The Dreams of Europe. The Dreams of Democracy. The Dreams of Freedom

A successful resolution of a severe political crisis requires immediate response, negotiation and a compromise among the political leaders. Unfortunately, Ukraine doesn’t have it - authoritarianism has taken over. And we are the Ukrainians and cannot keep quite. This letter is a call to Europe for help, because Ukraine is in terror and tragedy. It should no longer be a collective television watching only, as the incidents of the current severe intimidation are repeating the country’s history of terror in the 1930’s.

By Olena Denysyuk and Anastasia Erichsen

Photo by Olga Starostina

You might be asking who is right and who is wrong in the recent Ukrainian protests that turned deadly last week.  On the one side of the “front”, there are angry, desperate people with different social backgrounds and political views from various regions of Ukraine including Kievans, who came out to fight for their basic human rights. On the other side, there are thousands of governmental agents – internal military forces, police officers and the riot police Berkut. Known as the government tool for political repressions, Berkut forces are trained to suppress the uprising and have demonstrated the most brutal behavior such as cruel beatings, torturing, shooting directly at journalists and killing at least two protesters after firing bullets at them. Being paid very well Berkut is there voluntarily, while the internal military troops are there due to their military obligation. Hence, they are obliged to execute orders by law and if they change sides, they will be at risk of being sent to jail turning into objects of political repressions.   

Both opposing clusters have been shouting at each other, throwing Molotov cocktails and hating each other. All are angry and desperate for their own reasons. Being generally ignored by the government the pro-reform demonstrators in Ukraine have been protesting since last November. Instead of coming closer to any compromise the government has implemented its machine of repression to intimidate those activists and public figures who disagree with the regime. This included pushing laws through the Parliament on January 16 that violate constitutional rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens as well as international human rights obligations undertaken by Ukraine. While some of the demonstrators that were severely injured during the violent clashes with the police were lucky to wake up at hospitals, others were abducted for further “investigations”. A number of activists are still missing. And somebody was found frozen to death in the forest with signs of torture.

The demonstrators have been angry at president Yanukovych and the government, but the military troops including young cadets of 19-20 years of age were sent “to the field” to absorb the anger and desperation of the activists. Accordingly, in spite of disapproving the government, some of the Ukrainians find it difficult to support the demonstrators, as they are also perceived as extremists and provocateurs. At the same time, large gangs of pro-government villains, so-called “titushki”, have been brought to Kiev from different regions of Ukraine to support the president’s Party of Regions. Later, these groups of young people were caught smashing cars and shop-windows in the Ukrainian capital in an attempt to create more chaos and sabotage the demonstrators.  

The complexity of the political crisis and the many feelings involved, such as anger, hatred, distrust, desperation and fear, make it difficult or even close to impossible to see the situation objectively. In addition, there are differences in opinions driven by the Ukrainian-Russian history, post communism, language and values as well as the level of education, occupation, age, access to the Internet and the media controlled by the government and their allies. All this makes the current crisis extremely complex and very difficult to digest objectively.

Thus, in order to suggest an action plan for Europe, let’s look at the situation from a broader perspective.

Some of the most profitable sectors of the Ukrainian economy are under control of the informal power structure that consists of officials close to the President. At the same time, the middle class and the small and medium-sized enterprises have been harassed by the tax authorities. Moreover, according to journalist investigations, Yanukovych and his family have appropriated more than 50 billion of Ukrainian Hryvna during the last four years. His family members manage a number of large companies; he is being accused of illegally obtaining the Mezhygirya state residence and using the 140 surrounding hectares of land as well as acquiring a number of preserved areas in Crimea in order to build private properties for his family and close political allies. By striving to beat the national bank account with his personal one and impoverishing every single person in Ukraine the current President has created as many as possible predispositions for people not to be able to enjoy their lives.

