INSIDE:• Crimean Tatars demonstrate in Symferopol — page 3. • Reaction to settlement of “The Ugly Face of Freedom” case — page 8. • New film depicts Kozak war against Poland — centerfold. Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association Vol. LXVII HE KRAINIANNo. 21 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MAY 23, 1999 EEKLY$1.25/$2 in Ukraine T UCentral European leaders meetW at summit in Lviv Lviv spruces up for visiting dignitaries by Roman Woronowycz Kyiv Press Bureau LVIV – The nine European presi- dents who came to Lviv to attend the Summit of Central European Presidents saw a city that had finally restored some of its heralded splendor. Although the summit caused inconveniences for the residents of Lviv, they were satisfied that their city had hosted the international event held May 14-15. “Lviv has never looked this beauti- ful, at least not to those living there today,” wrote Vasyl Basiv in a com- mentary on the summit in the Lviv- based weekly newspaper Ukrainskyi Shliakh on May 13. City officials hope that, in light of the successful summit, the more than 1,000 European bureaucrats and 350 journalists who attended will carry the news of the beauty and friendliness of the city back to their countries, which in turn could generate new business interest and investments in Lviv. Last year the city invested a great deal of energy and funding into prepa- Efrem Lukatsky rations for the meeting. Lviv city At the Central European summit in Lviv: (from left) Presidents Milan Kucan of Slovenia, Roman Herzog of Germany, authorities spent 13 million hrv (about Arpad Goncz of Hungary, Alexander Kwasniewski of Poland, Emil Constantinescu of Romania, Leonid Kuchma of $5 million U.S.), along with another 7 Ukraine and Thomas Klestil of Austria pass by an honor guard. million hrv ($2.5 million) from chari- table contributions, to rework the cob- by Roman Woronowycz As Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma borders with its western neighbors “remain blestone roads of Lviv’s narrow wind- Kyiv Press Bureau emphasized, the accent was on how the as open and transparent as their borders European integrational processes currently with the European Union are today.” ing streets, fix long-neglected street LVIV – Nine Central European presi- lighting, repair and repaint historic under way affect individual citizens. The talks, which are held annually in a dents met in Lviv on May 14-15, hoping “It is precisely the human factor that different city of the region, this year cen- buildings, and renovate Ivan Franko to boost the prospects of European integra- will finally determine the success of tered on how the just-completed enlarge- Park. tion for those countries that stand at the European integration,” said Mr. Kuchma, ment of NATO and the imminent expan- The Lviv National Opera and periphery of the continent. who hosted the event in this historic sion of the European Union will affect the Ballet Theater, which hadn’t been Although dubbed a “summit,” the agen- Ukrainian city of nearly 1 million resi- European integration of countries not yet touched in 15 years, received a face- da of meetings was loosely structured. The dents, which is the unofficial capital of part of one or the other organization. lift. The Palace of Science and trappings of high office were ever present western Ukraine. Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, Technology was thoroughly renovat- and security was tight, but except for a sin- ed, while the Dnister Hotel, which is The Ukrainian president said it was gle two-hour plenary session, most of the absolutely necessary that the country’s (Continued on page 5) owned by a joint stock company, talks were held in relaxed, informal set- remodeled its interior and built 12 tings. three-room presidential suites to It was a conference that focused as accommodate the presidential much on how to avoid alienating Political parties and public organizations entourages of Central European lead- European countries that have not yet been ers. allowed to enter Europe’s predominant Individual businessmen added political and economic structures as it did nominate candidates for president of Ukraine another 20 million hrv ($13 million) on the Balkan war, Europe’s most severe to renovate buildings that sat beside by Roman Woronowycz and public organizations, including the crisis since World War II. summit venues. Kyiv Press Bureau National Democratic Party, headed by “Enlargement is important to the securi- In many ways the process resem- Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko, the ty of all of Europe,” said Austrian KYIV – In a flurry of activity on May bled one that took place in Kyiv Social Democratic Party (United) and the President Thomas Klestil in summing up 14, more than a dozen political parties and almost a year ago, when Ukraine’s Liberal Party, as well as a student organiza- the main achievement of the