Taras Kuzio’s Blog

Washington is Charmed by Yulia

Yulia Tymoshenko, leader of the eponymous political bloc and head of the Ukrainian opposition, was to arrive in the United States on Sunday, February 25, for a six-day visit that would have taken her to New York and Washington. It was her first visit to the U.S. as a politician (she visited the US as head of United Energy Systems in 1996 but then was little known). Her visit follows that of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in December 2006 and President Viktor Yushchenko in April 2005.

Tymoshenko’s visit was organized differently by her US public affairs consultants from that of Yanukovych. His tour was highly choreographed by his Washington public relations firm in such a way that he refrained from open discussions and refused to meet the Ukrainian diaspora. Tymoshenko’s team in the U.S. took a more open, inclusive position, ensuring that the Ukrainian diaspora was included and that both sides of the fence in American politics would be addressed in a more substantive manner.

The New York leg of her visit was cancelled at the last moment, apparently on the orders of her doctor. In New York, Tymoshenko would have spoken at the Council on Foreign Relations, at a joint event sponsored by Columbia-New York and Princeton Universities (to which 400 people signed up, many from the diaspora), and at a luncheon by J.P. Morgan investment bank.

In Washington, Tymoshenko did speak at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (see web cast at http://www.usukraine.org/) and the National Press Club, and held high-level meetings with the U.S. government and Congress. She met with diaspora organizations and then at a two hour event in the US Congress organized by the US Congress Caucus on Ukraine. Tymoszhenko received an award at the annual Ronald Reagan banquet.

Tymoshenko arrived with a message of hope that the orange revolution was not finished. And this was perhaps a key message that she conveyed to Americans and American-Ukrainians who have been disenchanted by developments. This was clearly visible in the meeting with the Ukrainian diaspora attended by 300 people. Tymoshenko refused to move to another meeting until all of the questions were answered. She said that she felt like “I am in Lviv”. The audience chanted “Yulia, Yulia!” and “Razom Nas Bahato!”.

Tymoshenko also set out to prove that she was a “normal” politician who was pro-business. The US, without a left-wing tradition, had been her severest critic when she was in government in 2005. She obviously made an impression on her fiercest US critic, Anders Aslund, who was photographed wearing a BYuT scarf when he was talking to Tymoshenko. Tymoshenko, who has a very good sense of humour that most Ukrainian politicians lack, really laughed. I have to confess that the scarf was placed on Anders by myself and so readers of this Blog should not rush (as they already did in the presidential secretariat) to the conclusion that Aslund had defected to BYuT. See http://www.tymoshenko.com.ua/ukr/photo/?fid=1

In Washington, Tymoshenko is now the symbol of the orange revolution. If President Yushchenko were to ever again travel to the US his reception would be very different to the standing ovations he received in April 2005 in the US Congress and at two receptions, all three of which I attended.

Tymoshenko’s presentation skills are excellent. They wipe the floor of Yushchenko’s incoherent mumblings and Yanukovych’s choreographed stiffness and fear of questions (and American-Ukrainian diaspora ladies). Tymoshenko fills the room with energy and determination which has left an impression in Washington that wanted to hear that the Orange Revolution is not dead. A Georgian expert told me although she is similar to Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, that she was far more impressive and knowledgeable. Tymoshenko has a real doctorate and therefore can be called “Professor” with only one f.

During lunch with Tymoshenko at the Center for Strategic and International Studies following her talk I began my question, “I thought I would have special dispensation so that the two question rule (I gave her a question also during her talk) did not apply to me because I am from Yorkshire where her son in law is also from”. Yulia and her daughter, who joined us for lunch, both laughed. Tymoshenko felt comfortable answering questions from American and American-Ukrainians, something that Prsident Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yanukovych would not.

Two questions asked by a Radio Liberty correspondent were the only ones that were met with an icy response, one of which touched on Pavlo Lazarenko. Following the signing of an opposition agreement a few days before her US visit, Tymoshenko was reluctant to criticize Yushchenko or Our Ukraine.