Yushchenko Signals New Direction for Ukraine

Published: 24 January 2005 y., Monday
Viktor Yushchenko was sworn in as the third president of post-Soviet Ukraine Sunday, capping months of political turmoil that saw the nation turn away from traditional Russian influence toward the West. The wait is over for Viktor Yushchenko. After enduring weeks of roller-coaster like chaos in his country, a life-threatening poisoning attack, election fraud and an appeal before the country’s Supreme Court, the 50-year-old hero of the “orange revolution” finally saw his ambitions realized on Sunday when he was sworn in as Ukraine’s president. With his hand on the constitution and the Bible, Yushchenko read aloud the oath of office during a parliament ceremony attended by hundreds of international guests, including outgoing US Secretary of State Colin Powell, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and presidents of several former Soviet satellite states. Yushchenko, who takes over after a decade of authoritarian-leaning rule by Leonid Kuchma, has vowed to eradicate corruption and build a country with a transparent economy and institutions. He aims to move his country closer to mainstream Europe and cooperate more with the European Union. Ukraine borders the 25-nation bloc, but in the past has turned more towards Moscow than Brussels.
Šaltinis: dw-world.de
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

President to attend informal meeting of the European Council in Brussels

President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė goes for a working visit to Brussels to attend an informal meeting of the European Council. more »

Dalia Grybauskaitė congratulated President of Latvia on Independence Day

President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended congratulations to President Valdis Zatlers and the people of Latvia on their national holiday - Independence Day. more »

Lithuania’s foreign Minister: our presence in Afghanistan is for our own security

On 16 November in Brussels, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas took part in the joint meeting of European Union’s foreign and defence ministers with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. more »

Energy security problems discussed by Lithuanian and Polish Presidents

Wednesday, November 11, President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė met with President of the Republic of Poland Lech Kaczyński. more »

Baltic Chiefs of Defence Staffs meet in Nemenčinė

On November 5-6 meeting of the Baltic Chiefs of Defence Staffs of the Baltic States will be held in Nemenčinė, Gen. Ramanauskas Warfare Training Centre (Vilnius Region). more »

Ušackas: “The EU must become a mentor for Ukraine”

The interview of Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas to the daily Die Presse about his country’s sensitive relations with Russia, about perspectives for Kiev and bad American PR in the antiballistic missile defence debate. more »

Lithuanian Head of State Vytautas Landsbergis in Tokyo as keynote speaker on the Lithuanian contribution to freedom and unification in Europe

Professor Vytautas Landsbergis, outstanding Lithuanian politician and cultural figure, is invited as a keynote speaker and will deliver a report on the Lithuanian contribution to European freedom and unification in 1988-1989. more »

President: Payments to mitigate climate change should be distributed proportionately

President of the Republic of Lithuania participating in her first session of the European Council strongly defends interests of the Baltic countries and other new Member States of the EU at the commencing discussion among the European leaders concerning the common position to be upheld in the upcoming world-wide meeting in Copenhagen on the issue of mitigation of consequences of climate change. more »

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister condemns the terrorist attack against the United Nations employees in Kabul

Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas offers his most sincere condolences to the families of those who have lost their loved ones during the terrorist act in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on 28 October. more »

Dalia Grybauskaitė congratulated President of Turkey on national holiday

President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended congratulations to President Abdullah Gül on the 86th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey. more »