UkraineBlog2006

"Ukraine enlargement plea falls on deaf ears"

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Ukraine president Viktor Yushchenko continued to hammer on enlargement as the EU-Ukraine meeting in Helsinki drew to a close on Friday (27 October) afternoon, but got zero political commitment in return.

The dioxin-scarred Orange Revolution veteran told press he was "occasionally worried about the intention to determine EU borders" adding "we hope these discussions will not result in the creation of some new Berlin Wall along the EU borders."

Ukrainians "need to see the European doors open" the president stated, warning that unless the new EU-Ukraine treaty for post-2007 relations contains explicit recognition of Kiev's accession hopes "the political chapter of the agreement will have no sense."

Mr Yushchenko assured Brussels there would be no rerun of last year's winter gas crisis and said he would co-sponsor new pipelines to bring Caspian oil and gas to Poland under the "Brody" project and to Austria under the "Nabucco" scheme.

"The integration of the Ukrainian energy system into the European energy network is a part of Ukraine's strategic ambition to join the European Union," he said, having previously suggested membership talks could start in 2008.

But European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso gave a blunt response to the president's call, saying "Ukraine is not ready, and we are not ready [for discussions on enlargement]," AP reports.

"Ukraine still has reforms to do...and today in the European Union, member states are not ready to assume new membership obligations," Mr Barroso stated, adding that his words are not a "negative signal" but a spur to work on the new pact.

Enhancing relations
Official talks on the so-called "Enhanced Agreement" [EA] between the EU and Ukraine are tabled to start in early 2007, with a "deep free trade area" at the heart of the programme dependent on Ukraine's speedy entry into the WTO.

But the draft EA treaty contains nothing on enlargement so far, while Friday's summit conclusions foresee only a "development of stronger economic and trade relations" and "increasingly close co-operation" on foreign policy.

Politically speaking, the draft EA puts Ukraine on a par with other EU "neighbourhood" states such as Morocco or Azerbaijan at a time when Europe is suffering from post-2004 enlargement fatigue but engaging in ever-closer relations with Russia.

Meanwhile, external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told Reuters "it is a particularly difficult time for the process of democratic consolidation and the overall reform process in Ukraine."

EU voices stability worries
"Political stability will be one of the key priorities that president Yushchenko has to find," she added, in reference to the recent comeback of Russia-friendly, anti-NATO politician Viktor Yanukovych as Ukraine's PM.

Brussels is wary that Yushchenko-Yanukovych wrangling could slow down WTO entry and the creation of the EU free trade zone, or even damage sensitive projects such as the EU border monitoring mission for the breakaway Moldovan region of Transdniestria.

"The importance of the continued implementation of the joint declaration by Ukraine and Moldova on customs was highlighted," the summit conclusions said on the Transdniestria customs scheme, which is deeply disliked by Russia.

Friday's summit also saw the EU and Ukraine ink a deal on cheap EU visas from 2007 onward and Ukrainian phone operator, Ukrtelecom, sign a contract to buy 3G mobile phones from Finnish giant Nokia.

Joint press statement: EU-Ukraine Summit, Helsinki, 27 October 2006

‘Death and the Penguin’; Andrei Kurkov and writing in Ukraine

During the Ukraine study tour, the British Council arranged a session with Andrei Kurkov, Ukraine’s most famous living novelist. With his impeccable, colloquial English and knowing way of dealing with Westerners, Kurkov maintains his diffidence while deftly playing the media game. Kurkov’s early training in Japanese and his slipping the net of Russian intelligence service recruiters to wait out the fall of communism as a prison guard in Odessa hint that this is a writer who will not be pinned down.

He thinks the Orange Revolution changed the mentality of Ukrainians, making them less passive and politically indifferent, but adds; ‘I have no illusions, it was essentially a bourgeois revolution’. He talked to us affably and optimistically about Russian and Ukrainian writing in Ukraine, cultural policy and the national arts scene. He also spoke about censorship, saying “there are no clean politicians in this country, unless they are very young or very unimportant.”

