEW PARTNER FOR UKRAINE
Lucrative business of transporting Turkmen gas to Ukraine

By Tom Warner in Moscow
Financial Times, London, UK, Friday, Jul 30, 2004

MOSCOW - Russia's Gazprom announced yesterday that it and Austria's
Raiffeisen Bank would take over the lucrative business of transporting
Turkmen gas to Ukraine in January, dealing what appeared to be a fatal
blow to Hungarian gas trader Eural Trans Gas.

Gazprom said the new Russian-Austrian joint venture, to be called
RosUkrEnergo, would supply some 44bn cubic metres, about 20 per cent
more than Ukraine is importing this year.

Eural Trans Gas, which has supplied some 38bn cu m a year of Turkmen gas
since January 2003, said it was reeling from the announcement and might be
forced to end operations. Bell Pottinger, a UK public relations firm, issued
a statement on behalf of Eural saying "as far as we know this will not
affect our contracts".

But a Eural official said Gazprom appeared to have strengthened its control
over Turkmenistan's gas exports and decided to exclude Eural. (END)
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.128: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
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========================================================
4. UKRAINE SELLS ITS EUROBONDS WORTH USD 500 MILLION
Cheapest Eurobonds ever issued by Ukraine

Viktor Riasnyi, Ukrainian News, Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 29, 2004

KYIV - Ukraine has sold Eurobonds worth USD 500 million to Western
investors at a floating yield rate equal to six-month LIBOR + 3.375%. A
source at a Western bank disclosed this to Ukrainian News.

According to the source, the Eurobonds have a maturity of five years (they
will be in circulation from August 5, 2004, to August 5, 2009).

The managers of floatation of the Eurobonds are the Citigroup, Credit Suisse
First Boston, and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. The legal consultants for
the issue are Britain's Linklaters and Magister & Partners (Kyiv). The
six-month LIBOR is presently equal to 1.986%. Therefore, these Eurobonds
are the cheapest ever issued by Ukraine.

However, experts forecast that LIBOR will rise slightly in the next few
years, making the servicing of the Eurobonds more expensive for Ukraine.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Ukraine sold USD 600 million in
seven-year Eurobonds to investors at the yield rate of 6.875% per annum in
February this year. These dollar-denominated Eurobonds will circulate from
March 4, 2004, to March 4, 2011. Ukraine also floated USD 1 billion in
Eurobonds at the yield rate of 7.65% per annum in 2003. (END)
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 128: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
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========================================================
5. UKRAINE SCALES DOWN MISSIONS IN IRAQ, DISCUSSING
WITH USA AND POLAND A TIMELINE FOR WITHDRAWAL

Era, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian, 29 Jul 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thursday, Jul 29, 2004

KIEV - [Presenter] Ukraine is holding talks with the USA and Poland on how
long its peacekeepers will remain in Iraq, Ukrainian Defence Minister Yevhen
Marchuk has said. He also said that Ukrainian peacekeepers have pulled one
company back from the border with Iran, which had functioned as a border
guard unit and trained many Iraqi border guards. Here is Marchuk speaking:

[Marchuk] We are preparing the 7th brigade, and we shall conduct rotation in
September-October. We have begun talks with our partners, the Poles and the
USA, that we cannot stay there for a long time, without a timescale being
set.

Today we are pulling back one company, the so-called Fort unit on the border
with Iraq, [corrects himself] Iran, where we served for almost a year,
functioning in fact as border guards. We have trained many Iraqi border
guards who will take over this mission starting 1 August, and we shall bring
this company back into the base camp near Al-Kut. We are decreasing the
number of places that we are guarding and patrolling, because we have
trained a territorial defence unit in addition to the border guards.

[Presenter] During the Ukrainian contingent's stay in Iraq, six Ukrainian
servicemen have died, three in combat, one in a road accident, one due to
careless handling of a weapon, and one officer, an interpreter, committed
suicide. About 15 peacekeepers got wounded. (END) (ARTUIS)
=======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.128: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
Ukrainian Information Website: http://www.ArtUkraine.com
=======================================================
6. KUCHMA TURNS AWAY FROM INTEGRATION WITH EUROPE
Decree removes NATO & EU from Ukraine's military doctrine

OUR UKRAINE UPDATE, Issue 21,
Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, July 29, 2004

KYIV - On the eve of his July 26 meeting with Russian President Vladimir
Putin in Crimea, Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma unveiled a decree in
which previous text specifying Ukraine's policy of eventual NATO
membership and European Union integration was removed. In essence, the
July 15 decree proposes changing Ukraine's military doctrine. It was
approved at a July 6 meeting of the country's national security council, one
week following the Istanbul NATO Summit where Ukraine and NATO
signed an agreement on cooperation.

