Yushchenko: Campaign like fall of Berlin Wall

Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko said today support for him in his country was comparable to the groundswell that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Yushchenko was speaking after being discharged from a Vienna clinic after doctors diagnosed his mysterious illness as dioxin poisoning.

At a brief press conference at the elite Rudolfinerhaus clinic, Yushchenko lauded the decision of thousands in Ukraine to take to the streets to protest the outcome of presidential elections.

“We haven’t seen anything like that for the past 100 years,” he said. “I think it would be appropriate to compare this to the fall of the Soviet Union or the fall of the Berlin Wall.”

Yushchenko thanked the medical staff who determined he had been poisoned, which caused his dramatic facial disfigurement.

“They’ve spent many days and nights with me and I am very happy to be alive in this world today,” he said. “I thank these people for this.”

Doctors say he will be able to return to the campaign trail, but that it could be two to three years before his face heals.