source: https://doi.org/10.7892/boris.106073 | downloaded: 26.9.2021 Last Update17March 2014 ISSN 2296-0708 URL: www.gce.unisg.ch,www.euxeinos.ch University of St.Gallen Online JournaloftheCenterforGovernance andCultureinEurope Carmen Scheide,UlrichSchmid(St.Gallen) November 2013tillFebruary2014 The EuroMaidaninUkraine Kiev 2014©SergiyGlasgo 13/2014 Guest Editors L a st ndis & ift

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Culture inEurope Center forGovernance and University of St.Gallen Contents

The in , November 2013 till February 2014 3 Editorial by Carmen Scheide and Ulrich Schmid, St.Gallen

Maidan 2013 in Kiev: Revolution in People’s Heads 5 by Kyril Savin, Kiev

EuroMaidan: Context and Meanings 9 by Andriy Portnov, Berlin

EuroMaidan in Dnipropetrovsk: Problems and Peculiarities 15 by Victoria Narizhna

EuroMaidan in : A View From the Inside 20 by Pavlo Ostrovs‘kyj, Lviv

Laws are for “Suckers”, not for “Big Shots” 26 by Larysa Denysenko, Kiev

The Writers and the Maidan 32 by Alexander Kratochvil, Prague

Crimean Passions Around EuroMaidan: An Active Pro-European Minority of Crimeans Against the Autonomous Republic’s Pro-Eurasian Authorities and an Ambivalent Majority 37 by Andrij Ivanec‘

The Blood For Yanukovych 46 by

EuroMaidan. Chronology of Events 52 by Alexander Kratochvil and Carmen Scheide

Publishing Information/Contact 56

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 2 The EuroMaidan in Ukraine November 2013 till February 2014

he events in Ukraine have unfolded very Another complicating factor is ’s Trapidly over the past few months. Initially, imperial claim to this part of the country, it looked as if President Yanukovych could sit which only was incorporated into Ukraine in out the crisis. However, after new laws against 1954. The mood is very tense due to the stead- the Maidan activists were passed on January fast agitations and provocations of the Putin 16th, 2014, a further radicalization and politi- government. The western media have paint- cization took place, which led to the dramatic ed a rather one-sided picture of the events in

Editorial clashes between the government and demon- Ukraine: here the evil dictator, there the pro- strators on the Maidan between February 18th testing civil society. However, two things are and 20th, 2014. The situation fundamentally being crossed here: first, Yanukovych could changed with the unexpected increase in vio- have brutally dispersed the EuroMaidan, as lence and brutality on the EuroMaidan. The there were indeed such plans. He did not do tragic loss of human life made it immediately this. There are also significant doubts wheth- clear that Yanukovych not only was fully dis- er he ordered the use of snipers. Second, the credited as head of state, but also that he was right-wing block was given intense media at- not capable of guaranteeing peace and order tention, which did not correspond at all with in the Ukrainian capital. its share of voters. Most house occupations and street battles were carried out by right- Yanukovych’s escape from Kiev provided wing radicals. It will be difficult for the in- an occasion for Moscow to brazenly intervene terim government to impose democratically into Ukrainian politics. With great media atten- defined constraints on their claims to power. tion, Putin had the highly compliant Federa- tion Council authorize him to deploy the army One positive result of the EuroMaidan is outside the territory of the Russian Federation. surely the political involvement of broad seg- Since then the Kremlin has been following a ments of society. Unlike in Russia, where the blunt legalistic line of argument: Yanukovych protests of 2011 and 2012 tapered off, there is was democratically elected by the people in an increased sensitivity to political decision- 2010. An impeachment procedure, as provid- making processes in Ukraine today. The me- ed for in Article 111 of the Ukrainian Consti- dia landscape has also become more diverse tution, did not take place. The EuroMaidan as a result of the events. Above all, online demonstrators are collectively defamed as fas- media have significantly grown: the reach of cists and Moscow speaks of a “brown revolu- the internet newspaper “Ukrainska Pravda” tion” against the legitimate government. One promptly increased with the protests, while of the most important problems is the future independent internet television stations such of . Already after the collapse of the as espreso.tv or hromadske.tv now also have a , Crimea wanted to separate from large regular viewership. Ukraine. The status quo – Crimea is an autono- Unlike many Russians, who are indif- mous republic in the unitary nation of Ukraine ferent towards politics, many are – seems to be no longer acceptable for many now highly involved in the affairs of their Re- ethnic Russians on the Crimean Peninsula. public and their collective struggle.

