Ukrainian Canadian

It’s not a federal law like their Canadian counterparts were able to do almost two years ago, but the Democrats in the US have passed a resolution recognizing the Holodomor as genocide:

Last Saturday, at its Winter Meeting, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) adopted a Resolution “Honoring the Holodomor victims, survivors and their families.”

…

The DNC expressed its “sympathies to the victims, survivors and families affected by Holodomor” and expressed support for the construction of the monument honoring Holodomor as authorized by Congress and signed into law as P.L. 109-340.

…

“On behalf of the Ukrainian-American community, we would like to extend our heart-felt thanks to the DNC members for their sensitivity to this issue.  We are grateful that Democrats understand the importance of recognizing an event such as Holodomor and its role in preventing future atrocities and genocide.”
Read the rest of the article

The full text of the law P.L. 109-340 reads:

Resolution Honoring the Holodomor Victims, Survivors and Their Families

WHEREAS, the Holodomor (Famine-Genocide) in Ukraine, perpetrated by the totalitarian government of the Soviet Union and its dictator Joseph Stalin in 1932-33 was one of the greatest crimes in history;

WHEREAS, the Soviet Government deliberately seized the entire grain harvest in Ukraine during the final phase of Stalin’s collectivization policy in the First Five Year Plan;

WHEREAS, this action resulted in widespread starvation throughout the countryside in Soviet Ukraine;

WHEREAS, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin ordered the borders of Ukraine sealed to prevent anyone from escaping the man-made starvation;

WHEREAS, the deliberate starvation of the Ukrainian population in the countryside was accompanied by mass arrests, executions and deportations to Siberia of thousands of people from Ukraine’s cultural, political and religious sectors;

WHEREAS, the Soviet government manipulated and censored foreign journalists to prevent news of the man-made famine from being communicated to the world;

WHEREAS, New York Times correspondent Walter Duranty knowingly denied the existence of the famine, even as he privately said the Famine had claimed as many as 10 million victims;

WHEREAS, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin used the same number of victims when he told

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill about his campaign to impose collectivization;

WHEREAS, Holodomor scholar Robert Conquest conservatively estimates 7 million victims of the Famine, including those of non-Ukrainian nationalities;

WHEREAS, the 1988 Report to Congress of the United States Commission on the Ukraine Famine estimates that upwards of 8 million or more victims of the Holodomor;

WHEREAS, after exhaustive study the United States Commission on the Ukraine Famine concluded that the victims of the Holodomor were “starved to death in a manmade famine” and that “Joseph Stalin and those around him committed genocide against Ukrainians in 1932-33”;

WHEREAS, on November 8, 2008 the Ukrainian Parliament (Rada) determined the Holodomor to be a deliberate policy of Genocide against the Ukrainian nation, orchestrated by Joseph Stalin and the Soviet government;

WHEREAS, on October 13, 2006 the President of the United States signed into law P.L.109-340 authorizing the Government of Ukraine to “establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia to honor the victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932-33”;

WHEREAS, the U.S. House of Representatives on September 23, 2008 passed H.Res.1314 to commemorate the 76th Anniversary of the Holodomor with 7-10 million victims;

WHEREAS, President Barack Obama recognized the 76th Anniversary of Holodomor Remembrance Day stating that “remembering the victims of the man-made catastrophe of Holodomor provides us an opportunity to reflect upon the plight of all those who have suffered the consequences of extremism and tyranny around the world. We hope that the remembrance of Holodomor will help prevent such tragedy in the future;”

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that The Democratic National Committee extend its sympathies to the victims, survivors and families affected by the Holodomor and join the Ukrainian-American community and its friends in condemning the atrocity perpetrated by the Soviet Government and encouraging appropriate commemoration of this crime and its victims, including construction of the monument authorized by the Congress of the United States and signed into law by the President as P.L. 109-340

Congrats to everyone who made it possible.

From the LA Times:

World heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko has been spotted by People magazine lounging on the beach and attending the Golden Globes with “Heroes” star Hayden Panettiere, spending the last month-plus in Los Angeles as he prepares for a busy year of fighting.

In a Wednesday telephone conversation with The Times, Klitschko, 34, said he and Panettiere have enjoyed dining and taking in shows in Hollywood, downplaying the connection at first — “that’s an old story” — but when he was asked if he was in love, he answered, “Yes, I am.”

