ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN UKRAINE, 1-4 JUNE
The Secretary-General departed New York for Ukraine on Saturday, 1 June. En route, in Paris, he met with Enrico Macias, his Messenger of Peace. Mr. Macias had just returned from the Middle East, where he had met with Israeli and Palestinian officials, and he was about to leave on a West African tour to promote the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Upon arrival at Boryspil Airport in Kiev early on Sunday afternoon, the Secretary-General was greeted by Vice Prime Minister Volodymyr Seminozhenko, Foreign Minister Anatoliy Zlenko, and other senior officials.
Asked by the waiting press his views on Ukraine’s intentions to join NATO, he said that he thought it was important for Ukraine “to get closer to the rest of Europe,” where countries are “striving to share common values -- values of democracy, values of human rights and governance based on the rule of law.”
In response to another question, he said he was “very concerned” about the situation between India and Pakistan. He said he looked forward to discussing the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he visited Moscow later on the trip. He said he was confident that in the meantime both Putin and Chinese President Xiang Zemin, who would be meeting with the Indian and Pakistani leaders at a conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan, would do their utmost “to dissuade them from any further escalation.”
He added that he had withdrawn the families of UN staff members from India and Pakistan “as a precautionary measure and not as an indication that war is imminent.”
“I hope we will be able to avoid that,” he said.
On Sunday evening, he attended a dinner in his honour, hosted by the Foreign Minister, on a boat that toured Kiev along the Dnipro River.
The Secretary-General began his second day in Ukraine with a visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where he laid a wreath.
He then met Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma at Mariyinsky Palace. In a session that lasted more than three quarters of an hour, the two spoke of the democratization process under way in Ukraine, including recent parliamentary elections and the presidential election coming up in 2004. The Secretary-General thanked the President for Ukraine’s participation in United Nations peacekeeping and for his leadership in highlighting the AIDS issue in the country, which at the time was experiencing a rise in infection rates.
On the response to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident, as a transition was taking place from emergency aid to longer-term development assistance, the Secretary-General said he would urge the international community to sustain its levels of commitment to Ukraine.
Their talks also touched on international crisis issues, such as the India-Pakistan standoff over Kashmir and the Israel-Palestinian crisis in the Middle East. They discussed regional issues as well, and efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals approved in 2000 by the General Assembly.
At a press encounter with the President afterwards, in response to a question about HIV/AIDS, the Secretary-General praised the President’s designation of 2002 as the “Year of AIDS in Ukraine” and said he hoped that the men and women of the country would support him, because he couldn’t do it alone. He mentioned that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria had recently contributed $9 million to Ukraine’s efforts to contain the disease and he called on the Government to add its own resources to the campaign.
Asked about the tensions between India and Pakistan, the Secretary-General said that he hoped that the regional security meeting due to take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, would offer an opportunity for pressure to be brought on the Indian and Pakistani leaders to deescalate. “The countries have wise leaders,” he said, “and I’m sure they themselves would not want to see a nuclear flare up.”
After that, he walked to the Ministry of Health to address a meeting of the Government’s Committee on HIV/AIDS, which was meeting with civil society. He praised the partnership between the Government and private AIDS groups. A successful campaign against HIV/AIDS, he said, would also require resources and action by young people as champions for change. See press release SG/SM/8256.
He took questions from the audience, including from young activists infected by the disease. He said it was important for young people who were infected to go out and talk to other young people about how to avoid HIV. Peer pressure is very effective among the young, he said.
At UN House, he had the opportunity to exchange views with representatives of United Nations agencies working in Ukraine, and to chat with staff.
He then went to Babyn Yar (Babi Yar in Russian), a site where in 1941 tens of thousands of Jews and Gypsies were killed and buried in a mass grave. After laying a wreath at the memorial there, he commented to the press that he wanted to visit Babi Yar to express his solidarity with the victims of anti-Semitism and intolerance, “and as a sign of my resolve to do everything in my power to fight the hatred and evil that so disfigure our world.”
“The unspeakable acts of murder committed here a half century ago,” he added, “will always remind us of man’s capacity for evil.” (See press release SG/SM/8253.)
He also recalled recent attacks on synagogues in several European countries, and declared, “These attacks should trouble people everywhere who are concerned about human rights and human dignity.”
Later that afternoon, he met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Anatoliy Zlenko. Their talks touched on HIV/AIDS, Ukraine’s contribution to UN peacekeeping, Afghanistan, Chernobyl and sustainable development. The Minister proposed to host a regional conference on HIV/AIDS in Kiev, which Mr. Annan warmly welcomed. The two spoke briefly to the press afterwards.
The Secretary-General then went to the Chernobyl Museum in Kiev. Afterwards, he said to the press “I was very moved by the exhibit. It’s a tragedy that affected the whole world.” He added that the United Nations would continue to work with Ukraine to assist those who had been hit by this tragedy. “It is our collective duty and responsibility,” he said.
On Monday evening, he returned to the Mariyinsky Palace, where he received Ukraine’s highest honour, the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, presented by President Kuchma. (For the text of the Secretary-General’s remarks, see press release SG/SM/8257.)
The President then hosted a reception and a dinner in the Secretary-General’s honour.
On Tuesday morning, the Secretary-General had an early meeting with former Russian Prime Minister, Victor Chernomyrdin, now the Russian Ambassador to Ukraine. He then went to the Ukrainian Parliament where he met one-on-one with the Speaker, Vladimir Litvin, before meeting with government and opposition parliamentarians.
The Secretary-General congratulated the parliament leaders on their recent election and praised Ukraine’s transition to democracy. He said that change is difficult, but urged them not to get discouraged. He said he was pleased by the initiatives taken by the nation’s leadership to deal aggressively with the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and by the active role being played by young Ukrainians, who are most affected by it.
He pledged to continue to pressure the international community to meet its commitment in the effort to help Ukraine overcome the results of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. He then briefly shared his views on Afghanistan, the tension between India and Pakistan and efforts to get Middle East peace talks restarted. Some of the opposition leaders said that the Government was becoming autocratic. The Speaker commented that Ukraine was in transition and that the fact that the opposition could speak out was a sign that democracy was alive.
The Secretary-General then delivered a speech before the full Parliament, saying what a great pleasure it was to see first-hand how Ukraine was being transformed. It was “beginning to play its proper role in a peaceful and united Europe,” he said.
For half a century, he went on, the great project of European cooperation had encompassed only part of the continent. That is like an orchestra playing with brass but no strings, he said. With the end of the cold war, that had now changed, with Ukraine being part of that “liberation.”
As Europe goes through this process of integration, there will be painful change, he asserted. Europe must remain true to its core values, especially democracy. In emerging democracies, peaceful transfers of power will become the norm and not be subverted in insidious ways, “through the slow accretion of abuses such as flawed elections and majority rule that takes little account of minority concerns.”
In Ukraine, he went on, where political and economic reform are happening simultaneously, the social effects of change must be managed with great care. The second core value at the heart of the European experience is pluralism, he said. “Pluralism is the inevitable face of the new Europe” and parliamentarism can play a key role through peaceful dialogue and ensuring that all society’s voices –- not just those of the powerful –- find a place in their debates. (See press release SG/SM/8258.)
The Secretary-General later flew from Kiev to Moscow.