INSIDE: l Symposium on Metropolitan Sheptytsky held in Ottawa – page 5 l WFUWO submits statement on Ukraine to U.N. body – page 6 l U.S. envoy on establishing rule of law in Ukraine – page 9 THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXX No. 22 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012 $1/$2 in Ukraine UDAR’s chief of strategic planning Helsinki Commission holds hearing sees “do or die” scenario in elections on democratic regression in Ukraine Myron Wasylyk, a top advisor to Mr. WASHINGTON – “Given Ukraine’s demo- “Especially disconcerting – and disgust- Yushchenko, had begun to work in October cratic backsliding under Viktor Yanukovych, ing – is the unjust imprisonment of political with the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for we have reason to be concerned about the opposition leaders, former Prime Minister Reform (UDAR), founded by boxing cham- pre-election climate and watchful for Yulia Tymoshenko and former Interior pion Vitali Klitschko. attempts to skew the conditions in which [Internal Affairs] Minister Yurii Lutsenko, Soon afterwards, another top advisor to the campaigns will be conducted,” said removing their participation in the elec- Mr. Yushchenko, Rostyslav Pavlenko, joined Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.) at a May tions and casting a shadow over the entire the UDAR team as the head of its depart- 17 hearing he chaired of the Commission on election process,” said Rep. Smith. “Unless ment of strategic planning and ideology. In Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki they and other senior former government an interview with The Weekly on April 17, Commission). officials are released from prison and Mr. Pavlenko confirmed that UDAR is com- The hearing addressed the electoral restored to their full political and civil mitted to the same ideals as the European framework and events that are already rights, the October elections will, by the center-right movement – low taxes, small shaping, and potentially skewing, Ukraine’s very fact of their imprisonment, be tainted.” business and traditional cultural values. He parliamentary elections, which are sched- also confirmed that UDAR has applied for uled for October. (Continued on page 13) membership in the European People’s Party (Batkivshchyna has been a member since 2007). Zenon Zawada Before joining UDAR, Mr. Pavlenko Metropolitan Constantine, primate Rostyslav Pavlenko, head of the depart- served as the chair of the Presidential ment of strategic planning and ideology Secretariat analytical service. He joined at the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s presidential campaign of UOC-U.S.A., dies at age 76 Reform (UDAR). at the end of 2008 and left in the summer PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Metropolitan of 2009, after Mr. Yatsenyuk hired a Constantine, the first American-born pri- by Zenon Zawada Russian political technology team. mate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Special to The Ukrainian Weekly of the U.S.A. and other parts of the diaspo- The opposition didn’t unite for the ra (except Canada), and ruling hierarch of KYIV – The Our Ukraine political force elections in Obukhiv. Please explain the Central Eparchy of the UOC-U.S.A., built by former President Viktor why. died on Monday, May 21. He was 76. Yushchenko in 2002 is now decimated, Our position was that [Anatolii] Metropolitan Constantine was strick- with no chance to qualify for the Shafarenko had the highest rating among en with a serious illness just a few weeks Verkhovna Rada this year, according to opposition candidates, and we suggested to prior to his death and was released from polls. With its demise, core supporters the other opposition forces that they all a local Pittsburgh hospital on May 17, were concerned that Ukraine’s center-right support him. We didn’t get a direct which allowed him to participate in the movement had died along with it. 40th anniversary celebration of his arch- Hopes were restored, however, once it pastoral ministry on May 18-20 at Ss. became known that Cleveland native (Continued on page 16) Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Carnegie, Pa., and at Dormition of the Mother of God Ukrainian Orthodox Church in McKees Rocks, Pa. Born Theodore E. Buggan, a third-gen- Court rules Wrzesnewskyj’s eration Ukrainian American, to Stanley and Catherine Buggan of Pittsburgh on Metropolitan Constantine, primate of electoral loss ‘null and void’ July 29, 1936, he enrolled in 1955 at St. the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Andrew College in Winnipeg, the seminary U.S.A. and the Diaspora. by Christopher Guly without having proper identification) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in as assistant priest to his mentor and Special to The Ukrainian Weekly involving 181 ballots in a sample of just 10 Canada, (the only Ukrainian Orthodox childhood pastor, the Rev. Theodor out of 236 polls in the riding, Mr. seminary in the free world at the time); OTTAWA – A rare court decision could Bilecky, and beginning in 1968 he Wrzesnewskyj launched court action last he