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Action Ukraine Report

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

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

RUSLANA: "Take Ukrainian star Ruslana, for instance, who is expected
to turn out like Lord of the Rings heroes in medieval-style leather clothes.
One of the hot favourites, Ruslana and her dancers perform such a stomping
number with Wild Dance that they cracked the stage during a rehearsal."

"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" Year 04, Number 80
Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC), Washington, D.C.
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Washington, D.C.; Kyiv, Ukraine, SAT-SUN, May 15-16, 2004

INDEX OF ARTICLES
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"

1. RUSLANA: EUROVISION KICKS OFF WITH
LOVE SONGS AND STOMPING
Ukrainian Star Ruslana One of the Favorites
"One of the hot favourites, Ruslana and her dancers perform such a stomping
number with Wild Dance that they cracked the stage during a rehearsal."
Agence France-Presse (AFP), Istanbul, Turkey, May 13, 2004

2. RUSLANA: NEWS BRIEFS FROM 2004 EUROVISION CONTEST
Eurovison Song Contest Will be Viewed by 100 Million People
EUROVISON: Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 14, 2004

3.RUSLANA: POPULAR UKRAINIAN SINGER, COMPOSER, PRODUCER
Ruslana is "wild" energy, her song "Wild Dances"
EUROVISON.TV, May, 2004

4. SONG "WILD DANCE" PERFORMED BY RUSLANA
Unique character of the picturesque land of the Hutsuls permeates the
song through the sounds of ethnical music instruments, elements of the
Hutsul traditional dance, Kolomyika, vivid exclamations 'Hey! Hey!' and
'dana-dana'.
EUROVISION.TV, May, 2004

5. UKRAINE LEADS THE WAY IN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Swimming Gold Medallists Yana Klochkova and Danys Sylantyev
By Astrid Andersson in Madrid,
Telegraph.co.uk, London, UK, Friday, May 14, 2004

6. TALLEST MAN IN THE WORLD: LEONID STADNYK [STADNIK]
UKRAINIAN GIANT BATTLES POVERTY, LONELINESS
By Olena Horodetska, REUTERS, Podolyantsi, Ukraine, Thur, May 13, 2004

7. COLIN POWELL INTERVIEW ON UKRAINE'S INTER-TV
U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
Interview on Ukraine's INTER TV with Dmytro Maruchok
U.S. State Department, Washington, DC, May 13, 2004

8. EUROPEAN CHOICE OR EUROPEAN ILLUSION?
OP-ED, by Yevhen Plakhuta, Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, May 12, 2004

9. WILL KYIV BECOME UNLIVABLE?
EDITORIAL: Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 12, 2004

10. JAMES E. MACE: THE KNIGHT OF TRUTH ABOUT UKRAINE
Pioneering Researcher of the Holodomor Manmade Famine
COMMENTARY: The Day, The Day Weekly Digest in English
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 11, 2004
=========================================================
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 80 ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
Politics and Governance, Building a Strong, Democratic Ukraine
http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/index.htm
=========================================================
1. RUSLANA: EUROVISION KICKS OFF WITH
LOVE SONGS AND STOMPING
Ukrainian Star Ruslana One of the Favorites

"One of the hot favourites, Ruslana and her dancers perform such a stomping
number with Wild Dance that they cracked the stage during a rehearsal."

Agence France-Presse (AFP), Istanbul, Turkey, May 13, 2004

ISTANBUL - Dancers clad in costumes like leather-clad hobbits, a duo poised
for a boat wedding and a line-up of crooning male heartthrobs - these are
some of the attractions the Eurovision song bonanza is offering this year.

The annual contest, often mocked for its glitzy pop overdrive, opens on
Wednesday evening in Istanbul, the ancient Turkish city straddling both
Europe and Asia on the picturesque Bosphorus.

Organizers this year were forced to hold the semi-final stage in the face of
an unprecedented number of countries that showed interest in the song
bonanza, often derided for the quality of its music and political bias in
voting.

Ten nations qualified on Wednesday for the final of the Eurovision song
contest, knocking out 12 other aspirants from the annual event, watched by
millions of fans across the continent.

The 10 winners - Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece,
Macedonia, Malta, the Netherlands, Ukraine and Serbia and Montenegro -
will join 14 other nations which have already secured places for Saturday's
final.

The 14 others are Austria, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Iceland,
Ireland, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Turkey.
Under the rules of the event, organizers only gave a random list of the 10
nations which mustered the most support from the tele-voting, without
revealing the ranking of the 22 contenders in the semi-final.

Bidding farewell to the competition are Andorra, Belarus, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Monaco, Portugal, Slovenia and
Switzerland.

As if in keeping with Istanbul's historic scenery, many contenders have
opted for ancient ethnic tunes and costumes.

Take Ukrainian star Ruslana, for instance, who is expected to turn out like
Lord of the Rings heroes in medieval-style leather clothes.

One of the hot favourites, Ruslana and her dancers perform such a stomping
number with Wild Dance that they cracked the stage during a rehearsal.

