"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT"
An International 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"
GREETINGS FROM KYIV
VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO
NOW PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE IN CEREMONY IN KYIV!
This is a most glorious day in Kyiv.
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" - Number 415 morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
FROM: KYIV, UKRAINE, SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2005
VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO INAUGURAL PROGRAM
SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2004
1. Presidential Swearing-In Ceremony -12 noon Ukraine's newly elected President Victor Yushchenko will take his oath of office at Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) 2. Armed Forces Ceremony front of Mariyinskiy Palace - 12:45 p.m.
3. Speech of the President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko on Kyiv's central Independence Square, the Maidan 4. The President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko to hold an official diplomatic reception in the Mariyinskiy palace. 4:00 p.m.
5. Inaugural Concert & Reception, "Ukraina" Palace - 7 p.m.
(tickets required)
6. Black Tie and Orange Inaugural Ball, Ukrainian House - 8 p.m.
(Private function, by invitation only)
-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. IN UKRAINE, A SURVIVOR ENDS ON TOP
After Enduring Firing, Poisoning and Fraud, Yushchenko to Take Helm Today By Peter Finn, Washington Post Foreign Service The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., Sunday, January 23, 2005; Page A23
2. BUSH PRAISES YUSHCHENKO ON ELECTION WIN
AP, Washington, D.C., Saturday, January 22, 2005
3. UKRAINE LEADER CALLS FOR UNITY BEFORE INAUGURATION By Ron Popeski, Kiev, Ukraine, Reuters, Saturday, Jan 22, 2005
4. PRESIDENTIAL DELEGATION TO UKRAINE INAUGURATION Office of the Press Secretary, The White House Washington, D.C., Friday, January 21, 2005
5. CHRONOLOGY: MAJOR EVENTS OF UKRAINE'S
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN Xinhuanet, Beijing, China, Sunday, January 23, 2005
6. YUSHCHENKO TO BE SWORN IN AS PRESIDENT ON SUNDAY By Natasha Lisova, Associated Press Writer Kiev, Ukraine, Saturday, January 22, 2005
7. POWELL OFFERS U.S. HELP TO NEW UKRAINIAN LEADER
By Saul Hudson, Reuters, Kiev, Ukraine, Sat, Jan 22, 2005
8. VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO TAKES PART IN COSSACK CEREMONY By Yuras Karmanau, Associated Press Writer, Saturday, Jan 22, 2005
9. YUSHCHENKO FACES MANY CHALLENGES
Wants a firm commitment from the EU on Ukrainian membership
By Steven Eke, BBC regional analyst
BBC NEWS, UK, Saturday, January 22, 2005 =========================================================
1. IN UKRAINE, A SURVIVOR ENDS ON TOP
After Enduring Firing, Poisoning and Fraud, Yushchenko to Take Helm Today
By Peter Finn, Washington Post Foreign Service The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., Sunday, January 23, 2005; Page A23
KIEV, Ukraine, Jan. 22 -- On Thursday night, Yevhen Chervonenko, the millionaire head of security for president-elect Viktor Yushchenko, went to see Leonid Kuchma, the outgoing president of Ukraine, to discuss final details in the handover of power that will be completed with a Sunday inauguration ceremony in parliament.
The two men chatted amiably for 45 minutes, Chervonenko said in an interview. At one point, Chervonenko reminded Kuchma, the one-time head of a Soviet rocket factory, of a conversation they had in April 2001, immediately after Kuchma fired Yushchenko as prime minister.
Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's president-elect, holds a golden mace that Cossacks from the country's south presented in a colorful ceremony in Kiev, the capital. His swearing-in today formally ends the bitter election drama of the past three months.
"At that time I told him, 'He is the best rocket you have,' " Chervonenko said. " 'Mark my words, he will be back.' "
It was a bold prediction. Yushchenko was regarded as a highly capable technocrat who had laid the groundwork for the country's economic growth.
He had experienced a surge of popularity as salaries and pensions were paid on time. But critics questioned his toughness, particularly his willingness to take on the ruthless intrigues of Ukrainian politics, where powerful business leaders known as oligarchs wield enormous influence.
But, nearly four years later, Yushchenko defeated Kuchma's hand-picked candidate, Viktor Yanukovych, by assembling an unlikely coalition of liberal reformers, socialists, Ukrainian nationalists, radical students and the country's weary urban middle-class. He financed his campaign by lining up help from his own coterie of rich businessmen, including Chervonenko, who runs a large company.