"The presidential decree demonstrates Kuchma's irritation following the
summit of NATO leaders in Istanbul," Rada Committee Chairman for
European Integration, Borys Tarasyuk, said. "The decree is another example
of how our foreign policy is based not on Ukraine's national interests but
rather on President Kuchma's personal whims," the former foreign minister
said.

At the NATO summit, Western leaders repeatedly stressed to Kuchma
the need for free and fair October presidential elections in Ukraine as a
prerequisite for the country's closer integration into the Euro-Atlantic
alliance. Sources report Kuchma was offended by the criticism of Kyiv's
poor record on media freedom and continued law enforcement shenanigans
in by-elections to local and national offices.

Titled "On the further development of relations with NATO, taking into
account the outcome of the Ukraine-NATO meeting at the top level", the
decree is posted on the presidential administration web site. To be
codified, the decree needs to be vetted through relevant parliamentary
committees and win the support of a Rada majority.

COMMENTS & ANALYSIS

The presidential decree is a pre-election political stunt created by Kuchma
strategists to win Russian President Vladimir Putin's support for prolonging
the Kuchma-Yanukovich regime. The decree has no direct impact on
Ukraine's foreign and military policy and requires parliamentary approval
before it can be implemented.

Ukraine's aspirations for eventual NATO membership and EU integration
have been official Kyiv policy priorities since 1995. Kuchma himself
campaigned and won re-election in 1999 based on a platform promoting
Ukraine's "European choice." Despite these hollow PR-style declarations,
the incumbent administration continues to pursue a foreign policy of double-
talk - accelerating and backing away European integration depending on
the personal and financial benefits to the sitting president and his
cronies.

Opinion polls in Ukraine have long signaled danger to Kuchma and the
oligarch clans supporting him. With Yushchenko's popularity growing (he's
currently the preference of approximately one-third of the electorate), the
fall election increasingly looks like it will result in Kuchma supporters
losing the reins over the presidency and the tremendous power and assets
that go with it.

In response, Yanukovich and his team have seized the moment by
accelerating sell-offs of profitable state assets, reversing previous
pro-European decisions in favor of those policies benefiting Moscow, and
offering themselves to the highest Russian bidder in order to court Kremlin
favor. Their strategy seems to be that if they lose the presidency this
fall, at least they'll keep the acquired wealth.

Before Ukrainian voters go to the polls on October 31, President Kuchma
and his team of crisis managers have a hot autumn parliament session planned
as a last ditch effort to derail popular support for Yushchenko's candidacy.
Issues such as constitutional reform that strips away presidential powers
and NATO and European integration will be placed on the Rada agenda.
The goal will be to stir up divisions in the electorate along pro-Russian
and pro-Western fault lines and push Yushchenko into defending go-West
policies that alienate millions of eastern Ukrainian voters.

Although the regime's previous attempts to ignite East-West divisions and
animosities against the democratic opposition failed, they will stop at
nothing to keep Yushchenko's popularity from growing into an outright
election victory on the October 31 ballot. The regime will do all it can to
ensure the election does not become the choice between democracy and
oligarch capitalism.

VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO

For his part, democratic opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko's policies
toward the Kremlin have always been clearly grounded on Ukrainian national
interests. He's sought compromise with Moscow when needed on issues that
mutually benefit both Russia and Ukraine. During his tenure as prime
minister, trade between the two neighbors reached its highest level since
independence. Russian investors won tenders for Ukrainian energy assets.

Tax revenues were collected; back salaries and pensions paid. Yushchenko's
presidential plan of action states he is not in favor of nationalizing
privatized state assets. He has said that oligarchs will be forced to pay
their fair share of taxes on recently acquired assets based on free and fair
market valuations.

