"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR"
An International Newsletter
The Latest, Up-To-Date
In-Depth Ukrainian News, Analysis, and Commentary
"Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World"
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT - AUR" - Number 584
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Publisher and Editor
Washington, D.C., Kyiv, Ukraine, FRIDAY, October 14, 2005
--------INDEX OF ARTICLES--------
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE STRIVES TO END DIVISIONS
By Stefan Wagstyl and Tom Warner in Kiev
Financial Times, London, UK, Friday, October 14 2005
2. ORANGE REVOLUTION OLIGARCHS REVEAL THEIR TRUE COLOURS
The high hopes for Ukraine after Yushchenko took power are
being dashed as rival elites squabble over spoils
Jonathan Steele, The Guardian, London, UK, Friday October 14, 2005
3. UKRAINE: IS THE REVOLUTION OVER?
ANALYSIS: By Peter Fedynsky, Voice of America (VOA)
Washington, D.C., Thursday, 13 October 2005
4. GETTING THE REDS OUT OF THE ORANGE REVOLUTION
COMMENTARY: By Boris Volodarsky, BORIS VOLODARSKY
The Wall Street Journal Europe, Friday, October 14, 2005
5. RUSSIA THREATENS GEORGIA, UKRAINE
United Press International (UPI), Moscow, Russia, Thu, Oct 13, 2005
6. UKRAINE COAL MINERS CALL FOR INCREASE IN STATE FUNDING
Associated Press (AP), Kiev, Ukraine, Thu, October 13, 2005
7. FORMER UKRAINIAN GOVERNOR ARRESTED IN UNITED STATES
Associated Press (AP), Thursday, October 13, 2005
8. BRITISH AMBASSADOR UPBEAT ON UKRAINE'S MARKET
ECONOMY, WTO PROSPECTS
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1006 gmt 13 Oct 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Oct 13, 2005
9. POLAND REASSURES BUSH OF CONTINUED STRONG RELATIONS
Moscow irritated by Poland's role in Ukraine, where Kwasniewski
backed pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko's successful drive to the
presidency last year.
Associated Press (AP), Washington, D.C., Wed, October 12, 2005
10. "IN A MORAL QUAGMIRE"
By Kostiantyn RODYK, chief editor of Knyzhnyk-Review
The Day Weekly Digest in English, #29
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, September 27, 2005
11. WITNESS TO A HISTORIC MOMENT
By Olya Henry-Korzachenko, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Nasha Doroha, National journal of the
Ukrainian Catholic Women's League
Oksana Bashuk-Hepburn, Editor
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Fall Edition, 2005
12. LOVE AND ITS EVERLASTING ABILITY TO CHANGE PEOPLE'S LIVES
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and the
Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund
By Priest-monk Daniel (Zelinsky), Director
Consistory Office of Public Relations
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA
South Bound Brook, NJ, October, 200
13. UKRAINE, 2,000 TO BENEFIT FROM CANDLE-LIGHTING CAMPAIGN
Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS (JFC)
Moscow, Russia, Thursday, October 6 2005
14. OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER 2005 DEDICATED TO
"UKRAINE'S JACKSON-VANIK GRADUATION"
Ambassadors Pifer and Miller Chair Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition
ANNOUNCEMENT: Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition
U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF)
Published by The Action Ukraine Report (AUR)
Washington, D.C., Thursday, October 13, 2005
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1. PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE STRIVES TO END DIVISIONS
By Stefan Wagstyl and Tom Warner in Kiev
Financial Times, London, UK, Friday, October 14 2005
Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's president, has made a public peace offer to
Viktor Yanukovich, his bitter enemy in the Orange Revolution, indicating
their parties could work together after next March's parliamentary
elections.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Yushchenko went beyond a recent
political agreement he signed with Mr Yanukovich, which mainly addressed
short-term pre-election issues such as the 2006 budget.
Speaking in his gilt-and-marble office in Kiev's presidential administration
building, Mr Yushchenko said he wanted to end divisions between a
pro-Yushchenko west and eastern regions that voted for Mr Yanukovich in
last year's presidential elections.
"Europe has shown us what can be achieved with solidarity, tolerance and
mutual understanding," said the president, referring to the continent's
post-1945 history. "I have not been talking to Mr Yanukovich. I have been
talking to 13m people who represent principally eastern Ukraine."
Mr Yushchenko was aiming to reassure investors who have expressed
concern about the disruptive effects of disputes between supporters of
the Orange Revolution and industrial barons largely based in the eastern
part of the country who benefited from links to former president Leonid
Kuchma.
The comments were also aimed at putting pressure on Yulia Tymoshenko,
Mr Yushchenko's firebrand ally in the Orange Revolution, whom he
dismissed as prime minister last month.
Mr Yushchenko said he still hoped his Our Ukraine party could agree to run
jointly in the elections with Ms Tymoshenko and her supporters, but only if
she "demonstrated wisdom" and avoided "back-stage politics".
Asked whether a coalition between Our Ukraine and Mr Yanukovich's
Regions party was possible, Mr Yushchenko would not rule it out.
Mr Yushchenko indicated he was most inclined to link with a centrist bloc
being formed by Volodymyr Lytvyn, the speaker of parliament, which is
backed by prominent industrialists including Viktor Pinchuk, Mr Kuchma's
son-in-law.
Mr Yushchenko said Mr Lytvyn's bloc might beat that of Ms Tymoshenko for
third place in the elections after Our Ukraine, which the president said
would win, and Regions.
Recent polls have shown the political groups of Mr Yushchenko, Ms
Tymoshenko and Mr Yanukovich with roughly equal support of about 20
per cent of eligible voters, while Mr Lytvyn's group is far behind with
support of 5 or 6 per cent.
Mr Yushchenko spoke on a wide range of domestic and international issues.
While his face is still scarred from last year's poisoning, he seemed
otherwise unaffected by the attack which almost killed him.
While he talked, he drank from an orange coffee mug emblazoned with last
year's presidential election slogan "Yes! Yushchenko". But his mood was far
removed from the heady atmosphere of the Orange Revolution.
The president talked bluntly of the damaging economic effects of the
political arguments that have divided the Orange Revolution's supporters. He
agreed that an opportunity had been wasted and said "mistakes" had been
made, particularly in economic policies.
The Tymoshenko government had disturbed businesspeople with "populist"
promises to spend public money and to review "several thousand" Kuchma-era
privatisations. After gross domestic product data showed an increase of 6.5
per cent in January, when Mr Yushchenko took power, it has since decreased
to 1.6 per cent in August.
The president pledged the new, largely technocratic government of Yuri
Yekhanurov, who replaced Ms Tymoshenko last month, would restore
investors' confidence by acting in a transparent, professional and
"apolitical" way.
He brushed aside questions about corruption claims levelled at some of his
closest supporters, saying no evidence of corruption had been found. He
explained his recent decision to extend legal immunity from MPs to local
council members as a "shortcut" that avoided a wasteful battle in parliament
while he referred the issue to the constitutional court.
Mr Yushchenko said the proposed sale of Kryvorizhstal, Ukraine's flagship
steel mill, would go ahead as planned this month. The sale, expected to
fetch more than $2bn (Euro 1.7bn, £1.1bn), follows court action to recover
Kryvorizhstal from its previous owners, including Mr Pinchuk, who bought
the mill for $800m last year.
Mr Yushchenko said the state retained the right to review other past
privatisations but indicated he would seek compromises.
He reiterated a pledge to end the long-standing domestic deadlock over
Ukraine's bid to join the World Trade Organisation and secure membership
by the end of the year. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report]
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2. ORANGE REVOLUTION OLIGARCHS REVEAL THEIR TRUE COLOURS
The high hopes for Ukraine after Yushchenko took power are
being dashed as rival elites squabble over spoils
Jonathan Steele, The Guardian
London, UK, Friday October 14, 2005
Those who doubted how revolutionary Ukraine's "orange revolution" would
turn out to be have no reason for pleasure now.