After the presidential runoff vote on Nov. 21 was declared fraudulent by Ukraine's Supreme Court, Yushchenko, the loser in that election, galvanized an unexpected popular outcry that drew hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets. He convinced the country's security services as well as the establishment he once served that his Orange Revolution, named for the official color of his campaign, could not be crushed without plunging the country into civil war. A new election was held Dec. 26, and Yushchenko won handily.
Through it all, he survived a poisoning that wrecked his Hollywood looks and turned his face into a blotch of scars. He calls the poisoning an assassination attempt.
He showed that beneath his image as a decent guy, there was, after all, an iron will. "He was underestimated," said Vadim Karasev, head of the Institute for Global Strategies in Kiev, the capital.
On Sunday, the swearing-in of the West-leaning leader will be attended by world figures, including Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. On Saturday, President Bush telephoned Yushchenko and offered congratulations on "democracy's victory," according to a White House spokesman, Brian Besanceney.
"The two leaders also discussed their support for the people of Iraq and for democracy in that country," Besanceney said. "They agreed to consult and work closely together in the coming months." Ukraine has about 1,600 troops in Iraq and has announced plans to bring them home by the middle of 2005.
Yushchenko, 50, was born in a village in northeastern Ukraine, near the Russian border, to a family of teachers. He studied at the Ternopil Finance and Economics Institute in western Ukraine before becoming an accountant in the Carpathian Mountains region. There he took up walking and mountaineering, passions he continued to pursue until the poisoning in September. He remains a man of eclectic interests -- keeping bees, collecting antiques, as well as painting, sculpting and working with wood.
In 1993, he began his ascent in public life when he became head of the National Bank, where he tamed the country's hyperinflation and stabilized the national currency, the hryvnia.
In 1998, he married Kateryna Chumachenko, a U.S. citizen and a former official in the Reagan White House, whose parents were Ukrainian exiles. The couple has three children. Yushchenko has two other children from a previous marriage. His wife's citizenship became an issue in the campaign, with Yanukovych supporters circulating material that she was a CIA agent and Yushchenko was an American stooge.
In late 1999, he was appointed prime minister. He pushed through a series of reforms that drew admiration in the West. His energy minister, Yulia Timoshenko, later a key figure in the Orange Revolution, swelled the government's bank accounts by collecting taxes from the corrupt energy industry. In the process, Yushchenko and his allies unsettled the country's oligarchs. In addition, Kuchma was widely believed to be troubled by his prime minister's rising popularity.
In 2001, Yushchenko was fired.
Being pushed into the opposition turned out to be a gift for a man who otherwise might have been tainted by Kuchma's rule, which was increasingly shadowed by allegations of corruption, international arms-dealing -- a client was said to be Saddam Hussein -- and murder. Kuchma was allegedly recorded speaking of the need to get rid of a journalist who was later found beheaded. The president denies any association with the death.
In March 2002, Yushchenko's opposition coalition, Our Ukraine, won the largest bloc of seats in parliamentary elections, and the former prime minister suddenly became the leading opposition candidate to succeed Kuchma. Then the savage tactics and dirty tricks that would mark last year's presidential campaign began.
In October 2003, on a trip to Donetsk, Yanukovych's home base, local officials attempted to prevent Yushchenko's plane from landing. When the plane finally touched down, Yushchenko was greeted by a drunken mob screaming that he was a fascist. Masked armed police stood by without interfering.
That incident, as much or more than the later poisoning, persuaded Yushchenko that the gloves were off, aides said. After his inauguration, Yushchenko plans to address a crowd at Kiev's Independence Square, the epicenter of the mass demonstrations that ended up bringing him to power.
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2. BUSH PRAISES YUSHCHENKO ON ELECTION WIN
AP, Washington, D.C., Saturday, January 22, 2005
WASHINGTON - President Bush called Ukrainian President-elect Viktor Yushchenko on Saturday to congratulate him on his election and on ``democracy's victory'' in Ukraine, a White House spokesman said.
Bush noted that he was sending Secretary of State Colin Powell to represent the United States on Sunday at Yushchenko's inauguration. Bush and Yushchenko talked for about 15 minutes.
"The two leaders also discussed their support for the people of Iraq and for democracy in that country,'' White House spokesman Brian Besanceney said.
