NEW UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO ADDRESSES NATION AFTER INAUGURATION

My dear Ukrainian people, esteemed guests, dear Ukrainian public, dear Ukrainian Khreshchatyk [main street in Kiev] and Ukrainian Independence Square!
 
Today Ukraine is free and independent. We have shaken a burden, the burden of the past, off our shoulders. Nobody will any more dare tell us how to live and whom to elect. I have become president by the will of the Ukrainian people. We are the people's sons and daughters. Today I want to speak looking you in the eye. It is a great honour to speak to free people who are
holding not only the Ukrainian flag, but also their country's destiny in their hands. I want to carry the oath I swore to the people.
 
I swear to change Ukraine's life. My victory is the victory of the entire Ukrainian nation and of every citizen. I thank our Lord for it, as he gave us trust, hope and love. Having this, we have won. I pray that we keep this in our hearts forever.

TRIBUTES

I thank the Ukrainian people for their great trust, and I thank everybody who responded to my call. I believe in Ukraine. I know my responsibilities. Together we shall win. You have opened the road to the future in your country.
 
I thank everybody, every citizen, no matter whom they voted for. My victory is everybody's victory. Everybody has the right to look for this country's way. Everybody has the right to choose political colours to their liking. But, dear friends, dear Ukrainians, our common choice is the colours of the Ukrainian flag. They unite all of us, those who live in the east and those
who live in the west, those who live in the north of Ukraine and those who live in the south.
 
I thank my team, who worked for the victory. You, my dear blood brothers, were unshakable on the road which we have travelled together. I believe that you will be tireless in the work that awaits us.
 
I thank my family, my wife, my children and grandchildren. You were with me in the most difficult days. And you are together with me in this celebration. I believe that you will always be my hope and my support.
 
I want to bow to my father, Andriy Andriyovych Yushchenko, for the lessons he taught me. He was a teacher in the small village of Khoruzhivka, in Sumy Region. He also was a prisoner in Auschwitz, Dachau and Buchenwald. My father's truth has led me through life to the high honour of becoming the leader of my country. I thank my mother, Varvara Tymofiyivna, for her love and for her prayers which guarded me. I beg her forgiveness for all the pain which her mother's heart had to suffer, especially in the past four months.
 
Dear friends, I am proud to stand here with you side by side. Two months ago, millions of people came to this place, this square and this street from all over Ukraine. Our brothers and sisters, fathers and children, friends and neighbours stood here day and night, braving snow and freezing temperatures. Ukraine was hanging on for every movement and every word that was said here. Ukraine's heart was beating on this square. The free people of the whole world, our compatriots dispersed across faraway lands, stood shoulder to shoulder with us. Here on Independence Square Ukrainians showed themselves to be a modern nation in the eyes of the world.
 
The brave resistance awoke our souls. All of us felt as citizens of Ukraine, dignified, noble and charitable. Armed only by their faith and beliefs, the people won a beautiful and peaceful victory. It is a victory of freedom over tyranny, of law over lawlessness, of future over past. Each Ukrainian citizen is the winner. We achieved a fair election, and on 26 December we did not miss our chance.
 
We chose our path freely, and we are ready to pursue it all the way. Our choice was prepared by all of our history. We chose wealth, because the land  that was first to be ploughed by a farmer in human history could not take the humiliation of poverty. We chose justice, because lawlessness could not be the norm in a country that created the Russian Truth code of laws a thousand years ago. We chose freedom, because tyranny cannot rule over descendants of the Cossack Republic, where the first constitution of the world was written 300 years ago. We chose independence, because we are descended from generations that for centuries dreamed about a Ukrainian state and fought for freedom with their sweat and blood.
 
The Ukrainian state has arrived. Our choice has confirmed this yet again. Our victory is a celebration of Ukrainian statehood. On this day, let us remember the heroes who died for victory, martyrs of the Auschwitzes and the Gulags, victims of famines, deportations and the Holocaust. I am convinced that today they are looking down on us with pride.
 
We made our choice because we remember who we are, whose children and grandchildren we are.
 
The answers to the challenge of the future should not be sought in the past. However, we shall always protect our origins. Only in this way shall we remain ourselves. Only in this way shall we always be winners.
 
Our choice has created high expectations. They are justified. They are absolutely realistic. We have everything going for us. The riches of our land are inexhaustible. The talents of our countrymen are respected worldwide. Our labour and our freedom will help us achieve anything.

"PRESIDENT OF ALL UKRAINE"

I am president of all Ukraine. I am responsible for the continuing work of the mines of Donbass and the Dnieper region, the ports of the Black Sea and trade routes in Galicia. I will do my utmost to make sure farmers in Slobozhanshchyna and Podillya always have bread. Ukraine's wealth is in the wealth of its regions. I swear to protect and to multiply it.
 
We, the citizens of Ukraine, have become a united Ukrainian nation. We cannot be divided either by the languages we speak, by the faiths we profess or by the political views we choose. We have the same Ukrainian fate. We have the same Ukrainian pride. We are proud to be Ukrainians.
 