The massive disappointment felt by tens of thousands in Kiev, which recent
visitors report, far outweighs any intellectual satisfaction there is in
having predicted that Viktor Yushchenko's assumption of power would not
transform the country, politically or economically.
Indeed, "realists" like myself were also wrong. We did not expect things to
unravel so fast.
So when Ukraine's president comes to London on Monday to receive the
Chatham House prize from the Queen, it will be as much less of a hero to
his supporters than nine months ago. The prize was awarded mainly for his
keeping the country at peace while performing a balancing act between
Russia and the west.
He is not being honoured for his domestic record, which has been mediocre.
Like the ex-Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, Yushchenko has become a
child of the Soviet system who is more popular abroad than at home.
The indictment is long. The winning coalition that orchestrated last
winter's street protests collapsed in disarray last month. Leading members
accused each other of corruption. Inflation has risen while the rate of
growth has fallen by half.
Promises to reverse the crony privatisations of the 90s have not been kept.
Had the disagreements centred on serious policy issues, the regime's splits
might not have damaged Ukraine's image much. The country has hard
choices to make over the pace and scope of reform.
But the row that led to the departure of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko,
the heroine of last winter's barricades, was a sordid squabble among rival
oligarchs - exactly the scenario sceptics warned of last year.
Far from being motivated by a genuine wish to promote democracy, many
leading Yushchenko-backers only wanted to grab a greater share of the
post-Soviet pie. The government crisis came to a head over a lucrative
ferro-alloy plant in Nikopol.
Initially taken over by Viktor Pinchuk, the son-in-law of Yushchenko's
predecessor, Leonid Kuchma, it was re-allocated after several conflicting
court orders to an oligarch backed by Tymoshenko, herself a
multi-millionaire from earlier privatisation deals. Charges flew that the
judges had been unfairly leaned on.
There was also a power struggle between Tymoshenko as prime minister
and Yushchenko's friend, the tycoon Petro Poroshenko, who served as
secretary of the national security and defence council.
Ukraine's parliament is also a playground of oligarchic interests. Dmitriy
Vydrin, the director of the European Integration and Development Institute
in Kiev, was quoted as saying this summer:
"When you look at what is happening in parliament, you see too many factions
which are still being influenced by the big businesses. The government has
not pushed through enough changes or reforms to break those links."
Ukraine under Yushchenko remains what it was when he took office - a
pseudo-democracy and a pseudo-market economy where neither the rules
of business nor of political competition are transparent, fair and honest.
Access to power is blocked to those outside the newly rich managerial elite
from Soviet times. Transparency International puts Ukraine several notches
higher on its corruption list even than Russia.
Reforming a system of this kind is not easy, but Yushchenko has done nothing
to improve the climate of impunity. No oligarch has been charged with tax or
other violations that could lead to prison.
Desperately seeking a parliamentary majority to approve his new prime
minister, Yushchenko even signed a memorandum of understanding last month
with Viktor Yanukovich, the man he defeated last December who was widely
accused of rigging the first two rounds of the presidential election.
Fury over false counting was the key issue that fuelled last year's
protests. Hundreds of thousands wanted European standards of democracy
and persuaded themselves they would get them. No wonder many now feel
their man's election morality is no better than his opponent's.
As part of his understanding with Yanukovich, Yushchenko promised his
former rival immunity from any charges of electoral fraud.
Yushchenko has also failed to make serious headway on the issue he once
named as a touchstone of democracy - the case of Georgy Gongadze, an
investigative journalist who was decapitated in 2000.
The alleged killers, three policemen, are in jail, but no trial is going
forward. Senior figures from the Kuchma days who are alleged to have
ordered the crime, and are still useful in shoring up Yushchenko's power,
remain at large.
A second touchstone is the plan to reduce the president's power next year
and give parliament the right to name the prime minister. It was agreed last
winter as part of the compromise that ended the street confrontations.
With parliamentary elections due in March and a strong chance that
Tymoshenko, now Yushchenko's opponent, will win a majority, will the
president implement this change? As president, he will only control defence
and foreign policy.
The final issue is foreign policy. Western governments that funded or backed
Yushchenko's victory directly and through civil society channels hailed it
as a black-eye for Russia and a "seismic shift westwards in the geo-politics
of the region", in the words of Adrian Karatnycky of the US organisation
Freedom House. Ukrainians expected easier EU entry, but the EU has not
opened its door any wider.
On relations with Moscow, Yushchenko has been pragmatic. He knows he has
to import gas from Russia. Ukraine has little room for manoeuvre and, unlike
Tymoshenko, who was hated in Moscow, the new prime minister says Kiev
does not want to jeopardise ties to its eastern neighbour.
The main difference since Yushchenko came to power concerns Nato. Near
the end of his term Kuchma came out against Ukraine joining, as did
Yanukovich.
Yushchenko took the opposite line - one reason why Washington wanted
him to win. But polls show that while most Ukrainians aspire to join the EU,
the majority are against Nato.
They probably see it as unnecessary and potentially destabilising. Will
Yushchenko halt preparations to join, or continue on the grounds that
Ukrainians need to be "educated" to see the alliance's value?
This too is a test of whether those who exploited the romantic excitement of
the "orange revolution" are the democrats they claimed to be last year to
be. -30- [j.steele@guardian.co.uk[
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3. UKRAINE: IS THE REVOLUTION OVER?
ANALYSIS: By Peter Fedynsky
Voice of America (VOA)\
Washington, D.C., Thursday, 13 October 2005
Ukraine's Orange Revolution late last year raised hopes that an honest,
new government would reduce official corruption and unleash that country's
enormous economic potential.
During the Orange Revolution, Viktor Yushchenko's name echoed across
Kiev's Independence Square as hundreds-of-thousands of Ukrainians
reversed a fraudulent presidential election and put Mr. Yushchenko in
office.
But after just nine months, the President's Chief of Staff resigned, after
leveling corruption charges against the highest levels of the new
administration. The ensuing crisis has disenchanted many in Ukraine.
UKRAINIANS DISAPPOINTED WITH THE GOVERNMENT
Expressing disappointment with politicians, however, is something ordinary
Ukrainians did not have freedom to do in the past. For centuries, Ukrainian
political rivalries were hidden from the public or led to bloody social
upheavals.
According to Ukrainian historian Orest Subtelny of York University in
Toronto, Canada, the current crisis in is unusual in Ukraine's history, but
not in the history of democracies.
Professor Subtelny says, "In parliamentary democracies, we often see
governments falling, governments being dismissed. For example, we see
a very serious crisis in Germany right now, which everyone knows will be
resolved sooner or later and the system will go on."
UKRAINE'S PRESIDENT, VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO
President Yushchenko initially appointed Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister,
despite the fact that her socialist economic views contradicted his own free
market position.
After abruptly dismissing Ms. Tymoshenko, the President, in need of votes
for a new prime minister, signed a political agreement with Viktor
Yanukovych, the man who allegedly tried to steal last year's presidential
election.
Andriy Usov, a member of the Pora Party, which actively supported the
Revolution, says the agreement was shortsighted.
"Yanukovych has not led any political processes in Ukraine for a long time,"
says Mr. Usov. "I'm disappointed that Yushchenko's advisors and Yushchenko
himself made such a move because they revived Yanukovych as a political
leader in Ukraine."
At the same time, the dynamics of independent nationhood enable Mr.
Yanukovych to advance his interests in Kiev, rather than in the capitals of
former empires that once ruled Ukraine.
From this perspective, historian Roman Szporluk at Harvard University's
Ukrainian Research Institute says the Yushchenko-Yanukovych agreement
promotes that country's political integration because it recognizes a
substantial segment of voters in eastern and southern Ukraine who
supported Mr. Yanukovych in the presidential election.
According to Professor Szporluk, "These people see that they do have a
stake in Kiev, that their voice is heard there and that makes them, I think,
more attached to the idea [and] reality of a single Ukrainian nation."
REFORMING THE GOVERNMENT
But with allegations of corruption even in the Yushchenko administration,
some Ukrainians dismiss all politicians as dishonest. Pora Party activist
Andriy Usov, however, notes that a certain level of corruption exists in
virtually every country and calls upon ordinary Ukrainians to take an active
interest in their government.