``They agreed to consult and work closely together in the coming months.''
Yushchenko, a Western-leaning reformer, lost the Nov. 21 election that spawned allegations of widespread fraud by followers of his opponent, Viktor Yanukovych, who ran with the support of the outgoing president, Leonid Kuchma. The election results were overturned by the Ukrainian Supreme Court, which agreed that the balloting was tainted by fraud. Yushchenko won the Dec. 26 rerun, and Yanukovych finally conceded.
Powell's trip to represent the United States at the Yushchenko inauguration will be one of the secretary of state's last official acts. In announcing his trip Thursday, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher congratulated the Ukrainian people for their courage in ``standing up for their democratic rights'' with sustained pro-democracy demonstrations that facilitated Yushchenko's eventual victory. -30- ==========================================================
3. UKRAINE LEADER CALLS FOR UNITY BEFORE INAUGURATION
By Ron Popeski, Kiev, Ukraine, Reuters, Saturday, Jan 22, 2005
KIEV (Reuters) - President-elect Viktor Yushchenko, committed to quick action to nudge Ukraine toward Europe, urged his ex-Soviet state on the eve of his Sunday inauguration to overcome deep-seated divisions after a bruising election. The liberal Yushchenko will take the oath in parliament and then address a crowd in Kiev's Independence Square, focal point of weeks of rallies by supporters backing his allegations of fraud in a first round of polls won by his Moscow-backed rival.
Hundreds of thousands will attend Sunday's events, which Yushchenko wants to turn into a celebration to mark Ukraine's coming of age 14 years after independence from Soviet rule.
As aircraft ferried in dignitaries, Yushchenko made a symbolic gesture by taking the oath of hetman -- the leaders who ran Ukraine on democratic lines in the 17th and 18th centuries. "A civil movement is a good foundation for Ukrainian unity," Yushchenko said after kissing and holding aloft a metallic mace outside the 11th century St Sofia Cathedral.
Looking on were about 200 Cossacks, moustachioed and brightly dressed modern-day exponents of a long Ukrainian tradition underpinning bids to achieve statehood.
"It is a worthy aim to be devoted to. And I will do so. But I want to know that you will be shoulder-to-shoulder with me, on the left and on the right.
Together, we will pursue our common Ukrainian idea."
Yushchenko, flanked by the allies that will make up his ministerial team, also laid wreaths to mark "unity day" in 1918, when a shortlived state restored control over Ukrainian lands before the encroachment of Russian Bolshevik rule.
The election, drawn out over three months, sharpened differences between nationalist western Ukraine and central regions, which supported Yushchenko, and the Russian-speaking industrial east, solidly behind his rival, Viktor Yanukovich.
MOSCOW FIRST
Yanukovich, also backed for a time by Moscow, was declared winner of a November election, but the Supreme Court overturned the result on grounds of fraud and Yushchenko won the re-run.
Presidents of at least six countries were expected for the festivities, including Poland, Romania, Hungary, Estonia and Latvia -- ex-communist
states committed to European integration. Continued ...
Also on his way was outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell. Yushchenko's Web site said President Bush congratulated the president-elect by telephone and Yushchenko responded by describing the countries as "strategic partners."
Yushchenko quickly embarks on trips to opposite ends of Europe to build links to help Ukraine join key institutions. On Monday, he fulfils a promise to make Moscow his first foreign destination by meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin. His program next week includes visits to the Council of Europe, a major rights body, the European Parliament, the World Economic Forum in Switzerland and commemorations in Poland of the Soviet army's liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.
On Friday, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana held out the prospect of eventual Ukrainian membership. -30- ==========================================================
4. PRESIDENTIAL DELEGATION TO UKRAINE INAUGURATION
Office of the Press Secretary, The White House Washington, D.C., Friday, January 21, 2005
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to attend the Inauguration of his Excellency Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine, on January 23, 2005.
The Honorable Colin L. Powell, Secretary of State, will lead the delegation.
Members of the Presidential Delegation are:
The Honorable John E. Herbst, United States Ambassador to Ukraine; The Honorable Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs; Mrs. Vera M. Andryczyk, President, Ukrainian Federation of America; Mrs. Nadia Komarnyckyj McConnell, President, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation; Mr. Myron Kuropas, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Northern Illinois University.