One thing is certain: the desperation of the Kuchma-Yanukovich regime will
reach new heights in the coming weeks. Also guaranteed are the upcoming
failures by Kuchma cronies to amend Ukraine's constitution as well as ratify
the changes proposed to the country's geo-strategic course of Euro-Atlantic
integration. (www.ourukraine.org) (END) (ARTUIS)
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7. MP BORIS TARASHUK: RUSSIAN PRESIDENT'S COMMENTS
BRING THE INFAMOUS SOVIET ERA AND KGB BACK TO MIND
Putin hints that Russia did away with the opposition, why not Ukraine

Interfax-Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine, Tuesday, 27 July 2004

KIEV - The head of the Verkhovna Rada committee on European integration,
the ex-minister of foreign affairs, the leader of the People's Rukh of
Ukraine (the People's Movement) Borys Tarasyuk thinks that the decree of
President Leonid Kuchma, which removes the mentioning of Ukraine's
preparations for becoming a full member of NATO and the EU from the
country's Military Doctrine, shows the inconsistency of the current
government's foreign policy. He stated that in an interview on the 5-th
CHANNEL of Ukrainian television on Monday evening.

The head of the parliamentary committee reminded that the meeting of the
National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, which decisions
are ratified by this decree, was held just a week after the Ukraine-NATO
summit in Istanbul at which "the president of Ukraine had to hear numerous
unpleasant remarks in his direction," especially concerning the transparency
and the democracy of the elections.

"That is why the calling of the NSDC meeting and its decisions on 6 July, a
week after the Istanbul summit, show the annoyance, show that emotions and
inconsistence are hiding behind the important foreign policy decisions. The
fact that the most important foreign policy decisions for which, by the way,
President Kuchma has been lobbying since 1994 are changed this way shows
the inconsistency of the current Ukrainian authorities on such fundamental
issue of the foreign policy as the EU and NATO," stated Borys Tarasyuk.

He also thought that the date of making the decree public - eleven days
after its signing and on the day of the meeting between Kuchma and the
President of Russia Volodymyr Putin - was not coincidental.

Answering the host's question whether it looked like Ukraine "was simply
given up to Russia prior to the presidential elections," Borys Tarasyuk
said: "It is certainly possible to describe what is happening this way, but
I cannot avoid mentioning the terminology used by the president of Russia:
"za bugrom" (beyond the hill, meaning abroad. - colloquial), "western secret
service." It all brings the infamous soviet era and the KGB back to mind. I
would like to say that it seems that this is how the president of Russia is
trying to hint to the president of Ukraine how to behave since it has
already been done in Russia - opposition has been done away with."

Answering to whether it would be difficult to "turn around" the foreign
policy in case the results of the presidential elections are not what Mr.
Kuchma hopes for," Tarasyuk noted that, "the foreign policy has to change
with the change of government in Ukraine and that those changes will have to
be more than just "cosmetic" in their nature." "The foreign policy will have
to put into practice the declarations made by the current government;
serious steps will have to be made," said he.

It was reported earlier that the president of Ukraine endorsed on 15 July
the NSDC decision of 6 July "About the further development of relations with
NATO taking the results of the 29 June 2004 session of the Ukraine-NATO
Committee into consideration" (in Istanbul - Interfax) and made changes to a
number of statutes of the Military Doctrine, i.e. the mentioning of Ukraine'
s preparations for becoming a full member of NATO and the EU were
removed from the country's Military Doctrine. (END) (ARTUIS)
=======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.128: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Ukrainian Information Website: http://www.ArtUkraine.com
=======================================================
8. PUTIN AND KUCHMA MEETING IN YALTA HAS CREATED
MORE PROBLEMS THAN IT SOLVED UKRAINE MP STATES

Our Ukraine website, www.razom.org.ua, Kyiv, Ukraine, June 27, 2004

KYIV - "Over the last five years of his presidency Leonid Kuchma has tried
using the topic of Ukraine's European choice, tried telling the people about
the importance of raising the quality of life in the country to the European
standards etc. In truth, however, the president has done everything to make
this European choice a very remote prospect for Ukraine," stated the vice
president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, people's deputy of
Ukraine Ihor Ostash.

Commenting on the recent meeting between the presidents of both countries
in which business representatives have also participated, the
parliamentarian expressed conviction that, "the current ruling headship of
Ukraine definitely does not see itself in the EU and does not want Euro-
Atlantic integration."

Ihor Ostash stressed that our national government ought to aim for
partnership relations with Russia and, at the same time, must understand
Ukraine's national interests. "If we talk about CEZ (Common Economic
Zone), we have to understand that the topic of the free trade zone is very
important for our country. The talks about the free trade zone, however,
have come to a standstill. Furthermore, we did not hear from the Russians
any real indications that such a zone could be established in the nearest
future.

