You're reading: Yanukovych condemns attempts to undermine unity

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has congratulated his compatriots on the Unity Day, which is marked in Ukraine on January 22.

"This date and this action by the Ukrainian people left their descendents an example and a prototype for future unity. Many years have passed since then, but the desire of Ukrainians to live in a united state has always strengthened our nation as a mature, international community that is able to build a strong, peaceful democratic state," the presidential press service quoted Yanukovych on Friday as saying in his address to Ukrainians.

In his address, the head of state strongly condemned "any attempts to undermine the unity of our people and attempts to set one part of our citizens against the other."

"I’m a supporter of seeking something that is common to our people, no matter whether they live – in the west or the east of Ukraine," Yanukovych said.

He recalled that Ukrainians are united by their "desire to live in prosperity and peace and to be able to guarantee a future for their children and a worthy old age for the elderly."

"The date of January 22 again gives us an example of unity around common values," Yanukovych said.

The Ukrainian Unity Day was established in 1999 by a presidential decree to mark the political and historical significance of the unification of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic in 1919 into one independent Ukrainian state.