"My fellow Ukrainians - you made a revolution, however, that was but the
first and certainly not the last step. You should continue to closely
monitor the actions of Ukrainian authorities and the situation in Ukraine,"
says Mr. Usov.
Political observer Valeriy Chaliy at the Razumkov Center, a research group
in Kiev, adds that politicians have a special obligation to institute
reforms and to set an example of moral leadership.
Mr. Chaliy says, "Today, the only important thing is that all politicians
prepare not only to win a certain number of seats in Parliament, but also
start thinking today about how they will compromise and how they will
cooperate for the good of the country."
Mr. Chaliy warns that the failure of politicians to cooperate and to govern
responsibly could have serious consequences. He says, "A desire could
emerge for a return to an iron hand; to a strong form of presidential rule."
Many observers say that Ukraine's leaders reflect the country's corrupt
social and economic system, which has forced even grandmothers to trade
cigarettes on the black market. They say the ideals of the Orange Revolution
appear trapped in a viscous cycle of corruption and poverty with deep roots
in the Soviet and Tsarist past.
Opposition activist Andriy Usov says the first organized attempt to break
that cycle -- the Orange Revolution -- demonstrated the emergence of civil
society in Ukraine and a sense that people can control the nation's destiny.
Asked about the political future of President Yushchenko, Mr. Usov says
recent weeks have shown that it is pointless to make predictions for
individual politicians.
"I'm more interested in making political predictions for ideas rather than
people," says Mr. Usov. "The ideals of the Orange Revolution will surely
live on because they are timeless and universal.
Our position is for or against ideas. The spirit of Independence Square
should continue always regardless of politics or any kind of crisis in
Ukraine."
The Orange Revolution is admired around the world as a remarkable
display of democratic ideals. At the same time, hard political realities
make it difficult to realize those ideals.
To the extent that Ukrainians openly and actively seek to improve their
society, analysts say, they will be keeping their revolution alive. -30-
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4. GETTING THE REDS OUT OF THE ORANGE REVOLUTION
COMMENTARY: By Boris Volodarsky, BORIS VOLODARSKY
The Wall Street Journal Europe, Friday, October 14, 2005
In February 2004 an outraged Ukrainian general walked into the Berlin studio
of the German radio station Deutsche Welle to accuse his own president and
bosses of misusing his service.
Maj. Gen. Valeriy Kravchenko, the liaison officer of the Security Service
(SBU) at the Ukrainian embassy, proclaimed to the listening public that
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, with the willing support of SBU chief
Ihor Smeshko and intelligence chief Oleh Synyanskiy, was using the SBU for
his own political advantage to spy on opposition parliamentarians and
members of the government.
Kravchenko's nail was not the first in the SBU coffin, nor was it to be the
last. A veritable spike was driven several months later with the exposure in
September 2004 of the SBU's apparent role in the poisoning of presidential
candidate Viktor Yushchenko.
Despite the poisoning, Mr. Yushchenko won the election and the "Orange
Revolution." His closest associate and the "face" of the revolution, Yulia
Tymoshenko, became prime minister and demanded that one of her own
people become head of the political police.
Mr. Yushchenko quickly realized that by consenting and appointing Oleksander
Turchynov as SBU chief, he had turned over to Ms. Tymoshenko's faction a
dangerous tool in Ukraine's turbulent politics. He could do little about
it -- until early September, when he fired his government.
The SBU dates from the Ukrainian independence in 1991 after the collapse
of the Soviet Union. But that was not so much a date of birth as a simple
renaming.
It used to be the KGB of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic, the largest and most
powerful of all the republican security organizations in the USSR outside of
Russia. Its leadership remained intact through the transition to
independence, retaining its chief who had served since 1987, Nikolay
Holushko.
Upon independence he made his loyalties clear by transferring to Moscow
the SBU archives, including the files of its agents and informants.
The Kremlin rewarded him by calling him to Moscow to lead the Russian
Security Ministry, the largest KGB department and one of the two components
most directly responsible for internal repression. When this became the
Russian Federal Counterintelligence Service, Mr. Holushko became its
director.
His successor in Kiev, Yevhen Marchuk, had headed the Soviet-era Fifth
Department, the one that combated dissidents. In independent Ukraine his
SBU tenure was marked by his failure to stem the tide of corruption or to
solve high-profile killings.
He admitted to "losing" the videotape on which one of his officers had told
of the murder of a political activist by a special police squad.
After the short stint of his successor, Valeriy Malikov, yet another career
Soviet KGB officer rose to the top: Vladimir Radchenko, known as one of
President Kuchma's men.
In 2002, the slant of Mr. Radchenko's SBU was exposed when he expelled a
U.S. diplomat and by the reported bugging of the embassies of Turkey and
Spain. (The Foreign Ministry denied it.)
Leonid Derkach, the head of technical spying and communications operations
who also had close links to President Kuchma and Moscow, took over in 1998.
The most damaging episodes in the short history of the SBU were the
disappearance in September 2000 of the journalist crusader against
government corruption, Georgy Gongadze, whose decapitated body was
found a few weeks later; the defection of the presidential guard Maj. Mikolo
Melnichenko; and the attempted murder by poison of Mr. Yushchenko.
The Gongadze scandal triggered Mr. Derkach's downfall, though it was
recently discovered that the journalist was murdered by a bunch of senior
officers of the Ukrainian criminal police, including the chief of its
criminal intelligence department, Gen. Oleksiy Pukach. Mr. Pukach was
briefly arrested, and left Ukraine.
Ever since, the SBU has professed to be unable to find him. But Mr. Pukach
is not Osama bin Laden, and his location has long been known to the SBU.
The SBU's downward slide accelerated when Maj. Melnichenko defected. A
security officer working in the technical section of the presidential guard
service, he left Ukraine on Nov. 26, 2000, on a supposed tourist trip to the
Czech Republic.
Hiding in Ostrava, Mr. Melnichenko was able to collate and publicize secret
recordings made in Mr. Kuchma's office that proved beyond reasonable doubt
at least three things: that Gen. Derkach used the SBU as a political tool;
that President Kuchma has a foul temper; and that the Ukrainian leaders were
engaged in arms trading in violation of international law.
It was this besmirched organization that Lt. Gen. Igor Smeshko came to head
in September 2003. He was its first leader who did not start his career in
the Soviet KGB.
It was Mr. Smeshko and his first deputy, Vladimir Satsyuk, who were playing
host to Viktor Yushchenko at Mr. Satsyuk's dacha outside Kiev on the evening
of Sept. 4, 2004, when Mr. Yushchenko imbibed the poison.
Days before welcoming Mr. Yushchenko to that dramatic evening meal, Mr.
Satsyuk visited Moscow where he met officials of the Russian Foreign
Intelligence Service (SVR).
A Ukrainian diplomat, asked for a brief historical résumé of Russo-Ukrainian
relations, compared them to the relations of a knight with his horse --
Ukraine playing the role of the horse, of course. When Ukraine became
independent, its SBU could not do without Moscow.
Certain elements of the security system like intelligence and cryptographic
services simply did not exist. Many Ukrainian security and military officers
felt Soviet first and Ukrainian only second. Their friends, colleagues and
commanders were in Moscow, not Kiev.
In June 2000, the heads of the Russian and Ukrainian security services,
Nikolai Patrushev and Leonid Derkach, signed cooperation agreements; further
accords were signed in 2001. None of the terms has ever been disclosed, but
talks between the intelligence and security services have been frequent.
Oleksander Turchynov, the SBU's first post-Orange Revolution chief in the
Tymoshenko cabinet, never worked for the intelligence or security services.
He was an apparatchik of the Communist Party and then a member of
parliament and lecturer.
On the desk of his office in the SBU building there was a pistol with the
engraving: "I believe! I know! We can!" The depth of his belief, and in
what, is not known, but the other assertions have proven empty.
He knows little. When I asked Maryna Ostapenko, the SBU press secretary,
about her boss's progress in finding Mr. Melnichenko, she told me Mr.