It needs to be understand, therefore, that the latest negotiations have not
only failed to solve any problems but created new ones," declared Ostash.
He also noted the problem of transporting energy supplies was still a
serious one "because this is an important issue and the government's haste
and secrecy with which the heads of states are trying to resolve it raise
numerous questions." The deputy thought it possible that this topic would
be discussed by the Verkhovna Rada in autumn.

"We also saw that the president and the prime minister were unable to
come to an agreement with the Russians on solving what we call gasoline
crisis. This is yet another proof that the Russians are trying - and very
successfully too - to obtain their interest at the expense of Ukraine and
Ukrainian citizens," noted the people's deputy.

Ihor Ostash has also pointed out that, despite all declarations about
non-interfering into Ukraine's political life, the Kremlin had decided to
support one of the participants in the presidential elections very actively.
"Russia, instead of conducting the policy of non-intervention, will
cooperate with all political forces in Ukraine but has, indeed, chosen one
candidate thus proving that it will interfere in the presidential campaign
in Ukraine," stated Ihor Ostash. (END) (ARTUIS)
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.128: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
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9. HELSINKI COMMISSION LEADERSHIP ENGAGE HEADS
OF NINE CIS COUNTRIES [INCLUDING UKRAINE]
Criticism of OSCE by Nine Draws the Response

By Elizabeth B. Pryor, CSCE Senior Advisor
CSCE DIGEST, Vol. 37, No. 13
U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE)
Washington, D.C., Wednesday, July 28, 2004

On July 21, 2004, the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. Commission on
Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission) responded to a
Declaration signed by nine members of the group known as the Commonwealth
of Independent States. The text was presented to the OSCE Permanent Council
earlier this month by Russia's Ambassador to the OSCE, Alexey N. Borodavkin.
The presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, the
Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan signed the
declaration. CIS members Azerbaijan and Georgia declined to sign.
Turkmenistan did not participate.

While acknowledging that the OSCE occupies "a key place in the European
security architecture," the Declaration maintains that the organization has
been unable to adapt to the changing political and security environment.

The Helsinki Commission leadership - Chairman Representative Christopher
H. Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chairman Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO),
House Ranking Member Representative Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) and
Senate Ranking Member Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) - responded to each
of the nine presidents who signed the Declaration.

The Commissioners noted that three of those signing the Declaration,
President Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan, President Akaev of Kyrgyzstan, and
President Karimov of Uzbekistan actually signed the original Helsinki Final
Act document when their countries were accepted as OSCE participating
States in 1992. In the letter to President Nazarbaev, the Commission
leaders stressed that they "were particularly troubled to see Kazakhstan
included on the signatories to the declaration, since you have expressed
an interest in undertaking the chairmanship of the organization [OSCE] in
2009."

In their replies, Commissioners agreed about the importance of the
Vienna-based OSCE and that its ability to adapt was essential to its
continued relevance. They pointed out, however, that many of the assertions
of the Declaration were already being addressed by the participating States.

The CIS signatories had criticized the OSCE for "failing to implement in an
appropriate manner" the fundamental documents of the organization, stating
that the OSCE is not observing an allegedly agreed Helsinki principle of
non-interference in internal affairs. Refuting the assertion that the OSCE
was failing to implement its principles, the Commission leaders pointed out
that the participating States, not the organization, are responsible for
such implementation: "We should look to capitals when failures in
implementation arise, not Vienna."

On the matter of "internal affairs," the leadership reminded the presidents
that this issue was definitively decided in the politically-binding
concluding document to the 1991 Moscow Human Dimension meeting,
which states: "They [the participating States] categorically and irrevocably
declare that the commitments undertaken in the field of the human dimension
... are matters of direct and legitimate concern to all participating States
and do not belong exclusively to the internal affairs of the State
concerned."

Turning to the assertion that there is a serious imbalance between the three
security dimensions of the OSCE - political-military, economic and
environmental, and the human dimension - the Commissioners noted that since
the issue of "imbalance" in OSCE priorities was raised several years ago,
there has been significant movement in anti-terrorism and tangible military
security issues. For example, path-breaking agreements on export controls
for MANPADs, on assistance for reduction of excess ammunition, and on
uniform standards for travel documents have been achieved in the last few
months. The economic dimension is also being revitalized.