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http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/01/20050121-2.html
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5. CHRONOLOGY: MAJOR EVENTS OF UKRAINE'S
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN
Xinhuanet, Beijing, China, Sunday, January 23, 2005
BEIJING - Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenkowill be sworn in as the third president of Ukraine on Sunday.
The following is a brief rundown of major events of the tumultuous presidential election campaign which roiled the nation and drew wide international attention.
-- Oct. 31, 2004: Yushchenko narrowly edges out his pro-Russia electoral rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, in the first round of the presidential election as international observers report "serious irregularities" in the poll.
-- Nov. 21: The crucial runoff vote takes place, with exit polls showing Yushchenko ahead.
-- Nov. 22: Early ballot counts show Yanukovych with more than 49 percent of the vote and Yushchenko with nearly 47 percent.
-- Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) observers say the vote falls short of democratic standards.
-- European foreign ministers warn Kiev of the consequences on diplomatic relations, while Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulates Yanukovych on his "convincing" victory.
-- Nov. 23: About 100,000 opposition supporters occupy Kiev's central Independence Square as the same number are mobilized in western Lviv, with demonstrations continuing over several days.
-- Nov. 24: Yanukovych is officially proclaimed the winner by the central electoral commission. Yushchenko calls for a general strike.
-- Nov. 25: The supreme court delays publication of the results and Polish Nobel peace prize winner Lech Walesa visits Kiev to mediate in the dispute.
-- Nov. 26: Yanukovych tells supporters he will not allow the opposition to "overthrow the constitution" and calls for calm, saying he does not want the presidency if it "provokes bloodshed."
-- Yanukovych and Yushchenko sit down at the same table for the first time in the presence of top European and Russian mediators.
-- Nov. 27: In the largest pro-Yanukovych rally to date, some 100,000 people gather in the eastern city of Donetsk, where authorities warn that they will seek more autonomy if Yushchenko becomes president.
-- Dec.1: Kuchma proposes holding a completely new presidential election, instead of a fresh runoff vote. Parliament dismisses Yanukovych's government with a no-confidence vote.
-- Dec. 3: In a stunning and unexpected ruling, the supreme court annuls the November second-round vote due to massive fraud and sets a new runoff ballot for Dec. 26.
-- Dec. 8: Yushchenko and Kuchma strike a deal to end their standoff as parliament votes in a new central election commission as part of a compromise and the opposition calls off its blockade of government buildings.
-- Dec. 25: Ukraine's constitutional court strikes down a section of electoral changes aimed at preventing fraud during the rerun vote that were passed as part of a compromise on Dec. 8. The opposition welcomes the ruling, as it leaves most of the legislation intact and closes the door for any post-election challenges over the legitimacy of the vote.
-- Dec. 26: Ukrainians vote in rerun election.
-- Dec. 27: The central election commission publishes results that show Yushchenko winning with 52 percent of the vote, a difference of more than
2.2 million votes. Yanukovych vows to appeal the poll with the supreme court.
-- Dec. 31: Yanukovych resigns as prime minister, admits his supreme court appeals over the vote are unlikely to be granted.
-- Jan. 10, 2005: The central election commission declares Yushchenko the official winner of the rerun vote. Yanukovych is rejected by the high court in his final appeal.
-- Jan. 20: The supreme court throws out Yanukovych's final appeal, parliament sets a date for his inauguration three days later. Enditem
--Jan. 23: Viktor Yushchenko Presidential Inauguration in Kyiv.
==========================================================
6. YUSHCHENKO TO BE SWORN IN AS PRESIDENT ON SUNDAY
By Natasha Lisova, Associated Press Writer Kiev, Ukraine, Saturday, January 22, 2005
KIEV, Ukraine - Viktor Yushchenko, to be sworn in as president Sunday, has pledged to steer Ukraine on a new course, fighting corruption and bringing the former Soviet republic closer to the European Union and NATO while maintaining good relations with Russia.
But the reformer, who won a court-ordered election spurred by weeks of protests against his earlier defeat in a fraud-plagued election, could face substantial opposition in the country's largely Russian-speaking east, stronghold of his election foe Viktor Yanukovych.
Many in the east fear a rise of Ukrainian nationalism under Yushchenko that could result in discrimination against them. On Saturday, Yushchenko participated in a traditional Ukrainian Cossack ceremony that could heighten those concerns.