Turchynov had met with the fugitive major who would soon give evidence
about "Kuchmagate" (a hundred hours of secret recordings in Mr. Kuchma's
presidential office). But Mr. Melnichenko never showed up.
In all probability he is hiding near Moscow under the protection of the
SBU's Russian friends -- who according to some evidence did the bugging of
Mr. Kuchma's office. If Mr. Turchynov "knew" this, he was apparently doing
nothing about it. "I can" rang equally hollow: Mr. Turchynov exercised no
apparent influence on the SBU.
Immediately after the Ukrainian government crisis, President Yushchenko
assured U.S. President George W. Bush by phone that the recent changes in
Ukraine are aimed at "strengthening democracy."
The best demonstration of his good intentions would be to disband the SBU,
that repressive organ, still "Soviet" in its personnel, structure and
political tasks, with its unbreakable ties to Russia, which works against
the interests of the Ukrainian people and NATO countries.
A new FBI-style counterintelligence organization, along with a strong
antiterror center, would go a long way toward solving Ukraine's security
problems. It would also be a major step toward European integration.
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Mr. Volodarsky, a former Soviet military intelligence officer, is the author
of "Nikolai Khokhlov: Self-Esteem With a Halo," published last May.
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5. RUSSIA THREATENS GEORGIA, UKRAINE
United Press International (UPI), Moscow, Russia, Thu, Oct 13, 2005
MOSCOW - Russia's Foreign minister is warning Georgia and
other former members of the Soviet Union against what he termed
disloyalty.
Sergei Lavrov, noting that Russia has vast reserves of oil and natural gas,
said the Kremlin was ready to use "all of the means of economic pressure"
against disloyal members of the Confederation of Independent States,
MosNews reported Thursday.
Speaking to members of Russia's upper house of lawmakers, Lavrov said
the Kremlin is troubled by the way "in which such states as Ukraine,
Georgia and Azerbaijan build up their relations with the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization," damaging "traditionally good relations" with Russia.
A continuation of such a westward tilt, he said, could result in Russia
selling those nations oil and natural gas at world prices, rather than the
discounts they now enjoy. -30-
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6. UKRAINE COAL MINERS CALL FOR INCREASE IN STATE FUNDING
Associated Press (AP), Kiev, Ukraine, Thu, October 13, 2005
KIEV, Ukraine -Thousands of Ukrainian miners rallied Thursday in the
eastern city of Donetsk, calling for an increase in state financing for the
coal industry.
Waving flags and chanting "Government - turn your gaze on miners," several
thousand representatives of different Ukrainian mines and political parties
demanded the government pay attention to the needs of miners.
"We want them to stop oppressing the coal industry," Mykola Volynko, head
of the Donetsk office of the Independent Trade Union of Miners, told The
Associated Press by telephone.
In August, President Viktor Yushchenko announced his plans to reshape the
industry to make it safer. But miners said they've seen no results. And
while Yushchenko's government has paid back wages owed to miners,
authorities did so by forcing mines to take out loans to cover the bills,
Volynko said.
"Now we have to return the loans with interest," he said. Next year's state
budget envisages $800 million for the coal industry, miners said,
complaining the figure is too low.
Ukraine has some of the world's most dangerous mines, due to outdated
equipment and poor safety standards. Since the 1991 Soviet collapse,
nearly 4,300 miners have been killed in mining accidents. -30-
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7. FORMER UKRAINIAN GOVERNOR ARRESTED IN UNITED STATES
Associated Press (AP), Thursday, October 13, 2005
KIEV - A former Ukrainian governor was arrested in the U.S. at Ukraine's
request on fraud and extortion charges, prosecutors and police said
Thursday.
Ukraine's Prosecutor-General's Office accused Volodymyr Shcherban of
abusing his position as the former head of the northern Sumy region to
cause losses of tens of millions of dollars to Ukraine. The charges against
him also include abuse of power.
Shcherban ran the regional government until January, when President Viktor
Yushchenko assumed office and replaced many, high-ranking regional
officials. A few are now facing criminal charges linked to their time in
office.
Shcherban was detained Wednesday in Tampa, Florida, said Inna Kisel,
spokeswoman for Ukraine's Interior Ministry. The U.S. Embassy in Kiev said
it was checking on the report.
Ukraine's Prosecutor-General Svyatoslav Piskun had begun the process of
asking for Shcherban's extradition, his office said. Ukrainian media
reported that Shcherban allegedly conducted 50 financial transactions
involving 240 million hryvna ($1=UAH5.02) in the weeks before he left
Ukraine. -30-
==============================================================
8. BRITISH AMBASSADOR UPBEAT ON UKRAINE'S MARKET
ECONOMY, WTO PROSPECTS
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1006 gmt 13 Oct 05
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Thu, Oct 13, 2005
Kiev, 13 October: Great Britain hopes that the EU will grant Ukraine market
economy status before the Ukraine-EU summit in December, British
ambassador to Ukraine Robert Brinkley has said at a briefing on Thursday
[13 October].
"We hope that the EU will be able to give Ukraine the market economy status
before the summit starts," Brinkley said. He also said he was confident that
the EU will start the talks on easing the visa regime for Ukrainian citizens
ahead of the summit.
Robert Brinkley called on Ukraine to adopt the necessary laws and noted that
Ukraine could join the World Trade Organization before the end of the year.
The ambassador also said that British Prime Minister Tony Blair will take
part in the Ukraine-EU summit which is scheduled for 1 December in Kiev.
Asked about possible problems in preparations for the summit because of
Ukraine's failure to appoint an ambassador to Great Britain, Brinkley said:
"I do not see any problem in this. It is Ukraine's right to appoint the
ambassador when it finds it appropriate."
Commenting on relations between Britain and Russia, Brinkley said that
Great Britain is interested in the development of friendly relations with
both Russia and Ukraine. "To be honest, I do not know what the Russian
direction [of foreign policy] means.
But I know that the British government is consistently defending British
interests. Our interests include good relations with Russia, Ukraine and
other states. And we do not see any contradictions here," he said. -30-
==============================================================
9. POLAND REASSURES BUSH OF CONTINUED STRONG RELATIONS
Moscow irritated by Poland's role in Ukraine, where Kwasniewski
backed pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko's successful drive to the
presidency last year.
Associated Press (AP), Washington, D.C., Wed, October 12, 2005
WASHINGTON - Outgoing Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski assured
U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday that his country will continue to
have good relations with the U.S. regardless of who wins his country's
elections.
Bush lauded Kwasniewski as advancing peace and freedom and serving as a
mentor for new democracies. "He has proven that you can be a friend of the
United States and a loyal member of the E.U. at the same time," Bush told
reporters after the two presidents met at the White House.
During Kwasniewski's 10 years in office, Poland forged a close alliance with
the U.S. Poland sent troops to take part in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in
2003. About 1,500 Poles are now serving there.
Poland planned to pull its troops out in January, though that will depend on
the new coalition government. Parliamentary elections were held Sept. 25
and a new government isn't expected to be in place until the end of October.
Polish voters will elect a new president in an Oct. 23 runoff election
between pro-market lawmaker Donald Tusk and conservative Warsaw mayor
Lech Kaczynski. Neither won an outright victory in the first round of voting
Sunday. Kwasniewski was barred from seeking a third term.
Both candidates say they want to maintain Poland's good relations with the
U.S. Kwasniewski said he and Bush "talked about what we have done together,
and we have also talked about the fact that we will be continuing the policy
of cooperation between the two countries."
"And the new Polish government and my successor in the presidential office
will continue this policy in the years to come," he said. Asked about
concerns in Poland that the country wasn't getting enough out of its
relationship with the U.S., Bush said he would encourage the next president
to visit Washington.
"That's what friends do. They share concerns and share goals. And then work
together to satisfy and achieve goals. And I'm confident that's going to
happen," he said.
Bush was hosting a lunch for Kwasniewski, and the Polish leader also was
scheduled to meet with Vice President Dick Cheney. Kwasniewski attended a
dinner Tuesday with diplomats and European experts from Washington think
tanks.
