Ukraine's internal affairs minister visits D.C. for talks with U.S. officials (02/19/06)

Ukraine's internal affairs minister visits D.C. for talks with U.S. officials

by Yaro Bihun
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

WASHINGTON - Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs Yurii Lutsenko held three days of talks here on February 8-10 with U.S. government officials and other interested parties, discussing bilateral cooperation in combating international crime and related issues, and political developments in Ukraine under the post-Orange Revolution administration of President Viktor Yushchenko.

His schedule included official meetings with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and senior officials of the departments of State, Treasury, and Homeland Security as well as the National Security Council, and members of Congress.

He also had discussions with non-governmental organizations that have shown an interest in developments in Ukraine, such as the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Marshall Fund and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Minister Lutsenko underscored the importance of the issues on his agenda during a briefing at the Ukrainian Embassy on February 9.

"There is no longer any doubt after the tragic events of September 11 that crime has no boundaries and that cooperation will only be effective if it is global," he said, noting that his visit focused on improving cooperation with his American colleagues in resolving such existing problem areas as combating trafficking of people, drugs, immigration issues and other crimes.

He said he was especially interested in reaching agreement on finalizing a bilateral extradition treaty, which has been sidetracked since 1999. Ukraine's human rights record, which was one of the obstacles to such an agreement, he said, is no longer a stumbling block after the changeover in Ukraine's government in the last presidential election.

Mr. Lutsenko said he received a favorable response on this issue from Under-secretary of State Paula Dobriansky earlier that same day and he expected a similar reaction from Attorney General Gonzales.

One person in whose extradition Ukraine is particularly interested, according to Mr. Lutsenko, is the former head of the Sumy Oblast, Volodymyr Shcherban, who is now living in Florida.

Another major problem area for Ukraine is illegal immigration, he said. Ukraine has become the home for tens of thousands of foreign refugees who enter its territory through the porous eastern borders of the former Soviet Union. Their intention is to ultimately cross over into the European community, he explained, but they are stopped by that community's strict border regime, leaving the immigrant problem and the related rise in criminal activity in Ukraine.

"This is a real problem, and I would like for the international community - not only Europe, but the United States as well - to help us in resolving this global problem," Mr. Lutsenko said.

He said he also informed his Washington interlocutors about the progress made by his Internal Affairs Ministry and the Yushchenko administration in fighting government corruption and other criminal activity over the past year.

He said that the cleansing by his ministry resulted in some 2,500 employees being terminated and 600 more being brought up on corruption and other criminal charges. They also launched 3,700 bribery corruption investigations in other government departments, focusing on higher-level officials and not just the lower echelons, as was the practice in the past. They have also filed charges against an additional 1,200 officials - 100 of them from the new administration - for the theft of more than $4 billion.

These cases are now in the hands of the prosecutor's office, but only 200 of these cases have been brought to trial, he said, noting that "the public is dissatisfied with the slowness of this process."

But that is the way democracy works, he explained, pointing out that it has taken quite a while for the Enron cases to be brought to court in the United States.

Mr. Lutsenko reported also that his department documented some 5,500 voting irregularities in the last presidential election and has cleaned up the voter rolls, which included purging 1.3 million "voters" from the lists in the Donbas region alone.

Another important aspect of his discussion in Washington was explaining the political situation in Ukraine as it prepares for the all-important elections to the Verkhovna Rada next month, he said.

"We very clearly felt the support of the American people and that of other Western democracies during the revolutionary events on the maidan [Kyiv's Independence Square]," he said. "And today we feel that there is some apprehension about the possible results of the coming parliamentary elections."

He said he expects that after the elections Ukraine will have a strong opposition, which will be based on no less than 30 percent of the vote going to the coalition of Viktor Yanukovych, who lost to Mr. Yushchenko in the presidential election.

"This is good for any democracy," he said, and should not be feared. In his unsuccessful presidential bid a year ago, he added, Mr. Yanukovych's base of support was around 45 percent.

The deciding factor in the formation of the post-election government, Mr. Lutsenko said, will be the 100 or so deputies allied with Yulia Tymoshenko, President Yushchenko's Orange Revolution partner who was removed last year from her position as prime minister. Mr. Lutsenko said he expects her to join with her former maidan allies (Mr. Yushchenko and Socialist party leader Oleksander Moroz) and that together their more than 250-deputy bloc will form the next government of Ukraine.

To this end they were helped by Moscow's New Year "gas attack" against Ukraine. "It was a very good lesson for us all," Mr. Lutsenko said. "Our voters are demanding that we unite, put the country's interests first and continue the work we began on the maidan."

It resulted in weaning Ukraine off the cheap gas "we received in exchange for our independence," he added. "And this is good."

Minister Lutsenko said that regardless of the pros and cons of the gas deal that is reached, "Strategically, Ukraine retained its independence; it demonstrated the independence of its economic and national interests."

On Capitol Hill, Mr. Lutsenko had discussions with Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), co-chairman of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, and Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

While visiting the Center for Strategic and International Studies, he met with, among others, three former U.S. ambassadors to Ukraine: William Miller, Steven Pifer and Carlos Pascual.

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