Editor’s Note: The following is an English-language translation of President Viktor Yanukovych’s remarks on Ukraine’s 20th anniversary, taken from his official website at http://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/20963.html.
Twenty years is enough time for a human to develop.But in the growth of a state, they are only the first steps. Our main achievement at this moment in history is clear understanding of our common goal.
We know what to do and understand how to achieve it.We have defined a development strategy and we have enough political will to realize it.
Our goal is a European, democratic and prosperous Ukraine, a free state where people feel secure, and it will be achieved.And we hope for the support of all Europeans on the way.
On Aug. 24, 1991, Ukraine was reborn as an independent state, as an integral part of the European family of free nations.The dream of many generations came true.
The spirit of unity, willpower of the nation, faith in a better future were realized.The Act of Declaration of Independence became an important step on our country’s historical path.
Since then and forever, the future of Ukraine has been in the hands of its nation.By supporting the Verkhovna Rada’s decision in a referendum on Dec. 1, 1991, Ukrainian society made a final choice in favor of sovereignty and responsibility for its own actions.
Romantic admiration of the fact of independence has grown into a need for real action.The need now is for a pragmatic, informed and responsible approach to every decision.
The Ukrainian idea of independence has become a unifying force, the pillars of which were and are fundamental values: freedom, humanism, democracy, tolerance, justice, and social cohesion.
The 20 years that have passed since then were not easy.Harsh reality has destroyed hopes for a rapid improvement of life, building a prosperous free society and democratic state governed by the rule of law in a short time.
Romantic admiration of the fact of independence has grown into a need for real action.The need now is for a pragmatic, informed and responsible approach to every decision.
It is not the first decade that society has been struggling to overcome the Soviet legacy.No matter how painful it is to recognize, the state has often been behind its neighbors in development.
Through all these years, corruption has been eroding the management system, making it difficult for Ukrainians to breathe freely.
But despite the difficulties, the main step has already been taken: We have finally decided our future.Our European choice has become the basis of Ukraine’s foreign political identity. European values have become the foundation of our development.
Ukraine not only wishes to be a European country.This geographical fact does not require extra proof.
We wish to join the great European project – building a united Europe based on the values of freedom, democracy and law.
We wish to join it at a difficult time, seeking not subsidies or indulgences, but opportunities and rights … to join it, despite the hard pressure and conscious hindering, as equal partners … to join it for our common future.
We believe that the association agreement and establishing a deep and comprehensive free-trade area is what Ukraine and the European Union need now.We hope our partners understand that, too. Ukraine is difficult to call opportunistic or inconsistent.
For centuries, even in the toughest conditions, our society has remained European. Our best representatives have put much into the cultural treasury of Europe.
Evidence of our heritage are the golden-domed Kyiv, the medieval Lviv, the diverse Odesa, the modern-constructivist Kharkiv.
We cannot imagine the Ukrainian land without the ancient Greek Olbia, Genoese Sudak and Feodosia, Jewish shtetls and Polish palaces.Our history is rich and multicolored. Our people are multinational and it is our common world heritage.
We understand importance of relations with the world’s leading country – the US
We are united not only by the past, but also by the present, and, I am sure, by the future. Examples are many, as are possibilities.
Next year, together with our strategic partner Poland, Ukraine will be hosting the UEFA European Football Championship finals – Euro 2012.
This event will give European Union citizens another chance to see today’s Ukraine, and to Ukrainians – the chance to communicate with tourists and fans from the EU.
Ukraine needs not only economic cooperation, but, first of all, the radical expansion of human contacts with the European Union.
Not government, but society, every citizen needs that.The Ukrainian government will do everything to implement the national plan to introduce visa-free travel.
We hope the EU will understand our capabilities and limitations, and help Ukrainian citizens to exercise their right to freedom of movement.
Ukraine realizes that our European progress is impossible without good relations with Russia.
Years of independence have irrefutably proven that such relations are possible only in strict compliance with bilateral balance of national interests and mutual respect.
