Yushchenko to receive liberty medal

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is to receive the 2005 Philadelphia Liberty Medal, awarded to those who demonstrate leadership in the pursuit of freedom.

Yushchenko was elected president in December, riding the crest of a popular uprising during which masses of supporters camped out in the Ukrainian capital, claiming a Moscow-backed candidate had stolen a disputed election.

The medal, established in 1988, honours an individual or organisation that has “demonstrated leadership and vision in the pursuit of liberty of conscience or freedom from oppression, ignorance, or deprivation.” It is administered by the non-profit Philadelphia Foundation and comes with a $100,000 (€83,140) prize.

The medal is typically awarded on Independence Day, but the date had to be changed this year because of a scheduling conflict. Mayor John Street will present the medal on September 17 at the National Constitution Centre.

“President Yushchenko’s courageous leadership in guiding the ‘Orange Revolution’ is reminiscent of the heroism of Vaclav Havel in Czechoslovakia and is likely to inspire other freedom-seeking, democracy-loving people,” said Martin Meyerson, chairman of the medal’s International Selection Commission.

“Now, as a charismatic political leader, he is transforming his country into a modern civil society. As a shaper of a new nation, he merits being seen as the Ukraine’s George Washington.”

Past recipients of the medal have included Havel, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, US Supreme Court justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Thurgood Marshall, and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.