By Vlad Lavrov, Journalist, Action Ukraine Report
Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 26, 2004

The prevalent questions discussed at the press conference corresponded with the major areas of concern that currently exist in US-Ukraine relations: the upcoming October 31 presidential election, and the need for Ukraine's government to ensure that the election is held in a democratic and transparent manner, freedom of the press issues, Ukraine's contribution in Iraq as well as Euro-Atlantic integration and NATO membership.

According to Deputy Secretary Armitage, Ukraine's commitment to democracy will be tested during the upcoming election in October, and issues like Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration, joining the WTO and the overall level of US-Ukraine political dialogue will directly depend upon the way in which the election process between now and the end of October is held.

The matter of holding free and fair democratic elections includes the absence of intimidation of opposition politicians and the media, and of the grounds to suspect the authorities are misusing their administrative resources and powers against the businessmen supporting the opposition. According to Mr. Armitage, there will be more discussion on that with Ukraine's officials in the future.

During his one-day visit Mr. Armitage also met with Viktor Yushchehnko and his colleagues to discuss the opposition's view of the current matters. Answering a question about his personal impressions of this meeting Mr. Armitage called the opposition leaders very intense, dedicated, troubled and wanting the international community to watch very closely to ensure that generally recognized European standards for elections are met.

Amendments to the constitution that are intended by the pro-presidential parliamentary majority jointly with the left-wing opposition was also discussed during Deputy Secretary's meetings with Ukraine's officials. The message given by Armitage was that amending the constitution should be done very carefully after considerable study and amending the constitution so close to elections was not the wisest course of actions.

The issue of Ukraine's military presence in Iraq and awarding the contracts for Ukrainian companies to restore and develop Iraqi infrastructure was also raised at the press conference. Answering the question about it, Mr. Armitage stated that it was necessary to disaggregate the two issues, since in his opinion Ukrainian soldiers did not go to Iraq in order to get contracts, but to be a part of the global war on terrorism. As for the contracts, the arrangements are being made for a group of experts to come to Ukraine to assist the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian companies in the details of the bidding process.

Asked whether the US would agree to overlook some serious violations during the elections in Ukraine in case the latter agrees to increase its military presence in Iraq, Mr. Armitage responded by saying this was not what the US would be interested in, since the current priority of global war on terrorism does not supplant its long-term priority of having partners who share its strong democratic values. Therefore, he emphasized, the two issues should be separated and not connected.

As for his overall opinion of the meetings in Ukraine, and the forecast he could make about the course of upcoming elections, Deputy Secretary Armitage said that he could not make any predictions about the way things would turn out in Ukraine.

In his opinion, he had good discussions with Ukraine's top officials and the opposition leaders, and what needed to be done to maintain sustained and predictable relationships with the United States was clearly understood. Therefore, he could only hope that the right of Ukrainian citizens to express themselves at the ballot box along with all the other rights that surround the process would be maintained, and it was solely up to the leadership of Ukraine to demonstrate their commitment to democratic values.