Last week’s events in Ukraine were nothing short of remarkable. A day after an-EU brokered deal on early elections and a unity government was reached between the government and Opposition, the Ukrainian Parliament deposed Viktor Yanukovych as president, freed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko from jail and appointed Opposition MP Oleksandr Turchynov as Speaker of Parliament.
A day later, Turchynov was named Interim President, arrest warrants were issued for former incomes minister Oleksandr Klimenko and former prosecutor-general Viktor Pshonka and Parliament lowered the official status of the Russian language by repealing a law brought in by Yanukovych; Parliament then voted to seize the former president’s luxury estate near Kiev.
Remarkably, Yanukovych’s Party of Regions deserted him, with many MPs voting to impeach him, and many others leaving the party. In a written statement, the party denounced Yanukovych, stating they “strongly condemn the criminal orders that led to human victims, an empty state treasury, huge debts and shame before the eyes of the Ukrainian people and the entire world”.
The future status of Crimea should be resolved peacefully and through diplomacy
Earlier in the week the hated Berkut special police units, responsible for the deaths of many protesters, were disbanded. An arrest warrant was then issued for Yanukovych on allegations of ordering the “mass murder” of demonstrators on the streets of Kiev; Parliament wants the former president to be tried by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
On Wednesday Ukraine’s new interim government was presented at Kiev’s main protest camp, the Maidan, which saw Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the parliamentary leader of the Fatherland party, becoming Prime Minister. Yanukovych, on the other hand, made his first appearance in Russia on Friday, insisting he was still the President of Ukraine.
This is a crucial and delicate time for Ukraine, the EU and Russia. The removal of the pro-Russia Yanukovych now offers Ukraine an opportunity to become a proper democracy where the rule of the law is respected. It also offers the chance for Ukraine to integrate into the European Union and to adhere to European values and norms.
The huge challenge facing Ukraine, however, is to integrate into the EU while respecting the rights of the large Russian minority and without antagonising Russia. The repeal of the law lowering the status of the Russian language, for example, was in my opinion a mistake, which gives the impression that ethnic Russians or Russian-speakers are now second class citizens. I can fully understand Ukraine’s desire to emerge out of the shadow of Moscow, but if they want to prevent a split along ethnic or linguistic lines they must ensure that all citizens feel part of Ukraine.
Regional tensions deepened last week with protests in Crimea, whose population is 60 per cent ethnic Russian, against the revolution in Kiev and an announcement by Moscow that its troops were placed on combat readiness near Ukraine. Crimea, it must be noted, is also home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet at the naval base in Sebastopol.
Furthermore, there were clashes between pro-Kiev and pro-Moscow protesters in the Crimean city of Simferopol and armed men seized Crimea’s regional Parliament and government headquarters. Meanwhile large numbers of armed men wearing uniforms without insignia and driving unidentified vehicles, but almost certainly Russians, took over key areas in Crimea.
The EU, the US and Russia have a crucial role to play in stabilising the situation in Ukraine. US Secretary of State John Kerry said in Washington last week that Ukraine was not about East versus West but about all parties doing their part to help calm the situation.
Kerry is right of course, and both the US and the EU must convince Russia that Ukraine can have a special role in Europe with close ties to both Brussels and Moscow. US President Barack Obama needs to show some leadership here, just as President George H. Bush showed great leadership when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 and Eastern Europe chose to join the European family of democratic nations.
The EU, without doubt, has a special role to play. Over the weeks protesters in Kiev wrapped themselves not only in the flags of Ukraine but also of the EU, which they identified with, as well as its values and ideals of democracy and rule of law. Brussels must now seize this opportunity, not to score points against Moscow but to offer Ukraine a lifeline, in the form of a financial package (together with the IMF and the US) as well as the prospect of EU membership.
Any aid to Ukraine, as well as the country’s eventual accession to the EU, will obviously have to be linked to the genuine restructuring of the economy and the stamping out of corruption which seems to be endemic. One look at Yanukovych’s massive luxury estate, complete with a private zoo, a boxing ring and gold plated taps in the bathroom, are enough to give one an idea of the scale of corruption in the country.
Russia too has to play a responsible role to play in the Ukrainian crisis. President Vladimir Putin must acknowledge that the Soviet Union is no more, that Europe is no longer divided between East and West and that Ukraine has the right to determine its future and to be part of the European family of nations.
While it is true that the majority of the people of Crimea feel Russian and not Ukrainian, a military invasion by Russia would be counter-productive and in nobody’s interest. The future status of Crimea should be resolved peacefully and through diplomacy, not through military action reminiscent of the Cold War.