KIEV, Feb 25, 2010 (AFP) - Viktor Yanukovych, expected to switch Ukraine to a more pro-Russia course, on Thursday took his oath of office to become the country's fourth president since independence.
"I, Viktor Yanukovych, elected president of Ukraine by the will of the people, swear the oath of loyalty to Ukraine," he said at a ceremony in parliament attended by a host of foreign dignitaries.
"I vow to defend through my actions the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine and the rights and freedoms of its citizens," he said.
The ceremony was marred by the absence of his defeated rival in the February 7 presidential elections, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who has so far refused to quit office or recognise Yanukovych as the new president.
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