Former prime minister has high-level meetings in D.C. (11/18/01)

Former prime minister has high-level meetings in D.C.

Ukrainian National Information Service

WASHINGTON - Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Victor Yuschenko, who now heads the election bloc Our Ukraine, on November 5-8 paid a private visit to the United States, sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), in cooperation with the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute.

His bloc, which is preparing to run candidates in the March 2002 parliamentary elections in Ukraine, unites a broad range of centrist and right forces in Ukrainian politics. Included in the delegation's visit to the U.S. were Petro Poroshenko, leader of the Solidarity Party and campaign coordinator for Our Ukraine; Evhen Chervonenko, liaison with Jewish Ukrainian organizations; Dmytro Sennychenko, campaign adviser; and Borys Tarasyuk, former foreign affairs minister of Ukraine and campaign adviser.

Mr. Yuschenko arrived in Washington, on November 7. During his visit to the capital, Mr. Yuschenko and his team from the Our Ukraine coalition held meetings with high-level representatives of the U.S. government such as Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and the National Security Council's European and Eurasian affairs director, Ambassador Dan Fried. A planned meeting with Vice-President Dick Cheney was postponed due to the vice-president's unpredictable schedule during the current war against international terrorism.

In his conversation with Mr. Yuschenko, Deputy Secretary of State Armitage confirmed that the United States is ready to send election monitors to Ukraine. He also emphasized that the monitors would represent not only civic organizations, but would also be drawn from the legislative branch. "America's main priorities are transparency and fairness in Ukraine," stated Mr. Armitage.

At a breakfast with the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, which took place on November 8, Mr. Yuschenko had an opportunity to speak with several members of Congress and members of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus: Reps. Steve Horn (R-Calif.); Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio); Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.); Bob Schaffer (R-Colo) - all co-chairs of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus; and Rep. Don Sherwood (R-Pa.).

After an introduction by the director of the Europe/Eurasia program at NED, Nadia Diuk, and brief remarks by Congressional Ukrainian Caucus co-chair Rep. Slaughter, Mr. Yuschenko delivered a report on the goals and current activities of the Our Ukraine electoral bloc and had a chance to answer questions posed by members of Congress.

Despite a very full schedule of business connected with the war effort, the chairman of the House International Relations Committee, Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill), welcomed the delegation. Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Chuck Hagel (R-Nev.), and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) also scheduled meetings with Mr. Yuschenko and his team, but these were postponed because of changes in the program.

While in Washington, the former prime minister also held a press conference at the National Endowment for Democracy, which was attended by various American and Ukrainian news agencies; gave an interview to Washington Post columnist Jackson Diehl; and had lunch with Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser under President Jimmy Carter. Officials at the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute also held meetings with the former prime minister; a reception was held at IRI in his honor.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, one of Washington's most prestigious think-tanks, sponsored a luncheon at which Senior Associate Anders Aslund introduced Mr. Yuschenko to an audience of over 100 policy-makers, experts and specialists. Mr. Yuschenko spoke of the Our Ukraine bloc's role in the March 2002 elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and stated that the main objective of his bloc is to unite democratic forces in Ukraine in order to win the majority in the Parliament. Thus, Ukraine will be able to undertake democratic reforms in the country and achieve greater success in a short time.

Following the luncheon, Mr. Yuschenko visited the Holocaust Museum and the Taras Shevchenko monument, where he laid flowers at the foot of the statue.

Mr. Yuschenko's visit was characterized by an extraordinarily high level of meetings, both with the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government; such a high level is not usually accorded a private citizen and former prime minister. The quality of the meetings and the cooperative atmosphere that greeted Mr. Yuschenko show that his American interlocutors are committed to the further democratization of Ukraine and progress toward a free market economy, while expressing hopes that he and his bloc will be able to continue the successful reforms begun during his tenure as prime minister.

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