For example, the OSCE has the most concrete and robust action plan to fight
human trafficking of any international organization. The OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly has called for a ministerial-level meeting to discuss ways of
halting terrorist financing and has spoken out for increased membership in
the World Trade Organization. Though welcoming the development of all of
the OSCE dimensions, the Commissioners took issue with the idea that this
should come at the expense of the promotion of human rights.

The CIS signatories expressed concern that human dimension activities are
concentrated in the states of the former Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia,
and that unfair standards regarding elections are directed at these nations.
They went on to accuse OSCE missions of focusing on human rights and
democratic development at the expense of the "full range of work covered by
the Organization."

In response to the assertion that undue concentration was focused on human
rights in the countries of the CIS and former Yugoslavia, the Commission
leaders noted that on 85 occasions since January 2003 the Helsinki
Commission had addressed, often publicly, human rights concerns in NATO
countries. Public criticism of actions by the United States, as in the
recent criminal treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison, has also been
made in OSCE meetings and has been taken seriously. The United States has
made clear that free and fair elections are crucial to the ongoing process
of democratic development and welcomes election monitors to its own
national elections in November 2004.

The letters also addressed the continued need to locate missions or other
OSCE representatives in the former Soviet and Yugoslav countries. In the
case of every signatory to the CIS Declaration, there are persistent human
rights violations and backward trends on democratic development. Specific
concerns were cited for each country, including fraudulent conduct of
elections, hindrance of free media, curtailment of religious freedom and
freedom of assembly, corruption among public officials and, in several of
the countries, detention of political opposition leaders.

These abuses have been documented in the Commission report Democracy
and Human Rights Trends in Eurasia and East Europe. It is with the goal of
reversing these trends that all OSCE states have agreed to the establishment
and retention of these missions. The poor implementation record on OSCE
commitments argues for the continued necessity of these field offices, the
Commissioners concluded.

Finally, the leaders of the Commission expressed the hope that the
discussion of OSCE's development would move beyond the Declaration's
inaccurate reinterpretations of key OSCE documents and center on concrete
suggestions. They welcomed any positive proposals that the presidents might
offer. In this, as in all their work, the Helsinki Commission expressed
confidence that by working together, the States of the OSCE region could
reach their goal of true security and cooperation in Europe. (END)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The United States Helsinki Commission, an independent federal agency, by
law monitors and encourages progress in implementing provisions of the
Helsinki Accords. The Commission, created in 1976, is composed of nine
Senators, nine Representatives and one official each from the Departments
of State, Defense and Commerce. (www.csce.gov) Contact: Orest
Deychakiwsky, Orest.Deychuk@mail.house.gov.
=======================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.128: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
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=======================================================
10. UKRAINE'S THREE LEADING TV CHANNELS CONTINUE TO
OPENLY FAVOUR PM YANUKOVYCH'S PRESIDENTIAL BID,
WHILE STEPPING UP ATTACKS ON VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO

BBC Monitoring research in English 28 Jul 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, Thursday, Jul 29, 2004

In the third week of the Ukrainian presidential election campaign (19-25
July), the country's three most watched TV channels continued to openly
favour Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's presidential bid.

In addition, state-run UT1 and the privately-owned Inter and One Plus One -
whose output is widely believed to be strongly influenced by the
presidential administration - devoted considerable attention throughout the
week to a number of running stories undermining opposition candidate
Viktor Yushchenko, who continues to lead Yanukovych in opinion polls.

The three channels gave limited, but generally neutral, coverage to the
campaigns of Communist leader Petro Symonenko and Socialist leader
Oleksandr Moroz. In particular, Symonenko's attacks on Yushchenko
were widely reported, while his direct criticisms of the authorities were
ignored.

Meanwhile, the channels associated with President Leonid Kuchma's
son-in-law, MP Viktor Pinchuk, ICTV and Novyy Kanal, ignored the
anti-Yushchenko stories and, in general, devoted comparatively little
attention to the election campaign.

The opposition-leaning 5 Kanal, which is controlled by Yushchenko ally
Petro Poroshenko, continued to provide fairly balanced campaign coverage.
However, it has begun devoting more attention to alleged improprieties by
the Yanukovych team.

Most channels also gave considerable coverage to the antics of TV pundit,
radical youth organization leader and self-styled "voice of the street"
Dmytro Korchynskyy, who joined the race last week and whose stated goal
is to combat Yushchenko.