Zeljko Joksimovic and his orchestra will follow suit for Serbia and
Montenegro with a distinctive blend of pop music and ethnic Balkan melodies,
using ancient instruments.

For those keen on something more modern and upbeat, Greek heartthrob Sakis
Rouvas, also a top favourite, has much to offer with his song Shake It and
an electrifying floor show.

Spain's Ramon is also set for an eye-catching performance, while Jari
Sillanpaa of Finland has promised a touch of tango, imported straight from
the north.

Many other countries such as Britain, Germany, Iceland and Macedonia have
sent male soloists to the contest.

Belgium's Xandee and Swedish diva Lena Philipsson are among the female
contenders who could yet still steal the show from the men.

The host country will be represented by the band Athena, set to do battle
with a rock song.

It is a sharp contrast to Turkey's winner last year, pop diva Sertab Erener,
who wowed the crowd with an exotic mix of belly-dancing and pop.

To underscore Eurovision's theme of romance and oft-overpowering
sentimentality, the long-time sweethearts Diana and Simon who make up the
Slovenian duo Platin are planning to tie the knot on Thursday on a boat
cruise on the Bosphorus, in a kind of Eurovision "reality show".
==========================================================
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 80: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
The Genocidal Famine in Ukraine 1932-1933, HOLODOMOR
Genocide Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/famineart/index.htm
==========================================================
2. RUSLANA: NEWS BRIEFS FROM 2004 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST
Eurovison Will be Viewed by 100 Million People

EUROVISON: Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 14, 2004

RUSLANA: "Ukrainian star wants the crown and..real wolves on stage...
Ruslana of Ukraine, one of the top favourities, said her potential victory
would be a "major breakthrough'' for her country, which is taking part only
for the second time in the 49-year-old contest.

"I need the victory personally and my country needs it,'' she said.
The energetic brunette, who wears leather costumes reminiscent of the "Lord
of the Rings'' and who cracked the glass stage with her stompy "Wild Dance''
number during a rehearsal, said she also dreamt of organising a concert in
which real wolves would appear on stage." [Agency France-Presse]
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RUSLANA: "The days of glory of the 49-year-old show may now be a
memory of the past but countries from eastern Europe, which joined after
the collapse of Communism, have injected fresh blood into the event.

One of this year's favourites, Ukraine, for example, is putting an enormous
effort in what is only its second appearance. "I need the victory personally
and my country needs it," said the Ukrainian star Ruslana, who wears leather
costumes reminiscent of those in the film Lord of the Rings.

Before coming to Istanbul, she toured 14 countries, mostly in eastern
Europe, to promote her Eurovision number, Wild Dance." [Australian
Broadcasting Co.]
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RUSLANA: "IT'S that fabulous time of year again when we celebrate
campness at its best - the Eurovision Song Contest.

Cheesy parties will be in full swing on Sunday night as fans enjoy the
performances of this year's favourites - Greece's Sakis Rouvas and the
wonderfully named Ruslana of Ukraine.

Ruslana has a similar performance that is inspired by her cultural
background -folk music and wild dancing of highlanders in the Carpathian
mountains. "I love life so much that I cannot help but show this love in my
dancing and singing,"

Ruslana said. "I took this energy from the mountains, where I spent a lot
of my time." [Herald-Sun, Australia]
==========================================================
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 80: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
Check Out the News Media for the Latest News >From and About Ukraine
Daily News Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/newsgallery.htm
==========================================================
3. RUSLANA: POPULAR UKRAINIAN SINGER, COMPOSER, PRODUCER
Ruslana is "wild" energy.

EUROVISON.TV, May, 2004

Ruslana is a popular Ukrainian singer, composer, producer. She has two
musical educations, with big experience to work in show-biz.

Her potential is shown through her hardworking, expression and drive,
powerful vocal abilities and exclusive vocal manner, originality of style
and professionalism of performance, bright ethnic performances and
unbelievable energy, which can move full stadiums during the concerts.

Allways unpredictable, "wild" Ruslana, always experimenting and never using
old technologies - is highly individual image, bright well-known brand.
Ruslana is "wild" energy.

She is not the result of the producers work. She not only composes and
arranges her music, she also produces her ideas and directs her videos.

MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS:

Album "Diki tantsy" sold in more than 170 000 copies and awarded "Platinum
disc".
Megaclip "I know" - is first video shoot to be presented un modern cinemas.
Sound format Dolby Digital 5.1.Picture format High Definition. Creating
group - 250 specialists from 7 countries, 10 helicopters, 4 kilometres of
tape, acoustic concert at the waterfall.
Christmas music films "Last Christmas of 90th", "Christmas legends", "On
Christmas to Lvovskiy"
Video "Svitanok" - best video of 1998
Participation from Ukraine at BBC project "Today 2000"
First unique concert with symphonic orchestra at festival "Tavriyskie igry"
Art project "Tour on Ukrainian castles"

MAIN AWARDS:

Laureat of All-Ukrainian festival of modern song and pop music "Chervona
Ruta";
Grand-prix of all-Ukrainian TV festival of pop music "Melody";
Grand-prix of "Slavyanski Bazaar" international festival;
Winner in nomination of "Music star of the year" of regional show
"Krishtalivski liv"
Diploma winner of national show concert "Song of the year" in Ukrainian pop
music
Grand prix "Zolotaya Era" for film "Dzvinki viter of Olesskogo zamku" in
nomination "Best film of the year";
"Golden Zhar-Ptitsa" - winner in nominations "Best song of the year" -:
"Svitanok" and "Best video of the year" - "Svitanok";
Person of the 1999 in nomination "Music star of the year".
Laureate of First All-Ukrainian program "Person of the year 2000" as "Music
star"
"Platinum disc" for the album "Diki Tantsy", awarded by independent
association of recording companies (Kiev-London) on December 17, 2003.

In December 2002 Ruslana signed contract with EMI label and started work
on the album "Diki Tantsy"

After some English specialists were interested in her music she received
invitation to British studio of Peter Gabriel "Real World".

On June, 11, 2003 album of Ruslana was released under the title "Diki
Tantsy" - it is compilation of ethnic material on basis of ancient motives
and rhymes of Hutsul nation and modern pop and rock music.

On 3rd October 2003 this album reached Platinum - 100,000 copies were
sold.

For now in Ukraine and other CIS countries where pirate audiomarket
prevails, no album has reached this mark.

On 17th of December this fact was OFFICIALLY confirmed and Ruslana was
awarded "Platinum disc" during ceremony of "Ukraine music premium - 2003"
Prize was awarded by Regional Manager on Eastern Europe of IFPI Stephan
Kravchek (Brussels).

The success of the album is not the only win for Ruslana but the start of
the fight against audio pirates in the country. During September, 2003 Comp
Music/EMI in collaboration with IFPI took serious measures against pirated
copies of Ruslana's album.

Awarding of first ever "Platinum disc" is not only a personal achievment of
musician but is even positive for the image of whole country, which
celebrates entering of Ukraine show-biz to legal zone, the creation of a
high quality national music product.

Since 24.11.03 till 4.01.04 Ruslana conducted tour in 25 cities of Ukraine.
On 10.01.2004 more than 170000 copies were sold according to the
CompMusic, it hold sales leadership since July 2003.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://mainhill.wallst.ru/eurovision/2004/ukr.htm
LINK: www.ruslana.com.ua
=========================================================
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 80: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
Major Articles About What is Going on in Ukraine
Current Events Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/events/index.htm
Become a financial sponsor of The Action Ukraine Program Fund
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4. UKRAINIAN SONG "WILD DANCES" PERFORMED BY RUSLANA
Unique character of the picturesque land of the Hutsuls
permeates the song through the sounds of ethnical music
instruments, elements of the Hutsul traditional dance, Kolomyika,
vivid exclamations 'Hey! Hey!' and 'dana-dana'.

EUROVISION.TV, Ukrainian Song "Wild Dances" May, 2004

Just maybe I'm crazy,
The world spins round and round and round
shi-di-ri-di-duy, shi-di-ri-di-da-na
shi-di-ri-di-duy, shi-di-ri-di-da-na

I want you to want me as I dance
Round and round and round
shi-di-ri-di-duy, shi-di-ri-di-da-na
shi-di-ri-di-duy, shi-di-ri-di-da-na

Forever and ever go, go, go wild dancers!!

Day-na-day-na Wanna be loved
Day-na Gonna take my wild chances
Day-na-day-na Freedom above
Day-na-da-na-da I'm wild 'n' dancing

Hey!

Napevno
Daremno
Bula ya nadto chemna
(Desire, inside two / My head spins round and round and round)
shi-di-ri-di-duy, shi-di-ri-di-da-na
shi-di-ri-di-duy, shi-di-ri-di-da-na

Dlya tebe
Dlya sebe
Zastelyu tsile nebo
(I want you to want me / So I dance round and round and... )
Hey, shi-di-duy, shi-di-ri-di-da-na
Hey, shi-di-duy, shi-di-ri-di-da-na

Bez zhalyu zapalyu go, go, go wild dancers!!
(Forever and ever Go, go, go, wild dancers)

Day-na-day-na Wanna be loved
Day-na Gonna take my wild chances
Day-na-day-na Freedom above
Day-na-da-na-da I'm wild 'n' dancing

He-e-e-ey !

Dance forever, come and be mine,
Dance together, till the end of time
Dance together go, go, go wild dancers!!

Day-na-day-na Wanna be loved
Day-na Gonna take my wild chances
Day-na-day-na Freedom above
Day-na-da-na-da I'm wild 'n' dancing

INFORMATION ABOUT THE UKRAINAN SONG "WILD DANCES"

"We have been creating the Song so that it would sound like an anthem",
Ruslana says. "Not like an anthem of a particular country", she adds, "but
as an anthem of freedom and of those people that strive to be free. By this
song and its philosophy we are calling upon the people to be real, free and
unconquerable, like the elements of nature, to strive for motion, to go
forward and break stereotypes.

