KYIV. Feb 14 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has suggested that March 9, Taras Shevchenko's birthday, be declared as the Day of National Reconciliation of the Ukrainian people.
He proposed this initiative at a joint session of the Public Humanitarian Council and the Coordination Council for the preparation and celebration of Shevchenko's 200th birthday anniversary, the president's press office said.
"The time has come when we must, first and foremost, look each other in the eye on our land, and say what we are dreaming of. If today it is reconciliation, then behind the reconciliation there must be peace," Yanukovych said.
The introduction of National Reconciliation Day is a requirement of the present-day reality, he said.
"If we talk about unity, we stop infighting between the regions and unite. That is what Ukraine is demanding from us today," the president said.
The session attendees backed the president's initiative.