INSIDE: “A Ukrainian Summer” – a special 16-page pullout section. HE KRAINIAN EEKLY T PublishedU by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profitW association Vol. LXXV No. 18 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2007 $1/$2 in Ukraine Ukrainian and Polish presidents Former Canadian PM Brian Mulroney commemorate 1947 Akcja Wisla receives UCC’s and Ukraine’s top honors Ukrainian Canadian Congress David Tkachuk and Raynell Andreychuk. Over 400 guests gathered at Ottawa’s WINNIPEG – At an April 1 banquet Chateau Laurier Hotel witnessed UCC organized by the Ukrainian Canadian President Orysia Sushko presenting the Congress with the patronage of the Shevchenko Medal to Mr. Mulroney. Ukrainian Embassy, Canada’s 18th prime minister, Brian Mulroney, was honored Earlier, Ambassador Ostash awarded him with the highest award bestowed by the the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise on Ukrainian Canadian Congress, the behalf of the president of Ukraine. Shevchenko Medal, and the highest The importance of Mr. Mulroney rec- honor Ukraine extends to a foreign citi- ognizing Ukraine is very much under- zen, the prestigious Order of Prince stood and appreciated in Ukraine. The Yaroslav the Wise. ceremony was reported on Ukrainian tel- These special awards – presented in evision the following day. (Readers may the presence of current Prime Minister visit the UCC website, www.ucc.ca, to Stephen Harper and 14 of his Cabinet see footage from Channel 5) colleagues as well as numerous parlia- The fact that such a large and impor- mentarians, Ukraine’s Ambassador to tant group of Ottawa decision-makers Canada Ihor Ostash, former Premier of was present at this event shows the sig- Saskatchewan Roy Romanow, nificance Canada’s places in its relation- Archbishop Yurij of the Ukrainian ship with Ukraine and acknowledges Orthodox Church of Canada, Bishop Canadians of Ukrainian descent have Stephen Chmilar of the Ukrainian played and will continue to play a signifi- UNIAN/Mykola Lazarenko Catholic Church – commemorate the cant role in Canada’s development. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko prays alongside Polish President Lech decision of Prime Minister Mulroney’s There was a large turnout of national Kaczynski during an April 27 ecumenical service in Warsaw commemorating the government to make Canada the first media at the banquet, impressing even 60th anniversary of Akcja Wisla. Western government and only the second long-time observers of the political scene in the world to recognize the independ- in Ottawa. Indeed, it is doubtful if in the by Larysa Marchuk and Zenon Zawada an ecumenical prayer service led by ence of Ukraine in December 1991. history of the Ukrainian community in Special to The Ukrainian Weekly Patriarch Lubomyr Husar of the Additionally, Ukrainian Canadians Canada there has ever been such a high- Ukrainian Catholic Church, assisted by remember that Mr. Mulroney appointed powered assembly of politicians and jour- LVIV – Ukrainian President Viktor Ukrainian and Roman Catholic clergy, in the first Ukrainian Canadian, John nalists at a UCC-sponsored gathering. Yushchenko on April 27 commemorated the Presidential Palace’s chapel. Sopinka, to the Supreme Court of Canada UCC board member Bob Onyschuk the 60th anniversary of Akcja Wisla, the They signed a joint statement to devel- and it was under his government that the related to the assembled audience how 1947 forced resettlement of 150,000 op bilateral cooperation as part of an first Ukrainian Canadian, Ramon Mr. Mulroney, while in Kyiv in 1989, Ukrainians and Lemkos, with a visit to extended reconciliation process between Hnatyshyn, became the head of state as made a strong gesture of moral support to Polish President Lech Kaczynski in the Polish and Ukrainian people and met Canada’s governor general. the emerging Ukrainian national libera- Warsaw and a Lviv requiem the same with Ukrainian diaspora leaders. Mr. Mulroney called two Ukrainian tion movement by meeting with pro- evening. Canadians from the province of The two presidents prayed together at (Continued on page 8) Saskatchewan to the Senate of Canada: (Continued on page 4) President fires two judges Ukraine’s new foreign affairs minister visits D.C. by Yaro Bihun from Constitutional Court, Special to The Ukrainian Weekly WASHINGTON – Ukrainian Foreign as political crisis continues Affairs Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk visit- by Zenon Zawada ed Washington last week for talks with Kyiv Press Bureau Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other U.S. government officials, members KYIV – As Ukrainian President of Congress, businessmen, representa- Viktor Yushchenko began firing judges tives of Washington’s think-tanks and from the Constitutional Court, dismiss- other groups. ing two this past week, his opponents He