In Washington, President Bush called Yushchenko to congratulate him on his election and on "democracy's victory" in Ukraine, White House spokesman Brian Besanceney said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, arrived Saturday night and said that he was "honored to be here for this historic occasion."
"The two leaders also discussed their support for the people of Iraq and for democracy in that country," White House spokesman Brian Besanceney said. "They agreed to consult and work closely together in the coming months."
In contrast, Russia sent relatively low-level representation _ Sergei Mironov, head of the upper house of parliament.
Ukraine has 1,650 troops in Iraq, the fourth-largest contingent in the U.S.-led military operation, and it lost eight troops in an explosion of an ammunition dump on Jan. 9.
In the Cossack ceremony, Yushchenko was named a hetman, or Cossack leader. Ukrainian Cossacks are considered historic defenders of the land against outside oppression.
"I am convinced that ... our forefathers were also dreaming of seeing a democratic Ukraine with free people, with free Cossacks," said Yushchenko at the Kiev ceremony, attended by more than 300 Cossacks from Ukraine's south.
He was presented with a golden mace, a symbol of a hetman's dignity.
Many in Ukraine's large ethnic Russian population are watching closely to see how prominently the overtly nationalistic symbol will be used in Sunday's inauguration.
Yushchenko's first foreign trip as president is to be to Russia on Monday, underlining his concern about relations with the Kremlin, but thereafter he embarks on a multi-day swing through the West, including an appearance at the European Parliament.
Also emphasizing Yushchenko's Western orientation will be the presence of NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the inauguration.
Workers on Saturday hammered on stages hastily constructed on Kiev's Independence Square for the inauguration, as a block away residents of the once sprawling downtown tent camp that housed Yushchenko's supporters for two months tore down their makeshift homes to make way for the hundreds of thousands expected for the festivities.
The tent camp, which housed thousands at its height, sprang up within hours of the Nov. 21 presidential election that was later deemed fraudulent by the Supreme Court and annulled, stripping Yanukovych, the former prime minister, of victory.
Yushchenko has pledged to restore the rule of law in this country plagued by rampant corruption, nepotism and red tape.
"I want that we, as a country and as a power, offer our hand to business, I want us to start working for Ukraine," he said.
Dignitaries from more than 40 countries were expected for the inauguration. The first to arrive was Georgian Parliament Speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, who was a leader of the 2003 protests that forced a government change in her country and that became a model for Ukraine's demonstrators.
"We are happy that everything was resolved by the democratic path,"
Burdzhanadze said, according to the news agency Interfax. -30- ==========================================================
7. POWELL OFFERS U.S. HELP TO NEW UKRAINIAN LEADER
By Saul Hudson, Reuters, Kiev, Ukraine, Sat, Jan 22, 2005
KIEV - Secretary of State Colin Powell, a prominent guest for President Viktor Yushchenko's inauguration on Sunday, said Washington would help Ukraine boost its economy and join the World Trade Organization.
Yushchenko, keen to steer the former Soviet republic closer to the West while consolidating traditional links with Russia, will take the oath of office in ceremonies designed to be a mass celebration to mark a turning point in Ukraine's history. Powell, who will hold talks with Yushchenko, said the United States wanted to help Ukraine without undermining the country's longstanding ties with neighboring Russia.
"I expect in my conversations, we will have a chance to talk about economic reform, considerations with respect to the WTO and greater involvement in the trans-Atlantic relationship," Powell told reporters en route to Kiev. "I think there are many things we can do to help them ... We hope we can enhance the performance of (Ukraine's) economy as well. We can provide assistance."
Powell said he would set down reforms needed to boost Ukraine's WTO entry chances and assess what aid was required so the U.S. Congress could be lobbied for funds. Yushchenko, his face disfigured from dioxin poisoning he blames on secret services, was elected in a race dominated by mass protests against fraud in a first ballot that he lost. The Supreme Court ordered a second vote which he won comfortably.
END DIVISIONS PLEA
On the eve of his inauguration, Yushchenko called for an end to divisions between Ukraine's nationalist western regions and the Russian-speaking east that had been accentuated by the election campaign. Presidents of at least seven countries are due to attend the inauguration. The countries will include Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia and Latvia -- all formerly communist states now committed to European integration.
