Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists
Encyclopedia
The Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists ( Konhres Ukrayinskykh Natsionalistiv) is a right-wing political party
in Ukraine
. It was founded on October 18, 1992 and registered with the Ministry of Justice on January 26, 1993. The party leader from its formation and until her death in 2003 was Yaroslava Stetsko
(people's deputy of three VR
conventions).
the party was part (o.a. together with a predecessor of the Ukrainian Republican Party Assembly
) of the
Election Bloc "National Front" which won 2,71% of the national votes and 6 (single-mandate constituency) seats.
At the parliamentary elections
on 30 March 2002, the party was part of the Viktor Yushchenko Bloc Our Ukraine. The party's leader is Oleksiy Ivchenko, who was the head of Naftogas of Ukraine under the Yuiry Yekhanurov government. He was elected as the party leader on the seventh convention of the party on April 13, 2003. At the parliamentary elections
on 26 March 2006, the party was part of the Our Ukraine
alliance.
The party refused to join the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc in August 2007 and did not run in the 2007 parliamentary elections
.
In the 2010 local elections the party biggest achievement was winning two seats in the Lviv Oblast
Counsel.
In their fight against "cosmopolitanism"
, many KUN leaders espouse anti-Semitic views. In 2005 the official organ of KUN, newspaper "The Nation and Power" published an article which said: "The titular nation in Ukraine [ethnic Ukrainians] will disappear in 2006 [after the elections].... After the 2006 election, Ukrainians will dance around the Jews.". In his speech at the opening of the Holodomor
Memorial in November 2007, the Head of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists [KUN] in the Zaporozhye region B. Tymchina declared: "Our time has come, and the Dnieper will soon be red with the blood of Kikes [Jews] and Moskals [Russians]." The Kommersant
newspaper on 26.01.2010 quoted the head of the Kiev
city organization of KUN Yuri Shepetyuk saying: "There is no anti-Semitism in Ukraine. The Jews themselves organize various provocations, and then talk about the persecution in their address, to get even more funding from abroad". Kommersant notes: "However, he [Yuri Shepetyuk] did not specify what provocations were staged in Ukraine by representatives of the Jewish community."
other versions include, but not limited to Glory to free Ukraine! To Heroes (her) Glory!
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. It was founded on October 18, 1992 and registered with the Ministry of Justice on January 26, 1993. The party leader from its formation and until her death in 2003 was Yaroslava Stetsko
Slava Stetsko
Slava Stetsko was a Ukrainian politician and a World War II veteran.Born Anna Yevhenia Muzyka, she became a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in 1938. When a schism occurred within the OUN in 1940, she went with the wing of the OUN led by Stepan Bandera...
(people's deputy of three VR
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
conventions).
History
During the 1998 parliamentary electionUkrainian parliamentary election, 1998
The second Ukrainian parliamentary election after the collapse of the Soviet Union took place on 29 March 1998. In comparison to the first parliamentary election, this time half of 450 parliament seats were filled by single-seat majority winners in 225 electoral regions , and the other half were...
the party was part (o.a. together with a predecessor of the Ukrainian Republican Party Assembly
Ukrainian Republican Party Assembly
The Ukrainian Republican Party "Sobor" is a political party in Ukraine. The current party was created in 2002 after the merger of the Ukrainian Republican Party and the Ukrainian People's Party "Assembly" .-May 1999:...
) of the
Election Bloc "National Front" which won 2,71% of the national votes and 6 (single-mandate constituency) seats.
At the parliamentary elections
Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2002
Ukrainian parliamentary election of 2002 took place on March 31. Half of the deputies to Verkhovna Rada were elected on proportional basis, while the other half were elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies...
on 30 March 2002, the party was part of the Viktor Yushchenko Bloc Our Ukraine. The party's leader is Oleksiy Ivchenko, who was the head of Naftogas of Ukraine under the Yuiry Yekhanurov government. He was elected as the party leader on the seventh convention of the party on April 13, 2003. At the parliamentary elections
Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2006
The Ukrainian parliamentary election took place on March 26, 2006. Election campaigning officially began on July 7, 2005. Between November 26 and December 31, 2005 party lists of candidates were formed....
on 26 March 2006, the party was part of the Our Ukraine
Our Ukraine
The Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc is an electoral alliance active in Ukraine, associated with former President Viktor Yushchenko. Since 2005, the bloc has been dominated by a core consisting of the People's Union "Our Ukraine" party and five smaller partner parties.The Our Ukraine Bloc is...
alliance.
The party refused to join the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc in August 2007 and did not run in the 2007 parliamentary elections
Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007
Early parliamentary elections in Ukraine took place on 30 September 2007. The date of the election was determined following agreement between the President Viktor Yushchenko, the Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Moroz on 27 May 2007, in an attempt...
.