used the last meeting of his April called on the international community to 30-May 1 visit – with representatives of intervene in the nation’s political crisis the Ukrainian American community at the before a civil war erupts. Embassy of Ukraine – to summarize some “The president’s latest unlawful of the major points discussed during his decree to dismiss a second Constitutional talks, beginning with the internal political Court judge forces us to state that Viktor problems that have been plaguing his Yushchenko is pushing Ukraine down a country over the past year: the political path of anarchy and chaos with his anti- duel between President Viktor Yushchenko constitutional acts,” said coalition part- and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. ners Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, “We have our internal problems. But Yaro Bihun Verkhovna Rada Chair Oleksander every country has domestic problems,” Moroz and Communist Party of Ukraine he explained. “And what is going on right Ukrainian Foreign Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk converses with a group of young professionals and students from Ukraine who came to see him lay flowers at the (Continued on page 4) (Continued on page 5) Taras Shevchenko monument in Washington. 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MAY 6, 2007 No. 18 ANALYSIS NEWSBRIEFSNEWSBRIEFS Ukraine reaps harvest President sacks two judges ed its ability to bridge seemingly irrecon- cilable differences and tackle the most of presidential indecision KYIV – President Viktor Yushchenko difficult problems through a peaceful and has dismissed two judges of the democratic dialogue even in more chal- by Jan Maksymiuk question of whether democracy, which Constitutional Court, Valerii Pshenychnyi lenging conditions. (RFE/RL Newsline) RFE/RL Newsline was so joyfully celebrated on and Suzanna Stanik, Ukrainian media Independence Square in Kyiv during the reported on May 1. The dismissal President explains Piskun reappointment Following the tumultuous Orange 2004 Orange Revolution, has a chance to decrees, dated April 30 and May 1, Revolution in 2004, Ukraine is facing its respectively, say laconically that Judges KYIV – President Viktor Yushchenko survive in Ukraine. told reporters in Warsaw on April 27 that second serious crisis in just less than Despite ongoing street protests by Pshenychnyi and Stanik were released of three years. President Viktor Yushchenko their duties because of a “breach of oath.” his decision to reappoint Sviatoslav both supporters and opponents of the dis- Piskun as procurator general had been on April 2 issued a decree dissolving the solution of the Verkhovna Rada, the situ- Both judges were appointed to the 18- Verkhovna Rada and calling for early member Constitutional Court by former dictated by his desire to see the ation in Kyiv and in the provinces has so Procurator General’s Office more effi- elections in May, but both the govern- far been under the government’s control. President Leonid Kuchma. Lawmakers ment and Parliament refused to obey it. from the ruling coalition of the Party of cient when the country is in crisis, report- But it is evident Ukraine is slowly edging ed the presidential press service. “I want On April 26 Mr. Yushchenko signed toward political and legal chaos, which the Regions, the Socialist Party and the another decree, rescheduling the early Communist Party on May 1 appealed to the Procurator General’s Office to work may culminate in a violent scenario if the like a clock. This can only be achieved if elections for June. president, the prime minister, and the Constitutional Court to declare the Mr. Yushchenko’s new decree on early it has a leader,” Mr. Yushchenko said, Parliament fail to find a solution quickly. decree on the dismissal of Judge parliamentary elections effectively adding that certain political forces want- Could the current confrontation Pshenychnyi unconstitutional. Party of annuls his decree of April 2, which has ed to destabilize the office. He said he between the key institutions of Ukraine’s the Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych, been undergoing examination for its had not appealed against a court ruling to political system – the president and the Socialist Party leader Viktor Moroz and compliance with the Constitution of restore Mr. Piskun so as “not to waste Verkhovna Rada – have been averted? Communist Party leader Petro Ukraine by the Constitutional Court since time.” (Ukrinform) The seeds of a potential institutional Symonenko said in a joint statement the April 17. It is expected that the conflict in Ukraine were sown during the same day that Mr. Yushchenko’s dis- PM urges early presidential elections Constitutional Court, in accordance with 2004 Orange Revolution in a hurriedly missal of Judge Stanik “is pushing its rules of procedure, will