Viktor Yushchenko was officially sworn in as President of Ukraine today signalling that America does not necessarily have to invade a country for real Democracy to take hold.

Viktor Yushchenko was sworn in as president of Ukraine on Sunday and called his inauguration "a victory of freedom over tyranny," capping a dramatic rise to power on the back of two months of massive street protests sparked by fraud-plagued elections.

The pro-Western reformer Yushchenko declared that the former Soviet republic was "now in the center of Europe" and praised the crowds of supporters who kept up demonstrations for weeks in Kiev's central square demanding a fair vote.

"The heart of Ukraine was on Independence Square," Yushchenko told tens of thousands of people in the square. "Good people from all over the world, from far away countries, were looking at Independence Square, at us."

"This is a victory of freedom over tyranny. The victory of law over lawlessness," he said, standing in front of an orange banner erected on the Independence Monument's rotunda, a reference to the campaign color that led the winter's demonstrations to be called the "Orange Revolution."

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Today marks a great day in the history of Democracy. Let's hope that the January 30 elections in Iraq will prove as worthy of commendation.