During Kwasniewski's two five-year terms in office, covering the
presidencies of Bill Clinton and Bush, the former Warsaw Pact nation joined
NATO and the European Union and established close ties with Washington.
Also on the agenda Wednesday, according to Kwasniewski aide Andrzej
Majkowski, was Poland's strained relations with its eastern neighbors Russia
and Belarus.
Moscow has been irritated by Poland's role in Ukraine, where Kwasniewski
backed the pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko's successful drive to the
presidency last year. Asked about Russia, Bush stressed his good relations
with President Vladimir Putin and said the U.S. continues to encourage
democracy in Russia. -30-
==============================================================
10. IN A MORAL QUAGMIRE
By Kostiantyn RODYK, chief editor of Knyzhnyk-Review
The Day Weekly Digest in English, #29
Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, September 27, 2005
The book, Day and Eternity of James Mace, belongs to the most unexplored
of all literary genres, the only of its kind that, instead of attracting a
mass readership, tells the reader, "Move on, don't linger; you won't find
anything interesting here; this is just a compilation of articles, which you
have probably read in newspapers and magazines."
In fact, this Masonic conspirology, so to speak, is absolutely justified in
this case: Why usher a crowd into an alchemist's laboratory? The pages of
this book contain experiments with time as it was understood by Descartes
and Mamardashvili ("Time is what makes an object different from itself").
Participation in this ritual requires changing your frame of mind by
liberating yourself from daily trappings and shifting your perspective to
things that really count. You must also admit that, regardless of the
abundance of your knowledge, you don't really know anything.
Therefore, by all accounts books like this one have the effect of a
psychoanalytical session, which is too risky for most people. "Why do I, so
wise and successful, need these Freudian games?"
This is literature for the chosen few: "perception through recollection"
(Mamardashvili). For those of you who may have forgotten, James Mace was
an American historian, who defended his doctoral thesis on national
communism in Soviet Ukraine at the University of Michigan and coauthored
the world-famous report to the US Congress on the Ukrainian Holodomor.
Since 1993 he lived in Kyiv, teaching political science at Kyiv Mohyla
Academy and working as a consultant to the English-language digest The
Day, where he published a weekly column. He died unexpectedly in 2004.
The last quarter of the book contains reminiscences about Mace, "a rara
avis - too tolerant, too free, too brave, and at the same time responsible
for his words" (Volodymyr Morenets). With the help of these fascinating
recollections by a group of interesting people Ukraine is just beginning to
repay its tremendous national debt to this descendant of the North
American Cherokee tribe.
But more on this later. Meanwhile, the following singular opinion, in my
view, provides the key to understanding Mace's journalistic writings: "A
characteristic trait of Dr. Mace was his inability to adapt to injustice"
(Klara Gudzyk).
To a researcher, injustice is when facts and documents unearthed while
studying "history as exhumation" are subjected to an "orgy of officially
orchestrated paranoia and forced orthodoxy."
And the whole world, which put him down as a fool, believed in "socialist
realism, the Soviet commandment to portray life the way it ought to be in
the eyes of the rulers." The world believed in "bad harvests" and
expropriations from the allegedly criminally "wealthy kurkuls."
In bringing to light documents from 1932-33, Mace refuted these official
explanations and in the manner of Descartes and Mamardashvili came up
with a historical and philosophical axiom of his own: "The reason lies where
there are no other reasons," namely: "An established system of all-out
violence against the individual..., which exploits the ideology of the mob -
the ignorant, uneducated, or simply apathetic mass.
For Stalin and Stalinists, the main enemy was the class element. It could be
present in any family or working collective, any town or village. Indeed, an
entire country could become a country of class enemies, which is exactly
what happened to Ukraine. That is why the entire republic was slated for
complete extermination."
James Mace's works, written at different times and in different genres and
compressed into a single book, enter into a chemical reaction with the
formula "historian+journalist=historical philosopher."
In his fundamental conclusion ("The Holodomor was an act of genocide") we
see the mind of a political analyst and sociologist at work: "The forcible
replacement of one national pattern of life with another..., the destruction
of the biological structure..., and the expansion of the territory of death
on an unbelievable scale." And finally: "The use of famine as a weapon."
"As my colleagues who have studied the Holocaust know, there are times when
there are no words. Words are only symbols, and some things simply exceed
our ability to symbolize." At this point only one question can be asked:
What made this horror possible? " It was impossible to exterminate so many
[people]... without the involvement and participation in these actions of a
great number of people who were in principle normal and decent individuals.
This can be done in only one way - by divesting everyone of personal
responsibility. That is why it was so crucial to have propaganda that was
based on a big lie, which, in combination with terror, creates an alternate
reality."
This alternate reality proved so real that it changed the mentality of the
whole nation.
In essence, everything that Dr. Mace wrote is not political archeology but
the history of a disease plaguing modern Ukrainian society, for which there
is a clear diagnosis: "I have tried to understand how and why independent
Ukraine has thus far been unable to transform itself in the ways we might
think appropriate and its people deserve. For this reason I have found it
useful to describe contemporary Ukraine as a post-genocidal society."
To understand what a post-genocidal society is, you should read the book.
Consider one of its characteristics that I have singled out: "The vampire of
Sovdepia is still sucking its blood. It is difficult to see in the state
something other than an enemy, difficult to believe in a state that has
always fooled people.
For them the main thing was what Leonid Kravchuk aptly formulated as, 'We
have what we have.' In this sense 'we' means the people who had 'something'
under the Soviets, who still have 'something' and want to keep it."
"After all, one of the basic goals of knowledge is to heal."
Mace dreamed of creating a genocide institute in Ukraine, something along
the lines of Israel's Yad Vashem or Poland's Institute of National Memory.
It was meant to be a research institution with some of the functions of the
obscure Institute of Strategic Research and the advisory powers of the now
embattled National Security and Defense Council.
For a country suffering from acute post-genocidal syndrome, "today the most
important issue is how to protect the nation and the society against a
political, economic, ideological, and psychological assault, how to defend
Ukraine, how to keep it safe.
Certain circles are scared by the mere sound of the words - research of the
genocide, because they only know too well they will mean their political
death."
Could it be that this was the very reason that instead of a genocide
institute we only have President Yushchenko's order to establish a "Memorial
Center," a kind of All-Ukrainian Lenin's Room-inside out?
I recall Yury Shapoval's obvious discomfort, when he was commenting on this
presidential order in a live appearance on Channel 5 television.
The following words of James Mace would have been most relevant then: "Add
to this the fact that those in power and those advising them were brought up
in an environment isolated from intellectual discourse in the outside world,
and this renders most of them incapable of understanding even the most basic
things."
Then the thought hit me. Had a genocide institute been created during James
Mace's lifetime, would the Communist Party still have Ukrainians' votes?
Would this Soviet-defined "wise people" still believe pie-in-the-sky
promises? "Is over a third of an entire country suffering historical
amnesia? But since they do, it becomes scarier than anything Stephen King
ever came up with."
Finally, we come to the question of Ukraine's national debt to James Mace.
This American man "who had defended our dead" (Oxana Pachlovska) and
"demanded that the whole world recognize the genocide of the Ukrainian
people" (Mykhailo Slaboshpytsky) stands alongside some of our fellow
countrymen, who have already found their way into the most recent history
textbooks.
Yet, much like there is no genocide institute, his explosive doctoral thesis
and report to the US Congress on the Holodomor have not been translated and
published in Ukrainian.
Moreover, it turns out that the tape recordings of Holodomor eyewitness
accounts, which James Mace handed over to Ukrainian parliamentarians, are
slowly going to ruin in the basement of the Parliamentary Library. They
represent "the dark Iliad of the Ukrainian people" (Oles Honchar).
Meanwhile, before that "... you had to pay to obtain access to especially
important archival materials" (Natalia Dziubenko-Mace).
All the authors whose reminiscences are featured in the book remember James
as a sanguine optimist who, even when he was gravely ill, answered the
question, "How are things?" with an invariable "Fine!"