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 3 The present issue of Euxeinos was Since 2011, the Center for Governance planned for December 2013, while the mass and Culture in Europe of the University of St. protests in Ukraine continued, but no solu- Gallen has been linked to a project on Ukraine, tion had emerged yet. Instead, the events have which analyzes interdependencies between taken a tragic turn. Up to now, there have been regions, nations and cultures and assumes 98 fatalities, a change in government, and new that Ukraine is not only divided in two, rather elections will take place on May 25th. Simulta- that different regional characteristics overlap

Editorial neously, the country faces diverse challenges each other and that they are constitutive for as well as political and economic reforms. self-identity processes (http://regionandcul- ture.krytyka.com/) Therefore, several texts in this issue have been partially “outrun” by the current events. Among the project members was the Nevertheless, they convey interesting internal sociologist Bohdan Solchanyk. insights and analyses and can also be seen as He was killed by a shot to the head on the a chronicle of the events in the present form. Maidan on 20 February 2014.

He was 28 years old.

On behalf of all project members, this edition is dedicated to his memory.

Carmen Scheide, Ulrich Schmid

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 4 Maidan 2013 in Kiev: Revolution in People’s Heads

by Kyryl Savin, Kiev

30 December 2013

he banner of a young woman protest- the association agreement with the EU was Ting on Independence Square in Kiev said not signed at the Vilnius Summit and that the “Maidan1 is the best thing that could happen to dream of many, in particular young Ukraini- my country”. The Maidan has indeed become ans, to live one day in a European country had an island of freedom in the Ukrainian capital, been taken away. Therefore, hundreds of civil where thousands of free-thinkers gather and society actors (as well as journalists, students, where every Sunday at noon several hundred etc.) gathered on the evening of November thousand people meet to demonstrate their de- 21st on Maidan Square and organized a small sire for fundamental changes in Ukraine. Al- stage, which functioned as the focal point of though the people’s will to live in a European, the protests 24 hours a day. The stage and the democratic and free country is strong, all le- logistics associated with it were funded by do- gal means of pressure on the government and nations which were collected in large numbers President Yanukovych have already been ex- on the square. On November 24th, the first hausted and the protests have reached a deep large-scale demonstration occurred in Kiev. political dead-end. This is what explains the Attended by approx. 150,000 people, the motto of the event was “The association agreement with the EU must be signed in Vilnius”. Oppositional politicians set up their stage on the neighboring square (the Europe Square, located approx. 300 meters from Independence Square) on November 24th. Until November 27th there were two stages – one on Maidan Square where students and civil society ac- tivists gathered and one on Europe Square, which primarily served as a focal point for party supporters. However, more and more people came to the stage on Maidan Square, Kiev November 2013 © Carmen Scheide which is why the oppositional politicians gave up their stage. This resulted in strong frictions profoundness of the political crisis in Ukraine. between oppositional politicians and civil so- The whole story began on November 21st, ciety activists on the Maidan, which became 2013 when it was announced that the phase increasingly visible. of EU integration of Ukraine would be put on In the night between November 29th and hold. This decision by the President meant that 30th, Independence Square was cleared by the police with brutal force – allegedly so that the 1 Independence Square (in Ukrainian Kiev municipal services could put up a large – , often called just Maid- Christmas tree. These evacuation measures an) is the largest square in the center of Kiev.