"The Wild Dances" is a modern and a dancing hit. At the same time the
song possesses a lot of ethnical features. Unique character of the
picturesque land of the Hutsuls permeates the song through the sounds of
ethnical music instruments, elements of the Hutsul traditional dance,
Kolomyika, vivid exclamations 'Hey! Hey!' and 'dana-dana'.

At the same time, in my opinion, the sound gets more 'mature': it becomes
heavier, stronger, richer and gets close to real rock. Myself and Iryna
Mazur, the director of Life ballet group, when staging the dancing part of
the song used really 'wild' movements: very frequent jumps, abrupt curtseys,
using tambourines and whips in dancing etc.........

The majority of the viewers did not understand a word in Ukrainian, some of
them did not even want to know anything about Ukraine itself, but they would
all of the sudden start jumping and getting crazy in the Wild Dances'
rhythms! This convinced us in the fact that the new song will have to be
even more energetic. So it has come out like this."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://mainhill.wallst.ru/eurovision/2004/ukr.htm
LINK: www.ruslana.com.ua
===========================================================
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 80: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
Exciting Opportunities in Ukraine: Travel and Tourism Gallery
http://www.ArtUkraine.com/tourgallery.htm
==========================================================
5. UKRAINE LEADS THE WAY IN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Swimming Gold Medallists Yana Klochkova and Danys Sylantyev

By Astrid Andersson in Madrid
Telegraph.co.uk, London, UK, Friday, May 14, 2004

MADRID, Spain - Double Olympic champion Yana Klochkova claimed the
10th European long-course title of her exceptional career when she retained
her 200 metres individual medley crown in commanding style yesterday.

The 21-year-old Ukrainian, who maintained her monopoly of the 400 medley on
Monday, led the 200 throughout to embellish a remarkable record of success
in European Championships.

Since 1999 she has won four 200 medley, four 400 medley and two 400
freestyle golds.

Klochkova won in 2min 12.56sec from Hanna Shcherba, of Belarus (2:15.03)
and Beatrice Caslaru, of Romania (2:15.70).

Klochkova's only significant long-course championship individual medley
defeat in the past five years came from American Maggie Bowen in the 200
event at the 2001 World Championships.

After three days of bitterly cold and wet weather, the sun shone and brought
welcome warmth to swimmers, who have had a tough time of it in the open-air
pool.

Ukrainian Denys Sylantyev made it two golds in quick succession when he
won the 200m butterfly after coming second three times in four European
Championships.

Sylantyev, world champion in 1998, led down the first length but trailed
third at the 100m mark before reasserting his dominance and winning in
1:56.71, 0.11 seconds ahead of fast-finishing Romanian Ioan Gherghel.

Eighteen-year-old Italian Paolo Bossini took gold in the 200m breaststroke,
just holding off Russian Dmitry Komornikov. Bossini clocked 2:11.73 with
Komornikov second in 2:12.02 and Richard Bodor, of Hungary, third in
2:13.27.

Germany's Stev Theloke regained the men's 50m backstroke title. (END)
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THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 80: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
The Story of Ukraine's Long and Rich Culture
Ukrainian Culture Gallery: http://www.ArtUkraine.com/cultgallery.htm
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6. TALLEST MAN IN THE WORLD: LEONID STADNYK [STADNIK]
UKRAINIAN GIANT BATTLES POVERTY, LONELINESS

By Olena Horodetska, REUTERS, Podolyantsi, Ukraine, Thur, May 13, 2004

PODOLYANTSI, Ukraine (Reuters) - All Leonid Stadnyk [Stadnik]
wants is a simple, quiet and inconspicuous life. But the 33-year old
Ukrainian is just too tall for that.

At a height of eight feet four inches, Stadnyk may be the world's tallest
man and he keeps on growing.

Measurements by the Ukrainian branch of the Guinness Book of World
Records show he is already taller than Tunisia's Radhouane Charbib, who
is listed by the book as the tallest living man.

The local and foreign press have descended on his village, making him a
minor celebrity. He gets paid for some of the interviews and has been
offered help in getting shoes and clothes that might fit him.

Stadnyk says his height has brought him little joy.

"For my entire life I wanted to be shorter. I was bowing down, stooping,"
Stadnyk said, sitting in his house in the tiny village of Podolyantsi in
central Ukraine. "I have always wanted to be in the shadows. I tried not to
stand out, but now..."

Stadnyk remembered happier times when he was about the same size as his
classmates in the village school, even a bit shorter. But then at the age of
14 he started growing rapidly.

At first nobody seemed to take much notice of the tall, awkward boy with a
shy smile. But then his first problems began.

"There were no shoes, no clothes for me in the shops. When I was undergoing
medical checks, they could not measure my height, the scale ran out. Then I
became self-conscious," he said, blaming a hormonal imbalance for his growth
despite never having proper medical tests to diagnose his condition.

Ordering made-to-measure clothes is not easy in former Soviet Ukraine, where
often a simple transaction can require dozens of documents. Money is scarce
after he had to quit his job as a veterinarian due to poor health.

