INSIDE:• Embassies “TEN share their YEARS thoughts onOF Ukraine’s INDEPENDENT first decade — page UKRAINE”9 • Academic and professional perspective: an interview — page 10 • Kyivans and guests celebrate 10th anniversary — centerfold Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association Vol. LXIX HE No.KRAINIAN 35 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2001 EEKLY$1/$2 in Ukraine UKRAINET CELEBRATESU 10TH ANNIVERSARY OFW ITS INDEPENDENCE by Roman Woronowycz address of the celebration, a short presentation in which he Kyiv Press Bureau underscored the current readiness of Ukraine’s military force after the completion of extensive organizational KYIV – For a 10th anniversary birthday bash, one day is restructuring, which was followed by the national anthem, not enough. Ukraine decided it needed a week to celebrate, the religious hymn “Bozhe Velykyi Yedynyi” and the and then did so with a fluorish. The culmination came on release of hundreds of white doves into the bright blue sky. August 24 when nearly 50,000 residents of Kyiv came out After that came the goose-stepping soldiers in sharp mil- onto the capital city’s main thoroughfare, the Khreschatyk, itary dress – more than 4,000 in all from the various on a sunny, late summer day to view the largest military branches of the armed forces, law enforcement agencies parade in the country’s decade of existence. and many of the military academies and lyceums. The hard- Three foreign leaders – Russian President Vladimir ware followed, some 300 pieces, led by armored personnel Putin, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and carriers and U.S.-donated Hummers. After that 10 of Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski – stood on the Ukraine’s state-of-the-art main battle tanks, T-84s, which reviewing stand alongside Ukraine’s President Leonid the country claims are on par with any similar piece of Kuchma and much of the country’s government and leg- machinery in the West, rumbled down the Khreschatyk in a islative leadership. Also on hand were representative dele- cloud of diesel smoke. Long-barrelled howitzers and thin- gations from several other countries, including Canada, the nosed Zenit series anti-ballistic missiles on carriers brought United States, China and Chile, as Ukraine first put its mili- up the rear. tary hardware on display and then the talents of its youth. The first part of the two-and-a-half hour show concluded The show was a striking exhibition of that which ostensibly with a flyover of 42 various Ukrainian aircraft, including a assures security now and what will secure its existence in short aerial exercise of MiG-29 fighter jets by the Sokil aer- the future. ial exhibition squadron and the appearance of the world’s Minister of Defense Oleksander Kuzmuk gave the single two largest airplanes, the AN-124 Ruslan and the AN-225 Mria. The finale included a daytime fireworks display, dur- ing which five Ukrainian blue-yellow standards appeared Orthodox mark 950th anniversary from a burst of pyrotechnics and floated downwards under miniature parachutes. of Kyiv’s Pecherska Lavra Singers on parade floats, dancers and colorful pageantry came next, with the spotlight on youngsters, before Ukrainian Olympic champions carrying a huge blue-yellow amid controversy over participants banner and para-Olympic athletes along with more young- sters, these from the various athletic clubs and sports feder- by Roman Woronowycz ations of Ukraine, completed the spectacle with a gymnas- Kyiv Press Bureau tics display before the reviewing stand. Increasingly larger crowds, which reached more than KYIV – While representatives of all the Churches half a million according to police estimates, filled the city of world Orthodoxy gathered at the Pecherska Lavra center as the day continued, culminating in a series of rock the Monastery of the Caves, on August 28 to com- and pop concerts throughout the city in the early evening memorate its 950th anniversary, two of the three hours and a huge fireworks salute to end the day’s events. AP/Viktor Pobedinsky Ukrainian confessions were absent. They were barred For Ukrainians the party officially began the previous from taking part in the celebration of one of A statue symbolizing independent Ukraine stands Orthodoxy’s most holy shrines because they are con- (Continued on page 13) atop an ornate column in Kyiv's central square. sidered “uncanonical.” The two alienated Ukrainian Churches – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC- KP) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC) – held separate morning liturgies at their respective cathedrals because officials of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the UOC – Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), said they would not allow their representatives onto the grounds of the Monastery of the Caves, which the UOC-MP controls. Both the UOC-KP and the UAOC are not recog- nized by world Orthodoxy because they broke with the Russian Church without permission and without consulting the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople. Later