Foreign Minister Tarasyuk at the UIA

On Friday evening September 24, a Ukrainian Community meeting was held with Borys Tarasyuk, Foreign Affairs Minister of Ukraine, at the Ukrainian Institute of America in NYC. The meeting was sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN, the Consulate General of Ukraine in NYC and The Institute itself. It was moderately well attended, the UIA's hall three-quarters filled with guests.

Mr. Tarasyuk has been Ukraine's senior Foreign Affairs official since April 1998. His diplomatic career is extensive beginning in 1975 and he has progressed and risen through a variety of positions, each with greater challenges and responsibility. Since assuming his current assignment, he has faced several important issues - attempting to preempt military confrontation between Yugoslavia/Serbia and NATO; working against the aloofness of the European Union with respect to the EU's prior commitments to Ukraine; attempting to resolve Russia and Ukraine's bilateral problems, including their unratified interstate treaty and Black Sea Fleet agreements, border disputes with respect to the Azov Sea and Kerch Strait, and disposition of ex-USSR assets.

"No comment" about the UIA podium.

Opening remarks and coordination of the meeting were handled by Volodymyr Baranetsky, one of the UIA's senior board members. After acknowledging and offering greetings to various members of Ukraine's UN delegation and Consulate members in attendance, Mr. Baranetsky turned the podium over to the Foreign Minister.

True to the nature of a seasoned diplomat, Mr. Tarasyuk's talk was polite and even-tempered in tone and oblique and broad-level in nature, more akin to the overview remarks of a CEO reporting at an annual meeting to shareholders, emotional/cultural shareholders in this case. With respect to Ukraine's external relations, he discussed Ukraine's ongoing discussions with NATO, resolving issues with the European Union, challenges in working with his Russian counterpart Ivanov, along with underscoring the completion of border treaties with Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, and other states. He characterized this work often with the phrase, "Ми шукаємо друзів (we are looking for partners)."

The Foreign Minister receives a gift offered by Mr. Baranetsky on behalf of the UIA

On the subject of the upcoming elections in Ukraine, Mr. Tarasyuk made his most emphatic remarks of the evening. He stressed that unequivocally the election should be seen as a mutually exclusive set of choices: 1-keeping Ukraine on track as a sovereign nation, or 2-in the candidacies of Moroz, Vitrenko, Symonenko, and Tkachenko a push to a return to a Union.

Last, with the beginning of this year's UN assembly, sitting at the top of Ukraine's UN delegation's agenda is to secure a seat on the Security Council.

There were many questions for Mr. Tarasyuk, broaching subjects such as the prosecution of former Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko and reclamation of his stolen assets, etc. In keeping with the tone which Mr. Tarasyuk set in his talk, his responses acknowledged the issues raised, gave assurances on actions, but were elusive as to their form.

At the close, Mr. Tarasyuk thanked the audience for their support and was honored with gifts from the UNWLA (Ukrainian National Women's League of America) presented by Mrs. Iryna Kurowycky (President of UNWLA), and from the UIA, presented by Mr. Baranetsky. The evening ended with a reception where guests and diplomats mingled enjoying the hospitality of the Institute.

A. Krill, BRAMA, Inc.,
September 25, 1999

More Community Press Releases -- Click Here
Comments and observations about this article and other news
may be posted to the Press Comment Board