Getting help from Europe, which would have come after signing the Association Agreement with the EU, was seen as a way to get out of the authoritarianism in Ukraine. The people’s dream and hope of being a truly European and democratic country for the upcoming 10th year anniversary of the Orange Revolution was about to become true. Needless to say that coming closer to the EU is not a guarantee of economic prosperity, bright future and political excellence. And who knows, maybe at the end of the day, the Customs Union with Russia is not such a bad thing - both countries do share the Slavic history, culture, the Russian language, norms and families. The potential benefits from joining the European markets via the Association Agreement, on the other hand, can also be driven by illusions about Europe – its unlimited reserve of capital as well as the exhausted fantasy about Ukraine’s geopolitical significance. Moreover, these “friendly relations” with Europe have their own economic price – Ukraine is to reduce its budget expenditures, let its exchange rate float and raise energy prices – not such friendly conditions for ordinary people. Not friendly in the short run. However, in the long run, Ukraine has to put its own house in order, as the conditions also include political restructuring: it has to reform its justice system and stop suppressing the political opposition.

This potential Association Agreement has therefore given people optimism: the hope of being able to say your opinion without being thrown into jail; the hope of being able to make honest business without paying under the table; the hope of honest government and market transparency, which will not create presidential empires by syphoning funds from national accounts; and the hope of beating corruption, political manipulation and suppression. The hope to explore the democracy as such.

But, the agreement was not signed and Ukrainians took to the streets – peacefully, positively and legally. This uprising was a manifestation of the understanding that the first change is to take place within ordinary people. If people said yes to Europe, they would say yes to changes, which of course should take years to have a visible effect. As one woman from the EuroMaydan Demonstration described it, the agreement with Europe would have meant a job loss for her, because she worked with trade between Ukraine and Russia. In any case, people were ready to sacrifice, as they were no longer able to derive pleasure from their present lives.

However, in the early morning of November 30 these people were forcefully dispersed by Berkut police units at the Independence Square in Kiev: they were attacked, chased down the streets, brutally beaten and thrown into jail. The authorities justified these acts by the necessity to clear the square for the purpose of setting a giant Christmas tree… This evoked public outrage turning the pro-EU demonstration into an anti-government protest with hundreds of thousands taking to the central square of the capital demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister, Interior Minister as well as President Yanukovych.  

Since then the uprising has not gone away and has only become stronger spreading all over the country with protests against the remnants of the totalitarian regime of the last century. Unfortunately, the government has generally done nothing to show their openness and willingness to hear the people and negotiate with them. Instead, they announced Draconian laws severely restricting peaceful mass protests and the freedom of speech discrediting and intimidating journalists who “defame the honor and dignity of another person”  when writing about the corruption of leading politicians. Later, these laws were used by the President as a negotiation platform with the political opposition. (By the way, the guy on the picture  below would be also classified as an extremist).

It is only when Ukraine saw bloodshed and first deaths of the protesters on January 22 that the President started taking negotiations with the opposition leaders more seriously. As  furious protesters were taking over the administrative buildings in other regions in Ukraine including traditionally pro-government supporting Zaporizhya and Donetsk in the East, a number of Ukrainian politicians as well as judges resigned. On January 28 the Prime Minister resigned and the Parliament revoked the Draconian laws of January 16. On January 29 the Parliament decided to set up a special committee on issues related to the preparation and negotiation of amendments to the Constitution. criminals”, who defame the honor and dignity of another person (the one who rules the country, for example).

At the same time, the horrendous conflict is far from over. The demands of the pro-reform demonstrators that have not been met yet are clear: amnesty to all the protesters detained and unfairly sentenced since the beginning of the rallies; resignation and trial of the Minister of Internal Affairs as well as Berkut officers involved in crimes against the activists; changes to the Constitution with the aim of returning to the political reform of 2004 and transforming the country back to a parliamentary republic, thus limiting the powers of the President, that he managed to centralize during his reign since 2010. Moreover, the continuing political repressions against the pro-reform activists must be stopped.   

Being quite innovative the pro-democratic protests have shown high levels of participation, self-organization and involvement of the Ukrainian civil society in the political arena. Surrounded by huge barricades the heart of the riot is the Independence Square where one can find tents, heating barrels, field kitchens, a stage, Maydan’s own hospital, private security and even an impromptu university. The elderly and other Kievans come by with food, drinks and warm clothing. Nearby restaurants have hosted some activists with free meals and places to recharge telephone batteries, musicians play the Ukrainian anthem and film producers make documentary films. The activists have organized volunteer groups such as pro-bono lawyers to provide with legal support and translators to make sure that important massages are being delivered abroad. A number of civil society organizations have emerged including the National Organization Maydan, the aim of which has been to coordinate the actions between the Ukrainian citizens, trade unions, political parties and NGOs for meaningful system-wide changes, democratic reforms and the European future.   