that same day the badly fractured Orthodox Church of Ukraine jointly, if awkwardly, commemo- rated the event at a state celebration. There, President Leonid Kuchma told the leaders of the three Ukrainian Orthodox Churches at the Shevchenko Opera House that spirituality is the strength of the nation, and ultimately the state, and called on the religious leaders to make an effort to resolve their differences. “I call the Churches and their leaders to discussion. Each has its own viewpoint and opinion, but the AP/Valery Soloviev greater good is the well-being of the nation,” stressed Seen at the beginning of the gala concert at the Ukraina Palace of Culture on August 23 are: (from right) Mr. Kuchma. “Ambitions and misunderstandings Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma with his wife, Liudmyla, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Verkhovna (Continued on page 20) Rada Chairman Ivan Pliusch, President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland, Ukraine's Prime Minister Anatolii Kinakh, and President Boris Trajkovski of Macedonia. 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2001 No. 35 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFSNEWSBRIEFS Kuchma speaks about achievements of independence NATO hails Ukraine’s 10th anniversary United States will not introduce trade sanc- by Jan Maksymiuk such as they could be.” But, he added, tions against Ukraine over video piracy, RFE/RL Poland, Belarus and Ukraine Report “great deeds are [usually] accompanied by BRUSSELS – NATO on August 24 con- Ukrainian Television reported. According to great difficulties.” gratulated Ukraine on the 10th anniversary Mr. Pascual, Washington is displeased with “Independent Ukraine came into being President Kuchma took advantage of the of its independence from the Soviet Union the way Kyiv is combating video piracy, but ultimately and irrevocably,” President solemn occasion to stress his own role in and urged Kyiv to stay on the path of eco- the U.S. government has decided to wait on Leonid Kuchma said in Kyiv on August 23 Ukraine’s transformation: “As the head of nomic and political reforms, Reuters report- the measure. Ambassador Pascual noted at a gala meeting to mark the 10th anniver- state, I have demonstrated to Ukrainian ed. “Since 1991, NATO and Ukraine have that if legislators adopt tough copyright sary of the country’s independence. society and the entire world my dedication made great strides in developing a special laws in September, there will be no sanc- Mr. Kuchma said some 17 million young to the lawful, generally accepted democratic relationship in a Europe that has overcome tions, and terms for Ukrainian imports into people have been educated in schools and principles of resolving the problems [that the dividing lines of the past,” the Atlantic the United States will merely be amended educational institutions of independent surfaced during Ukraine’s transformation],” alliance said in a statement. “NATO will slightly. “The U.S. might introduce a duty Ukraine. “We have a potentially powerful he said. continue to support independent, democrat- of up to 3 percent on some types of human resource, not burdened with canons The Ukrainian Weekly, a respected ic and market-oriented Ukraine and encour- Ukrainian products. However, this will not of the past, which is capable of taking publication of the Ukrainian diaspora, ages Ukraine to take the reform process for- take place today, and Ukraine’s losses will responsibility for the future,” Interfax quot- interviewed a number of Ukrainian politi- ward, including in the critical field of stand at some $20 million in this case. At ed the Ukrainian president as saying. cians “from different points on the defense reform,” the statement said. the moment, there are more important Mr. Kuchma stressed that the nation’s Ukrainian political horizon” on what they (RFE/RL Newsline) issues than trade sanctions,” the envoy stat- main achievement in the past 10 years is the ed. (RFE/RL Newsline) peaceful way in which Ukraine’s independ- think is the greatest achievement of Poland, France, Germany greet Ukraine Ukraine’s 10 years of independence. The ence has been established. TV cameraman beaten in Luhansk “One thing is beyond doubt: the Weekly’s correspondent reported in the KYIV – On the eve of the 10th anniver- Ukrainian state has never taken up arms paper’s August 26 issue: “The response, sary of Ukraine’s independence, the foreign LUHANSK – Unidentified attackers on against its citizens, and its soldiers have not although less than enthusiastic and opti- ministers of France, Germany and Poland August 27 beat Oleksii Movsesian, a cam- fought against other countries,” President mistic, nonetheless succinctly explains an sent a joint letter to the Ukrainian Foreign eraman of the independent Efir-1 television Kuchma said. incontrovertible fact: State independence Affairs Ministry, Polish and Ukrainian in Luhansk, into unconsciousness, after Mr. Kuchma noted, however, that this is in and of itself by far the most impor- media reported on August 21.