In an interview with Channel 5, he said the wave of protest that began Nov. 22, 2004, brought the country "self-esteem."

"For the rest of my life I will remember it as my biggest political pride, I'm proud that it happened in Ukraine, and I was a part of it", he said.

The protests followed an election that was widely perceived as rigged, which resulted in the re-election of Viktor Yanukovich. Yushchenko won a narrow victory when a new vote was ordered.

This week, a court in Kiev granted a request from the city administration to ban a concert stage being set up in Maydan Square for a celebration of the anniversary Saturday, Itar-Tass reported. Officials said the square, where the protests began, is now taken up with ceremonies marking the anniversary of the 1933 famine.

Oleksandr Moroz, the leader of the Socialist Party, said Yushchenko and his allies are now afraid of the kind of popular rising that brought them to power.

"They promised to come to people to Maydan every year and to make a report on done work," he told ForUm. "It is time to pay the bill. And kings have no clothes. They are afraid of Maydan. People's memory about Maydan becomes political verdict for these persons."