By Bill Parry
U.S. Rep Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) met with members of New York City’s Ukrainian community on Saturday to discuss the American efforts to support the fledgling government of Ukraine in their crisis with Russia.
At the session in the Manhattan offices of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, at 203 Second Ave., Maloney called on the U.S. Senate to pass a $1 billion loan guarantee that was authorized by Congress Friday.
“Ukraine’s new government and its people know that the U.S. and its leaders support their right to determine the future of their nation — one that is free of corruption, waste and illegal intervention,” Maloney said. She said the government needs emergency aid because billions of dollars were moved to offshore accounts and Russia is threatening to shut off deliveries of natural gas if state-owned Gazprom is not paid the nearly $2 billion Ukraine owes.
The escalating crisis began with a freedom movement that started in the capitol of Kiev and spread nationwide, leading to a violent crackdown, President Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine on Feb. 22. A new caretaker government led by Alexander Turchnyov was in office less than two weeks when thousands of Russian troops entered the Crimean Peninsula and surrounded military installations and government buildings last weekend. The number of Russian troops in Crimea had risen to 30,000 by Saturday morning with fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin will annex the region, according to Maloney.
New York City is home to 200,000 Ukrainians with significant populations in all three of the boroughs Maloney represents, specifically in Astoria, Manhattan’s Lower East Side and in northwest Brooklyn. Many of her constituents were in attendance and several spoke.
Astoria’s Adrian Dlaboha, the UCCA’s external affairs officer said, “Ukrainians have been fighting a centuries-long battle for freedom beginning with the Cossacks. We’ve been in the hunt for democracy with dissidents killed at every step of the way. All the momentum we’ve built over the last three months can be derailed by passivity from the West. I fear we might see a screeching U-turn of history.”
Walter Danyliviv of Maspeth is a third generation Ukrainian-American whose grandfather was born in the United States on July 4th during World War II while most of his family perished in the Gulags. He appreciated Maloney’s effort Saturday.
“I think this meeting demonstrated that a large segment of the population supports President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry policy because Ukraine needs help. We can’t do it on our own,” he said.
Maloney vowed to continue outreach with the community saying, “We stand with Ukraine, we stand against the invaders.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
