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By Natalka Gawdiak, Journalist
Invited participants included heads or representatives of Ukrainian American organizations, U.S. government agencies, senior Congressional assistants, U.S. business community, think tanks, and the media. Ihor Gawdiak, President of the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council, served as the briefing's moderator. Meeting arrangements were made by Morgan Williams, AUC Coordinator and Editor of AUC's "The Action Ukraine Report." The meeting was held in the conference room of the Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs. Both in his opening remarks and in answer to questions following, Pifer emphatically rejected the notion that U.S.-Ukrainian relations are determined primarily by Ukraine's commitment and contribution to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He insisted that the question of democracy in Ukraine remains the most important consideration for U.S. policy toward Ukraine and that no issue is going to have more impact on U.S.-Ukraine relations than what happens during the run-up to the October presidential elections. He reminded his audience that this was the message Deputy Secretary of State Armitage delivered during his recent visit to Ukraine both publicly and in private talks with President Kuchma.
U.S. CONCERNS Pifer listed a number of U.S. concerns connected with presidential election campaign in Ukraine: increasing pressure on the independent media, with specific reference to the shutdown of broadcast outlets for Radio Liberty, increased pressure from such state agencies as the State Tax Administration on opposition candidates or businesses that support the opposition, and the manipulation of local elections. The U.S. believes that the proposed Constitutional change, especially its timing--"a major shift in the Constitution against the backdrop of an election year" is not advisable. Such a major change ought to be the subject of previous discussion by a broad segment of Ukrainian society and not just a determination made within the Rada. The U.S. recommended that this be deferred. In as much as Ukraine wants to eventually join NATO, the United States has continually stressed that while "NATO is a defensive alliance, it is also a community of values, and democracy is a big element of that." If Ukraine wants to draw closer to NATO and the European Union, "it has to develop a democratic system which is seen as compatible with those that are the norm in Western Europe." Pifer emphasized that most members of NATO share the U.S.'s concerns about Ukraine.
DEMOCRATIC, FAIR, AND TRANSPARENT ELECTIONS Ambassador Pifer concluded his opening remarks by stating that the United States is "not concerned with who wins the election, our focus is on the process; we want to see a process that is free and fair and one that meets the standards that Ukraine is committed to as a member of the OSCE. We want to see a level playing field. We want to see the abuses of democratic processes ended. We want opposition candidates to be able to speak freely and independently, and we want to see a situation in which the media is able to cover what issues it chooses, how it chooses, when it chooses." "We are looking at ways to get Radio Liberty back on the air because it has a well earned reputation for objective broadcasting, and we think that would be a real asset to Ukraine in the campaign. We will have a presence on the ground in Mukachevo to demonstrate our interest in the May 18th election there." The Ambassador noted that various U.S. officials and members of Congress will be going to Ukraine, and private individuals will also be asked to stress the democracy issue. He also said that he would be in Ukraine in 10 days to see how the "democracy situation" has developed. He also revealed that he will be meeting with opposition figures as well.
Mr. Pifer replied that Deputy Secretary of State Armitage visited three weeks ago and carried a message from President Bush as well to President Kuchma, focused on democracy and a free and fair election. This was the highest level person from the U.S. in the last two and a half years. No decisions on others have been made yet. "It is something we are thinking about," he said. When a questioner stated that during the Armitage visit to Ukraine, the Iraq issue totally trumped the "democracy message" the U.S. supposedly emphasized, Mr. Pifer said if anyone doubted the strength of the U.S. message, they could visit the State Department website and read the Armitage transcript. Some participants, not satisfied by the U.S. reaction to negative developments in Ukraine, pressed the Ambassador for specifics on anticipated U.S. reaction to these developments. What steps were actually going to follow the words that we are expressing in favor of fostering democracy? For example, are we just merely going to say "we hope" that Radio Liberty can get back on the air? What steps are we willing to take? "Words don't seem to be working," one participant asserted.
About 30% of the Freedom Support Act going to Ukraine is for democracy programs--monitoring, support for independent media. "We are pretty comfortable that we have targeted as much as we can in resource terms." "We can debate about whether or not there are gaps."."Ultimately, however," he said, "it is going to be a Ukrainian decision.we don't have a magic way to make that election happen democratically." Asked if the U.S. would compensate the family of the Ukrainian camera man Taras Protsuk, a Reuters employee killed by U.S. friendly fire while embedded in Iraq a year ago, the answer was also in the negative. "That was a tragedy; we regret that it happened, but the context was important to remember. It was a combat situation. We did request a report from the U.S. Central Command, and we shared that with Ukrainian authorities. Journalists made a conscious decision to go into a war situation and that entails some risk."
Ambassador Pifer agreed that Ukraine has met the requirements of Jackson-Vanick and stated that the Administration would be in favor of graduation from it should Congress propose such legislation. He stressed that the decisions that are made now in Ukraine will affect the country 10 years down the road. "The economy is moving in the right direction; it needs to move faster, but the question is can Ukraine get it right democratically," the Ambassador concluded. |
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