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 5 Kyryl Savin

were absolutely irrational, as the “small stu- elections must be held!”3 By then, their aims dent Maidan” was already more or less over had changed though. It was no longer about after Yanukovych did not sign anything in the European integration of Ukraine, rather Vilnius. According to unofficial information, domestic policy demands: the protesters de- Yanukovych returned from Vilnius in a very manded that those responsible for the evacua- bad mood, because several EU heads of state tion measures on November 30th, 2013 should reportedly demeaned him. Yanukovych is be named and brought to justice. Furthermore, said to be very sensitive. Perhaps he took ac- they called for presidential and parliamentary tion against the demonstrators on the evening elections to be re-held. During the night be- of November 29th to vent his aggression after tween December 10th and 11th, Yanukovych the events in Vilnius. According to the journal- again attempted to clear up the Maidan by ists Sergii Leshchenko and Mustafa Nayyem2 force of the police and to free the occupied ad- he gave the command to completely evacuate ministrative buildings. However, he failed in the Maidan, that is to take action against the doing so due to the unprecedented resistance remaining people there. of the protesters. On December 15th, Decem- On November 30th many citizens of Kiev ber 27th, and after the act of revenge against showed their unrestrained solidarity with the the journalist and activist Tetyana Chernovol students who had been beaten on the Maid- on December 29th large-scale demonstrations an the night before. Approximately 700,000 again took place in Kiev for which hundreds outraged citizens attended the large demon- of thousands of Ukrainians gathered. stration on Sunday, December 1st. Its motto Citizens from nearly all social strata took was: “Do not beat our children!” Protesters part in the protests in Kiev and other large occupied the city hall and union headquar- Ukrainian cities (several thousand people ters. Three oppositional parties assumed the even took to the streets in Donetsk and Lu- leadership role and organization of the logis- gansk). Yet the middle class doubtlessly con- tic measures for the demonstration: UDAR, stituted the main driver of the “revolution in Batkivshtchyna and Svoboda). Over 10,000 people’s heads”. In Kiev thousands of repre- protesters coopered up in tents and occupied sentatives of the so-called “new creative mid- houses. Material and monetary donations dle class” joined the activities. They included helped to set up a kitchen, in which hundreds artists, NGO activists, business people from of volunteers worked to serve more than ap- small and mid-sized firm, students, journal- prox. 400,000 portions of food daily. Calls for ists, etc. and provided inspiration for many donations were posted on numerous creative slogans and activities on the Maidan. pages, while donation boxes were set up in They consisted mainly of well-educated peo- several places on the Maidan. ple, who had been abroad (in EU-countries) On Sunday, December 8th another large- and now were able and willing to assume re- scale demonstration with approx. 400,000 sponsibility and no longer can bear living in protesters took place on the Maidan based on the motto “Presidential and parliamentary 3 There are very different estimations of the numbers of participants. The author of this 2 http://www.pravda.com.ua/ article uses average figures based on estimations in articles/2013/12/8/7005339/ local articles and reports.