In the 2010 local elections the party biggest achievement was winning two seats in the Lviv Oblast
Lviv Oblast
Lviv Oblast is an oblast in western Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Lviv.-History:The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on December 4, 1939...
Counsel.
Goals
- Strengthening of Ukrainian national values among the masses of Ukrainian society
- Strengthening political, social and cultural rights of the Ukrainian Nation
- Bringing to power highly educated professionals - Patriots
- Overcoming the consequences of the colonial past: cosmopolitanismRootless cosmopolitanRootless cosmopolitan was a Soviet euphemism widely used during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1948–1953, which culminated in the "exposure" of the alleged Doctors' plot...
(derogatory epithet for Jews coined by Joseph StalinJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
during his anti-Semitic campaign of 1949 – 1953), mass-russificationRussificationRussification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
, complex of less-worth culture, and others - Insuring politically free comprehensive development and full self-expression of creative and spiritual forces of the Ukrainian Nation, and its establishment in the circle of freedom-loving nations of the world as the fully valued subject of history
- Removal of "visual vestiges" of the Soviet UnionSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
from Ukraine, including monuments to Lenin.
In their fight against "cosmopolitanism"
Rootless cosmopolitan
Rootless cosmopolitan was a Soviet euphemism widely used during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1948–1953, which culminated in the "exposure" of the alleged Doctors' plot...
, many KUN leaders espouse anti-Semitic views. In 2005 the official organ of KUN, newspaper "The Nation and Power" published an article which said: "The titular nation in Ukraine [ethnic Ukrainians] will disappear in 2006 [after the elections].... After the 2006 election, Ukrainians will dance around the Jews.". In his speech at the opening of the Holodomor
Holodomor
The Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...
Memorial in November 2007, the Head of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists [KUN] in the Zaporozhye region B. Tymchina declared: "Our time has come, and the Dnieper will soon be red with the blood of Kikes [Jews] and Moskals [Russians]." The Kommersant
Kommersant
Kommersant is a commerce-oriented newspaper published in Russia. , the circulation was 131,000.- History :The newspaper was initially published in 1909, and it was closed down following the Bolshevik seizure of power and the introduction of censorship in 1917.In 1989, with the onset of press...
newspaper on 26.01.2010 quoted the head of the Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
city organization of KUN Yuri Shepetyuk saying: "There is no anti-Semitism in Ukraine. The Jews themselves organize various provocations, and then talk about the persecution in their address, to get even more funding from abroad". Kommersant notes: "However, he [Yuri Shepetyuk] did not specify what provocations were staged in Ukraine by representatives of the Jewish community."
Motto
Glory to Ukraine! To Heroes (her) Glory!other versions include, but not limited to Glory to free Ukraine! To Heroes (her) Glory!
Symbols
- The flag of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists is a rectangular two-color banner with two horizontal halves. The upper half is red and the bottom half is black. It is inspired by the flag of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
- The emblem is based on that of the former Organization of Ukrainian NationalistsOrganization of Ukrainian NationalistsThe Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists is a Ukrainian political organization which as a movement originally was created in 1929 in Western Ukraine . The OUN accepted violence as an acceptable tool in the fight against foreign and domestic enemies particularly Poland and Russia...
. The red background circle is in-framed by the black (outside) and gold (inside) line with a cross which is placed in the middle and appears to be as a sword. The sword, being aimed blade down, has a dual meaning: the organization in its activities is guided by the principles of Christian morality and the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists is ready to protect the Ukrainian State.
Past leaders
- Yaroslava StetskoSlava StetskoSlava Stetsko was a Ukrainian politician and a World War II veteran.Born Anna Yevhenia Muzyka, she became a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in 1938. When a schism occurred within the OUN in 1940, she went with the wing of the OUN led by Stepan Bandera...
(October, 1992 - March, 2003) - Oleksiy Ivchenko (April, 2003 - present)
Members of Presidium
- Volodymyr Boreychuk - vice-president
- Maria Oliynyk - vice president
- Stepan Bratsiun - chief of Party staff
- Bohdan Diakiv - head of the regional department of the Party (Kharkiv OblastKharkiv OblastKharkiv Oblast is an oblast in eastern Ukraine. The oblast borders Russia to the north, Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the south-east, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the south-west, Poltava Oblast to the west and Sumy Oblast to the north-west...
) - Andriy Lopushanskyi
- Mykola Pshevlotskyi - head of the regional department of the Party (city of LvivLvivLviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
), assistant to leader (Lviv OblastLviv OblastLviv Oblast is an oblast in western Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Lviv.-History:The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on December 4, 1939...
) - Volodymyr Chybras - head of the regional department of the Party (Ternopil OblastTernopil OblastTernopil Oblast is an oblast' of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Ternopil, through which flows the Seret River, a tributary of the Dnister.-Geography:...
)