Together we have taken an irreversible step to democracy. Only democracy can protect that which is the most valuable for a human being: family and children, peace and calm, labour and wealth. Only a democratic state values human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity the most. Only a democratic Ukraine will make the colourful palette of languages, cultures and views
the country's wealth. I swear that everyone will be able to educate their children in the language of their parents, everyone will be able to pray in their own church. Everybody will be guaranteed their right to have an opinion. We will hear each other because we will have freedom of speech and independent press. All will be equal before the law. Independent courts will protect everybody's rights.

HONEST GOVERNMENT

I see Ukraine as a law-governed state. We will create a democratic government, honest, professional and by all means patriotic. The wall separating officials from the people will be destroyed. This new government will know its duty and will work for the benefit of the citizen and the country.
 
It is equally honorary to be in government and in opposition if one serves one's own country. We will have a moral government capable of uniting society. We will only fulfil our national tasks if we are united and democratic. You have told me this at thousands of our meetings. I will fulfil your will.
 
You want jobs and decent wages. It is painful for you to leave your families to search for jobs abroad. We will create new jobs. Everyone willing to work will get a job and a decent pay. Nothing will restrict your initiative and your wish to make your families well-off. Everyone giving jobs to others will be supported. Honest work will be respected. We will become a wealthy nation.
 
You seek justice. I will do everything to make sure that no-one is left out. Fruits of economic growth will be made available to everyone. We will move forward, but we will not leave behind the sick and the elderly. The government will spend the budget, to the last kopeck, for people's benefit.

Pensions, benefits and social payments will constantly keep rising. The health of the people, the protection of mothers and children will become a top priority for my government.
 
We will be a nation of solidarity. You want to be rid of constant rip-offs, you want to live and work honestly and legally, and to receive the money you have earned. We will destroy the system of corruption in Ukraine. We will take the economy out of the shadow. Taxes will be reduced, but everyone will have to pay them. Business will be separated from government. From now on, the state budget will be no-one's trough. Only those will work in government whose spending corresponds to the incomes they have declared. We will become an honest nation.
 
You want to be the masters of the places you live in. You do not want everything to be decided for you in high offices. We will give local communities their rights back. Community will give power to the villages and streets. You will yourselves elect your [local] leader, you will yourselves earn your money and you will spend it as you see fit. We will be a nation of self-governed communities.
 
You demand that children be protected from corruption, you want to live not by bread alone. We will protect our cultural heritage. Together with you I will tirelessly look after the garden of Ukrainian culture, and care for its trees, young and old. Our roots will not let the winds of history chase us around like rolling stones. Our culture will let the world see our uniqueness. We will be a nation of high culture. We will be a modern nation in a dynamic global world, and become an equal among equals.
 
The future of Ukraine is in best education, modern science and technologies of tomorrow. I will do all I can to make the intellect of our nation work at full capacity. We will become the first and we will become the best. Ukrainians will take their worthy place in the community of nations.

Ukraine will be neither a buffer nor someone's battlefield. We are ready to respect the interests of other countries, but for me, as well as for you, Ukraine's national interest is . We will greet with kindness and respect all our neighbours, both in the East and in the West. I will do all I can to develop cooperation with all countries.
 
Ukraine will become a reliable partner in the fight against threats old and new - tyranny, war, poverty, natural disasters and terrorism. It is also Ukraine's responsibility to jointly look for ways to security and prosperity. We are ready for this.

UKRAINE'S PLACE IS IN THE EU

Our road to the future is the road followed by united Europe. Together with its nations we belong to the same civilization and share the same goals. History, economic prospects and the interests of the people give a clear answer to the question of where our future lies. Our place is in the European Union. My goal is for Ukraine to be in a united Europe.
 
Europe holds Ukraine's historic chance to fulfil its potential. Our national strategy is to follow this goal in a bold, straightforward and persistent manner. European standards will become the norm in public life, in the economy and in Ukrainian politics. Each step towards Europe means new opportunities for millions of Ukrainians.
 
Only recently, many regarded entry into the European Union as a distant prospect. But the free nations of Europe have accelerated the pace of time more than once. The broken pieces of the Berlin wall, the Warsaw round table and our Independence Square in Kiev are all symbols of rapid change. Ukraine is ushering in European history of the third millennium. We are no longer on the outskirts of Europe. We are in the centre of Europe.
 
Dear friends, we are setting ourselves ambitious tasks. I am confident, with every fibre of my body, that they will soon be transformed into glorious deeds. I will do my utmost to make sure every Ukrainian will believe in their own strength, in their country and their land. We have already proved that we can dream boldly and work hard. We are ready for self-sacrifice and able to achieve success. We are turning a new page in Ukraine's history. It will be beautiful. It will speak about our unity, our courage and our readiness to support each other.
 
A special place in our history belongs to this square in Kiev. We shall be multiplying our forces and sharing our joy here. This square is the symbol of a free nation that is confident of its strength and that builds its own future. The national blue-and-yellow flag will always shine upon us. The Ukrainian anthem will always be sung in a million voices. My dear friends and compatriots, everything that is planned will come to be.
 
Believe in Ukraine, love Ukraine, serve Ukraine!
 
Glory to you, all of you! Glory to our Lord and to Ukraine!