EXECUTIVE MEETING IN OCTOBER

URGENT ACTION ITEM

    In conjunction with the upcoming presidential elections in Ukraine, compiling lists of voters abroad is particularly difficult and time consuming. Inasmuch as Ukrainian law does not mandate registration of Ukraine’s citizens with Ukraine’s diplomatic missions abroad, we urge our central umbrella organizations to take on this function proactively, through their branches and other local institutions, i.e. churches, etc. Please encourage your branches or local community organizations to compile lists of Ukrainian citizens residing in their geographical location and remit same to the national umbrella organization. The UWC will serve as a clearinghouse, data bank and advocate of the electoral rights of Ukrainian citizens abroad with Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Central Elections Commission (CEC).

UWC PRESIDENT SEEKS BALANCE IN U.S. CONGRESS

    Following the introduction of a U.S. Congress joint bill calling for a free and fair presidential election in Ukraine, the UWC president forwarded a letter to Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Rep. Chris Smith, the sponsor and commentator respectively of the legislation in each house with copies to Senator Joseph Biden, Senator Chris Dodd, Rep. Henry Hyde and Rep. Tom Lantos, co-sponsors of the bill. The UWC's letter praised the lawmakers' vigilance and concern, yet urged balance in deliberation since the proposed bill appeared to single out Ukraine. Similar legislation had not been introduced on the eve of the Russian presidential election despite the fact that Russia, essentially, fielded one candidate and had shut down all independent press. Highly regarded political analyst and former U.S. National Security adviser, Professor Zbigniew Brzezinski, during a recent visit to Ukraine, urged transparency and fairness as well, but pointed out that while he does not know who will be the next president of either the United States or Ukraine, he was certain as to the next President of Russia well in advance of the Russian elections.

ELECTION PARTICIPATION BY UKRAINIAN CITIZENS ABROAD EXPLORED AT CONFERENCE

    Initiated by National Deputy Kliuchkowsky, a conference was held in one of the Verkhovna Rada’s conference rooms on May 25, 2004 dealing with issues of participation in the October presidential electoral process by the millions of Ukraine's citizens abroad. The conference heard various reports and analyses, in particular, statistics from prior elections: only 121,201 names appeared on the lists of voters abroad with 30,958 participating in 1999 and only 50,133 names appeared on the lists of voters abroad with 21,315 participating in 2000 and adopted the following recommendations: that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Central Election Commission (CEC) consider the need for establishing polling places abroad well in addition to existing missions of Ukraine in order to satisfy the needs of the large number of Ukrainian citizens abroad; that the  MFA request permission to establish additional polling places from the governments of the countries where they are to be located; that the Cabinet of Ministers appropriate additional funding for additional polling places abroad; that the CEC develop an outline and plan for including Ukrainian citizens abroad to observe and tally at polling places abroad. The UWC’s General Secretary attended the conference.

SUMA (YONKERS) FEDERAL CREDIT UNION OBSERVES FORTIETH

    One of the UWC's biggest financial supporter, the SUMA (Yonkers) FCU celebrated its 40^th anniversary on May 22, 2004. Over the last three years the SUMA credit union has donated for various UWC programs. The UWC President attended and greeted the gathering.

UWC PRESIDENT FINALIZES ORGANIZATIONAL TRIP

    The UWC's President will visit Ukrainian communities in St. Petersburg, Petrozavodsk, Sandermoch, Bilomorske, Solovky, Stockholm, Tallinn, Riga, Prague, Vienna and Berlin from June 18-July 11, 2004. In addition he will spend a few days in Kyiv dealing with several issues, in particular, enabling mass participation in the upcoming October presidential elections by Ukrainian citizens residing abroad.

UWC WEBSITE UP AND RUNNING

    While litigating the fraudulent conversion of our web domain, we have set up a new site under the following domains: www.ukrainianworldcongress.net and www.ukrainianworldcongress.com.  We are expecting to retrieve www.ukrainianworldcongress.org soon so that all three domains will be within our control.