In addition to directly election-related materials, Yanukovych featured
prominently in most channels' coverage of the aftermath of the
Krasnolymanska mine disaster on 19 July.

UT1, INTER, ONE PLUS ONE
The three channels' coverage of the Krasnolymansk mine disaster on 20-22
July presented Yanukovych's leadership as resolute, well-informed and
compassionate. On 20 July, Inter showed him comforting the relatives of the
victims and visiting injured survivors in hospital. On 21 July, both Inter
and UT1 showed the same individual (identified as a mine worker on Inter,
but uncaptioned on UT1) praising Yanukovych for coming to the scene and
disparaging Yushchenko for failing to do so.

While there were notably fewer reports about minor parties and NGOs
endorsing Yanukovych than in the previous week, all three channels devoted
lengthy items to the forum of democratic forces on 24 July at which 25
parties and 80 NGOs formed a union to back him.

UT-1's flagship 1800 gmt news programme continued to show several positive
items featuring Yanukovych on most evenings. For example, the 19 July
bulletin included such items as veterans from Transcarpathian Region
supporting his candidacy, a report on a hospital for Afghan war veterans in
Kiev region during which a deputy health minister praised Yanukovych for
providing funding, and a report on Yanukovych allocating funds for repair of
a damaged church.

The three channels devoted considerable attention during the week to
negative stories about Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc, focussing on alleged
disunity in the ranks and on an anti-Semitic speech by one of its MPs, Oleh
Tyahnybok.

The arguments within the bloc started when one of its constituent parties,
the Reforms and Order Party, decided to rename itself Our Ukraine,
ostensibly to hasten the bloc's transformation into a unified party. This
move was immediately criticized by representatives of other parties within
the bloc. These internecine conflicts gave much scope for caustic commentary
on all three channels. Reports on this issue appeared on Inter and One Plus
One on 19 July, and on Inter, One Plus One and UT1 on 20 July. On 22 July,
all three channels reported Yanukovych campaign manager Serhiy Tyhypko's
remark that internal conflicts would work against the bloc during the
election.

Tyahnybok's scandalous speech occurred at a rally commemorating a
nationalist guerilla leader on a mountainside in Ivano-Frankivsk Region on
18 July. The first references to the event came on 19 July on Inter's
evening news bulletin and Vyacheslav Pikhovshek's Epicentre analytical
programme on One Plus One. Both channels showed video from the rally, but
the commentary focussed on the fact that Viktor Yushchenko's brother, Petro,
was attending an event devoted to a controversial historical figure.

The following evening, Inter showed "without comments" a video of
Tyahnybok's emotional and theatrical speech, during which he called on
Ukrainian patriots to resist the "Russian-Jewish mafia" that he said rules
the country and to "give Ukraine back to Ukrainians". He was seen speaking
in front of a tent with "Yes! Yushchenko" slogans. The presenter did not
indicate how Inter had obtained the video.

The video was shown again by UT1 and Inter on 22 July, when Committee for
Nationalities and Migration head Hennadiy Moskal called on prosecutors to
consider whether to bring a case against Tyahnybok for inciting interethnic
conflict. UT1 also showed an interview with Tyahnybok during which he
refused to recant.

On 23 July, UT1 showed Reformed Communist Party leader Mykola Savenko,
whose party had that day endorsed Oleksandr Moroz, condemning Tyahnybok
and calling on Yushchenko to expell his brother too.

On 24 July, Inter and UT1 carried remarks by Petro Symonenko at a rally in
Ivano-Frankivsk in which he condemned Yushchenko for including Tyahnybok
in his bloc. Symonenko also criticized Yushchenko for his alliance with the
late Slava Stetsko, leader of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, whom
he portrayed as a Nazi sympathizer.

During the week, all three channels, as well as the Donetsk-based Ukrayina,
reported Symonenko's remarks, originally made in Kanev on 17 July, that he
would not cooperate with Yushchenko on measures to ensure that the election
is fair since he said the vote is likely to be falsified in Yushchenko's
favour in western Ukraine.

Just about the only neutral coverage for Yushchenko on any of these channels
came on 24 July when One Plus One showed him among the mourners arriving
at a memorial service for a renowned Ukrainian actor, though he was not
identified by name.

