LETTER TO THE EDITOR (02/07/99)

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The World Congress and its leadership

Dear Editor:

It seems the only person in a leadership role in Ukraine who knows what to do is Valery Lobanovsky, the manager of Dynamo Kyiv. He has accepted the fact that the USSR does not exist and his team is no longer a big fish in a small Soviet pond. If Dynamo is to survive and succeed on the European football arena then it has to change. We are aware of Dynamo's morale-lifting achievements.

Unfortunately the government of Ukraine, unlike Mr. Lobanovsky, still lives in the past. Ivan Drach at the Ukrainian World Congress, instead of pinpointing some of the problems when given a chance to respond, proudly announced Ukraine is faring better than Georgia and Belarus.

There was no mention that Ukraine was once the breadbasket of Europe, but now produces only half the grain it did before. He did not mention that the GDP was down 40 percent from 1991, and if reforms are delayed any longer Ukraine may be unable to feed itself.

Therefore, I find George Primak's critical response (January 24) to Askold Lozynskyj's statement that the Ukrainian leadership is too weak to look after the diaspora a little surprising. Evidence shows that not only is the government unable to look after the diaspora, but it can do no better for the people who put them into power.

Mr. Primak then goes on to inform us that the president of the World Jewish Congress is so powerful in contrast to Mr. Lozynskyj that he can arrange a meeting with President Bill Clinton in 24 hours. I feel this is somewhat irrelevant. What is more relevant is that Mr. Lozynskyj is a dynamic leader of high intellect and has the ability to get things done.

It is also incorrect and unfair to Mr. Lozynskyj for Mr. Primak to say that no one else wanted the job. There were half a dozen people who put their names forward but wisely withdrew their nominations when Mr. Lozynskyj accepted.

I also disagree with Mr. Primak's statement the Ukrainian World Congress has achieved little. This is a very narrow point of view. What should be taken into account is how much of what the Ukrainian diaspora has achieved was coordinated by the Ukrainian World Congress.

It is my firm belief, although my observations are from a far distant land called Australia and commonly referred to as "down under," that if it was not for the Ukrainians in Canada and particularly the U.S. who got to the ear of President George Bush before the Ukrainian referendum in December 1991, Ukraine would still be a puppet state of Russia today or at best an autonomous region with no power like Chechnya.

In November 1995, two weeks after the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin, Yoram Dinstein, the vice-chancellor of the university in Tel-Aviv came to Australia. The purpose of his visit was to explain to the Australian Jewish community what happened and the reason. What caught my attention most was the concluding words to his hourlong address: Do not become disillusioned, as Israel cannot exist without the diaspora.

I am not sure whether the same applies to Ukraine, but I do feel there is a need for the Ukrainian World Congress not only to look after the diaspora, but to point the Verkhovna Rada in the right direction. Taking three months to elect a new chairman of the Parliament is a joke.

I cannot think of a better person than the current president of the Ukrainian World Congress, Askold Lozynskyj, to do this.

Nestor Jaworsky
Melbourne, Australia

| Home Page |