ON UKRAINIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY: Ukraine's ambassador to the U.N. (08/29/04)

ON UKRAINIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY

Ukraine's ambassador to the U.N.

Following is the full text of a statement by Valeriy P. Kuchinsky, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, permanent representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, addressed to the Ukrainian community on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the independence of Ukraine. (The text was received on August 24).

Dear Friends:

It brings me special pleasure to extend to you my heartfelt congratulations on the occasion of the Independence Day of Ukraine.

I take this solemn opportunity, first of all, to thank the Ukrainian community in the United States for their continuous and substantial support to our state.

I am in particular grateful for your assistance, which we highly and sincerely appreciate, to the work of Ukrainian diplomats in the United Nations.

Facing the 13th anniversary of independence, Ukraine enters a new phase of domestic reforms which are carried out by her president, the Verkhovna Rada and the government to ensure the complex fundamental transformations in the country's life, creation of a democratic jural state with socially oriented market economy.

Our achievements along this way are irrefutable: the Ukrainian economy shows the best growth rates in Europe, there is also the necessary groundwork for complex internal and foreign policy measures that will bring Ukraine closer to integration with the EU and NATO. I am confident that the free and transparent election of Ukraine's president this fall will testify to the country's capability to enjoy the highest democratic standards.

Every major success of our state consists of successes of every committed Ukrainian, just like numerous rivers and streams join their waters into the mighty river Dnipro. So do I, on the eve of Ukraine's greatest holiday, place my sincere hopes on our common success, as well as on further active cooperation that brings all of us together.

It brings me pleasure to inform you that, according to the decree of the president of Ukraine on the commemoration of historical traditions of Ukrainian state-building and national symbols of independent Ukraine, from now on, every year on the eve of the Independence Day, on August 23 Ukraine will celebrate the Day of the State Flag.

Please accept, Dear Friends, my best wishes of happiness, good luck and well-being.

Long live Ukraine!

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