Viktor Yushchenko became Ukraine's president Sunday and vowed to steer the nation toward the West, capping a popular revolt and a bitter months-long fight over the destiny of a nation historically entwined with Russia. "Our place is in the European Union," Yushchenko told crowds in Kiev's central Independence Square after taking the oath of office of a nation that has for centuries been under Russian influence.
"My goal is Ukraine in a united Europe. Our road to the future is the road of a united Europe," he told several hundreds of thousands of people who crammed into the plaza, the epicenter of the "orange revolution" that brought him to power.
Earlier inside parliament, the 50-year-old former central banker Yushchenko read aloud the oath of office with his right hand placed on the constitution and the Bible and hailed the mass popular protests against a fraudulent election that got him to the spot.
The chamber erupted into chants of "Yu-shchen-ko! Yu-shchen-ko!," the battle cry of the "orange" protests.
"The Ukrainian citizens have achieved honest elections," he said in a short speech afterward. "The transfer of power is legitimate. It is a great national victory."
Yushchenko became the third president of an independent Ukraine, taking over after a decade of authoritarian-leaning rule by Leonid Kuchma, who was present in the chamber.
Underscoring the change of course that he intends for the country of 48 million on EU's eastern edge was the array of foreign dignitaries who support the efforts and attended the ceremony.
They included outgoing US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the head of Nato, leaders of several former Soviet satellites and two heroes of anti-Soviet struggles, Poland's Lech Walesa and Czech Republic's Vaclav Havel.
After the formal ceremony in parliament, Yushchenko received the commanders of the armed forces and then headed to Independence Square, known here as the "maidan," from where he directed the "orange" protests that roiled his nation and captured the attention of the world.
"The heart of Ukraine beat on this maidan," Yushchenko told to a deafening roar from the crowd.
The vast plaza was packed with supporters clad in the orange colour of his election campaign, some of whom had stood there since early morning despite the cold - just as they did during the revolt.
"I couldn't be here for the revolution, I was on the election commission back home," said Nina Marushak, a 50-year-old accountant who arrived in Kiev from Odessa with two friends.
"I helped make history in my country and I wanted to see it in person," she said.
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