ICTV, NOVYY KANAL
Lunchtime and early evening news bulletins on ICTV and Novyy Kanal did not
give much prominence to election news. Their coverage was largely limited to
reports on registration of candidates by the Central Electoral Commission
and obvious publicity stunts like Korchynskyy's delivery of his registration
documents aboard an armoured car on 19 July.

Novyy and ICTV gave neutral coverage to the 24 July forum of democratic
forces in favour of Yanukovych. ICTV also reported on Yanukovych's
endorsement by the Federation of Trade Unions on 23 July. Novyy reported
on 24 July that Yuriy Buzduhan's Social Democratic Party had supported
Yushchenko's candidacy, a story that appeared to be ignored by most other
channels.

5 KANAL
While clearly sympathising with Yushchenko, 5 Kanal continued to give fairly
balanced coverage to all the main candidates. It continued to invite
candidates into the studio to discuss their programmes on its 30-minute 1800
gmt news and comment programme. During the week 19-25 July, guests included
Yushchenko himself, Dmytro Korchynskyy, Party of Industrialists and
Entrepreneurs leader Anatoliy Kinakh, Slavic Party leader Oleksandr Bazylyuk
and Public Control's Vasyl Volha.

Meanwhile, the channel carried a number of stories about the alleged abuse
of "administrative resource" in favour of Yanukovych. For example, ahead of
the 24 July forum of democratic forces, presenters questioned the methods by
which the organizer, Valeriy Pustovoytenko, intended to bring in 200,000
supporters for the event. On 23 July, the channel reported that lecturers at
a university Lutsk were being pressurized by their superiors to give their
signatures in support of Yanukovych and to promote his candidacy their
students. (END) (ARTUIS)
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 128: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
Now a major source of Ukrainian news for thousands around the world
========================================================
11. VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO AND UKRAINE'S FUTURE

OP-ED By Bishop Paul Peter Jesep
Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, July 29, 2004

"Where freedom is in fetters . . .
We will go to the village to
Repair, where men reside in goodness.
Among them we in peace will live,
And to the Lord our praises give."
Taras Shevchenko

Ukraine needs a patriot as its next leader. This will be impossible if its
October presidential election is manipulated by corruption or foreign
influence from the north. The upcoming election is not just about the
future of an anemic, halfhearted democracy, but more important the
flourishing of a national consciousness. The land of Rus seems exhausted,
ambivalent, and insecure about its soul. This need not be.

Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former aide to President Jimmy Carter, told an
audience at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy in May 2004,
"Ukrainians themselves must overcome . . . the twin burdens inflicted upon
them by the negative historical legacies of prolonged foreign domination and
of destructive communism. Both have hindered the emergence of a pervasive
Ukrainian patriotic civic consciousness, which is essential to democracy and
independence." Few in the West have spoken with the breadth of wisdom as
this Polish-born scholar.

Viktor Yushchenko (www.yuschenko.com.ua) is a patriot meriting greater
attention by Washington. Members of Congress, President George W. Bush,
and U.S. Senator John F. Kerry should consider elevating his stature in some
manner. It wouldn't be the first time, or last, something like this has
been done. It's not appropriate for any American politician to endorse
Yushchenko, but he does deserve special note as an independent thinker who
would strengthen Ukraine's liberty and enhance continental stability.

Detractors in Ukraine, especially in the Kuchma Administration, have
attempted to smear this patriot as a lackey of the West. That's impossible.
Washington hasn't paid much attention to Yushchenko. Although he seeks
greater integration for his country with the world community as a respected
equal, make no mistake, he shows the courage to be his own man.

In early July, Yushchenko mortgaged his home and declines donations from
political parties to avoid the appearance of being influenced by those who
put self-interest above the betterment of country. He has further shown a
sincere love for liberty by signing a declaration on fair elections.

The declaration, among other things, calls for candidates to "respect the
work of the media." Yushchenko understands. Without a free press there is
no democracy. It is through the vigilance of a free, independent press that
corruption is kept in check, freedom flourishes, and justice is protected.

In July 2004, Freedom House reported that "Ukraine's news media suffers
under an elaborate system of control that keeps opposition political groups
and other critics off the airwaves and out of print. The situation has only
worsened as election day approaches." American politicians may express
concern about this crisis, but engage in no concrete action to stop it.

