KYIV, Ukraine-Before departing his post as president, Victor Yushchenko held his final press conference on Tuesday. He believes that he has done everything in order for Ukraine to be democratic but isn’t sure.
“As the president I can say that I was a small soldier who fought for the dream of my ancestors: a sovereign, independent, democratic and European Ukraine, moving on an independent national course.”
Yushchenko is an ideological politician who had the support of the people who occupied the streets of Kyiv on his behalf during the Orange Revolution in 2004.
Yushchenko swept to power after charges of mass fraud against main rival Victor Yanukovych lead to a runoff election. The nation thought that democracy had come to the power in the country.
However, Victor Yushchenko did not managed to realize all of the reforms he’d promised over the past five years.
He said that it was not his fault.
“My main mistake was Premier Yulia Tymoshenko.”
“I can’t imagine a premier who has not been carrying out reforms for years,” he told journalists at his office.
For the last two years, the fight between the President Yushchenko and Premier Tymoshenko was most notable in the country. The political crisis led the nation to suffer economically.
Yushchenko says he respects the people’s choice in the Feb. 7 election, which saw Tymoshenko defeated by the outgoing president’s Orange Revolution rival Viktor Yanukovych. At the same time, Yushchenko says he does not support Tymoshenko or Yanukovych since both lean toward Russia. Yushchenko does not see either one as president of Ukraine.
Yushchenko’s own relationship with Russian president Dmitriy Medvedev soured last autumn when Kyiv took a harder line toward Moscow. Medvedev was not pleased that Ukraine applied to join NATO or that Yushchenko says having the Russian navy based in the Crimea is against the Ukrainian Constitution. Yushchenko’s announced he wanted Russia out by 2017.
Yushchenko considers cooperation between Russia and Ukraine to be high priority, but he wants to protect Ukrainian national interests. These interests, according to Yushchenko include freedom of speech, democracy, and European integration.
“I will never sell these things,” he pointed out.
Yushchenko said he would not attend the new president’s inauguration ceremony on Feb 25.
The supreme administrative court is currently processing more than 1,000 complaints from the defeated Tymoshenko regarding alleged electoral fraud in several regions of the country by the President-elect Yanukovych.
“As the president I can say that I was a small soldier who fought for the dream of my ancestors: a sovereign, independent, democratic and European Ukraine, moving on an independent national course.”
Yushchenko is an ideological politician who had the support of the people who occupied the streets of Kyiv on his behalf during the Orange Revolution in 2004.
Yushchenko swept to power after charges of mass fraud against main rival Victor Yanukovych lead to a runoff election. The nation thought that democracy had come to the power in the country.
However, Victor Yushchenko did not managed to realize all of the reforms he’d promised over the past five years.
He said that it was not his fault.
“My main mistake was Premier Yulia Tymoshenko.”
“I can’t imagine a premier who has not been carrying out reforms for years,” he told journalists at his office.
For the last two years, the fight between the President Yushchenko and Premier Tymoshenko was most notable in the country. The political crisis led the nation to suffer economically.
Yushchenko says he respects the people’s choice in the Feb. 7 election, which saw Tymoshenko defeated by the outgoing president’s Orange Revolution rival Viktor Yanukovych. At the same time, Yushchenko says he does not support Tymoshenko or Yanukovych since both lean toward Russia. Yushchenko does not see either one as president of Ukraine.
Yushchenko’s own relationship with Russian president Dmitriy Medvedev soured last autumn when Kyiv took a harder line toward Moscow. Medvedev was not pleased that Ukraine applied to join NATO or that Yushchenko says having the Russian navy based in the Crimea is against the Ukrainian Constitution. Yushchenko’s announced he wanted Russia out by 2017.
Yushchenko considers cooperation between Russia and Ukraine to be high priority, but he wants to protect Ukrainian national interests. These interests, according to Yushchenko include freedom of speech, democracy, and European integration.
“I will never sell these things,” he pointed out.
Yushchenko said he would not attend the new president’s inauguration ceremony on Feb 25.
The supreme administrative court is currently processing more than 1,000 complaints from the defeated Tymoshenko regarding alleged electoral fraud in several regions of the country by the President-elect Yanukovych.
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