Inspired to join the A-list?

“As heavyweight champion of the world, I think it’s automatic that I’m already there, right?” Klitschko asked.

Pause.

“I rely on my own

performance to get there, not on gossip,” he said. “It’s all good with us, but I’d like to rely on my own performance to be noticed, not by who I’m with.”

Klitschko (55-3, 49 KOs) would like that notoriety to include a July 2 bout against Britain’s World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion David Haye,

…

If Haye doesn’t happen, Klitschko said he will fight Poland’s former world cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek in September at a new soccer stadium in Poland. If Klitschko-Haye gets made, then it’ll be WBC champion Vitali vs. Adamek.

“We’re a team,” WBO and IBF champion Wladimir said of his brother. “We’ll unify all the heavyweight titles under our family’s name and that’s our goal for this year.”

Klitschko invited his Southland fans to come watch him fight overseas.

“My brother had a day named after him on the official Los Angeles calendar; we both live out here a bit and my girlfriend’s from here,” he said.

Read the rest of the article

What can I say – I’m jealous!

Most of Ukrainian-related Wikileaks news you read about is Libyan leader Gaddafi’s ‘voluptuous’ nurse Galyna Kolotnytska. But among the many cables released this week it revealed Russia using political pressure to force countries into denying the Holodomor as Ukrainian genocide:

It says that Aliyev (President of Azerbaijan) had received a document from President Medvedev indicating that in case Azerbaijan recognizes Ukrainian famine as “genocide” in the UN, he can forget about Nagorno-Karabakh. Prince Andrew confirmed that other presidents had also received such instructions from Moscow

Nagorno-Karabakh is an unrecognized state vying for independence between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

It was also seen in the cables Russia’s talks with Israel on Ukrainian statehood and the Holodomor:

Lavrov (Russian Finance Minister) raised Russian concern with "historical revisionism" regarding the Soviet Era and Second World War, which, he said, was particularly acute in Eastern Europe but was also present in Israel. He cited Israel’s official recognition of the Holodomor, the 1930s famine that occurred in Ukraine. Lieberman explained that by recognizing this tragedy, Israel had not said Russia was guilty of causing it, nor that it was an act of genocide.

The ‘historical revisionism’ that deviates of course from the official Soviet view, ignoring atrocities and the fact it was a Nazi ally that started WWII. The cables from French diplomats reveal more of Russia’s true directives towards Ukraine:

while noting that it may take a generation before the Russian public will be able to accept their loss of influence, from Poland and the Baltics to Ukraine and Georgia. Unfortunately, the Russian tendency is
to view "good neighbors" as totally submissive subordinates.

..

French President Sarkozy was "convinced" that Ukraine would one day be a member of NATO, but that there was no point in rushing the process and antagonizing Russia, particularly if the Ukrainian public was largely against membership.

And some interesting cables from German diplomats too:

Taking a hard line against EU membership not only for Turkey but also for Ukraine. The CSU could lump Turkey and  Ukraine together so neither country could feel singled out  for bad treatment.

..

The winter gas crisis made Germans rethink Russia, reliability as a supplier, but the lack of alternatives and the desirability of gas as a clean energy source have left the government resigned to dependency on Russia in the near-to-medium term.

..

We expect Germany to be less forgiving of Russian bullying of its eastern European neighbors through cut-offs of natural gas supplies, especially given the departure of former Foreign Minister Steinmeier — known for his relatively pro-Russian views.

Some US-related cables paints US-Ukraine relations in a more positive light:

Vershbow (US Assistant Secretary of Defense) criticized as “counter-productive” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s vitriolic open letter of August 2009, which attacked then-Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko’s “anti-Russian” policies.

…

“Vershbow emphasized that Russia’s efforts to assert a regional sphere of influence posed a threat to the reset in bilateral relations, and reiterated the U.S. commitment to the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Georgia, Ukraine and other partners in the region.” He added that the U.S. didn’t see Russian-Ukrainian relations as a “zero-sum game.”

