Ukraine's Transition Roundtable

Monday-Tuesday, September 13-14, 2004

The organizers of the Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood Roundtable Series are pleased to announce that this year's Roundtable, the fifth of its kind, will be entitled "Ukraine's Transition to a Stable Democracy" and will be held at a crucial time for Ukraine: one month before the presidential elections and the next big test for the country's democratic institutions.

The two-day conference will run four regular sessions featuring twelve panels, four focus sessions, two working lunches and two Roundtable receptions. In total, more than seventy-five experts from Ukraine, the United States and Europe are expected to address the conference proceedings.

Three of the four regular sessions will be devoted to assessing Ukraine's progress in developing (a) the Rule of Law, (b) Civil Society, and (c) the Protection of Fundamental Rights.

The final session will compare models of governance in the post-Soviet space and will ask panelists to weigh in on Ukraine's democratic development in comparison with the Russian Federation, the Caucasus Republics, the Central Asian Republics and the Baltic States. Panelists and discussants will try to answer an essential question: "Does the experience of its post Soviet neighbors in matters of state affairs, civil society and individual rights provide any form of instruction for Ukraine?"

The four focus sessions will ask the speakers to address the issue of 'The State of Democracy in Ukraine' from, respectively, the Ukrainian, American, British and Polish perspectives.

Both working lunches will dwell extensively on the topic of the imminent presidential elections in Ukraine. The first lunch will attempt to elicit the opinion of Ukraine's Third Sector and Fourth Estate on the issue. The second will feature representatives from across Ukraine's political spectrum, including leading members of the Tymoshenko Bloc, Nasha Ukrajina, Regions, Trudova Ukrajina, SDPU(o) and the Socialist parties and parliamentary caucuses.

U.S. Library of Congress
Montpellier Room
James Madison Building
Washington, D.C.

A Patrons' Reception will be held on the evening of the conference's first day at the Wyndham Washington. After the conclusion of formal conference proceedings, Freedom House, a perennial sponsor of the forum, will host the traditional "post" Conference Reception.

For further information:

Event: Tamara Gallo, Executive Coordinator (Director, UCCA National Office, NY) - ucca@ucca.org
Program: Walter Zaryckyj, Program Coordinator (Director, UCIS USA) - waz1@nyu.edu
Media: Stephen Bandera, Media Coordinator (Editor, The National Tribune) - sbandera@fourfreedoms.net