Yushchenko will become the third president in Ukraine's post-Soviet era at a parliamentary ceremony at 5 a.m. EST. He will then go to Independence Square, scene of boisterous rallies in his support after the rigged initial vote, to address a crowd widely expected to number in the hundreds of thousands.
Powell's offer of help followed a telephone call to Yushchenko by President Bush on Saturday in which the new Ukrainian leader was invited to Washington. Powell said it was hoped the visit would be "in the not too distant future." The United States helped another former Soviet republic, Georgia, in a similar fashion after its "rose revolution" more than a year ago brought Western-leaning President Mikahil Saakashvili to power.
Washington played a major role in tipping the balance during weeks of political turmoil in Ukraine over the presidential election, branding as "illegitimate" the first ballot won by Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovich. But Powell, due to step down as Bush starts his second term, said Ukraine needed to uphold good ties with Russia.
"We were never going about this for the purpose of scoring points, nor do I think any Ukrainians were doing it to score points," said Powell, who will also meet outgoing President Leonid Kuchma.
Yushchenko, a former prime minister and central banker, wants to eradicate corruption and build a country with a transparent economy and institutions to join the European mainstream. Ukraine borders the 25-nation European Union.
On Monday, Yushchenko will fulfil a promise to make Moscow his first foreign destination by meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
His program this week also includes visits to the Council of Europe, a major rights body, the European Parliament, the World Economic Forum in Switzerland and commemorations in Poland of the Soviet army's liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. -30- ==========================================================
8. VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO TAKES PART IN COSSACK CEREMONY
By Yuras Karmanau, Associated Press Writer, Saturday, Jan 22, 2005
KIEV - President-elect Viktor Yushchenko, wearing a fur riding cloak, participated Saturday in a traditional Ukrainian Cossack ceremony, accepting a golden mace as a symbol of leadership on the eve of his official inauguration as president of this ex-Soviet state. The ceremony could add to worries among Ukraine's large ethnic Russian population, who fear Yushchenko will cultivate intense nationalism that will lead to discrimination against them.
"I am convinced that ... our forefathers were also dreaming of seeing a democratic Ukraine with free people, with free Cossacks,'' said Yushchenko at the Kiev ceremony, attended by more than 300 Cossacks from Ukraine's south. Yushchenko pledged an oath of allegiance to Cossack brotherhood and Ukraine and was named "Hetman'' or leader of the Cossacks.
He was presented with a golden mace, a symbol of a Hetman's dignity - but it wasn't the mace that belonged to Bohdan Khmelnitsky, an 17th century Cossack leader revered by Ukrainian nationalists for his resistance to Polish rule.
That mace is among items that Yushchenko's staff have brought into the country from museums in Poland and Sweden. Many in Ukraine's large ethnic Russian population are watching closely to see how prominently the overtly nationalistic symbol will be used in Sunday's inauguration.
Yushchenko's promises to bring Ukraine into closer integration with Western Europe herald a significant shift for this ex-Soviet republic. He defeated Russian-backed candidate Viktor Yanukovych by 8 percentage points in a Dec.
26 rerun of the presidential election.
Workers hammered on stages hastily constructed on Kiev's Independence Square for the inauguration, as a block away residents of the once sprawling downtown tent camp that housed Yushchenko's supporters for two months were tearing down their makeshift homes to make way for the hundreds of thousands expected for the festivities.
The tent camp, which housed thousands at its height, sprang up within hours of the Nov. 21 presidential election that was later deemed fraudulent by the Supreme Court and annulled, stripping Yanukovych of victory.
Yushchenko has pledged to restore the rule of law in this country plagued by rampant corruption, nepotism and red tape. "I want that we, as a country and as a power, offer our hand to business, I want us to start working for Ukraine,'' he said. Yushchenko said that his first step ``would be to form the government,'' but he again refused to identify his candidate for the prime minister's post.
Dignitaries from more than 40 countries were scheduled to witness the inauguration. The first to arrive was Georgian Parliament Speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, who was a leader of the 2003 protests that forced a government change in her country and that became a model for Ukraine's demonstrators.
"We are happy that everything was resolved by the democratic path,''
Burdzhanadze said, according to the news agency Interfax.
Secretary of State Colin Powell also is to attend, as is NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Neighboring Russia, whose leader supported Yanukovych, is sending relatively low-level representation - Sergei Mironov, head of the upper house of parliament.
