FOR THE RECORD: Embassy of Ukraine issues statement on Sovereignty Day (07/23/00)

FOR THE RECORD: Embassy of Ukraine issues statement on Sovereignty Day

The statement below was released by the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States.

Ten years ago on July 16, 1990, the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of the Ukrainian SSR passed the Declaration on State Sovereignty. The act was of exceptional political significance for the Ukrainian nation had cherished the idea of independence throughout centuries. Passed at the time when Ukraine was still a part of the Soviet Union, the declaration manifested the political vision of the future sovereign independent state.

In historic terms, it was an important milestone in the momentous string of events in the early 1990s that triggered the imminent demise of the Soviet empire that occurred one and a half year later. The Ukrainian people are proud of their substantial contribution to shaping a post-Communist Europe.

The declaration became a first step towards the reinstatement of historic justice and a chance to revive Ukrainian statehood. It was a set of values that united the nation in making its crucial choice for independent development. It was the Declaration on State Sovereignty that provided legal grounds for the Verkhovna Rada to pass the Act of Declaration of Ukrainian Independence on August 24, 1991 . Endorsed by the all-Ukrainian referendum in December of the same year, the act paved the way to real independence. All the subsequent steps taken by the young Ukrainian state were fully in line with that historic document.

Ukraine was declared a democratic state where power is vested in the elected representatives and neither a political party, public organization nor an individual can act on behalf of the entire people. The declaration proclaimed the exclusive right of Ukrainian people to possess and manage national wealth of Ukraine, guaranteed protection of all forms of property and equal opportunities for cultural development.

All those provisions laid a firm foundation for the Constitution of independent Ukraine passed in 1996.

The basic principles and priorities outlined by the declaration yet before independence, continue to be guidelines for Ukraine's foreign policy. Ukraine solemnly announced its intention to develop as a non-aligned neutral state that refrains from taking part in military blocs, and declared its commitment to the three non-nuclear principles - not to use, not to possess and not to acquire nuclear weapons. That obligation has been consistently honored by Ukraine.

By defining the priority of human values over the classes, and priority of international law over internal legal norms of the state, the declaration paved the road for Ukraine's appearance on the international arena in December 1991 as a democratic independent state on the rule of law.

Ukraine is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Declaration on State Sovereignty with a tangible process in transforming all spheres of life. Since the re-election of Leonid Kuchma as president in December last year, the country managed to make an essential breakthrough in laying a political foundation for reforms. A non-leftist majority has been coalesced in the Parliament and Viktor Yuschenko, a reputable reformer was appointed prime minister. For the first time in nine years solid evidence of strong growth in key sectors of economy has been achieved - gross, domestic product grew at a annual rate of around 5 percent a month in 2000.

These achievements raise high hopes that, through concerted effort, the president, the government and the Parliament will succeed in implementing the ambitious privatization program and land reform, and adopting new tax legislation which together would ensure long-term economic growth and bring prosperity to the Ukrainian people.

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