GROUP OF US CONGRESSMEN EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR UKRAINIAN LEADERSHIP
An American congressional delegation after a February 22 meeting Thursday with Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko declared US support for the Ukrainian leadership, Interfax Ukraine reports.
Rep. Curt Weldon, leader of the House of Representatives delegation, told to journalists after the meeting, “We informed the Ukrainian leadership that it was supported by the US side and also that we share the democratic principles, on which the Constitution of Ukraine is based.”
According to the premier’s press secretary, Natalia Zarudna, Mr. Weldon stressed in course of the meeting that political scandals are nothing new for the US. “We continuously live through scandals, we also have permanent problems after two hundred years of democratic development,” the press secretary quoted the congressman as saying. She also said that Mr. Weldon stressed, “The main thing is not if there are scandals or not, but how they are solved,” adding that such problems should be solved in a democratic way.
Ms. Zarudna also stated that during the meeting the issues of the freedom of expression and the press had been discussed more than once within the context of their being an indispensable condition for Ukraine’s democratic development.
The congressional delegation also met with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and representatives of non-governmental organizations.
Addressing the press on February 23, the Americans mostly spoke about the crisis situation in Ukrainian politics. The congressmen confessed that some of them strolled down Khreshchatyk past the tent city. They watched, embarrassingly to some extent and disappointingly to no lesser extent, the reconstruction work on Independence Square. As to the tent-based protests themselves, the congressmen called them a normal and sound phenomenon.
The Americans refrained from appraising the actions of both the opposition and government figures. Congressman Weldon is convinced “it is the people of this country that should judge the actions of their leader; it’s not our role.” The Americans hope the Gongadze case will be investigated “without resorting to violence and in accordance with the supremacy of law.” Received by the president of Ukraine, the American lawmakers also suggested that Kyiv turn to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation for help. The Ukrainian leader seems to have accepted the proposal. In general, the US delegation believes in a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. The more so that, according to Mr. Weldon, “there is very serious progress of democracy in Ukraine.” “We worked on democracy for 250 years and you only ten,” he emphasized. “But even in this period, Ukraine has achieved quite a lot: for example, it has adopted a democratic Constitution.” Mr. Weldon also expressed his hope that “Ukraine will ride out the crisis, as we rode out a crisis with our own president a few years ago. Ukraine will become stronger than it was before.”
The following words of the congressmen testify that the American connection in the cassette scandal is pure invention. Asked whether the Americans will support the independent media and the opposition, Mr. Weldon noted: “We don’t practice favoritism. If your leaders fail to do what you wanted them to, you must replace them. We do not want somebody to say that the Americans are manipulating people with money.” But the American delegation’s “trademark phrase” was this: “We support institutions, not specific individuals...” In all probability, the word individuals means individual politicians, and institutions mean democratic institutions. In defense of this approach the Americans said they once supported Boris Yeltsin who then thanked them by leaving behind corrupt authorities in Russia.
