UWC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE DELIBERATES VIA TELECONFERENCE

    The UWC Executive Committee held a teleconference on Saturday, September 17, 2005 with the participation of its President Askold S. Lozynskyj, First VP Eugene Czolij, Secretary General Victor Pedenko, Treasurer Olga Danylak, Financial Director Bohdan Fedorak and Executive Director Lesia Szubelak. The Executive Committee assessed meetings held with government representatives and religious leaders in Kyiv in order to develop follow-up strategies, debated participation in the scheduled IV Forum in Kyiv in November, reviewed decisions and recommendations made at the Board of Director’s meeting for the purpose of their implementation, considered the need for a UWC office in Ukraine and reviewed 2005 fundraising activities.

• develop a strategy for the March 2006 elections;
• executives were urged to consider а person in the President’s administration who would be a liaison between the UWC and the President of Ukraine;
• the treasurer and financial director were entrusted with the function of preparing a membership assessment and dues reevaluation;
• specific funding was addressed of proposals from the Conference of Ukrainian Youth Organizations and World Council on Cultural Affairs.

A SELF-RIGHTEOUS OLD MAN

    Simon Wisenthal, the notorious Nazi-hunter passed away in his sleep on September 20, 2005. No one should dismiss Mr. Wisenthal’s self-proclaimed mantra of justice for Nazi collaborators. Still, Mr. Wisenthal was not simply a good man seeking to do good. He was an overbearing, self-righteous old man who assumed the cloak of  “an angel of justice” and proceeded to do more harm than good. Unsuccessful in apprehending real Nazis, Mr. Wisenthal created enemies. He hurled accusations against members of Ukrainian communities in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. His legacy includes a Center bearing his name in Los Angeles, which continues to make outrageous accusations.  We sincerely hope that his passing marks the end of an era and that his legacy passes with him.

    During the recent visit to the United States of America by President Viktor Yuschenko and his wife in addition to international and U.S. leaders and institutions they were formally welcomed by the UWC leadership and Ukrainian-American community representatives, such as the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Ukrainian American Coordinating Council, Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, Ukrainian Institute of America or ad hoc community committees formed from local structures, i.e. in Philadelphia. There was an aberration, however, when the President of Ukraine and his wife were hosted by a new group calling itself, “The Orange Circle.” The UWC does not comment on the sprouting of new structures within Ukrainian communities anywhere. In fact, in the case of new arrivals from Ukraine, we encourage them to organize.  However, in this instance we perceive a follow-up to recent unfounded attempts by both the President of the United States and U.S. intelligence to assume credit for the Orange revolution and to influence more tangibly events in Ukraine in the future. Additionally, we perceive an attempt to undermine the existing Ukrainian-American community. “The Orange Circle” purported to organize non-Ukrainians in support of Ukraine. Ninety percent of its audience was Ukrainian-American.

UWC URGES VR CHAIR TO PURSUE OUN-UPA RECOGNITION

      On September 6, 2005, Verkhovna Rada (VR) Chair Volodymyr Lytvyn hastily (since he was leaving the same day for the United Nations in New York) submitted an agenda for the ensuing VR session which included the OUN-UPA recognition debate as agreed to by a consensus commission (and as agreed to between Mr. Lytvyn and the UWC delegation on August 19, 2005). Petro Symonenko, the Communist party leader, followed with a vitriolic and offensive diatribe against the OUN-UPA demanding the deletion of this agenda item. With no debate, the agenda was amended in accordance with Mr. Symonenko’s proposal and the revised agenda passed. 

        In a letter dated September 20, 2005, the UWC urged Mr. Lytvyn to correct this egregious mishap by reintroducing the OUN-UPA agenda item. We await further developments.