The Ukrainian Weekly 2002, No.13
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www.ukrweekly.com INSIDE:• Ukraine’s economy continues to grow in 2002 — page 3. • Recallin Vietnam and the late Maj. Myron Diduryk — pages 6 and 11. • Reporter’s notebook from Winter Olympic Games — page 13. Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association Vol. LXX HE KRAINIANNo. 13 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2002 EEKLY$1/$2 in Ukraine Controversy erupts over foreign influence on Ukraine’s elections T Ivano-FrankivskU City Council W by Roman Woronowycz would respond to such a perception and Kyiv Press Bureau addressed continued commentary from for- resolution recognizes eign capitals and politicians over the state of KYIV – Foreign influence on Ukraine’s elections in Ukraine. parliamentary elections became one of the “Either we are a nation and a state, or we Halychyna Division veterans central issues of the last week prior to the by Roman Woronowycz are a soccer field where our strategic partners March 31 vote. play,” said an exasperated President Kuchma, Kyiv Press Bureau The loudest political reverberations came according to UT-1 television. KYIV – With days left before the parliamen- after both houses of the United States The resolution was criticized also by tary elections in Ukraine, a resolution proposed Congress passed a resolution calling for free Askold Lozynskyj, president of the Ukrainian by the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council which and fair elections in Ukraine. There was also World Congress, who appeared on Ukrainian would extend combat veteran status to members much ado about perceived intrusions into the television saying that it was too harsh on of the Halychyna Division of the Ukrainian electoral process by Russian politicians, Ukraine. National Army, a World War II Ukrainian fight- including Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov and Communist Party leader and candidate ing force that battled against both the Soviet Ambassador to Ukraine Viktor Chernomyrdin Petro Symonenko accused the United States Army and Nazi forces, has caused an interna- regarding the U.S. action and the elections sit- of interfering in Ukraine’s domestic affairs. tional stir. uation in Ukraine in general. Both he and Progressive Socialist Natalia The action has brought the ire of Moscow, Ukraine’s authorities responded with bewil- Vitrenko, another candidate in the parliamen- which blasted the decision as “regretful” and derment and consternation to the U.S. con- tary elections, called for the ouster of the U.S. “shameful,” along with critical statements from gressional resolution, which was passed over- ambassador. Jewish community leaders both in Kyiv and the whelmingly by both the House of Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry United States. Representatives and the Senate on March 20 responded the same day by issuing a state- The resolution, passed by the City Council of and 21. ment in which it called upon all countries to Ivano-Frankivsk on March 19, would give The document expressed support for “the “act in a sophisticated and cautious manner, Halychyna Division veterans additional pen- efforts of the Ukrainian people to promote proceeding from commonly recognized prin- sions and other government subsidies similar to democracy, the rule of law and respect for ciples of international law as non-interference what Soviet Army veterans currently enjoy. human rights in Ukraine.” It urged the govern- into domestic affairs of the state and respect However, unlike the Soviet veterans, who are ment of the country “to enforce impartially its for its sovereignty and territorial integrity” in cared for by the central government, the Ivano- newly adopted election law,” including provi- the last week before elections. Frankivsk City Council would take upon itself sions for the transparency of election proce- Moscow’s ambassador to Ukraine, Mr. the financial burden to the Ukrainian veterans. It dures, equal access to the media for all elec- Chernomyrdin, broadened the debate to a earlier had agreed to compensate from its own tion participants, multi-party representation on three-party discussion when he told Interfax- till another group of Ukrainian freedom fighters election commissions and access for interna- Ukraine that he believes Ukraine must from World War II, the Ukrainian Insurgent tional election observers. respond to the United States congressional Army (UPA). The day after the resolution was approved, resolution, especially since U.S. election pro- Before the resolution becomes law, it needs President Leonid Kuchma responded by cedures could be questioned. He said the U.S. the mayor’s signature. Before that, however, it describing the congressional action as had no right to make demands on Ukraine in must go through a process of legal and historical “unprecedented” and expressing astonishment light of the fact that the person who received analyses. If implemented it would extend bene- over what he perceived as an indication