He said his arms are very strong but complains his legs are getting weaker
under his weight of about 440 lbs.

"For my job, I had to travel seven kilometers (4 miles) every day. With my
height I could move only by horse, on a cart."

"It did not matter whether it was winter frost or summer heat, animals fell
ill and I had to go. I did not have proper shoes and my feet froze. I had to
stop working."

Now his mother is the breadwinner in the family, while Stadnyk stays at home
and takes care of the house, land and cattle.

The family house is crumbling. He walks cautiously with a bowed head to
avoid the ceiling. He curls in a small armchair with his knees nearly
reaching his chin. He sleeps on two beds.

Stadnyk gets a pension worth about $28 a month while needing at least $200
just to order a pair of shoes. They last about four months, he said.
Mother and son rely mostly on home-grown fruit and vegetables.

"Life is difficult. We are working, working very hard to earn our bread," he
says. "With every year it is getting more difficult. Years pass by, my
health gets weaker."

And he says he is lonely.

Stadnyk's village is isolated. Most youngsters have left to find work in
bigger cities. Houses cry out for a coat of paint and are circled by
half-broken fences.

He dismisses local media frenzy around him, saying he has no plans to
capitalize on his extreme size and move into show business. He wants to stay
near his mother, his best and only friend at the moment, and work in the
garden.

"I do not smoke, do not drink. Every penny I can save I spend on buying
seeds and seedlings. The garden is a place for me. Height doesn't matter
there." (END)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK with seven photos: http://www.artukraine.com/events/tall7photo.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA) has
received an offer from an top U.S. shoe manufacturer to custom make
a very high quality pair of shoes for Leonid Standyk. The UFA will
personally visit Mr. Standyk in Ukraine in the immediate future to consult
with him on a variety of matters including his possible interest in
receiving a complete U.S. medical evaluation. The UFA has received several
donations to assist Leonid Standyk. If anyone would like to send in funds
for Mr. Standyk's needs please send them to: Ukrainian Federation
of America, 930 Henrietta Avenue, Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania
19006-8502. Please mark the donation for Mr. Standyk. Timely updates
regarding this matter will appear in future editions of The Action Ukraine
Report.
===========================================================
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 80: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
The Genocidal Famine in Ukraine 1932-1933, HOLODOMOR
Genocide Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/famineart/index.htm
===========================================================
7. COLIN POWELL INTERVIEW ON UKRAINE'S INTER-TV

U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
Interview on Ukraine's INTER TV with Dmytro Maruchok
U.S. State Department, Washington, DC, May 13, 2004

MR. MARUCHOK: Mr. Secretary, Ukraine is a member of the coalition in Iraq
and furthermore, a few years ago, has been declared as Ukraine and the
United States is strategic partners. What it means now, a strategic
partnership?

SECRETARY POWELL: I think it means that we want to have good relations
with the Ukraine. We have a variety of exchanges taking place with Ukrainian
leaders. We very much appreciate the contribution that Ukraine is making to
our efforts in Iraq and we are looking forward to helping Ukraine as it
moves forward through the next path of democratic reforms and gets ready for
its elections.

So we've had serious differences with Ukraine. There can be no question
about that. But the fact that we are talking to one another and trying to
find ways to move forward, I think, shows the importance that we attach to
Ukraine as a nation and to the Ukrainian people as people that we admire,
and we have so many American Ukrainians that we want to have good relations
with.

MR. MARUCHOK: Ukraine (inaudible) to be the member of the NATO, and
how soon Ukraine can become the member of alliance and how soon it can be?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I think it takes time. You know, membership
in NATO is still open. We have taken in since the end of the Cold War, we've
gone
from 16 to 26 nations of the alliance and we have said the door is still
open. And a certain process has to be followed with respect to the creation
of democratic institutions and the commitment to democracy, and we hope that
the day will come when Ukraine is, if it so chooses, if the Ukrainian people
and the leadership of Ukraine so chooses, that door will be open to the
Ukraine in due course.

MR. MARUCHOK: If it depends from the membership in the European Union,
the membership in the alliance, or not?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, this is up to the European Union. As you know,
the United States is not a member of the European Union, but we congratulate
the
European Union on the fact that it has now grown in size to 25 nations. And
it also has its set of standards and requirements for membership in the
Union. And we are great believers in transatlantic relations, whether it's
NATO or whether it's the United States working with the European Union. And
we hope that, ultimately, Ukraine will occupy its proper role in the
transatlantic community.

MR. MARUCHOK: This autumn Ukraine have the presidential election, and
right now we have two frontrunners, Mr. Yuschenko and Mr. Yanukovych.
Which one is preferred for United States, or it's --

SECRETARY POWELL: The United States believes that is up to the Ukrainian
people to decide who their president should be. What we would like to see
are free, open fair elections, where everybody gets a chance to express
their view through the vote, everybody gets a chance to use the media in an
equal way and everybody gets a chance to register to vote and the ballots
are counted properly and the will of the people prevails. It's up to the
Ukrainian people. All we wish to see are open, free, full and fair
elections.