In signing the declaration Yushchenko said, "It is a moment of truth that
will define the fate of our people for 10-15 years ahead." He's right.
This is a defining moment. But Yushchenko is modest in underscoring the
impact. The next presidential election will chart the country's destiny for
the next century. Washington or those who would be the next American
president have yet to understand this reality.

Recently, the U.S. House and Senate passed a Resolution expressing
concern that Ukraine hold fair, democratic elections. It's a nice gesture,
but it needs to be backed up with more than words. Congress should
consider urging Ukrainian officials to invite former President Jimmy Carter
and the United Nations to monitor the election. Post-election outrage
about voter fraud will be too late. The Resolution remains, like many
efforts by American officials, an empty gesture.

Not long ago, Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Senator John F.
Kerry issued an almost generic statement on the eighth anniversary of the
Ukrainian Constitution. It sounded like something written by a bright
college intern. It was a mere acknowledgment of an ancient, complicated
land. Nothing else. Kerry needs to say and do more especially if he hopes
to win the Ukrainian-American vote in key battleground states in the
November U.S. presidential election.

President Bush hasn't done much better. In March of this year he dispatched
Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage to Ukraine. According to
Armitage, "it is not a secret that we've got an economic relationship and a
security relationship, but our political relationship hasn't been as good as
it might be . . . We would be able to develop our political relationship if
there are free, fair, open, and democratic elections."

It's a sophomoric comment coming from a diplomat. He implies, like an
indignant parent, that either the fledgling democracy, heavily influenced by
its northern neighbor, fixes its many internal problems or the United States
will distance itself from Ukraine. It sounds like parental punishment.
Ukraine, albeit unable to fulfill expectations, is not an insignificant,
third world nation that deserves almost childlike treatment if it falls
short in its difficult move toward democracy.

In May 2004, former President George "H." W. Bush, father to the current
White House occupant, visited Ukraine offering an awkward clarification for
his infamous 1991 "Chicken Kiev" speech, which lectured the country about
"suicidal nationalism" during the Soviet Union's long overdue breakup. The
former president insisted that his message was misunderstood. Keep in mind
it took him almost twelve years to make the recent clarification. The
clarification was probably an attempt to sway Ukrainian-American voters
that could benefit his son's reelection during this year's very close
presidential contest.

Neither George H. W. Bush or George W. Bush have impressed me when
it comes to taking an active interest in Ukraine. Talk is cheap. Nor has
Kerry done better, but he does start with a cleaner slate. So far Kerry
political operatives have failed to seize an obvious opportunity to win
Ukrainian-American votes in states like Ohio, Florida, Illinois, and
Pennsylvania.

Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski said at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla
Academy, "I consider Ukraine's independence to be truly a major historical
event of great international significance. This was not appreciated at
first, particularly in the West and specifically in the United States. Even
now, in my view, there is not sufficient international appreciation of the
international significance of Ukraine. It has to be emphasized over and
over again that an independent Ukraine has redefined the frontiers of Europe
and an independent Ukraine is transforming Russia into a national state."

He added, "Some sectors of the newly powerful and the newly rich could
become seduced by Ukraine's more powerful neighbor which could then
exploit international instability, including the failure of America and
Europe to work together, and exploit Ukraine's relatively still weak
national consciousness to turn Ukraine into its satellite if not into its
province [again]."

Ukrainian-Americans focused on their own November presidential election
must expect much more from President George W. Bush and challenger
Senator John F. Kerry in furthering a free Ukraine. To date it appears
Republicans take them for granted using only lip service to keep their
loyalty and Democrats don't seem sure that the vote exists.

Just as important, Ukrainians throughout the world must demand more of
their respective governments. Diaspora Ukrainians have always loved,
shared, and celebrated their heritage, but they must also show an active
interest in the political process of their ancestral homeland. Ukraine's
fledgling democracy could be short-lived if they don't. (END) (ARTUIS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bishop Paul Peter Jesep is Chancellor of the Archeparchy and Vicar General
of Public Affairs and Government Relations for the Ukrainian Autocephalous
Orthodox Church-Sobornopravna (UAOC-S) based in Cleveland, Ohio. In the
past, His Grace also a lawyer and political scientist by training, served on
the staff to U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME). Bishop Jesep may be reached
at VladykaPaulPeter@aol.com. The views expressed here are strictly personal
and do not reflect the official position of the UAOC-S.
======================================================
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"POWER TENDS TO CORRUPT,
ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY"
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