10 BEST
1. America’s Vice President Joseph Biden, for stating the U.S. does not recognize any sphere of influence claimed by Russia over Ukraine, and that U.S. President Barack Obama’s bid to "reset" relations with Russia "will not come at Ukraine`s expense."
2. Timothy Snyder for The Red Prince, a World War I to the Orange Revolution historic masterpiece about the ambitions of Prince Wilhelm of Hapbsburg, heir to Europe’s longest reigning royalty, to become the king of Ukraine.
3. The utilization of Ukrainian motifs by global brand leaders like fashion designer Gucci for glorious renditions of stylized Pyasnka (Easter Egg) designs for a collection;
4. Honda – for calling the color of its fiery car Revolution Orange.
5. The Royal Shakespeare Theatre for staging a poignant production of The Grain Store depicting Kremlin’s starvation – genocide of some 10 million Ukrainians.
6. Ukrainians who bring international recognition and pride to their country like the Klitchko brothers– for holding most of the world’s boxing titles; and the Bondarenko sisters—for success in tennis.
7. Ukraine’s media for maintaining a high level of public scrutiny over Ukraine’s political, economic, religious and social issues.
8. The Ukrainian people for getting on with it despite four years of broken promises of the Orange Revolution and the lack of political leadership.
9. Political analyst Taras Kuzio, for ongoing interpretation of political events in Ukraine through the eyes of a western academic.
10. Global media, for better coverage of under-represented Ukrainian issues like Holodomor– the famine-genocide — and more sympathetic treatment of John Demjanjuk’s repeat trial for alleged crimes for which he has been exonerated.
10 WORST
1. Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko, for confusing pro-West presidential voters by running for re-election, despite 5 percent ratings and public professions of “hate” for politics.
2. Russia’s President Dmitri Medvedev, for creating tension between neighbors through anti-Ukrainian acts — energy crisis — and rants like those in the letter to its President.
3. Russia’s former ambassador to Ukraine, Victor Chrernomyrdin, for mocking Ukraine’s politics as “dog fights."
4. Canada’s National Capital Commission, for balking at calling the monument to 100 million victims of Communist regimes what it is. (Ultimately reconsidered.)
5. The Liberal Party of Canada, for denying representation to Canadians of Ukrainian descent in its shadow cabinet by ousting member of parliament Borys Wrzesnewskyjwhile granting over-representation to other groups.
6. Patriarch Kiril of Moscow, for failing to honor the separation of church and state in democratic societies by preaching union of orthodox churches under Russia’s control at the expense of religious freedom in Ukraine.
7. Faux pas in Canada: Stephen Carter, chief of staff for Alberta Wildrose Alliance, for mocking Premier Ed Stelmach’s Ukrainian accent (Carter resigned); opposition leader Michael Ignatieff, for half-apology for inappropriate words about Ukrainians in earlier writings; Jason Kenny, minister of citizenship and immigration, for misinterpretation of Canada’s Multicultural Act and The Charter of Rights and irritating Ukrainians, and others, by instructing them to pay for mother tongue lessons, other than English and French.
8. The governments of the United States, for extraditing John Demjanjuk to stand trial for a previously dismissed case by Israel; and Germany – for putting him on trial for Nazi crimes while protecting its own citizens from similar prosecution by law.
9. Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, for proposing a law to prosecute those who expose Communist Russia’s murderous past.
10. The government of Ukraine, for reinstating Olga Ginsberg, a Communist determined to protect its murderous past, as head of Ukraine’s archives.
Oksana Bashuk Hepburn is an international commentator and editor of a quarterly magazine.