MR. MARUCHOK: Ukraine recently joined the common economic space
with Russia, Kazakhstan. What do you think about that?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, it's a choice for Ukraine to make. And we
are not in competition with the Russian Federation. Ukraine should have
whatever relationship it chooses to have with the Russian Federation and
whatever relationship we and Ukraine choose to have between us and the
United States. So this is not like the old days of the Cold War, where we're
choosing up sides.

Ukraine is part of Europe. It should be anxious to become part of European
institutions. It should be anxious to have a good relationship with North
America and the United States and Canada, and whatever relationship it
chooses to have with the Russian Federation is up to Ukraine and Russia to
decide.

MR. MARUCHOK: Thank you very much.
SECRETARY POWELL: You're welcome.
========================================================
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 80: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Ukraine's History and the Long Struggle for Independence
Historical Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/histgallery.htm
===========================================================
8. EUROPEAN CHOICE OR EUROPEAN ILLUSION?

OP-ED, by Yevhen Plakhuta, Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, May 12, 2004

Just a few weeks ago, it was fashionable among Ukrainian politicians to put
statements about Ukraine's permanent European aspirations in their speeches.
But when, on May 1, 10 countries acceded to the EU, that fashion took a
sudden U-turn. Even those Ukrainian foreign policy-makers who had
reputations as EU disciples have made frigid comments about current
Ukraine-EU relations.

This situation reminds them of Aesop's fable: a hungry fox sees a vine with
ripening grapes, but when he learns they're out of reach, he dismisses them:
"They're sour anyway."

However, if this reaction on the part of the Ukrainian authorities is
evidence of some sobering up when it comes to illusions, it's not a bad
thing. The failure gives them the chance to critically examine the object of
their desire; to overcome their routine thinking. One can agree with
Oleksandr Chaly, one of the Foreign Ministry's most ardent adherents of
Euro-integration, who said that the epoch of Ukrainian romanticism in its
relations with the EU came to an end, and there should now start a realistic
and pragmatic dialogue.

For the last several years there have been thousands of articles published
and speeches made about Ukraine and the EU, but only a few presented
distinct arguments in favor or against Ukraine's joining the Union. The
general impression was that the majority of state officials, analysts and
journalists either paid tribute to the fashionable idea, or were blindly
driven by Euroenthusiasm.

But now, all the economic, cultural and political arguments propounded by
EU-integration supporters have come into question.

Take the economy. Economic growth in the EU countries is, on average, much
lower than that in Ukraine and some other CIS countries. In a recent
Washington Post article, Anders Aslund interestingly notes that lower rates
of growth in Eastern European countries came as a result of their following
the EU's economic models.

So why should Ukraine harm its economic growth? We can acquire the EU's four
guaranteed freedoms (freedom of goods, services, capital and movement of
people) within the framework of the European "neighbor" policy declared last
year. Ukraine can extend its markets with the WTO's help. The subsidies
Ukraine could get upon entering the EU would never cover all possible losses
anyway. The risk that our country will find itself in a black hole will
disappear if Ukraine successfully enters NATO. And no foreign humanists will
ever democratize Ukrainian society: we have to do that ourselves.

Of course, it's not only the rational arguments that matter. It seems that
Ukrainians' invincible desire to put themselves "in Europe" is connected
with their wish to rid themselves of their inferiority complex and feel like
"true Europeans." But it would be useful for Europe-obsessed Ukrainians to
know how, say, Western Germans treat Eastern ones, and how all Germans
treat Poles. This would help cure Europhile Ukrainians of the hope that "old
Europeans" will suddenly feel a genuine respect for the newly-entered
nations, and treat them as equals.

Anyway, very soon history itself will argue either for or against our
joining the EU. We'll be able to analyze the changes which will take place
in the new EU countries, and not only in terms of living standards, but also
as regards economic management, cultural transformation and the extent of
the national governments' influence on their respective countries' lives.

Ukrainian adherents joining the EU might suffer now on account of the
confusion of two terms - "Europe" and the "European Union." Whereas "Europe"
can be interpreted as a set of values, ideas or images, the "European Union"
is a formal interstate organization designed to solve members' specific
problems. Switzerland, Norway and little Monaco consider themselves part
of the European family while not being EU members.

No one has to convince himself of what he is sure about. If Ukraine really
feels part of Europe, there's no need for it to join the EU to achieve a
feeling of "Europeanness." But if it doesn't, why is it trying to force its
way in there?

What is so incorrect about Leonid Kravchuk's remarks that instead of moving
into Europe, we should develop Europe in ourselves and in our country? Or in
Viktor Yanukovych's similar words? And why isn't Mykola Azarov right when
he says we should establish economic, social and legal standards in Ukraine
that would allow us to decide matters calmly and with dignity for ourselves,
rather than begging for acceptance?

Author Yury Andrukhovych (a prominent Euro-promoter) has claimed that
no one is waiting for us in Europe, "us" being understood as the Ukrainian
establishment, the Ukrainian criminal forces and the state security
agencies. He didn't bother to add that on the other side, in Brussels, a
specific "they" is in fact waiting for us. They're very often not called
criminals, of course, but bureaucrats.

