Horyn says Ukraine's political maturity is being tested (09/05/99)

Horyn says Ukraine's political maturity is being tested

by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj
Toronto Press Bureau

TORONTO - At the last Ukrainian Independence Day celebrations of this millennium, the speakers at the official ceremonies held at the St. Volodymyr Cultural Center in Oakville, Ontario (about 30 miles west of Toronto) on August 22 allowed themselves - perhaps for the first time - to be negative about the state established in 1991.

Ukrainian World Congress Vice- President Maria Szkambara said, "We had expectations that Ukrainian consciousness would grow once independence was achieved, that youth would embrace the new state, but it appears it is not so."

She urged the 1,400 people assembled under the cloudless sun-filled sky to support the UWC's open letter to Leonid Kuchma, in which the diaspora umbrella body expressed grave concern about the Ukrainian state's commitment to its own official language.

One could hardly fault a diplomat for accenting the positive, and yet the progress Ukraine's Consul General in Toronto Mykola Kyrychenko reported is mirrored by failure in reality. Mr. Kyrychenko claimed that the pace of reform in his country has accelerated, that the drop in the country's productivity has been arrested, and that respect for the legal foundations of democracy in Ukraine has grown.

The day's keynote speaker was Mykhailo Horyn, Ukrainian World Coordinating Council executive member and former Soviet political prisoner.

Mr. Horyn, who was on a visit to Canada from Ukraine, said his country's people "are still learning how to be a people with a state." The man who suffered imprisonment in the Soviet gulag said that securing statehood is difficult work. "Who knew that it required sacrifice and dedication?" he asked with heavy irony.

The former national deputy of the Verkhovna Rada said the task is "no easier now that we've been asked to break with the past, and many have found it difficult to unhitch themselves from the Muscovite wagon."

He invoked the Biblical story of Moses, who wandered in the desert for 40 years to rid his nation of those who could not let go of the past, and asserted that many of his fellow citizens lack the self-respect necessary to embrace a Ukrainian identity.

Mr. Horyn also quoted the 19th century leader Antonio Garibaldi, who said, "We have built Italy, now we must build Italians."

He said Ukraine is being tested for political maturity. The party structure and the political spectrum must re-evaluate its commitment to the state within which it operates. "Today, not every party functionary works for the state and the country," Mr. Horyn said, "most are concerned only with themselves."

However, Mr. Horyn ended on a hopeful note, with a captivating image. He likened Ukraine to a lady who has yet to join a dance, unsure of herself. He said that in the 21st century his country could yet emerge on the European ballroom floor as a model of democracy, social justice and ethnic harmony.

"Only for this kind of Ukraine is it worth living," the former dissident said.

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