summit at a public organizations named their candidates capital spruced up for the convention tion from Dnipropetrovsk. press conference. “It is a tragedy that this for Ukraine’s presidential elections. of governors of the European Bank As had been expected, Mr. Kuchma’s century is ending as it began. By working Most of the nominees had been known for Reconstruction and Development. nomination by the National Democrats for integration we are building a secure for weeks. Political parties needed only to The international event spurred caused a split in the party, with Chairman Europe.” await the May 14 date that marked the offi- Lviv officials to give the city a much- Anatolii Matvienko and leading party fig- cial launch of the presidential campaigns as needed make-over after years of neg- During two days of meetings, the presi- ures Volodymyr Filenko and Oleksander spelled out in the election law passed by lect. dents discussed a wide range of issues, Yemets, along with several other members, Ukraine’s Parliament earlier this year. Lviv, known for its varied architec- including visa requirements and regula- announcing they would turn in their party tions, border controls and ways to stem the Heading the list of candidates was tickets. With Mr. Matvienko’s departure, the (Continued on page 17) illegal transport of immigrants, contraband President Leonid Kuchma, whose name and narcotics across borders. was placed in nomination by several parties (Continued on page 3) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MAY 23, 1999 No. 21 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFSNEWSBRIEFS Slavs and the myth of Russian friendship Ukraine’s foreign trade shrinks. descent. Mr. Kopytko disappeared and no by Taras Hunczak beneficial for Russia also benefits the Serb, trace of him had been found by May 13. the Bulgarian and all of Slavdom.” Gen. KYIV – Ukraine’s exports from January The expedition is led by Valentyn through March decreased to $2.43 billion, For the past several weeks various politi- Cherniaev responded that Aksakov need Symonenko. (Eastern Economist) down by 11.4 percent from the same period cians, the mass media and various com- not be concerned because he expected to last year, Ukrainian News reported, citing Pustovoitenko elected NDP leader mentators emphasized the alleged special advance Russia’s political objective. He position that Russia enjoys among the official data. Imports in the first quarter of expected that, after a victorious war against Slavs, particularly those living on the 1999 fell to $2.89 billion, down 18.9 per- KYIV – Prime Minister Valerii the Turks, “the ministers gradually could be Balkan Peninsula. cent compared with 1998. (RFE/RL Pustovoitenko was elected head of the named from Russians. Hostile parties National Democratic Party on May 15. He CNN showed a multitude of Muscovites Newsline) would disappear and one of the Slav states replaced Anatolii Matvienko, who resigned near the U.S. Embassy demonstrating on and quit the party. The same day the party behalf of their “Slav brothers,” reminding would become de facto a Russian Brzezinski on Baltic states and NATO voted to nominate President Leonid us of past images of the Russian preoccupa- province.” COPENHAGEN – Former U.S. Kuchma for re-election. Mr. Matvienko had tion with the “suffering Slav brothers” who These are but a few examples of the National Security Adviser Zbigniew warned May 14 that by backing the incum- were far away, while oppressing those who Russian self-serving idealism, or “concern,” Brzezinski told BNS on May 16 that bent the party would drive itself into a trap, were in their immediate neighborhood. All for the Slavs. One might well ask why the NATO should consider admitting the since Mr. Kuchma had made every effort to one has to do is to look through the pages historical fate of the Poles was never an issue for the Russians. Was it because the Baltic states separately and not as a group. prevent the NDP from growing into a of history of Poland, and especially “I don’t think there is a basis for saying Poles had a well-developed sense of nation- strong party. (Eastern Economist) Ukraine, to be reminded of the oppression. [about] any region of Europe that all of the al identity that excluded Russian domina- That is not to say that the Russian countries of the region should be taken in Marchuk and colleagues leave SDP(U) tion? Perhaps Jovan Ristic, the foreign min- thinkers of the 19th and 20th centuries did or not. I think each country has to qualify ister of Serbia, characterized the problem not display a real interest in the Slavic ques- on its own merits,” said Dr. Brzezinski, K YIV – Verkhovna Rada deputies best when he stated that Russian tion. On the contrary, the question always who was attending the Baltic Development Yevhen Marchuk, Ihor Pylypchuk and occupied an important position because Slavophiles were in reality “true Forum in Copenhagen.