UNITED NATIONS — Situated geographically between two blocs, divided culturally and religiously between two civilizations, and now placed in the political conundrum of choosing between East and West, Ukraine is again object the competing interests. And amid the political/gravitational pull of the two sides are the swirling clouds of Ukraine’s tumultuous 20th century history.
Long a geopolitical prize to be wooed, Ukraine sits astride the civilizational fault line between the West European with the gravity of Rome (now really the European Union in Brussels), and the Orthodox East and the sway of Moscow.
Historically, the country was divided between the Ukrainian Catholic and Eastern Orthodox faiths. These historic religious lines basically translate into politics today; the Catholic side looks West while the Orthodox are more comfortable in the East.
The renewed political conflict in Ukraine is basically over whether this Republic of 45 million people the size of France, will tilt to the West and the wider benefits of European economic integration or East within the gravity of Putin’s Russia where energy links keep this former Soviet republic in the bear hug of modern Russia.
Putin is naturally playing political hardball in trying to cajole or coerce Ukraine back into the grasp of Mother Russia. As would be expected energy ties and dependency are the Kremlin’s trump cards. So too are the historic links (and graphic memories) of the period when Ukraine was part of the former Soviet Union.
But twenty-two years as an independent state have hardly solidified democratic institutions, a civic society, or swept away endemic corruption. A decade ago, the Orange Revolution symbolized by the charismatic pro-democracy leader Yulia Tymoshenko offered hope for serious change; those desires were met only half way. Today former Prime Minister Tymoshenko sits in prison and in need of medical treatment.
The current government of Viktor Yanukovych is Moscow friendly; the reasons reflect geography as much as Putin’s less than subtle hints about Ukraine’s dependency on natural gas as much as a desire by a sizable minority of the country to be closer to Russia. During the showdown Yanukovych was on a visit to the People’s Republic of China to forge closer economic and political ties!
The other half sees things differently and wishes to embrace the European Union and deepen trade ties with the West. A long expected trade pact between the Kiev government and EU, favoring Ukraine’s wider European integration was on the verge of being signed, until Yanukovych’s abrupt about face.
Demonstrations erupted throughout the country and in the capital Kiev, recalling the halcyon days of the Orange Revolution in Kiev’s Independence Square. The country’s young and middle class largely support closer links to the EU.
Ukraine’s three previous post Soviet Presidents have given their political blessing to the pro-democracy protesters. The former leaders stated, “We express our solidarity with the peaceful civic actions of hundreds of thousands of young Ukrainians.”
Europe has equally expressed its solidarity with a free Ukraine. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle flew to Kiev to meet with dissidents before he met with government officials to proclaim, “Ukraine is Europe.” Visiting protesters on the iconic Independence Square, Westerwelle added optimistically “the gates of the European Union are still open.”
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt appears less sanguine; “They are not going West, I don’t think they are going East. I feel they are going down.”
Interestingly the East/West tug of war comes amid the shadows of history; this year the country commemorates the 80th anniversary of the Holodomor, the Soviet engineered famine of 1932-1933 in which at least seven million Ukrainians died. The Soviets forcibly annexed Ukraine and dictator Josef Stalin, fearing that Ukraine was too nationalistic, decided to use famine as a tool to eliminate and intimidate large parts of the population. The breadbasket of Ukraine had become a mortuary.
Ironically during the height of the Ukrainian famine, the communist regime was exporting 1.7 million tons of grain to earn western currency.
Yuriy Sergeyev, Ukraine’s UN Ambassador told a commemoration at the UN, “The Holodomor was a deliberate extermination for political purposes. “ The Ambassador spoke of the “moral responsibility” to remember this genocide and to seek out “historical justice.” One third of the seven million victims were children.
Importantly many countries throughout the world have officially recognized this Stalinist crime including the United States, Canada, and many European and South American states.
The crisis emerges as a significant test of Vladimir Putin’s power to bring Ukraine back to Moscow’s embrace. Nonetheless, the political heart and spirit of Ukraine is European. Now let the people choose a government which embraces that reality.
John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He writes weekly for WorldTribune.com. He is the author of Transatlantic Divide ; USA/Euroland Rift (University Press, 2010).
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