Press Release

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10^th Anniversary of Ukraine's Independence: Message from Ukraine’s Ambassador to Canada Dr. Yuri Scherbak

Ottawa, August 16, 2001

Independent Ukraine marks its tenth anniversary. In terms of history it is a very short time. But in human dimensions this is no small period. We have built the Ukrainian State and defined the geopolitical place of Ukraine on the map of Europe. We have established friendly relations with all the neighboring countries and governments of the region; determined the main priority of foreign policy to be the integration of Ukraine into the European Union. Canada is among our closest friends. Ukrainians respect and love this great country which once gave refuge to tens of thousands of them and who became Canadian citizens.

We pay tribute to Canada for having done very much to secure for Ukraine worldwide recognition and promote its progress towards building a modern democracy. In 1991 Canada became the first to recognize the renewed independence of Ukraine.Since that remarkable year Ukraine-Canada relations have gone a long way. We have established special partnership, a unique formula of political dialogue, signed the large-scale agreement on friendship and cooperation, completed a package of documents creating legal base for bilateral trade and economic cooperation as well as entered many other arrangements in various spheres.

Several mechanisms have been established to facilitate cooperation between the two countries, including the Intergovernmental Economic Commission to step up bilateral trade, and the foreign ministries of Ukraine and Canada conduct regular political consultations. Numerous joint trade and economic as well as technical assistance projects are under way, and many have already been completed.

Friendly relations of Ukraine with Canada developed long before Ukraine’s official declaration of independence. They were mainly due to the presence of a large Ukrainian community in Canada, over 1 million strong.

The Ukrainian Community in Canada has made significant contribution to the formation of Ukrainian State. Especially of great value was the aid provided in the early 1990-s when Ukraine was taking its first steps as an independent nation. Today the fruitful cooperation between Ukraine, the Ukrainian Embassy and the Community is continuing and is taking new forms and dimensions.

For me the tenth anniversary of Ukrainian independence is especially memorable: I took part in the historical session of the Ukrainian Parliament (Rada) on 24 August 1991 in Kyiv, when the Act of Independence of Ukraine was proclaimed.As Ambassador of Ukraine, I have been celebrating each anniversary in various countries of the world. I feel proud that the tenth anniversary I can celebrate in Ottawa, as Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada.

By entering the new century and the new millenium with optimism, Ukraine is ready and willing to continue developing friendship and partnership with Canada. We hope the feeling is mutual.

Dr. Yuri Scherbak
Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada

For additional information, please contact:
Taras Malyshevskyi, Press Secretary of the Embassy of Ukraine
310 Somerset Street West, Ottawa, ON K2P 0J9
Tel. (613) 230-2961, fax (613) 230-2400
E-mail: ukrembassy@on.aibn.com