Kravchuk and political leaders agree on danger of CIS Charter for Ukraine (01/10/93)

Kravchuk and political leaders agree on danger of CIS Charter for Ukraine

by Dmytro Filipchenko

KYYIV - President Leonid Kravchuk outlined his position regarding Ukraine's participation in the Commonwealth of Independent States during a consultative meeting with 26 leaders of the country's political parties and public organizations on January 4.

President Kravchuk emphasized his opposition to the proposed new Charter of the CIS, characterizing the document as a means of recasting the CIS as a new union on territory once belonging to the USSR. His stand was supported by the overwhelming majority of leaders present at the meeting.

Opening the discussion, President Kravchuk noted that the Ukrainian people had expressed their opinions regarding the fate of the USSR by voting in the December 1,1991, referendum on Ukraine's independence. Today, he continued, Ukraine is faced with the question of how to react to various processes of integration taking place within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States. This question is particularly pressing when one examines the various suprastructures delineated in the proposed CIS Charter.

The heads of leading national-democratic parties and organizations - among them Mykhailo Horyn of the Ukrainian Republican Party, Ivan Drach of the Ukraina Society, Pavlo Movchan of the Prosvita Ukrainian Language Society, Dmytro Pavlychko and Volodymyr Yavorivsky of the Democratic Party of Ukraine, Vyacheslav Chornovil of Rukh and Stepan Khmara of the Ukrainian Conservative Republican Party - pointed out during the consultative meeting that the proposed CIS charter is yet another attempt to preserve the Soviet Union, albeit in a new form.

Many of the speakers described the new charter as a time bomb in attractive packaging that would, ultimately, lead to the demise of an independent Ukraine.

It was pointed out that the proposed document violates fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, and various agreements of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and that it undermines the status quo in Europe.

Volodymyr Filenko of New Ukraine, Volodymyr Moskovka of the United Social-Democratic Party, People's Deputy Volodymyr Pylypchuk, V. Kononov of the Green Party of Ukraine and V. Khmelko of the Party for the Democratic Rebirth of Ukraine all supported the position that signing the proposed charter would conflict with Ukraine's interests.

At the same time, however, many of the speakers acknowledged it was necessary to take into account existing socio-economic, national and political realities, including the fact that 52 percent of the people of Ukraine were sorry to see the break-up of the USSR (as reported by the Sociological Association of Ukraine). It was pointed out that various economic difficulties and the lack of a well-founded concept of foreign policy also cause many in Ukraine to question the idea of independent statehood, and thus are fertile ground for the chauvinistic and imperialistic ideas of certain political circles in the Russian Federation.

Representatives of social-democratic and liberal groupings called on the president, the Parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers to adopt and implement a flexible foreign policy in terms of both political and economic relations, and that this should be affirmed via bilateral agreements with interested states.

"We should look not for new forms of commonwealth, but for new directions in cooperation among political parties, labor unions and other organizations of various countries," stated the head of the Federation of Labor Unions of Ukraine, O. Stoyan.

"In deciding any questions, one must proceed from the national interests of Ukraine and its national security," commented H. Omelchenko, leader of the Officers Union of Ukraine.

I. Levitas of the Society of National Minorities of Ukraine, Vasyl Sichko of the Christian Democratic Party and others commented on the ideological rhetoric and contradictions contained in the CIS Charter.

The leader of the Ukrainian Socialist (formerly Communist) Party, Oleksander Moroz observed that "Ukrainian statehood is hampered not by external, but by internal factors" and proceeded to harshly criticize the activity of Parliament and the government.

Mr. Moroz continued by emphasizing that Ukraine could sign the CIS Charter only if it were accompanied by a package of documents that would outline the division of the debts and assets of the former USSR, and would safeguard human rights and the interests of ethnic minorities, refugees from hot spots in various CIS states, as well as invalids, pensioners and others. "But our advice is of little use to Leonid Makarovych [Kravchuk], as the charter will not be signed; there is no sense in wasting time discussing it," he said.

During his concluding remarks, President Kravchuk underlined that Western countries fear both a "Yugoslavian scenario" on former Soviet territory and proliferation of nuclear arms, and that is why they support the creation of a centralized supranational structure. Russia supports the idea, he continued, because it always wished to be a superpower and the leading force in the CIS.

He concluded by stating that Ukraine could accede to the CIS Charter only if it is accompanied by numerous documents that clarify the CIS relationship in various spheres.

Also present at the consultative meeting with leaders of political parties and public organizations were Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma and the deputy chairman of the Parliament, Volodymyr Hryniov.

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