*EPF214 12/28/2004
Excerpt: Powell Hails Ukraine Election as "Historic Moment for Democracy"
(United States has supported "democratic process, not a particular candidate") (1000)
Secretary of State Colin Powell has hailed Ukraine����s December 26 repeat run-off presidential election as ����an historic moment for democracy in Ukraine.����
Citing a statement from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that, while some shortcomings remain, the overall vote brought Ukraine substantially closer to meeting international democratic standards, Powell said at a December 27 briefing: ����The Ukrainian people can truly be proud of this achievement.����
After congratulating Ukrainians for the courage they displayed in standing up for their democratic rights, he called on them ����now to set their divisions behind them and to refrain from violence, separatism or provocations.����
He noted that the United States has supported a democratic process, not a particular presidential candidate. ����We have said that we are prepared to work closely with the winner of Sunday's election as long as the election was won in a free and fair contest. We are prepared to move forward on many issues of importance to Ukraine," he said.
He took issue with those who cast the election in terms of East versus West.
����I don����t expect this to be a blot on U.S.-Russian relations,���� he said. ����We����ll move forward.����
Ukrainians have to live ����with both the East and the West,���� he said.
Powell commented on the election in Ukraine and the upcoming elections in Iraq during the briefing on the Asian tsunami.
Following are the excerpts from the briefing concerning Ukraine:
(begin excerpt)
Washington, D.C.
December 27, 2004
Secretary Colin L. Powell
On-the-Record Briefing with Assistant Administrator for United States Agency for International Development Ed Fox
(12:30 p.m. EST)
[����
SECRETARY POWELL: ����Before taking questions, I just might take note of the Ukrainian election. This is an historic moment for democracy in Ukraine. While the results of Sunday's election are not yet official, it appears that the Ukrainian people finally had an opportunity to choose freely their next president. As the OSCE observers mission indicated in its statement, while some shortcomings remain, the overall vote brought Ukraine substantially closer to meeting international democratic standards: campaign conditions were more equal; observers received fewer reports of pressure on voters; the election administration was more transparent and the media more balanced than in previous rounds. The Ukrainian people can truly be proud of this achievement.
Throughout the Ukrainian presidential campaign, the United States has supported a democratic process, not a particular candidate. We congratulate Ukrainians for the courage they displayed in standing up for their democratic rights. We call on Ukrainians now to set their divisions behind them and to refrain from violence, separatism or provocations. We have said that we are prepared to work closely with the winner of Sunday's election as long as the election was won in a free and fair contest. We are prepared to move forward on many issues of importance to Ukraine. ����
QUESTION: Ukraine, please?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, let's go to Ukraine first.
QUESTION: Let's try Ukraine. Need it be an open sore, so far as U.S.-Russian relations are concerned? You accused them of meddling. And by the way, I know at least one think tank who says the U.S.'s hands aren't all that clean; they didn't just train judges, you had money going through the National Endowment and, second, going to Yushchenko, that the U.S. was engaged, too.
But anyhow, what's the future? Is this a blot on U.S.-Russian relations?
SECRETARY POWELL: No, I don't think so. And in fact, statements coming out of Moscow today suggest that they will accept the results of the election as well.
We have used for years organizations such as the National Endowment for Democracy to assist civic society in learning how to participate in open, free elections, and that is what we have done in this instance as well. And all we wanted to see was a full, free, fair election, and that appears now to be what happened yesterday. And we will wait for the official results, which should be out later this week, and I don't expect this to be a blot on U.S.-Russian relations. We'll move forward.
Ukrainians chose for themselves. They did not choose for the East or for the West. They have to live with both the East and the West. And let's all join together now and see what we can do to help Ukraine.
[����
QUESTION: One on Ukraine. Back to Ukraine. As you look to support the new government and its ambitions for greater integration with European and the U.S. institutions, what specifically can you do to help them, and is there anything concrete that you're looking for the government to do?
SECRETARY POWELL: We have, of course, relations with Ukraine and we have regular contact with them. We don't believe that it is in anyone's interest to suggest that Ukraine belongs either to the East or the West. It belongs to the world. Ukrainians own Ukraine. And what we're going to do is work with the Ukrainians to help them achieve their dreams and aspirations, help them improve their economy, and to help them improve their relations with us and with the rest of the world.
And so we will wait until the election results have been certified and there is a new government, and then we will engage with the new government as to how best they think we can assist them in their efforts to move forward with respect to economic development, civil society, military-to-military relations. And I'm quite confident that the new Ukrainian Government will be seeking the same kind of dialogue with the Russian Federation, with the European Union and all of the other countries in the region that it wishes to have good relations with.
[����
Released on December 27, 2004
(end excerpt)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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