Community capacity in a former Soviet society (by Alastair Nicolson)

Successful, resilient communities usually exhert an air of confidence.   This confidence is often derived from a community's ability to identify problems, harness its resources and implement solutions - it has the capacity to respond to circumstances and act in the best interests of its people.  However, in closed societies it was the state that provided everything.  People looked to the government to provide for all their needs - but they did not expect to engage proactively or influence what was provided.  Community involvement in service provision was neither offered nor expected.

Following the collapse of the Soviet system in 1991, this situation changed completely.  The state was no longer in a position to provide for the all the identified needs of all its people, so many of the least fortunate and most vulnerable people were unable to participate fully in the changing society.

Developing capacity within community groups - either geographic communities, or communities of interest - is a necessary pre-requisite for that communitiy to evolve to the point where it can diagnose and respond to the changing environmnet in which it finds itself.  However, this is an area of activity which is not often supported by international NGO's.  Their focus is more usually on project delivery, leaving a legacy of tangible outcomes - usually in the form of capital projects.

This particular area is being tackled in Kiev by a project funded by the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID) called 'Democratising Ukraine'.  The focus of activity is on bringing groups of vulnerable people together and supporting them to develop a coherent voice on the issues that affect their lives.  By establishing these self-help groups and working on developing the leadership skills within them the project will leave behind a legacy that will mean the groups can continue to operate and deal with new problems and issues as they arise, without the need for outside help.

There is clearly considerable demand for this type of activity, and this one project, based in the capital is really just scratching the surface of an area which will need considerable investment over a long period of time.  The current key client groups are orphans, disabled and vulnerable people.  However, housing, social care, women (unemployment and domestic violence), young people (dealing with a lack of opportunity) are all areas where more activity is needed.

The establishment of these co-operatives to serve the people, independent of the state, will help make communities resilient to change and ensure they can have a voice to influence the decisions that affect their lives.  Empowering people to participate and lead projects of this type should also help unearth talent that would otherwise go unnoticed, and identify individuals with the potential to make a positive and worthwhile contribution to local or national politics.  This newfound capacity will help grow confident, resilient communities, far better placed to deal with the undoubted challenges and changes that they will face in the years ahead.

About me Clare Twelvetrees

Hi, I am Clare Twelvetrees and I might be the last person who participated in this trip to post to the blog! (although Ling I can't see you anywhere?)

I am the International Relations Manager in the Environment Agency England and Wales and manage our programme of capacity building projects with sister organisations overseas. I was lucky enough to get involved in this visit at a fairly late stage and happened to be in East Ukraine with Groundwork UK the week before it took place.

During my two and a half weeks in Ukraine I experienced the East, South and the capital which was a fascinating contrast. To start with, air quality in Mariupol in the East left a lot to be desired but I was impressed by the regeneration in the centre of Donetsk and, being Welsh, the seemingly respected  legacy of John Hughes.

Kyiv was a delight and our programme with the 21st Century Trust an excellent learning experience. As the days passed, the complexities of Ukraine seemed to grow and it was like putting the bits of information we acquired into an ever increasing jigsaw.

We were also lucky enough to visit the Crimea which gave us a glimpse of the mechanisms of regional automomy, the relationship with Russia and the position of the Tatars. All whilst enjoying the mountainous surroundings, the coastline and dipping in the warm Black Sea. Our last couple of days were spent back in Kyiv meeting more experts and consolidating what we learnt. Since returning I have been working hard on developing an enviornmental project in Ukraine with some of the contacts I have made there. So watch this space.

Politics that Pays (by Katie Allen)

One of the most striking, and perhaps insightful, things I heard during our trip to Ukraine was about a former British politician. One of our contacts in Kiev told me the tale of meeting a former MP who had given up politics to become a businessman. This was the “strangest thing” the Ukrainian
visitor had encountered on his UK trip. “It was the wrong way round,” he said. “Here, if you want to be rich you give up business for politics.”

