[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 122 (Friday, October 1, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         UKRAINE-U.S. RELATIONS

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                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 30, 2004

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to submit the following article 
for the Record.

        Comment: Ukraine-U.S. Relations Hinge on Fall Elections

        (By Richard Holbrooke, Jan Kalicki and Mark Brzezinski)

       Sept. 27.--Americans are increasingly focused on our 
     pivotal presidential choice on Nov. 2. But many may not be 
     aware that partway around the world, at the doorstep of an 
     expanded Europe, the citizens of Ukraine will be making an 
     important choice in their Oct. 31 elections for president.
       Ukrainians will decide whether a pro-Western reformer, 
     Viktor Yushchenko, or a pro-Russian statist, Viktor 
     Yanukovich, will be elected. That choice is theirs and theirs 
     alone to make. But friends of Ukraine can certainly express 
     concern about issues at stake. The first issue is the freedom 
     and fairness of the election process--to ensure that the 
     power of the incumbent president, who cannot run again, is 
     not mobilized to suppress open debate and unfettered choice. 
     There is reason for concern, because oligarchic interests 
     will likely try to stack the political deck, and to protect 
     ill-gotten gains from past and pending privatizations.
       The second issue affects the United States even more 
     directly, for Ukrainians will decide whether to support those 
     who favor integration into NATO and the European Union, or 
     those who favor realignment with Russia and Belarus, the 
     latter already under the sway of an unsavory dictator.
       After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last 
     month, Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma amended his 
     government's national security doctrine to turn away from 
     NATO and the EU. The impact was felt immediately: Instead of 
     continuing to plan to transport Caspian oil from the Black 
     Sea to central Europe and eventually the Baltic, Kuchma now 
     plans to transport Russian oil to the Black Sea and further 
     congest the environmentally sensitive Turkish Straits.
       Both the EU and the Turkish government have expressed deep 
     concern about this development. But the Bush administration 
     has been largely silent.
       Our European and Turkish allies recognize the stakes. Will 
     a country of 48 million people, almost the size of Texas, 
     have the opportunity to pursue a common destiny with its 
     neighbors to the north and west? Or will Ukraine take a 
     course in which new lines could be drawn across post-Cold 
     War Europe? Will energy flows continue to be subject to 
     control by Russian monopolies, or will they reach markets 
     competitively and support the freedom of Ukraine and the 
     Caspian states?
       Strategically located between a newly assertive Russia and 
     an expanded NATO and EU, Ukraine can be a bridge to increased 
     cooperation between these two realms. Or it can create new 
     grounds for division. What remains to be seen is whether this 
     pivotal European country will take the path of reform or the 
     path of increased state control. This decision will impact a 
     similar drama being played out between reformers and statists 
     across the vast expanse of Russia itself. The most important 
     interest here is to create durable political, economic and 
     security ties engaging the Euro-Atlantic community with both 
     Russia and Ukraine.
       Americans can make clear where we stand: with those in 
     Ukraine supporting free and democratic choice. With our 
     European allies, we can make clear that EU and NATO doors are 
     open if Ukrainians choose the path of integration and reform. 
     But this brings us back to our own elections in November. 
     There is one candidate who believes in democratic action, 
     rather than ideology, and favors making common cause with our 
     allies. There is another who has failed to do so, to the 
     great detriment of America's vital national security 
     interests. The stakes in the United States, as in Ukraine, 
     could not be higher.

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