Yushchenko to seek full place in EU for Ukraine

VIKTOR Yushchenko became Ukraine’s president yesterday and vowed to seek a full place in Europe for the people he led in a peaceful revolt against a rigged national election and pressure from Russia.

Watched by outgoing US Secretary of State Colin Powell, seven presidents of ex-communist states and relatively minor dignitaries from Moscow, Mr Yushchenko took the oath of office in parliament to cap his two-month Orange Revolution.

He then made his way to Independence Square, focal point of weeks of protests by supporters sporting orange banners, scarves and hats and told hundreds of thousands massed there that they had every right to be part of a broader Europe.