Only through his wife's recollections have we learned the cold behind-
the-scenes truth: "Sometimes he would simply weep helplessly."
The disease continues: " You can't save Ukraine from the Ukrainians."
* * *
"Having lived here for six years, I can assure my readers that this is a
country where literally anything can happen." (James Mace).
Day and Eternity of James Mace. The Day's Library. - Kyiv, Ukrainian Press
Group, 2005. 386 pages.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.day.kiev.ua/149180
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTE: The new book, " Day and Eternity of James Mace"
published by The Day in Kyiv, in English or in Ukrainian, is available
from the www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service. If you are
interesting in finding out how to order the new book please send an
e-mail to ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net. EDITOR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: The Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA) will be assisting
in the famine/holodomor/genocide commemorations in Kyiv during
November of this year. The Federation needs to raise several thousand
dollars for expenses related to the Holodomor Exhibition to be held in
the Ukrainian House. Donations can be made out to the Ukrainian
Federation of America and sent to the Federation at 930 Henrietta
Avenue, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006. Please designate your donation
for the Dr. James Mace Memorial Holodomor Fund. EDITOR
==============================================================
Send in names and e-mail addresses for the AUR distribution list.
==============================================================
11. WITNESS TO A HISTORIC MOMENT
By Olya Henry-Korzachenko, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Nasha Doroha, National journal of the
Ukrainian Catholic Women's League
Oksana Bashuk-Hepburn, Editor
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Fall Edition, 2005,
On August 21 of this year I had the wonderful experience of participating in
the Divine Liturgy, celebrated by Cardinal Hussar and several hundred
bishops and priests, that commemorated the move of Ukrainian Catholic
Church headquarters from Lviv to Kyiv. It was a warm and sunny day,
perfect for such an historic occasion.
The new church, situated on the left bank of the Dnipro River and with a
view of the golden domes of Pecherska Lavra on the opposite bank, is not
yet complete. Liturgy, therefore, was celebrated outdoors in the plaza next
to the skeleton of the immense modern structure that will replace Sviatoho
Yura in Lviv as the headquarters of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
According to the press, approximately 3000 people attended the
commemoration, including representatives from the Ukrainian Orthodox
Churches, both the Autocephalos and the Kyiv Patriarchate. As the faithful
sang and prayed, hundreds of demonstrators outside the low walls
surrounding the plaza could be heard protesting.
They had come at the request of their Russian Orthodox leaders who still
have a firm grasp on many people, especially in eastern Ukraine. The
Russian Orthodox Church, based in Moscow, continues to own many of
the historic churches and monasteries in Ukraine.
As they held icons and chanted prayers in Russian, these demonstrators
attempted to prevent people from entering the plaza and demanded "death
for Hussar and all of his followers".
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexei II, had warned
from Moscow that the move to Kyiv would degrade his church's relations with
the Vatican and would create social unrest in Ukraine. He even wrote an
open letter to Pope Benedict demanding that he forbid the move.
The area around the church was surrounded by police, including the Berkut
swat team and there seemed to be almost as many members of the police
forces as there were participants in both the Divine Liturgy and the
demonstration.
Fortunately there were no major incidents and the protesters stayed outside
of the walled area, using megaphones and shouting obscenities before
disbanding after the Divine Liturgy.
The demonstrations and the opposition to the move to Kyiv are of course
politically motivated. Ukrainian Catholics, who make up only 10 percent of
the Ukrainian population, are situated primarily in the country's
nationalistic and Ukrainian- speaking west and do not have the same strong
religious and historic ties to Russia as the eastern part of the country.
Also, the Ukrainian diaspora in the West is by and large Ukrainian Catholic
and exerts influence through its ongoing links with Ukraine. As the people
in eastern Ukraine have more exposure to the Ukrainian Catholic Church,
the less tied to Russia they are likely to be.
It is no wonder that the Russian Orthodox Church fears what it perceives to
be an expansion of the Ukrainian Catholic Church into Kyiv. Historically,
the Ukrainian Catholic Church had its headquarters in Kyiv prior to
Catherine the Great's ban which drove it into exile.
This return of the Ukrainian Catholic Church to Kyiv is one more indicator
that the days of Ukraine being run from Moscow and one state run religion
being imposed on all are indeed over. -30-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact: Olya Henry-Korzachenko, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
HHenry@rohcg.on.ca
==============================================================
12. LOVE AND ITS EVERLASTING ABILITY TO CHANGE PEOPLE'S LIVES
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and the
Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund
By Priest-monk Daniel (Zelinsky), Director
Consistory Office of Public Relations
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA
South Bound Brook, NJ, Tuesday, October 4, 2005
I am not exactly sure what I did to gain so much attention from Svitlana,
Tanya and Alesha from Znamianka orphanage, but I found myself showered
daily with expressions of love. The last thing a 16-year-old girl Tanya gave
me was a necklace with a little gold crystal in the middle.
As I received this gift, she smiled and told me that I was her friend. It
was the last day of our stay in this particular orphanage and my heart was
breaking. I never thought it would be so difficult to leave the kids after
the mission was over.
There are so many stories that I would love to share with the readers of
this article about the 2005 College Student Mission Trip to the orphanages
of Ukraine, however, the pictures that accompany this article do a much
better job telling the readers about the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox
Church of the USA, and what their love and financial help can do for the
lives of over 250 children in two orphanages and eleven people of this
year's mission team of the Church.
The eleven members of the team returned to their homes on August 26 of this
year after spending two weeks in Ukraine.
Nine young adults from the parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the
USA had worked and played with the orphans, assisted the orphanage staff in
their daily responsibilities and observed the state and needs of the homes
for handicapped orphaned children in Ukraine.
Five years ago, the UOC of the USA in partnership with the Children of
Chornobyl Relief Fund (CCRF) adopted two orphanages in Ukraine. Orphanages
in Znamianka, Kirovohrad Province and in Zaluchya, Ivano-Frankivsk Province
were selected because the homes were in particularly deplorable condition,
housing children with physical and mental birth defects.
Mrs. Nadiya Matkiwska, Co-Founder of CCRF, who joined His Eminence
Archbishop Antony in his personal meeting with the Mission Team members
prior to their departure to Ukraine, explained that though these orphanages
are located far away from Chornobyl', the effects of the Chornobyl' tragedy
spread throughout every region of Ukraine as over 650,000 people from all
corners of Ukraine assisted in the cleanup effort in 1986.
According to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, oncological diseases
(tumors) among children in Ukraine tripled from 1986 to 1994.
Our mission journey was organized by the Consistory of the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church of the USA - Offices of Youth and Young Adult Ministry -
Natalie Kapeluck, Director - and Missions and Christian Charity - Fr. Deacon
Dr. Ihor Mahlay, Director. Both Natalie and Deacon Ihor were participants in
the first missionary trip sponsored by the Church three years ago.
This year's mission team consisted of nine students: Laryssa and Tanya
Tchaikowsky of St. Vladimir Cathedral, Chicago, IL, Jared Burgan, Holy
Ascension Parish, Clifton, NJ, Hans Harasimchuk and Michael Nakonachny
of St. Vladimir Cathedral, Parma, OH, Kathrine Kosiv of Holy Trinity Parish,
New York, NY, Jason and Eric Senedak of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish,
Youngstown, OH, Katherine Holowchak, Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Parma,
OH and two leaders/advisors, Iryna Mahlay, St. Vladimir Cathedral, Parma
OH and myself, Fr. Daniel Zelinsky, Director of the Consistory Office of
Public Relations.
Prior to Mission Team's departure for Ukraine, His Eminence Archbishop
Antony celebrated a Moleben in the Consistory Chapel and offered special
prayers for all mission team members and for the success of their missionary
efforts.
His Eminence spoke about love and its everlasting ability to change people's
lives if they let the Light of Divine presence to enter into and flow
through them into the lives of others.
He concluded saying that love never permits people return to their old
selves, once experienced and that the team members experience in the
orphanages will change their lives forever.and how prophetic his statements
were!