Everywhere we went in Ukraine, one view of national politics that united supporters of all sides was the money involved. Fresh from digesting the news that a university degree can be bought from all but a handful of institutions, we are told that a parliamentary seat is little different. And this idea, that a place in the national parliament is yours for somewhere upwards of $5m, is repeated everywhere we go. In return for a listing that could catapult you into politics is the promise of influence and, with that, improved business prospects.

Of course, everywhere in the world a bit of money makes the path to politics a far easier one, but what people seemed to be telling us here was that parliamentarians were almost directly buying seats. One man even claimed to be a broker in this. Asked about moral pitfalls of such a sideline, he said: “Above all, I am pragmatic.” Other Ukrainians we met certainly weren’t in denial about this supposedly widespread phenomenon. But few could think how to change the situation. It was at the offices of electoral monitor the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, probably the country’s biggest NGO and self styled “hero of the Orange Revolution”, that we first heard the seat-buying stories. Asked how to stop it, they simply said: “You can highlight it and create some negative PR.”

But who will run the negative PR in a country where even senior reporters told us: “I don’t think many Ukrainian journalists worry about finding the truth.” And maybe that is what it comes down to. The Orange Revolution ushered out an era when newsrooms were issued with the notorious “temnyk” –
instructions on how stories should be handled. But many in the media fear self-censorship has taken the place of state control. Add to that the fact many major news outlets are owned by big business leaders with their own agenda and perhaps the wait seems even longer for the kind of investigative
reports that could unearth the ins and outs of the way into parliament.

“Just like all things in Ukraine, everything is relative,” says one news editor on reporting after the Orange Revolution. “We are seeing that it doesn’t depend on politics but it does depend on the owner.”

Last but not least, there’s the sad fact Ukrainian journalists are still persecuted for doing their jobs. Reporters Without Borders’ latest report on the country cites threats and physical attacks, including one on a reporter who exposed corruption in political parties.

Reporters without Borders' latest annual report on Ukraine

Everybody needs good neighbours

Interesting new poll out today from Eurobarometer - about perceptions of the countries that border the EU, and the EU's relationship with them.

Ukraine comes out top in one poll, as the country that most considered to be a neighbour of the EU - 58% yes, 32% no. 

As they mention, geographical proximity, especially sharing common borders; or historical relations and emotional or personal links may influence opinions.

Ukraine, Scotland, Europe and the long road from Yalta

On 11 October, Ukraine will become the latest virgin venue for Scottish football's Tartan Army. Travelling to Kiev for the first time (and flushed with recent victories) their presence may well bring stimulate more awareness of the expansive and complex country than 15 years of political turmoil and "revolutions". Ukraine sits uncomfortably in the half-knowledge of most Western Europeans, just as it sits rather uncomfortably itself with its own political and social history - what has been called the country's "unpredictable past".

Three references probably sum up the extent of Ukrainian presence in British popular conscience today. First, and still in the realm of cultural diplomacy, is the recent move of Andrei Shevhenko to Chelsea, unconsciously continuing the centuries of close interaction between Russia and its southern spiritual sister. Staying with popular culture, Ruslana's recent fur-clad success in the Eurovision song contest created a new target for Terry Wogan's emerald wit when Kyiv hosted the contest the following year. Secondly, recent domestic fuel bills in part reflect Europe's dependence on the gas supplies which run out from Russia across Ukraine's eastern border.

However, the third recent domestic echo of Ukraine's place in the world was the Orange Revolution of 2004, which saw the country rise in a student-led revolt against the evident doctoring of Presidential election results, which seemed to favour the anointed succession of Victor Yanukovich to the sombre former President Leonid Kuchma. In what to some is a cruel twist of fate, current President Yushenko - whose dioxin-poisoned face became the defining image of the revolution - has recently had to accept the nomination of his old foe from 2004, Yanukovich, as Prime Minister following his party's majority win in recent Parliamentary elections. Political cohabitation is clearly a concept which many are struggling to come to terms with.

President Yushenko has attempted to veto some of the activities of the government, only to find that he does not have the formal power, or parliamentary support to do so. There is distrust that Yanukovich's apparent proximity to Moscow, drawing from traditional support in the east of Ukraine, is supplanting the still-fledging independence of the former Soviet republic.

