The President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko had a meeting with Viatcheslav Kantor, the President of the Russian Jewish Congress and The World Holocaust Forum Foundation. The meeting took place in the official residence of Ukraine’s President in Kiev.
Viktor Yushchenko highly appraised the social activity of the Jewish public organizations in Ukraine and internationally.

The participants of the meeting emphasized the importance of holding World Holocaust Forums and discussed the preparation for the Second World Holocaust Forum in Kiev scheduled for September 2006.

“Holocaust is not a Jewish but rather a universal tragedy”, marked the President of Ukraine.

During the discussion, the RJC’s President said that the Jews remind systematically and in various ways that the human life is sacred, thus, making all Jews and non-Jews start thinking about the common human values.

During the substantive conversation, the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko marked the international scale of the upcoming event.

The RJC’s Kantor described the forthcoming forum as “the stage standing on which state leaders will be able to consolidate their efforts against escalating peril of xenophobia and racial intolerance which has been increasing against weakening historical memory and intentional denial of the Holocaust”.

Viatcheslav Kantor appreciated the Ukrainian President’s “close attention to this issue, its comprehensive and detailed study”.

“As European citizens, including Russia and Ukraine, we represent not only Jews, but act for and on behalf of those who have been fighting against fascism in all its past and present ways of manifestation,” emphasized Viatcheslav Kantor, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the European Jewish Congress and President of the Russian Jewish Congress.