Viktor Yushchenko - Political Positions

Political Positions

On March 31, 2009, in his address to the nation before Parliament, Yushchenko proposed sweeping government reform changes and an economic and social plan to ameliorate current economic conditions in Ukraine and apparently to respond to standing structural problems in Ukraine's political system.

The proposal, which Yushchenko called a 'next big step forward for fairness and prosperity in Ukraine' included the following proposals:

• Restore financial stability in the country by implementing the International Monetary Fund reforms and a balanced budget
• Abolish parliamentary immunity
• Fair pension system based on the number of years of work and salary received
• Pass a realistic state budget for 2009 that reduces inflation and stabilizes the hryvnia
• Have the state assume responsibility for struggling banks
• Rejuvenate rural areas by eliminating state interference in agriculture production
• Promote Ukrainian products abroad to increase sales for Ukraine's producers
• European Union membership and increased trade while simultaneously improving relations and trade with Russia
• Allow voters to elect members of parliament from the areas where they live
• Open up party lists for both parliamentary and local elections
• Create bicameral parliament to bring stability to our legislative branch
• Reduce the number of members of parliament

Yushchenko also advocates NATO membership for Ukraine and is against promoting Russian as the second state language in Ukraine.

According to Yushchenko, a good future for the country is impossible without national unity. Yushchenko also advocates the formation of a single Orthodox Church in Ukraine, thus unifying the current three branches of the Orthodox church in Ukraine (the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate, the only one recognized by the world orthodox community, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church).

Actions by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army have been praised by Yushchenko, and he has tried to give anti-Soviet partisans who fought in World War II the status of war veterans.

According to Yushchenko the difficulties of relations between Ukraine and Russia are because the countries follow different directions and have different system of values. Yushchenko thinks that "the Russia-Georgia war of August 2008 poses a threat that European leaders still haven’t addressed". He has called for a demarcation of borders between Russia and Ukraine, which has been delayed by Russia since Ukraine won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. During the campaign for the Ukrainian presidential election, 2010 Yushchenko said Russia's influence was again a factor in the upcoming election and warned of "interference" from Moscow in the distribution of Russian passports to residents of Crimea. He has also stated (on December 10, 2009) "Russia is a friendly country and that it would be a great mistake for Ukraine to lose these relations or to slow down their development; I believe that there will appear politicians in Russia, who will respect the rights of all neighbors, including Ukraine".

Yushchenko's 2010 presidential election program promised visa-free travel with EU, the withdrawal of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation by 2017 and "an active dialogue with all of Ukraine's neighbours based on the principles of equal rights, good neighbourly relations and mutual trust", but did not mention NATO membership. Yushchenko also believed that the 2008–2009 Ukrainian financial crisis could be tackled with the help of reconstruction, including road reconstruction. Furthermore the program banned tax collection in advance, would return non-reimbursed VAT, create equal tax rules for everybody and stop government interference in certain enterprises and whole sectors of the economy.

Yushchenko considers an open list of candidates for parliamentary elections as one of the conditions for eradicating corruption.