from the most votes in the U.S. elections in fits to 24 survivors who are residents of Ivano- Washington that it did not believe that democ- November 2000 had not become president. racy is developing in Ukraine. He said he was (Continued on page 9) concerned over how the Ukrainian public (Continued on page 11) On the campaign trail: Stryi’s national deputy seeks re-election by Stephen Bandera This allegation, together with the general the fiery lady and a splash of nationalists. “mood for change” among the population, and Mr. Ostash’s personal ratings trailed those STRYI, Ukraine – At the outset of the a dismal 2001 harvest in the Lviv Oblast (the of the Our Ukraine bloc, prior to Mr. campaign, Ihor Ostash and his election team worst among all oblasts), in theory should not Yushchenko’s visit to Stryi in the last two set a goal: to visit every single city, town and bode well for the incumbent. weeks of the campaign. The visit gave Mr. village in electoral district No. 127. The 200- Western Ukraine, however, is a highly Ostash a boost, both on the emotional level, as square-kilometer district’s heart is the west- politicized place. During the town hall meet- well as in the ratings. After hearing Mr. ern Ukrainian city of Stryi (population: ings, the most frequently asked questions Yushchenko speak, and seeing him embrace 70,000), whose claim to recent historical focus on lost savings in Soviet and Ukrainian Mr. Ostash, one candidate withdrew from the fame is that the blue-and-yellow was first banks, pensions and payments to Ostarbeiters race, publicly endorsing Mr. Ostash. raised here, back in 1990. and creation of jobs. In every village, once That leaves 14 candidates vying for the Mr. Ostash is the two-term, incumbent Mr. Ostash addresses these issues, an elder Stryi seat. Mr. Ostash’s main opponent is national deputy from the district. He is also will inevitably stand up and angrily ask “Why Vitalii Antonov, a slick, young businessman the chairman of the influential Foreign Affairs do you let those Commies speak Russian in who owns a network of gas stations through- Committee in the Verkhovna Rada and the Parliament?” Independence, statehood, the out western Ukraine, by virtue of his control vice-president of the Parliamentary Assembly language issue and the “national idea” are over Halnaftohaz, a regional oil and gas com- of the Organization for Security and very important in the relatively poorer regions pany with backing from Yukos, the second Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). of Western Ukraine. largest oil company in Russia. Mr. Ostash’s high-profile international Another Mr. Ostash asset is the fact that he Mr. Antonov’s candidacy is endorsed by activities are both assets and liabilities for his is endorsed by the Nasha Ukrayina bloc, led the For a United Ukraine bloc, a combination re-election bid. by former Prime Minister Victor Yushchenko. of pro-presidential “parties of power” who His opponents charge that Mr. Ostash The NU bloc’s popularity ratings are consis- have the weighty administrative resources at spends too much time abroad, and thus is tently in the 65-70 percent range in Striy, their disposal. “Adminresurs,” refers to the unable to devote time and energy to issues that occasionally losing ground to the Yuliya affect the everyday lives of his constituents. Tymoshenko Bloc, whose party list includes (Continued on page 12) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2002 No. 13 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFSNEWSBRIEFS Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine: For a United Ukraine expects victory that the U.S. pressure on this year’s elec- tion campaign in Ukraine is the strongest KYIV – “Speaking about the future of in the contemporary history of the country, from the first Rukh to Rukh-2 the [For a United Ukraine] bloc, I can say STB Television reported. She likened the by Taras Kuzio Democratic Forces (CNDS). only one thing – it is clear that the bloc scale of Washington’s “unprecedented” RFE/RL Newsline In the second half of the 1990s, Mr. will have the largest number of seats in the interference in Ukrainian affairs to U.S. Chornovil’s Rukh had better relations with Parliament,” For a United Ukraine leader actions in Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. The Ukrainian Popular Movement for President Leonid Kuchma because of Mr. Volodymyr Lytvyn told Reuters on March “We think it is necessary to demand the Perestroika (commonly referred to as Rukh) Kuchma’s support for reform in 1994-1996 25. Mr. Lytvyn added that his bloc will expulsion of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine was established in 1988-1989 as a popular and his pro-Western orientation between form a pro-government parliamentary Carlos Pascual on the territory of our front comprising former prisoners of con- 1995-1999. By 1998-1999 though, relations majority and maintain stability in the country. We believe that this interference science from the Ukrainian Helsinki Group were beginning to sour as Rukh became country.