BRAMA, Jul 25, 2003, 9:00 am ET
Press Release
Open letter to the President of Ukrainian World Congress
Roman Wolchuk
Consulting Engineers
26 Journal Square
Jersey City, NJ 07306
Tel (201) 659-7428; Fax (201) 659-6370
E-mail: wolchuk@bellatlantic.net
23 June 2003
An open letter to:
Dr. Askold Lozynsky
President, Ukrainian World Congress
Dear Dr. Lozynsky,
I was greatly disturbed by your appearance on the TV program
“Kontakt”(broadcast from Philadelphia on June 15, 2003) in which you indiscriminately
criticized former Prime Minister Yushchenko’s presentation. He remains our only hope
for the removal from power of the present corrupt regime in Ukraine and the
establishment of a democratic government committed to the West. With your
statements you have placed yourself in the ranks of those who, at any price, want
to divide the opposition forces in Ukraine in order to retain in power the
ruling oligarchy that is guided only by its own greed, to the detriment of the
interests of Ukraine.
No less irresponsible are your pronouncements in defense of President Kuchma,
who, as you have stated in your letter to “The Ukrainian Weekly,” can be
accused only of “using bad language” in the well known Melnychenko tapes, as well
as your assertions about “press freedom” in Ukraine during your appearance on
the “Kontakt” program. Your comparison of Ukraine in this context to the USA
(“in the US there also is no complete democracy”) reminds me of past
assertions by American “liberals” about the “moral equivalency” of the USSR and the
US. You must be aware that in the USA opposition journalists do not have their
heads chopped off, while in Ukraine dozens of journalists and leading
political activists who opposed Mr. Kuchma have lost their lives. Altogether, it is
difficult to fathom what the motivation is for your constant anti American
declarations, which are completely in line with similar positions by President
Putin.
All of this fully discredits not only you personally, but also UWC in whose
name you present yourself as a spokesman for the Ukrainian diaspora. I hope
that the next UWC congress will elect a president with better qualifications
and political judgement.
With the respect you deserve,
Roman Wolchuk
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