Victory For Ukrainian Freedom

There is good news from Ukraine, as reported by CTV.

Viktor Yushchenko called his triumph a "victory over tyranny" after being sworn in as Ukrainian president on Sunday, two months after an election marred by fraud divided the country.

And so it is. A triumph over the old guard with close ties to the resurgent Russian Stalinists. It is a time for rejoicing and a time for hope.

Yushchenko, a Western-leaning politician, promised to steer Ukraine away from "all evil" and into the European Union after taking the oath of office in Ukraine's parliament.

Given the alternative, joining the European Union is a good thing. It is unfortunate, however, that Ukrainians, having just thrown off the yoke of Russian imperialism, may now willingly hand their newly won sovereignty over to the unelected and mostly unaccountable mega-bureacrats of the EU in Brussels. But on the whole, the latter devil is preferred to the Russian bear. The EU will provide the needed counterweight to Russian expansionist aims.

What will President Putin do now? Will he accept the verdict of the Ukrainian people, or work to undermine Mr. Yushchenko? My bet is that he will do the latter. Russia is in it for the long game.