I can imagine that for many Ukrainians the EU authorities' position,
particularly Romano Prodi's comments about Ukraine's hopeless unfitness for
the EU, is offensive. The offense should be responded to with action, not
with moaning.

The EU's position on Ukraine can be partially explained as a function of a
lack of European interest in our country. The argument about Ukraine's
unique geopolitical significance does not work in negotiations with the EU.
Ukraine may be important for Russia or the U.S., and for Eastern European
and the Black Sea countries. But for the key EU countries, Ukraine is just
an adjacent territory in the East. One can manage without it, especially
when Russia recommends that Europe do just that.

To impose our friendship on those who aren't interested in us isn't good,
because such friendship won't be effective, and because it damages our
self-respect.

The authorities who say Europe doesn't need us are absolutely right. They
should only have announced this much earlier, so as not to damage some
sensitive natures.

I'd like to believe that Ukraine will move away from Euro-integration
rhetoric and be guided not by illusions and emotions, but by pragmatic
considerations. It can start with the recent reasonable idea, expressed by
the Foreign Ministry, that relations with the EU should not necessarily
follow our neighbor Poland's model, meaning that they shouldn't be oriented
toward full EU membership. Countries like Switzerland or Norway manage to
do well without any EU aspirations. (END)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yevhen Plakhuta is an expert at the National Institute for International
Security Problems.
===========================================================
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 80: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
The Rich History of Ukrainian Art, Music, Pysanka, Folk-Art
Arts Gallery: http://www.artukraine.com/artgallery.htm
Support "The Action Ukraine Report"...Send A Check Today
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9. WILL KYIV BECOME UNLIVABLE?

EDITORIAL: Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Pardon the slightly apocalyptic question. But as westerners we're familiar
with how cities, succumbing to development and a lack of urban planning, can
get turned over to the car culture, and become unpleasant shells of the
civilized human places they once were. An economically booming Kyiv could
become as traffic-clogged and grim as any North American city in which human
needs have been subordinated to the needs of the automobile. It could even
become as unpleasant as Moscow, which sometimes seems less a city than an
eternal traffic jam, stewing in its own pollution, going nowhere.

Yes, Kyiv remains a beautiful place: a pedestrian-friendly, graceful city.
But the indicators are troubling. Traffic on Lesi Ukrainky is a daily
disaster. During some rush hours it's backed up a half kilometer from
Basseyna, which becomes the epicenter of huge traffic jam that dominates
downtown, spreading around Bessarabska Market and up Shevchenko, all the
way past the university. Anyone familiar with contemporary Kyiv will have
his own horror stories.

This situation is too often met with a complacent shrug, and with platitudes
about traffic being the cost of economic growth. More cars mean that more
people have the money to buy them, and have taken to the streets in them to
spend that money. Traffic was not a problem during the Soviet era.

There's no arguing that Ukraine needs economic growth. But what that growth
will look like should be a matter of debate, not a question answered by fiat
by Ukrainian bureaucrats too short-sighted to think beyond destructive
models of development that have started to be abandoned in the West. There
are ways to develop cities that don't involve making them uglier, harder to
use and worse to live in.

So what Kyiv needs is a plan for its development that preserves the city's
strengths: its physical graciousness, its identity as a walker's city. There
are any number of models elsewhere in Europe, not to mention in those North
American cities that have remained vital urban places, and haven't bowed to
the car culture.

If something isn't done fast, Kyiv could be a much-degraded place in 10
years. New York City was vandalized for decades by bad planning and
unchecked development, and that city boasts a strong civil society and
culture of public oversight that Kyiv does not. In Kyiv, there are no
comparable structure of sound citizen institutions to stop, say,
politically-connected developers from someday razing Khreshchatyk to
build a six-lane freeway in its place.

Does that scenario sound laughably far-fetched? It isn't. In fact, worse
outrages have happened in numerous American cities, or been narrowly
averted by upswellings of public anger. Those who care about Kyiv should
start thinking about such situations now.

Nor is traffic the only issue. As Kyiv booms, it's imperative that there be
some sort of rational accounting for what's built, and how and where.
Continuing to leave these questions in the hands of former Soviet strongmen,
not famous for their taste or their sensitivity to local communities, will
be disastrous. High-rise buildings are springing up all over Kyiv, many of
them monstrosities that will degrade Kyiv's urban fabric - and as the Post
has reported, the identities of their builders are often semi-secret,
leaving them free from accountability. By the standards of any developed
society, that a shadow figure could build a cigarette kiosk, much less a
24-story tower, without any public oversight or feedback - without, indeed,
wading through years' worth of community lawsuits and court injunctions -
beggars the imagination.