In Znamianka, where 120 children live, almost all of whom have serious
physical and mental problems including Downs Syndrome, autism, a host of
physical deformities and developmental problems, among others, the
Mission Team provided the children with basic physical therapy, playing
with, cuddling and lovingly hugging as many of the children as possible.
The team also painted anew Arts and Crafts room, using Disney theme:
Under the Sea.
In Zaluchya, the Mission Team did it all again, in Christ's Love, at the
orphanage, which is home for 140 children. As in Znamianka, the vast
majority of the children were born with physical and mental birth defects
such as Down's syndrome or cerebral palsy.
This home is a former family estate built before World War II and still in
need of some major improvements. A new roof, new bathrooms with multiple
showers, sinks in every room and a laundry, along with new beds, mattresses
and linens have been provided through the financial support of the faithful
of the UOCUSA. Although many improvements have been made, much more
needs to be done.
We completed our stay in each orphanage with a special healing service,
during which the children who were mobile prayed with us and received a
blessing of healing oils from Father Daniel.
While Fr. Daniel visited the rooms of the children who could not attend the
service, the rest of the team spent quality time with the children in
attendance and the staff of the orphanages.
Tanya Tchaikovsky, one of the Team members recalls this: "Then, while in
Zaluchya, after another moving service of Holy Unction each of the children
was anointed, and was given an icon card of the Virgin Mary. All of the
kids loved the gifts, and I saw many kissing the icons, and many more
asked us to kiss them.
I was sitting with Ulyana, a brilliant girl who has learned to write and
paint by grasping instruments in her teeth, and Vasyl, a quiet, patient
little boy who has little use of his legs, and I was holding Alina, a very
young girl with Down's syndrome in my lap.
Ulyana turned to me and asked me to read to her what was written on the
back of the icon card. I hadn't really paid attention to the back until
this point.
There, written in Ukrainian, were the Beatitudes. I started reading them to
the kids, and by the time I had reached the end, I was in tears. I realized
that these children truly are blessed.
They are poor, meek, they mourn; they are all of these things. I was crying
tears of joy because I realized that though they may face great hardships in
their lives on earth, 'great will be their reward in heaven."
During the visits to the orphanages, the directors and staff were very
hospitable and grateful for our Church's support and efforts, especially the
actual physical presence and assistance of the mission team members.
The staff members were also open and frank about their difficulties and
needs in providing for the children. Not only did the administration of the
orphanages provide meals and lodging for the mission team, but they took
the team on cultural excursions.
In Znamianka, the members visited the city. In Zaluchya, the team visited
Kosiv and the ethnographic bazaar in the foothills of the Carpathian
Mountains.
After completing their all-too-short (according to the team members)
Christian work at the orphanages, the mission team spent a few days touring
historic Lviv. On the way back to Kyiv they made a pilgrimage to Pochaiv
Monastery-Lavra, venerating the miraculous icon of the Mother of God and
relics of St. Job.
In Kyiv, the group visited the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra venerating the relics of
many saints buried in the caves, St. Sophia Cathedral and St. Michael's
"Golden Domed" Cathedral, which has been magnificently reconstructed with
the support of many of the faithful in the USA.
Steven Haluszczak, a 2004 mission team lay leader recalls following: "group
members often asked ourselves "Why are we so lucky? We have parents who
love us and have given us so much materially. Why do these children have so
little? It just isn't fair."
These are questions for which we have no answers. And they are questions
we will wrestle with perhaps for the rest of our lives. Our trip was truly
a life-changing experience. None of us will be the same after our time in
the
children's homes.
But this is truly another positive outcome of our experience. As we go
about our every day chores, it is very easy to overlook the pain and
suffering of our fellow man. It is very easy to get caught up in our own
worries and not heed the command of our Lord to "Love one another. As I
have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:33-35)".
The members of our mission team gave love and have already received a
hundred-fold reward of love and increased understanding.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and the Children of Chornobyl
Relief Fund have had a tremendous impact on the lives of these handicapped
and orphaned children. The visit and work of the mission team underscored
the commitment the Church has made to these institutions.
The work of the Church in such outreach must continue for our Lord has
called us to love even the least of His children. We look forward to many
more such missionary efforts to these orphanages and to other such
institutions, both in Ukraine and in the USA. -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Priest-monk Daniel (Zelinsky), Consistory Office of Public Relations
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, PO Box 495
South Bound Brook, NJ 08880, Tel.: (732) 356-0090
Fax: (732) 356-5556; E-mail: FatherVZ@aol.com; web: www.uocofusa.org
==============================================================
13. UKRAINE, 2,000 TO BENEFIT FROM CANDLE-LIGHTING CAMPAIGN
Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS (JFC)
Moscow, Russia, Thursday, October 6 2005
ZAPOROZHYE, Ukraine – This week the Jewish community of Zaparozhye
announced that, at the outset of the New Year 5766, it will launch a new
campaign entitled "Hadlakat Nerot", which promotes lighting candles on
Shabbat and holidays.
"The idea is to encourage our girls and women to engage regularly in this
mitzvah," explained Mrs. Dina Erentroy, who helped to spearhead this
campaign.
"Many of our members have the desire to honor this age-old tradition, but
can't even afford the cost of such candles, so this initiative will assist
them in carrying out this necessary ritual."
This new program is expected to involve 1,800 Jewish women and girls. In
addition to receiving candles, each of the participants will also obtain a
magnificent calendar prepared, prepared by the Federation of Jewish
Communities of Ukraine, which features candle-lighting times.
Rabbi Nochum Erentroy, the city's Chief Rabbi and a Chabad Lubavitch
emissary, joined his wife Dina in organizing this significant undertaking.
They are hopeful that the candle-lighting campaign will bring as much light
and joy as possible to all Jewish families in the approaching New Year. The
Jewish community of Zaparozhye is a member of the Federation of Jewish
Communities of Ukraine. -30-
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINK: http://www.fjc.ru/news/newsArticle.asp?AID=318312
==============================================================
14. OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER 2005 DEDICATED TO
"UKRAINE'S JACKSON-VANIK GRADUATION"
Ambassadors Pifer and Miller Chair Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition
ANNOUNCEMENT: Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition
U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF)
Published by The Action Ukraine Report (AUR)
Washington, D.C., Thursday, October 13, 2005
WASHINGTON - Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko announced after
his January 2005 inauguration that Ukraine's graduation from the provisions
of the U.S. Jackson-Vanik Amendment would be at the forefront of his
economic and foreign policy objectives for 2005.
Last April, following their Washington meeting, U.S. President George Bush
joined President Yushchenko in expressing support for "immediately ending
application of Jackson-Vanik to Ukraine."
And just last month during a visit to Kyiv, U.S. Senators Richard Lugar and
Barack Obama announced that bills had been introduced in Congress to
formally graduate Ukraine from Jackson-Vanik.
Why is Ukraine's graduation from the provisions of the Jackson-Vanik
Amendment on everyone's agenda?
The 1974 Amendment, named for Senators Henry "Scoop" Jackson and
Charles Vanik, imposed trade restrictions on the Soviet Union in response
to its poor human rights policies, particularly restrictions on the
emigration of religious minorities.
However today, more than thirty years later, Ukraine has built a strong
record of allowing open emigration and has created conditions for religious
minorities to pursue their beliefs freely. Ukraine is a success story for
Jackson-Vanik and it now merits graduation from the Amendment's
provisions.
In June of 2005, government officials, members of the Verkhovna Rada and
Congress, representatives of non-governmental organizations, the media
and business community members met in Washington D.C. for the U.S.-
Ukraine Foundation's Policy Dialogue Working Session.
Engaged in action-oriented, focused discussion of issues and problems in
U.S.-Ukraine relations and Ukraine's democratic reform, the working session
produced "action plans" of policy recommendations for both U.S. and
Ukrainian government officials.
The action plans repeatedly call for the U.S. Congress to graduate Ukraine
from the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. For this reason, the U.S.- Ukraine
Foundation has declared October and November "Jackson-Vanik
Graduation Months."
The Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition, headed by former U.S.
