Ukraine's Udovenko involved in review of U.N. operations (07/21/02)

Ukraine's Udovenko involved in review of U.N. operations

by Andrew Nynka

NEW YORK - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan conducted a private meeting with U.N. experts on the topic of reforming the United Nations, the culmination of which will be a new U.N. Report on Strengthening of the Organization. Among those present at the July 1 gathering was Hennadii Udovenko of Ukraine who called his country's place at the meeting "a sign of Ukraine's importance in the United Nations structure."

At a press conference with Ukrainian journalists the following day, Mr. Udovenko said that although the gathering bred no new initiatives, the meeting's significance was in Ukraine's having been invited - he said it highlighted Mr. Annan's regard for Ukraine's role in the future of the United Nations.

The meeting, dubbed an external review group, was seen as the continuation of Mr. Annan's first initiative as secretary-general in 1997 called "Renewing the United Nations."

According to Mr. Annan's deputy spokesperson, Hua Jiang, the secretary-general held the internal meeting to "seek advice from experts on various issues" in conjunction with Mr. Annan's priority to "revitalize the United Nations through a comprehensive program of reform." The goal of Mr. Annan's reform process, according to the secretary-general's office, is "an emphasis on improving coherence and coordination" within the United Nations.

Ms. Jiang also said that Mr. Udovenko was specifically chosen to participate "because of his extensive experience with the United Nations" as a U.N. staff member, president of the General Assembly and minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine.

The meeting also included nine experts on the U.N. bureaucracy who, according to Mr. Udovenko, represented Great Britain, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands and Africa. Mr. Annan's plans currently do not include future meetings.

In his meeting with the Ukrainian press Mr. Udovenko's comments went beyond there in his meeting with Mr. Annan. The former ambassador to the U.N. said that his political party, the National Rukh of Ukraine, should be responsible for "renewing our strategic partnership with the United States," but he admitted that this will depend on many factors, among them, Ukraine's ability to battle corruption within the county.

Mr. Udovenko recognized the effect recent events in Ukraine have had on the country's international image. "The murder of journalists Heorhii Gongadze and Ihor Aleksandrov, as well as the [Mykola] Melnychenko tape scandal, issues of illegal arms sales to Iraq and questions of corruption tied to the leadership of the country continue to reinforce a negative perception of Ukraine, however, with all that, Ukraine's position in the U.N. has not been affected by these issues," the 52nd president of the U.N. General Assembly said.

Mr. Udovenko also touched on Ukraine's political situation and the new speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Volodymyr Lytvyn, who he said was "picked, not elected." By placing his hand-picked speaker into power, President Leonid Kuchma "intends to exert more control over the Verkhovna Rada," Mr. Udovenko said.

During the process of positioning Mr. Lytvyn for the chairmanship of the Verkhovna Rada Mr. Udovenko said the Our Ukraine parliamentary bloc, lead by ex-prime minister Viktor Yushchenko, missed an opportunity to acquire the prime minister's seat. "We lost a tactical game," Mr. Udovenko said.

Originally the Our Ukraine bloc was willing to deal for the position of prime minister, Mr. Udovenko said, by bargaining the chair of the Verkhovna Rada, but it lost that trump card when seven members of the Our Ukraine bloc broke ranks, as a result of which Mr. Lytvyn was elected, by one vote, to the chairmanship.

The other major change in Ukrainian politics, Mr. Udovenko commented, is the appointment of Viktor Medvedchuk as the head of the presidential administration. He called it a significant move because, as opposed to the United States, the head of the presidential administration in Ukraine "exerts tremendous control" over executive decisions and, in effect, is the "second most powerful person in the country behind the president." He called the organization Mr. Medvedchuk took over on June 12 "a monster" that currently employs over 1,000 people.

Mr. Udovenko said Mr. Medvedchuk's appointment as head of the administration represents "the strengthening of oligarchic influence over the government of Ukraine."

Mr. Medvedchuk is the chairman of the Social Democratic Party (United), a political force that counts as its members some of Ukraine's richest and most influential individuals, including ex-President Leonid Kravchuk and the new first vice-chairman of the Parliament, Oleksander Zinchenko.

The move came as a surprise because it elevated Mr. Medvedchuk, someone outside of President Kuchma's inner circle, to an influential position that can control President Kuchma's agenda, appoint a good portion of the presidential administration and sway the president's views on political issues.

Mr. Udovenko also touched on the issue of President Kuchma's possible impeachment but said that the new convocation of the Verkhovna Rada, in his opinion, could not muster the necessary 226-vote simple majority to initiate the proceedings. He alluded to the unsuccessful attempt by lawmakers from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc - including Yulia Tymoshenko, Hryhorii Omelchenko and Anatolii Matvienko - who on June 10 submitted to the Parliament a draft bill to begin impeachment proceedings.

"The Parliament's inability to impeach Ukraine's president is the reason President Kuchma seeks to reform the law regarding presidential impeachment," Mr. Udovenko said. "He understands it will not lead to his ouster."

Mr. Udovenko added that Ukraine's language situation had taken several steps backward. As an example he cited Ukraine's minister of internal affairs, Yurii Smirnov, who is either unable to or simply will not use the Ukrainian language. In contrast, Mr. Udovenko added, Great Britain's ambassador to Ukraine has, in less than two years, learned the Ukrainian language. Although the British ambassador can only stay in one country for three years, Mr. Udovenko said, he still has found it important to learn to speak Ukrainian.

Mr. Udovenko added that the Norwegian ambassador, Iostein Bernhardsen, learned Ukrainian, his wife attends Sunday school to learn Ukrainian and, according to Mr. Udovenko, the ambassador's dog, who once took commands in Russian, now "speaks" Ukrainian.

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