graduated in 1959. He completed served as pastor of St. Nicholas give Borys Wrzesnewskyj the chance to June against Mr. Opitz and named the fed- additional studies at St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Troy, N.Y. reclaim the House of Commons seat he eral government, Canada’s chief electoral Theological Seminary in Crestwood, N.Y. On December 18, 1971, he was ton- narrowly lost in last year’s Canadian gener- officer and other Canadian elections offi- He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1965 sured a monk and received the name al election. cials in the lawsuit. from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Constantine. After his election by the On May 18, Ontario Superior Court While the Superior Court found “no sug- where he also earned a Ph.D. Seventh Synod (Sobor) of the Ukrainian Justice Thomas Lederer declared the May gestion of any wrongdoing” on either side, He was ordained to the deaconate on 2, 2011, results in the Toronto riding of Orthodox Church held in October 1971, Judge Lederer said that, “at its core, the case April 23, 1967, by Archbishop Mstyslav Archimandrite Constantine was conse- Etobicoke Center “null and void.” concerns the confidence that Canadians in South Bound Brook, N.J. Later that year, In that contest Mr. Wrzesnewskyj, a crated a bishop on May 7, 1972, by must have in our electoral system.” on July 23, he was ordained to the priest- Archbishop-Metropolitan Mstyslav, who high-profile member of Toronto’s “We need to be assured that those who hood by Archbishop-Metropolitan John was enthroned as metropolitan of the Ukrainian Canadian community who rep- vote are qualified to do so,” he wrote in his (Theodorovich) at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Ukrainian Orthodox Church during the resented the riding for the Liberals since 40-page decision. “We need to be confident Orthodox Church in Pittsburgh. same divine liturgy at St. Vladimir 2004, was defeated by a 26-vote margin, that those who receive a ballot have been Metropolitan John died in May 1971. Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in and his Conservative challenger, Ted Opitz, identified as persons who are on the official As a priest, Metropolitan Constantine Philadelphia. became the new member of Parliament. list of electors or who have registered.” served the parish of St. Vladimir Citing numerous voting irregularities (such Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Chicago (Continued on page 8) as people voting twice or casting ballots (Continued on page 17) 2 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, MAY 27, 2012 No. 22 ANALYSIS World Hockey Championships: NATO summit statement on Ukraine statement condemning the Russian court’s decision and highlighting UUR complaints CHICAGO – At its summit meeting in about biased treatment of Ukrainian dias- Minsk or elsewhere in 2014? Chicago on May 20-21, NATO adopted a pora activities. This is the second Ukrainian statement on Ukraine that left the door in Belarus. The letter, which is signed by 23 organization closed in Russia. On January by David Marples open to further cooperation with Ukraine U.S. and European policy experts, leaders of 27 the Supreme Court ruled to liquidate Eurasia Daily Monitor while noting the alliance’s concern about pro-democracy NGOs and some European the Federal National-Cultural Autonomy of selective prosecution of the Ukrainian oppo- On May 14, 28 members of the U.S. parliamentarians (including the former Ukrainians of Russia. The Russian Ministry sition and underscoring the importance of House of Representatives appealed to Czech hockey player of international and of Foreign Affairs (MFA) denies creating the upcoming parliamentary elections. International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) NHL fame Peter Stastny), cited the gross obstacles to the work of Ukrainian organi- Following is the full text of the NATO state- zations on Russian territory, MFA represen- President Rene Fasel not to hold the 2014 violations of human rights in Belarus, the ment on Ukraine. “An independent, sover- world championships in Minsk. The politi- crackdown since the elections, the regime’s tative Aleksandr Lukashevich said on May eign and stable Ukraine, firmly committed 22 in his comments on a decision by the cians argued that the people of Belarus lack continuing incarceration of several political to democracy and the rule of law, is key to basic civil rights, that the situation inside prisoners and the issue of “basic human Supreme Court of Russia to close down the Euro-Atlantic security. Marking the 15th Union of Ukrainians of Russia (UUR). “I the country has deteriorated significantly dignity.” It notes the precedent of 1969, anniversary of the NATO-Ukraine Charter unequivocally state that any allegations since the honor to host the championship when the championship was moved from on a Distinctive Partnership, we welcome about obstructing the work of Ukrainian was awarded to Belarus in 2009, and that Czechoslovakia to Sweden to protest the Ukraine’s commitment to enhancing politi- organizations in Russia are baseless.