“The United States, as a mature democracy, understands that formulating a foreign policy toward a young democracy, such as Ukraine’s, means listening to many voices. No one voice, no matter how strong, can reflect all points of view. The development of Ukrainian democracy is an ongoing process. The country has been and still is in the process of healing painful issues that divided peoples and places over a very long time. Ukraine and its leaders need the support of other democratic nations, especially ours, as it works its way through the process,” he says.
“For Ukraine to move forward with its democracy, the time has come for opposing forces on important issues to find a way to compromise over seemingly intractable issues,” adds Hannaford.
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“U.S. Senators of both parties recently showed that compromise, worked out quietly, can open up a seemingly intractable problem. They worked to solve the long-standing and divisive issue of illegal immigration of millions of people into the country. Six months ago, no one thought this possible.
Ukrainians, given their history of suffering, as a people do not want human hatred in the form of any “ism,” whether it be fascism, nationalism, chauvinism or religious intolerance. While politicians come and go, the nation remains and its people want the values of democracy to prevail. Thus, in cases such as the Tymoshenko one, they can look to the U.S. for examples on how to worked toward compromise,” claims Hannaford.