All Ukraine related cables are availalble from Pravda. What else will come out from these cables? Meanwhile ex-Canadian aides are calling for the Wikileaks’ founders assassination! And Stepan Bandera provides some great insight on these new Wikileaks developments

As WikiLeaks begins releasing over 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables this week, out of the 2,000 that originated out of Canada there’s at least one in the pile that deals with the ‘Canadian Ukrainian Community’ concerning the Orange Revolution:

Date: December 07, 2004

Source: Embassy Ottawa

Address: 490 Sussex Drive Ottawa, K1P 5T1

Tags: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, UP, CA, Canadian Ukrainian Community, Elections

No idea what the cable contains, but as the full data set gets released this week it will be very interesting to see what it’s about.

The US Department of State today slammed Ukraine’s local elections that were held last Sunday for being less free and open than in previous elections and the quality of these elections had regressed:

Preliminary reports from election monitors suggest that Ukraine’s October 31 local elections did not meet standards for openness and fairness set by the presidential elections earlier this year. Domestic and international election observation efforts, most notably those led by the widely-respected domestic, non-partisan monitor OPORA, reported numerous procedural violations on election day. While election observers recognized improvements in the accuracy of voters lists since the presidential contest, they also noted shortcomings, such as insufficient training for electoral commission members, which contributed to the procedural violations and to organizational problems.

Ukraine’s local election law, passed in July, was cited as a source of problems on election day by election observers and international experts. Some difficulties precipitated by the new law, such as blocking the participation of new parties, were lessened or ended by the revisions ordered by President Yanukovych in September. However, other aspects of the law and of pre-election regulations and procedures challenged the placement of the names of some candidates on ballots, allowed for reported cases of improper use of administrative resources during the electoral campaign, established unbalanced electoral commission membership, and created complicated registration and voting procedures.

President Yanukovych has recognized the need to bring electoral legislation into line with international standards through a consultative process. The United States is prepared to assist Ukraine in support of electoral code reform.

Anna German, Yanukovych’s spokeswoman, rejected the criticism:

‘The definition of democracy is not set in stone,’ she said. Democracy in every country has its own peculiarities, and in Ukraine as well…And we in Ukraine can also draw conclusions from US elections.’

Read the rest of the article

The Financial Times provided more analysis:

The weekend election was the first since Mr Yanukovich took over as president and is seen as a test of his democratic credentials.

The hard-hitting comments indicate that Mr Yanukovich is seen as failing to fully uphold his promise to preserve democratic gains made since the 2004 Orange Revolution. Back then, a vote rigged in his favour was overturned amid massive pro-democracy protests.

…

A spokesperson for Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said she was concerned about reports of irregularities during the elections – particularly since Ukraine had been building a record for polls that met international standards.

“They undermine public confidence in the electoral process and in the further consolidation of democracy in Ukraine,” the spokesperson said.

On Tuesday, the US-based National Democratic Institute, one of the financers of the Kiev-based OPORA, issued a strongly worded statement, saying: “The environment surrounding Ukraine’s October 31 local elections has deteriorated compared to the situation during the presidential election earlier this year”.

On Monday, Mykola Azarov, Ukraine’s prime minister and an ally of Mr Yanukovich, insisted the elections were “democratic”.

In a television address to the nation on Tuesday, Mr Yanukovich called upon the country to proceed with everyday life, saying: “The local election in Ukraine is over.” But he conceded that problems existed with the vote, saying: “I recognise that the elections had technical flaws and were complex.”

Attention will now fall on the assessment given by European Union leaders. Lady Ashton will closely follow the completion of the electoral process, including the way votes are tabulated and the response to complaints and appeals, her spokesperson said.

The EU has tried to emphasise the importance of democratic reforms and the rule of law as it develops a relationship with Mr Yanukovich.

Since taking over as president, Mr Yanukovich has pledged to uphold democracy and improve relations with Russia while keeping Ukraine on a path towards EU integration. But the opposition and pro-democracy activists accuse him of cracking down on democracy and press freedom.

As during the Orange Revolution, when Moscow backed Mr Yanukovich’s candidacy, Russian observers have dubbed the vote as fair.

…

Largely controlled by oligarchs backing Mr Yanukovich, Ukraine’s main television channels and news agencies were seen to be citing observers that backed up Mr Yanukovich’s claim that the vote was democratic.

The findings of OPORA were largely kept off the airwaves, feeding criticism that Mr Yanukovich is attempting to copy the success of Russia’s Vladimir Putin in setting up a “managed democracy”.

Read the rest of the article

Not a good sign at all, is the US & Europe coming in a little too late after giving such a free pass in the Presidential elections?