Party of Freedom Congress Scheduled for February 19

Last Thursday the Party of Freedom, led by Yevhen Marchuk, held a meeting of its executive committee in Kyiv. A highlight of the agenda was the party congress that will take place on February 19 in Kyiv and registration of party cells. The Party of Freedom is growing. As of January 27, there are 6 regional and about 400 district- and city-level registered party branches. Asked by The Day about the party’s attitude to the new government and opposition, Mr. Marchuk said, “This will be decided and announced at the congress. The party is going to take a position and address all the key political issues.” When The Day’s correspondent Oleh Ivantsov asked Mr. Marchuk to comment on the first appointments to cabinet — Tymoshenko, Zinchenko, and Poroshenko — he said, “These appointments reflect an intricate configuration of the political forces that won the elections. They apparently show the contribution of these forces to the victory of the Orange Revolution and the electoral victory. As for the effectiveness of and cooperation between these politicians, so far I can only point to tensions in this triangle. It is difficult to say more than that — we must wait for the new government to take its first actions.”

Yesterday a conference started in Wilton Park, a leading British discussion center called “Ukraine: The Prospects” to discuss a variety of subjects, including Ukraine’s future after the Orange Revolution, prospects for relations with the EU, Ukraine- Russia relations, Ukraine’s economic priorities, the development of a Ukraine-NATO partnership, lessons of the Ukrainian elections, etc. Mr. Marchuk, who was invited to take part in the conference, where he will present a speech entitled “Is Turning Back the Clock Possible? Ukraine’s Post-Election Prospects,” told The Day that the forum will presumably be attended by representatives of all political forces in Ukraine, experts, journalists, as well as experts and officials from EU and NATO countries, and Russia. The aim of the conference is to discuss and understand what happened in Ukraine and possible future scenarios for this country.

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The Day sends Mr. Marchuk cordial greetings on the occasion of his birthday celebrated last Friday and wishes him health, inspiration, successful realization of his plans, as well as steadfast friends and allies.