Ukrainian cardinals urge West's greater support for democracy

Published: 2004-11-16

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Ukraine's cardinals urged Western governments to provide greater support for democracy as their country prepared for a second-round presidential election. Cardinal Marian Jaworski, Latin-rite archbishop of Lviv, told Poland's Catholic information agency, KAI, that "Ukraine's integration with the European Union largely depends on the West. "If Western Europe doesn't open itself to Ukraine, our country will be forced to seek a different strategic partner and look for the road most beneficial to it," he said. Lviv Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, head of Ukraine's Eastern Catholic Church, criticized the West for failing to offer "political support" for Ukrainian aspirations. He said Ukraine risked becoming a "hostage to Russian policy." Russian President Vladamir Putin has offered Ukrainians dual citizenship and has called for a four-state economic bloc incorporating Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

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