The Prime Minister's Party of the Regions, (viewed, a little simplistically, as the pro-Russia party), considers the President to be attempting to exercise powers that are not his to use. Recent moves reinforcing Ukrainian as the national and dominant language in the media and elsewhere make many traditionalists in the country nervous that an element of plurality, as well as national history, is being discarded on behalf of a new nationalism as Russian is diminished.

Central to Ukraine's political struggle for balance and normality are two neighbours whose relationships with the country define the internal difficulties that remain after the Orange Revolution. To the north and east lies Russia, which still maintains a substantial naval presence at Sevastopol, the traditional home of the Russian and Soviet Black Sea fleet. In the historic harbour, the inverted Scottish saltire of the Russian navy remains more prominent and numerous than the blue and gold of Ukraine. Kyiv itself is the spiritual centre of the "Rus", the orthodox community which helped define the culture of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and which lay at the heart of Tsarist devotion. St Vlodymyr - whose christening on Crimean soil in 989 brought Christianity to the Slavs, is venerated in the caves of Kyiv.

To the West lies the European Union, which crept ever closer last week with the confirmed accession of Romania, which lies over the Carpathian border. Poland and Slovakia also share borders, and Poland and Lithuania use their one time lordship of Ukraine to guarantee the country a sympathetic ear at Europe's top tables. Membership of the EU and NATO are at the core of the current power struggle at the top of Ukrainian politics. Despite the statements of intent to eventually join both blocs contained in the country's “Universal”, a Declaration of National Unity, PM Yanukovich recently presaged a visit to Brussels in September by pouring a large amount of cold water over the idea that NATO membership was appropriate for Ukraine at the moment.

Economic Development in Ukraine (by Alastair Nicolson)

 What a complex picture. Official statistics suggest very low levels of economic output, and correspondingly GDP per capita levels are amongst the lowest in the developed world. Received wisdom suggests ‘the majority within the new ruling elite has contempt for productive activity and is interested only in booty…’ But this country used to be the Breadbasket of the Soviet empire, has some of the largest steel mills in the world and provided much of the intellectual capital that developed the Soviet space programme. What is happening behind the scenes??

A few sites of interest.

forUm is an internet newspaper which brings together ongoing stories about Ukraine.

The European Policy Centre has had series of meetings about developments in Ukraine over recent months.

Finally, Zbigniew Brzezinski has had a lot of things to say about Ukraine and the world - here is one example.

Faith and Politics in Ukraine

For my own understanding, and perhaps for that of a few readers as well, I feel it is necessary to begin a discussion of Ukrainian Orthodoxy with a quick historical primer.  Everyone always asks when and how the Orthodox churches began to differ from the Catholic Church.  I have tried to sketch this history below, by cramming a couple thousand years into a few paragraphs.  The piece concludes with an introduction to the complex situation of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, and a summary of thoughts that Archbishop Mitrofan shared with me during an interview in the Monastery of the Caves.

What is the difference between Orthodox and Catholic?
The apostles of Christ trekked around Mediterranean lands and planted churches, within which evolved a hierarchy.  The apostles of Christ, consecrated bishops, who could then pass on spiritual power to others.  By the 2nd century AD many notable cities had a bishop.  Persecution meant that the Church frequently operated underground.  In places it was physically underground, with caves becoming the most important alters, schools, and resting places of martyrs.  Early in the new millennium Emperor Nero did a lot to keep Christians in hiding -- he issued sanctions against believers and allegedly found a use for them as human torches in his gardens.  The start of the 4th century saw the "great persecution" under Emperor Diocletian.  Then in 313 AD, after Constantine had his famous vision of the cross, the edict of Milan was passed -- ending government-sanctioned persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.  Constantine was also the one responsible for moving the seat of empire from Rome to Byzantium, and founding in Constantinople what would become a thousand year dynasty.  In 325 he convened the council of Nicaea to sort out a controversy that Arius had started in the Church regarding the nature of Jesus and the Father.