Ambassadors to Ukraine Steven Pifer and William Miller, is working to
achieve Ukraine's graduation from the Jackson-Vanik Amendment before
the December 2005 Congressional recess.
We invite the public to participate in the Coalition's campaign to have
Ukraine graduated from Jackson-Vanik by the end of this year.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ON THE AMENDMENT
The Jackson-Vanik Amendment, as contained in Title IV of the 1974 U.S.
Trade Act, was a response to the discriminatory emigration policies of the
former Soviet Union and other communist states. The communist restrictions
had the most serious impact on religious minorities, particularly on the
ability of Soviet Jews to emigrate.
From the perspective of the United States, these restrictions on the free
movement of persons were actionable human right violations that justified
harsh U.S. trade consequences.
The Jackson-Vanik Amendment stated that non-market economies that
continued to impose emigration restrictions on their citizens would not be
granted permanent normal trade relations or "most favored nation" status
by the United States.
Ukraine is still waiting to be formally graduated from Jackson-Vanik,
despite the fact that President Bill Clinton in 1997 found Ukraine to be in
full compliance with the Amendment's freedom-of-emigration requirements.
Several former Soviet states have already been graduated, including
Georgia and Kyrgyzstan in 2000 and Armenia in 2004.
Various non-governmental groups, including the National Conference on
Soviet Jewry, the Euro-Asian Jewish Conference and the Heritage
Foundation, agree that over its thirty-year lifespan, Jackson-Vanik has
served the important purpose of securing freedom of emigration for religious
minorities.
However, they also believe that Ukraine has demonstrated its full compliance
with the Amendment's objectives and therefore should be graduated from the
trade restrictions it imposes.
Today's Ukraine, colored by the democratic Orange Revolution, has been
applauded by President Bush and Congress for its free-market reforms and
open-governance policies.
Ukraine's graduation from Jackson-Vanik is therefore an important
affirmation of Ukraine's successful democratization and President
Yushchenko's global economic agenda.
The Heritage Foundation's Dr. Ariel Cohen has said,
"The U.S. has supported the triumph of democracy in Ukraine and is
interested in a Ukraine that is stable, prosperous, and integrated
in Euro-Atlantic structures. Washington should demonstrate
unwavering support for Ukraine's pursuit of its democratic
aspirations."
Before the House International Relations Committee in July 2005,
Ambassador Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian
Affairs, U.S. State Department, testified that,
"Ukraine has complied with the provisions of the Jackson-Vanik
Amendment to the Trade Act of 1974 for over a decade. This
Administration strongly supports Ukraine's immediate "graduation"
from Jackson-Vanik.
As the Ukrainian people look for tangible signs of our new
relationship, they are perplexed that Ukraine remains tainted by the
legacy of Jackson-Vanik. We urge Congressional action on this
matter."
The U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and the Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition
believe that graduating Ukraine from the Jackson-Vanik Amendment this
year is precisely how the U.S. should demonstrate its unwavering support of
Ukraine.
JACKSON-VANIK'S TRADE RESTRICTIONS
In addition to the historical human rights concerns that prompted the 1974
Amendment, it is also important to consider the current political and trade
implications of Jackson-Vanik's continued application to Ukraine.
Since President Clinton's 1997 finding of full compliance, which was
highlighted in a July 1998 joint statement by the U.S.-Ukraine Binational
Commission, led by U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Ukrainian President
Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine has received normal trade relations status under
the full compliance provision of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment.
However, as early as 1992, President George H.W. Bush exercised his
presidential waiver authority to extend normal trade relation treatment to
Ukraine.
Non-normal trade relations status allows the U.S. to impose higher tariffs
on imports as well as non-tariff barriers such as quotas.
However, the 1992 presidential waiver of the Amendment's trade restrictions
and the 1997 finding of full compliance have meant that Ukraine's import and
export sectors have nonetheless enjoyed normal trade relations status and
have not been directly harmed by U.S. tariffs or barriers resulting from
Jackson-Vanik.
However, one important reason for desiring permanent normal trade relations
status, as would be achieved by graduation from the Jackson-Vanik
provisions, is the significance of permanent status to the global trade
community.
Economists show that permanent normal trade relations status, much like
market-economy status, improves foreign investment opportunities and the
bargaining power of domestic business in trade negotiation.
This is mainly because permanent normal trade relations and market-
economy status both indicate domestic economic stability and the fact
that the country abides by the global trade rules.
JACKSON-VANIK'S POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS
Ukraine's current status (in full compliance, but still subject to
Jackson-Vanik) also carries a negative political connotation. Continued
application implies that Ukraine has not met the requirements of
Jackson-Vanik. This is distressing to Ukrainians and friends of Ukraine
who believe - correctly - that Ukraine has fully met the Amendment's
requirements.
This is why Jackson-Vanik graduation has figured so prominently on
President Yushchenko's agenda with the United States.
According to Peter Savodnik's September 29, 2005 article in the Wall Street
Journal (Europe,) "A Step Towards Normalcy,
"Delaying an end to Jackson-Vanik -- for whatever reason -- would hinder the
democratic transition by depriving Mr. Yushchenko of a much-needed political
win. By lifting Jackson-Vanik this year, before the parliamentary campaign
begins in earnest, Washington would let everyone know that the Ukrainian
president is not alone."
THE CONGRESSIONAL RESPONSE
Six bills have been introduced in the 109th Congress to graduate Ukraine
from Jackson-Vanik, including S. 410 by Senator John McCain, S.632 by
Senator Richard Lugar, H.R. 885 by Representative Henry Hyde and H.R.
1053 by Representative Jim Gerlach.
But some in Congress seem unwilling to move on the issue of Ukraine's
graduation, apparently believing that maintaining the Amendment's
application to Ukraine allows the U.S. to retain leverage when challenging
certain trade issues, including Ukraine's importation of American poultry.
Another concern in the U.S. Congress has been Ukraine's historically weak
intellectual property protection laws. In 2001, such concerns led the U.S.
to designate Ukraine as a "Priority Foreign Country" under its Special 301
process, which placed Ukraine on a list of the biggest violators of
intellectual property standards. The U.S. subsequently withdrew certain
trade benefits from Ukraine.
However on August 2, 2005, the Verkhovna Rada passed a Laser-Readable
Disk Law, which significantly strengthened the intellectual property regime
in Ukraine. (The law also meets crucial WTO membership requirements by
creating enforcement mechanisms to counter the illegal production of CDs
and DVDs.)
As a result, on August 31, 2005, U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman
announced that all tariff sanctions that had been placed on Ukrainian
exports to the United States were now being lifted.
Portman commended President Yushchenko and Prime Minister Tymoshenko
for "their personal involvement in securing passage of these amendments,
which is expected to improve Ukraine's protection of intellectual property
rights."
TO GET INVOLVED
The U.S. Congress is currently considering bills to graduate Ukraine from
Jackson-Vanik, S.46 in the Senate, introduced January 24, 2005 by Senators
Carl Levin (D-MI), Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and H.R.
1170 in the House, introduced March 8, 2005 by Representatives Sander
Levin (D-MI), Candice Miller (R-MI), Vic Snyder (D-AR) and Eliot Engel
(D-NY).
S. 46 has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Senator
Charles Grassley (R-IA) and H.R. 1170 has been referred to the House Ways
and Means Committee, chaired by Representative Bill Thomas (R-CA). Both
bills are awaiting committee consideration.
The U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and the Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition
believe that now is the appropriate time for Congress to graduate Ukraine
from Jackson-Vanik.
The Coalition is currently expanding its network of support and developing
an action plan for working with Congress to achieve the goal of Ukraine's
graduation by the end of this year.
The U.S.-Ukraine Foundation urges your participation in the Jackson-Vanik
Graduation Coalition.
For more information on participating in the Coalition, please call the
U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (202) 347-4264 or contact Alana Malick,
U.S.-Ukraine Foundation Fellow, alana@usukraine.org.
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NOTE: The publisher and editor of The Action Ukraine Report (AUR)
is a member of the organizing committee of the Jackson-Vanik
Graduation Coalition in Washington, D.C. EDITOR
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