Ukraine’s Yushchenko Honored With London Foreign Policy Prize

LONDON, England -- Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko was named as the recipient of the first-ever Chatham House Prize, awarded by the eponymous London-based foreign policy institute.

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko
Yushchenko will be presented with the honor by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II at a reception in London on Oct. 17 followed by a gala dinner to be addressed by Cherie Booth, the lawyer wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair, the AFP news agency reports.

“President Yushchenko’s achievement as a statesman was to manage a domestic political revolution whilst simultaneously dealing with neighboring states who have sought to influence Ukraine’s political and economic life,” said Chatham House director Victor Bulmer-Thomas in a statement.

“His adeptness in handling relations with other states has ensured that Ukraine, as a pivotal state in Eastern Europe and Russia’s most important western neighbor, has not become the cause of a serious deterioration in relations between Russia and Western Europe.” Chatham House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is one of the world’s best known think-tanks dealing with international relations.

Source: MosNews