Meanwhile, to build on city parkland, as at least one builder is currently
doing here, should be an inconceivable insult to Kyiv. Imagine the media
cataclysm that would result from some private developer taking over even a
hundred square meters' worth of New York's Central Park or London's Green
Park. But in Kyiv, as any walk through the parkland above the Dnipro will
make clear, it's par for the course. There's nothing that says that a group
of well-connected moguls couldn't turn Trukhaniv Island into Europe's
biggest casino while Kyivans sleep.

We're aware that urban planning and concerns with how best to regulate
growth are luxuries of affluent societies. But they shouldn't be, and
there's
nothing that says that a poorer city has to be any more unpleasant than a
more affluent one. Kyiv is in the unique position of being able to start its
own development almost from scratch; it's starting from zero.

We hope that it chooses the right way, and are sure that in order for it to
do so, someone in the population has to care. Given how civil society is
undeveloped in Ukraine, the international community should spearhead a
movement to make sure that Kyiv remains a human, decent place, and help
foment the community consciousness that is taken for granted in healthy
western cities.

Is there no NGO that cares to work in this area? Because without that sort
of attention and consciousness, Kyiv's degradation at the hands of the very
development that should improve it, is more or less assured. (END)
=========================================================
THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 80: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
Politics and Governance, Building a Strong, Democratic Ukraine
http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/index.htm
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10. JAMES E. MACE: THE KNIGHT OF TRUTH ABOUT UKRAINE
Pioneering Researcher of the Holodomor Manmade Famine

COMMENTARY: The Day
The Day Weekly Digest in English
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Last Thursday, our esteemed colleague, pioneering researcher of the
Holodomor Manmade Famine, prominent scholar and publicist Prof. James
Mace was laid to rest at the Baikove Cemetery.

Hours before that, his colleagues and friends - journalists, historians,
public figures, and writers - gathered for the civil funeral ceremony at the
Teacher's House in Kyiv to pay their last respects. Ukraine's President
Leonid Kuchma, Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk, and the Foreign Ministry
offered their condolences to the family and friends of Prof. James Mace.

Poet Lina Kostenko recalled one of James Mace's first televised appearances
in Ukraine, when, asked what key should be used for Ukraine's history, he
said, "The key to Ukraine's history is a key to Pandora's box." She feels
that James Mace was looking for this key to Pandora's box not to open it,
for, to quote Lina Kostenko, "all the misfortunes have been already released
onto Ukraine," but to drive all those misfortunes back into the box and lock
them tight.

Leader of the Our Ukraine bloc Viktor Yushchenko said that James Mace
researched one of the most tragic pages of Ukraine's history, "because he
understood clearly that history is in fact what is stored in our memory".

During the civil funeral ceremony, speakers stressed the need to continue
Prof. James Mace's research of the Holodomor and, to quote Stanislav
Kulchytsky, "make the international community finally face the obvious
facts." Proposals have been voiced to name the future Holodomor Research
Center in the honor of James Mace and publish in a separate book his
articles carried by The Day and translated in The Day's Ukrainian and
Russian issues.

As it became known later, the Ukrainian Federation of America has set up the
James Mace Memorial Fund to study Ukrainian Holodomor in 1932-33. Yet,
to quote Politychna Dumka [Political thought] Editor-in-Chief Volodymyr
Polokhalo, we will remember James not only for his scholarly efforts but
also for his indefatigable and energetic aspiration to do good to our
country, and not only to the country in general but to its every individual;
"for him there were no little Ukrainians; for him all were normal and
civilized Ukrainians in the upper case."

To quote Kyiv-Mohyla Academy National University President Vyacheslav
Briukhovetsky, "he felt he was the kind of Ukrainian who might still appear
in Ukraine someday." Mr. Briukhovetsky recalled that James was the first
foreigner to come to the Kyiv Mohyla Academy in the early 1990s and say, "I
would like to work here." "An American wearing first jeans and later shorts
was wandering around among the buildings of the then Higher Naval Political
Academy... This was a true shock for the world that surrounded us at the
time." And if this world has changed it is, among other, due to James Mace.

Meanwhile, one of Ukraine's first dissidents, Yevhen Sverstiuk, said the
following about James: "We are paying our last respects to a beloved
foreigner, who came to be known here as the Knight of Ukraine, meaning the
Knight of Truth about Ukraine. He Settled in Ukraine at a time when so
many of her children were fleeing this country. I think he had been driven
here by his natural inclination to tell and research the truth, and this
truth has made him a great man."

As Yevhen Sverstiuk put it, Ukrainians are yet to fully realize the extent
of their loss. "And this loss will gradually sink in, because Mace was one
of Ukraine's best representatives. He was the voice of Ukraine's history in
the world."

All one can add is that he was the voice of not Ukraine's history alone but
also of its present both inside Ukraine and out. His voice will remain with
us forever, for the words of James Mace, which he has left in his books,
articles, and notes of his Kyiv-Mohyla Academy students, are the best
monument to the remarkable author he had been.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.day.kiev.ua/DIGEST/2004/16/issue.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"DR. JAMES E. MACE MEMORIAL HOLODOMOR FUND"

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

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

For additional information about the special "Dr. James E. Mace
Memorial Holodomor Fund" contact morganw@patriot.net.
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