The state and its government will do everything in their power to construct such a balance.
We understand the importance of relations with the leading country of the world – the United States, and hope these relations will be developing further in the coming years.
Realizing the enormous potential available here is our main goal.
It is absurd to neglect relations with the People’s Republic of China in the world of today. Over the last year, much has been done for the development of these relations, and this is only the beginning of a promising cooperation.
National pragmatism, based on the interests of Ukrainian citizens, is our roadmap to building relations with other states.
The world respects the strong.Ukraine will continue reforming the armed forces, other security sector agencies, introducing European principles and standards, developing cooperation with NATO and other security institutions in Europe.
We contribute to international stability and security, resolution of conflicts on the basis of strict compliance with international law, and not only in Europe.Ukrainian peacekeepers perform the complex tasks of maintaining peace in Asia and Africa.
We realize that the road to Europe runs through every village and town of our country. This road will be paved not only by diplomats, but by all of us – citizens of Ukraine of all nationalities, those for whom statehood is not just a word, but a common cause.
Ukraine urgently needs modernization of all areas of public life.Further delay threatens not stagnation, but a slow suicide of the state.In order to avoid tragedy we have stepped on the path of reform.
This decision was not easy. Although we may not always succeed, the direction is correct and there is no doubt about it.
We set ambitious goals for the state.We target the heights Ukraine really deserves.We should enter the club of world leaders.
We should give Ukrainian business an opportunity to breathe freely.We will remove administrative barriers preventing citizens from feeling comfortable in their own land.
After decades of empty talk and attempts to avoid responsibility, drastic changes occur in Ukraine for the second consecutive year.
Tax and budget legislation was changed, administrative and pension reforms are pending, a large experiment in healthcare is being realized.
There is discussion of a new criminal procedure code and electoral legislation.New serious action is being prepared.Ukraine has already changed.
The transformations in the interests of the Ukrainian people will continue regardless of whether advocates of the old system and irresponsible populism want it or not.
The success of reforms will be guaranteed by overcoming corruption – the priority threat to national security of Ukraine.
For the first time in many years we are taking real steps, not decorative ones, as it has often been.But corruption cannot be crushed without ensuring the full equality of all citizens before the law.
An important step was made. There is no more caste of untouchables now in Ukraine, and I am sure, there will never be in the future.
If anyone believes this is a separately taken campaign, he is deeply mistaken.No position, no wealth, past or present, will protect criminals.
The basic principle of justice has been restored – the inevitability of punishment.The Ukrainian Themis’s eyes will be closed. Her focus will be only justice and her scales will be calibrated in accordance with European standards.
The success of reforms will be guaranteed by overcoming corruption – the priority threat to national security of Ukraine.
Not everyone likes that.Our actions often encounter strong resistance.
But we are confident that the chosen course is right, and the results will help all citizens of Ukraine to get rid of the corruption tax and protect their own dignity in the face of today’s and tomorrow’s officials.
I will not deny that the government has made mistakes, and more than once.Unfortunately, we are not immune to them in the future.
But we learn.Time has proven conclusively that the current leadership of Ukraine is able to do its homework.
Ukraine’s government strictly complies with provisions of the Constitution regarding the rights and freedoms of citizens and does everything necessary to fill these provisions with real content.
And here we count on the support and assistance of Ukrainian civil society and the general public of all European countries.
We are open to dialogue, but will not give up our principles, the main one of which is serving the interests of Ukrainian society and democratic state.
All these factors give me full confidence that today, in the days of the 20th anniversary of independence, Ukraine has broad consensus.
Each of us is fully aware what country we are building together.This is a modern, democratic, legal, high-tech, and advanced country that is an integral part of European cultural space.
And this goal unites all Ukrainians, regardless of their political affiliation or belief.
The way to achieve it has no alternatives to a deep modernization of the country.Time will come and in 10 years Ukraine will be in the European Union, will enter the circle of developed countries.I am convinced of this.
Viktor Yanukovych is president of Ukraine.