Ukrainians are willing to embark on a long-term journey of change providing their support to the political opposition leaders despite not fully trusting them. In the eyes of many, the opposition seems to lack the necessary leadership skills and concrete plans of action, but they choose the European path for sustainable development. The recent tragic events in Kiev have awakened even the most politically apathetic members of the Ukrainian society. However, there are still quite a few people that do not realize how dangerous the current political regime is for the future wellbeing of the country and how crucial it is to stand up against it now.   

Therefore, Ukraine is desperately in need of help and support from the European Union. Should it only be a collective TV watching here in Europe? The oppressive treatment of Ukrainians should be stopped! We believe that not only democratic values should be promoted, they should be helped to get implemented.

Hence, in the short run, the EU officials should by all possible means keep putting pressure on President Yanukovych to refrain from the use of force and take the negotiations with the opposition seriously. Other immediate actions could be providing an international team of investigators and observers for the duration of the crisis in Ukraine and visible monitoring of the situation by the EU diplomats; EU visa and financial sanctions against the officials linked to the use of force.

In the long run, Ukraine needs the European and other international bilateral and multilateral aid organizations including NGOs help:

1) strengthen the pro-reform Ukrainian opposition movements by establishing international party-to-party relations and sharing lessons on best practices in developing democracy and political ideology.

2) encourage and facilitate more insights and understanding of society and politics as well as demands for popular participation in the affairs of the state. This could be done through making contacts to the local communities via universities, NGOs and other organizations and raising awareness and organizing educational initiatives.

3) fight corruption. Corruption was and still remains the leading evil in Ukraine’s politics and business. It’s so coined and so “business-as-usual”, that actually, only the “Ministry of Anti-corruption” is what the country is missing. Transparency International ranks Ukraine together with a few other African countries number 144 out of 175 concerning the level of corruption in public sector. The offices of the state are exploited to procure advantages and power for one person and his allies and the current system is characterized by widespread nepotism and favoritism. Narrow interests of the political and economic elites have been prioritized depriving the vast majority of the population from their right to decent salaries, welfare services and higher quality of life.

There is a weak rule of law and discrepancies between the formal rule and their actual implementation especially from the point of view of resource-weak citizens. The current unfair trials of the detained protesters represent this vivid example. And a lot of people are so used to such state of affairs that they do not even question their rights. Hence, it is critical to make the many people who do not belong to political and economic elites aware of their situation and their possibilities.

In this sense, the international organizations could facilitate this deeper understanding of the social reality which shapes their lives and their capacity to transform the reality. Particularly, international facilitators, catalysts and mediators could support self-organization of marginalized groups of the society not only in the urban but also in the rural areas of Ukraine to create self-reliant co-operatives, labor unions and political interest groups. This could help them fulfill the roles of active and socially responsible citizens and potentially, make better political choices during the next presidential and parliament elections.  

At the broader sense, the Association Agreement and closer ties to the EU would strengthen the rule of law, encourage a number of policies to eliminate corruption, improve the judicial system and more transparency regarding the property rights.

4) provide opportunities for young Ukrainians. The European Commission has provided grants to Non-EU students as part of the European Neighborhood Policy for studying in the European universities and Copenhagen Business School offers similar scholarships. We encourage for more initiatives alike from other universities and institutions in the EU countries. Moreover, providing e-learning opportunities from the leading universities in Europe and other developed countries to everyone in Ukraine could be another option. The education of young people is obviously one of the best paths towards a democratic country. But there is still a challenge here. Even for well-educated people it could be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to go against the public and implement new democratic norms in such a corrupt system. Therefore Ukraine needs a system-wide support of changes across all levels of society.

Finally, openness to the Ukrainian people in terms of visa and possibilities to visit the EU countries is crucial for them to be able to learn what the truly democratic societies are, about the benefits such societies enjoy and get a better understanding on how to get there. And not the least, keep up the hope that life can be better  - just not to give up! 

 

 

A peaceful and truly democratic demonstration in Copenhagen.