Yanukovych has predicted that Yushchenko would be unable to maintain good relations with Russia, but Yushchenko has kept a campaign promise and named Moscow as the site of his first foreign trip. He travels there a day after his inauguration.
Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma, who initially backed Yanukovych, congratulated Yushchenko and will attend the inauguration, Yushchenko aide Petro Poroshenko said, according to news reports. Whether the tent camp, one of the most vivid symbols of the so-called "Orange Revolution,'' would remain in place for the inauguration had been a contentious question.
Yushchenko had asked the protesters to strike the camp last week. Although stalwarts began leaving Friday, more than 20 large tents remained up by Saturday midday, and efforts to clean up piles of wooden pallets and discarded clothing appeared desultory.
A camp commander, Andriy Khomenko, said about 200 people intended to remain in four tents to press demands including calls for an investigation into a lawmaker who formerly directed the camp for alleged misuse of camp funds.
Khomenko also said that "people are offended with the way in which they were ordered to remove the camp. They want Yushchenko to apologize.'' The day of ceremonies is to begin with Yushchenko taking the oath of office in parliament, followed by a military ceremony at Mariinsky Palace, the presidential ceremonial building. Yushchenko will then make a speech at Independence Square, the center of the huge demonstrations that broke out after the Nov. 21 election. -30- ==========================================================
9. YUSHCHENKO FACES MANY CHALLENGES
Wants a firm commitment from the EU on Ukrainian membership
By Steven Eke, BBC regional analyst
BBC NEWS, UK, Saturday, January 22, 2005
The story of Victor Yushchenko's rise to power is remarkable, given the context of the former Soviet Union. With few exceptions, the region is home to undemocratic and authoritarian states.
Some of them, far from holding free and fair elections, have effectively set up family dynasties. Yet Ukraine's new leader came to power by electoral and legal process.
There will be much euphoria among Mr Yushchenko's supporters during his inauguration. But he will face many tasks and challenges, both internal and external, after taking office.
Mr Yushchenko will need to nominate a prime minister and form a cabinet.
The three leading candidates for the post are his close associate, Yulia Tymoshenko, the entrepreneur Petro Poroshenko and Oleksandr Zinchenko, the head of Mr Yushchenko's electoral movement.
The new president has been vague over who he wants to see in the job. And he has hinted at another candidate of a less political, technocratic orientation.
But there may be tensions, as Yulia Tymoshenko, in particular, has spent much of the time since the repeat election staking her moral right to the post.
INCLUSIVE
Mr Yushchenko's government will need to be inclusive. That means including representatives from eastern Ukraine, as well as members of the Socialist Party.
Ukraine's current economic condition is generally seen as promising. There is a double-figure growth rate, and incomes are increasing.
But a recent report by the United Nations Development Programme concluded that Ukraine is in urgent need of systemic reforms. There are also severe social problems, particularly Aids and poverty.
Two of the most controversial issues Mr Yushchenko will need to address are privatisation and media reform.
Mr Putin wants Ukraine to remain in its sphere of influence.
He has already made clear that some of the most controversial privatisations of the last two years may be reviewed, in particular the country's largest steel mill, Krivorozhstal.
On the media, Mr Yushchenko is known to favour some sort of public service broadcasting, a big ambition for a country without any tradition of one.
A divisive issue will be the possible opening of a number of high-profile criminal cases. They may include that of the murdered journalist, Heorhiy Gongadze, as well as those implicated in electoral fraud or calling for regional sovereignty during the election campaign.
Crucially, Mr Yushchenko has said he will name those he alleges were responsible for poisoning him.
COURTING
Externally, the challenges are also great. Mr Yushchenko is heading to Moscow shortly after his inauguration.
There are issues over which Russia and Ukraine are unlikely to fully agree.
One of them is whether Ukraine, a major regional economic player, will join what Russia calls the "common economic space".
President Vladimir Putin indicated how important he views this when he included it in his congratulatory message to Mr Yushchenko, who has promised to align his nation with Europe and the West.
Mr Yushchenko may also bring a new urgency to Ukraine's efforts to build a closer relationship with the EU.
The man widely tipped as Ukraine's next foreign minister, Boris Tarasyuk, says Ukraine sends signals to the EU, only to get none back in return.
Ukraine is likely to push hard for some sort of statement from the EU. Its new leadership may ask why countries with similar problems, such as Bulgaria and Romania, have been offered firm guarantees until now denied Kiev.
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