TRANSCRIPT OF AMBASSADOR TAYLOR'S PODCAST FOR SEPTEMBER
Dobry Den!
Welcome back to the United States Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine. I'm very glad to be able to get together with you again, this time from a different part of the Embassy. We're here in the Public Affairs Section of the Embassy in the conference room where we have press conferences and other large gatherings of the community, of Ukrainians and Americans, and I'm very glad to be talking to you from here.
The first thing that I would like to mention, of course is on many of your minds, and that's the election coming up. That should be in less than three weeks. This, we think, is a very important election for Ukraine. We think that it's important for Ukrainians, of course, to express their views about their leaders and who will represent them in their parliament. We also think it's important that Ukrainians see that their country continues to be a leader in democracy. Ukraine of course, had a good election a year ago, over a year and a half ago in March 2006. Ukraine had a good election the third round of the presidential election in 2004. Three good elections in a row would be very good for Ukraine, and would be good for the people in the world to be able to see that Ukraine continues to be a leader and is able to conduct free and fair, honest, clean elections.
The freeness, the fairness of the election is not just seen on Election Day. It's not just seen on September 30. Of course it will be important that people only vote once. Of course it will be important that the mobile ballot boxes that go around to help old people and sick people vote not be abused. Of course it's important that the right procedures, transparent procedures take place in each of the polling places, and that's important for that day.
It's also important, however, for the lead up to the election. Now, for example, the Central Election Commission has decisions to make. It has procedures to put in place. It has people to train at both the Central Election Commission and the local election commissions in the regions. These are important activities that ought to be free and devoid of political pressure. This political pressure does not help. We know that this is a political time, but the Central Election Commission needs now to be able to do its job.
It's also important after the election that the courts, who will be inevitably asked to make judgments about the conduct of the election, here or there, be free from interference as well.
If the elections on September 30 are free and fair, and clean and honest, and free of political pressure that would distort the view and the voice of Ukrainians, then the United States and other countries around the world will respect the results and we will deal with any government, no matter what political parties make up that government that emerges from those free and fair elections. We look forward to working with that new government. There are decisions to be made. There is governing to be done in Ukraine, and it cannot be done in the middle of a political crisis. This should put an end to the political crisis that has been plaguing government decisions. So this will be an important election.
The election campaign, as I say, is focusing both on personalities but also on issues. There are many issues that Ukrainians will have to choose from among the parties. From a foreign policy standpoint, the United States government wants to see a free, independent, strong, united Ukraine come out of these elections, and we are pleased to see that the major political parties are in favor, of course, of a democratic Ukraine, of a strong Ukraine, of a European Ukraine.
The second thing I'd like to talk to you about today is several trips that I've made around the country, in particular last week in Poltava. I had a very good visit there. I've been interested in getting to Poltava for some time, finally made it. On the way in, I was able to go by the battlefield. Of course Poltava figures seriously, heavily and importantly in Ukrainian history, and that battlefield I found very interesting.
I went on to have several meetings, of course, with local officials. One of my meetings there was at the Oblast library, the Poltava Oblast Regional Library where there is a Window on America . This is a center, in this case Poltava Oblast , but we have 22 of these Windows on America around Ukraine and this is a place where people can come get information about the United States. This is a place where people can come read books from the United States. This is a place where people meet to have conversations and meet officials, meet other people, people from the Embassy will come there and have discussions, conversations, films, book readings. These Windows on America are really an opportunity for Ukrainians and Americans to get together, and this is an important part of why we are here in Ukraine.
Another piece of that gets back to the election because in Poltava I visited the party headquarters, the political party headquarters of several of the major political parties that are in the middle of this campaign. It was very interesting to see how professional, and how well appointed, and how well designed, and how effective these political party headquarters are in Poltava. They are staffed by people who clearly believe in what they are doing, and this is, again, very good for Ukrainian democracy.
The last thing that I would like to speak to you about today has to do with the date. We are coming to you on September 11. Americans and not just Americans, many people around the world are remembering that six years ago today the United States was attacked by terrorists in New York City, at the Pentagon, in Pennsylvania. 3,000 people died in those attacks. 90 countries lost citizens on those days.
On this day, on September 11, we remember those people who died. We remember the people who risked their lives, in some cases gave their lives to save others on that day. They were the heroes. We resolve that we will not forget them. We resolve that we will try to make the world a better place even in spite of those kinds of attacks.
These are not the only attacks that terrorists have perpetrated around the world. They have also attacked in parts of Europe, in parts of Asia; no one is immune. These terrorists are trying to impose a will that we don't share. Our view is that people deserve respect, that people deserve dignity, that people deserve freedom, that people are able to decide their own future. Terrorists don't respect those views. We look forward on this day as well as looking backwards. Our hope is that we will contribute to a better world. We can only do this with the international community and support. The international community working together toward that better world.
And with that I wish you a good election campaign and look forward to seeing you again next month.
Thank you.