BRAMA, Sep 11, 2004, 11:00 am ET
Press Release
'Ukraine's Transition to a Stable Democracy' To be Broadcasted via Webcast
UCCA — This year's Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood Roundtable Series will be broadcast live via webcast from the US Library of Congress. Roundtable V: "Ukraine's Transition to a Stable Democracy", will be held on September 13 and 14, 2004, and will begin at 9:00AM EST.
To log on and watch the proceedings (both in the English and Ukrainian languages), please use the following URL, which will host both an English and Ukrainian feed for our audience:
WEBCAST.
This year's Roundtable, the fifth of its kind, will focus on evaluating Ukraine's movement, from both a domestic and an international perspective, toward implementing the political reforms necessary to achieve the country's ultimate stated goal: membership in NATO and the EU.
The two-day conference will run four regular sessions featuring twelve panels, four focus sessions, and two working lunches. In total, more than seventy-five experts from Ukraine, the United States and Europe are expected to address the conference proceedings, including: US Senator John McCain, US Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky, Former US Ambassdor to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke, Former Speaker of the UA Verkhovna Rada Ivan Plyshch and founding member of Poland's Solidarity Henryk Wujec.
Experts from the United States, Ukraine, Poland, Russia, Georgia and the European Union will gather in Washington, DC on September 13-14, 2004, to assess Ukraine's transition to a stable democracy, one month prior to the presidential elections and the next big test for the country's democratic institutions.
More than seventy representatives from government, think tanks and policy advisors including U.S. Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky, US Senator John McCain, former US Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke, Congressman Christopher Smith, Former Speaker of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada and member of "Our Ukraine" Faction MP Ivan Plyshch, Founding Member of Solidarity Henryk Wujec, Senior Fellow, Defense Academy of the United Kingdom/Sandhurst James Sherr, leader of the Georgian Revolution and member of Parliament David Tkeshellashvili, Ambassador of Lithuania to the United States and Mexico Vygaudas Usackas, as well as members of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada, U.S. Department of State and the International Diplomatic Corps - will spend two days evaluating Ukraine's movement, from both a domestic and an international perspective, toward implementing the political reforms necessary to achieve the country's ultimate stated goal: membership in NATO and the EU.
"Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood - Roundtable V: Ukraine's Transition to a Stable Democracy" is the fifth in a series of annual conferences designed to monitor Ukraine's progress towards fuller integration into the Euro-Atlantic community and stronger bilateral relations with the United States.
This year's gathering will be hosted by the US Library of Congress at its prestigious Montpellier Room /James Madison Building. The two-day conference will run four regular sessions featuring twelve panels; four focus sessions, two working lunches and two RT receptions.
Three of the four regular sessions will be devoted to assessing Ukraine's progress in developing (a) the Rule of Law, (b) Civil Society, and (c) the Protection of Fundamental Rights. The final session will compare models of governance in the post-Soviet space and will ask panelists to weigh in on Ukraine's democratic development in comparison with the Russian Federation, the Caucasus Republics, the Central Asian Republics and the Baltic States.
The four focus sessions will ask speakers to address the issue of 'The State of Democracy in Ukraine' from, the Ukrainian, American, British and Polish perspectives, respectively.
Both working lunches will dwell extensively on the topic of the imminent presidential elections in Ukraine. The first lunch will attempt to elicit the opinion of Ukraine's Third Sector and Fourth Estate on the issue. The second will feature representatives from across Ukraine's political spectrum, including leading members of the Tymoshenko Bloc, Our Ukraine, Center, Regions, Democratic Initiatives, SDPU(o) and the Socialist parties and parliamentary caucuses.
UA Quest RTV will be open to the media. Attached is an overview of the program. Media wishing to learn more about the conference - program, participants - or to obtain credential information should contact:
Tamara Gallo Olexy, Executive Coordinator - tel: (212) 228-6840; fax: (212) 254-4721; ucca@ucca.org
Walter Zaryckyj, Program Coordinator - tel: (917) 476-1221; waz1@nyu.edu
Conference Venue - US Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building, 6th Floor, 101 Independence Avenue, SE, Washington, DC.
About The Quest Roundtable Series
The Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood Roundtable Series began when a number of Ukrainian and American organizations convened in April of 2000, to consider ways to encourage a more engaged level of dialogue between the U.S. and Ukraine.
These deliberations gave rise to a commitment: to convene annual conferences that would bring together prominent representatives from academia, the private sector and the governments of Ukraine, the United States and Europe, to monitor Ukraine's progress towards fuller integration into the Euro-Atlantic community and stronger bilateral relations with the United States.
Four such events have been held since the year 2000:
Roundtable I: Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood
Roundtable II: Taking Measure of a U.S. - Ukraine Strategic Partnership
Roundtable III: Ukraine and the Euro-Atlantic Community
Roundtable IV: Ukraine's Transition to a Developed Market Economy
The conferences have resulted in improved cooperation between the governments of Ukraine and the United States on matters of mutual benefit. Furthermore, the forums have proven to be a valuable venue for business-to-business contacts resulting in increased trade and investment between Ukraine and the country's largest foreign investor, the United States. Finally, the series has provided an annual forum for think tanks and policy advisors from both countries to discuss 'topics of the moment' that are of bilateral interest.
Continuing the tradition, Roundtable V: Ukraine's Transition to a Stable Democracy, will take place on September 13 and 14, 2004 in the US Library of Congress, Washington, DC. This year's conference will focus on evaluating Ukraine's movement, from both a domestic and an international perspective, toward implementing the political reforms necessary to achieve the country's ultimate stated goal: membership in NATO and the EU.
A veritable Who's Who from the European and American governmental, NGO and private sectors, including Ivan Plyshch, former Speaker of the UA Verkhovna Rada, Paula Dobriansky, US Undersecretary of State, James Sherr, Senior Fellow, Conflict Studies Research Center, Defense Academy of the United Kingdom/Sandhurst, Henryk Wujec, Founding Member of Poland's Solidarity, John McCain, US Senator from Arizona/Chair of IRI and Richard Holbrooke, Former US Ambassador to the UN, have been invited to provide their assessment of the "State of Democracy" in Ukraine.
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