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 6 Kyryl Savin

contemporary Ukraine without a prospect of an authentic democracy, the rule of law, and EU membership for their children. “We want a market economy. The events on the Maid- the walls that separate us from the modern an 2013 showed that there is a broader wish world to fall down”, stated the former politi- among the Ukrainian people for fundamental cal prisoner and Maidan activist Yuri Luzenko changes to the political system – and not just recently. for the replacement of political actors. Thus, The wish of the Ukrainians to move closer the protests of November 2013 indeed consti- to the EU was only one motive for the protests tute a “revolution in people’s heads”. Memo- (surveys in October-November 2013 showed ries of the of 2004 play an that over 60% of all Ukrainians were in favor important role in this process, as many Ukrai- of an association with the EU). For several nians had a positive experience with mass months, Yanukovych and his government car- protests for the first tine nine years ago. Now ried out an information and propaganda cam- it has become clear to many protesters that paign for a closer association with the EU in the mistake made in 2004 was that the pro- Ukraine. A week before the Vilnius Summit test activities overly focused on Yushchenko in November 2013 a 180-degree reversal took as a person and not on changes to the system. place, which even some of the parliamentary The Ukrainians learned from their own nega- deputies from the (Ukr. Par- tive experience that civil society must monitor tiya Regioniv) could not comprehend. Howev- both opposition politicians as well as govern- er, after the protests on November 30th it was ing politicians. no longer about the EU, rather about changes When the Maidan protesters expressed to the system within Ukraine itself. their demands for a closer association and Fundamental democratic transformations integration with the EU, their movement re- in Ukraine are long overdue – essentially since ceived great support in all parts of the coun- 1991. After gaining independence no funda- try. However, when they began calling for the mental transformation and de-Sovietization overdue fundamental democratic transforma- processes took place, which could have as- tion of the country and new elections after sured the long-term democratic development November 30th, divisions in the public opin- of the country. Instead, the elite at that time ion in Ukraine immediately became apparent. quickly turned into “democrats” and contin- South-eastern regions quickly remembered ued to control the . The their “us and them” instincts (Unserer-Frem- oligarchs are the (financial) backbone of all der) and tacitly threw their support at the Ukrainian presidents. The Ukrainian political relatively unpopular President Yanukovych elite (both the governmental as well as the op- and his chief of staff Asarov, who were at least positional camp) imitates democratic process- “two of their own.” es (including elections) and has succeeded in The “Russian brothers” from the Kremlin creating a credible democratic façade towards are also happy to feed fuel to the Ukrainian the West. Yet Ukrainian democracy today re- fire time and time again. The Euro-Maidan mains just a façade. 2013 indeed sheds light on two important di- An increasing number of citizens of mensions: in addition to the above described Ukraine have come to understand that they do domestic political dimension, there is also an not need a fake or imitated democracy, rather important foreign policy – or more precisely

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 7 Kyryl Savin

– geopolitical dimension. In 2013 Ukraine be- velop clear strategies. After all, Yanukovych came the battlefield in the cold war between cannot afford to lose the 2015 election, as he the West and Russia and (thanks to his clever and his political companions will lose every- tactics) Putin can celebrate yet another geopo- thing and likely have to go to prison if he is litical victory after previous successes in Geor- defeated and has to turn over power. gia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kirgiz- stan. Yanukovych weighed both offers (from translated by Michael Dobbins Russia and the EU) and decided that depen- dence on Russia is a lesser evil. After all, he is About the Author: primarily concerned with maintaining power and his victory in the presidential elections of Dr. Kyryl Savin, born in 1976. Studies 2015. The price that Yanukovych would have in international relations at the State Taras- to pay for this played almost no role at all. Shevchenko University of Kiev (Ukraine). The Euro-Maidan 2013 will most likely re- 1998 – Master in international economic rela- main without any visible political success: as a tions at the State Taras-Shevchenko Univer- democratically elected president, Yanukovych sity of Kiev. 2000 – PhD at the State Taras- is clearly trying to buy time and is consistent- Shevchenko University of Kiev (Ukraine) on ly ignoring all demands of the protesters. He the topic “Marketing Management in Banks of also by no means wishes to make any obvious EU Countries (case study Federal Republic of staffing changes to his cabinet under pressure Germany)”. 1997-2000 – several study and re- from the protests. Like the seemingly unsuc- search visits at the Merseburg Applied Scienc- cessful 2000-2001 protest movement “Ukraine es University and the University of Münster. without Kuchma”, the Euro-Maidan 2013 will June 2000-August 2001 – German Economic however impact further domestic political de- Advisory Group for the Ukrainian govern- velopments in Ukraine in the long-term. After ment / Institute for Economic Research and all, a revolution in people’s heads is taking Political Consulting in Kiev. September 2001- place to the extent that they now know what February 2002 – International Parliamentary they want, are no longer fearful, and by and Internship in the German Bundestag January large have almost nothing more to lose. 2003-September 2007 – German Embassy in It is paradoxical: the 2004 Maidan and the Kiev, political consultant Since October 2007 successful Orange Revolution (Yushchenko – Director of Office of Heinrich Böll Founda- became the ) will prob- tion in Ukraine. Publications: Numerous pub- ably be of lesser importance to the history of lications on the current political situation in Ukraine than the currently unsuccessful Euro- Ukraine in the web dossier “Ukraine on the Maidan 2013, because an active Ukrainian civil path to democracy” at http://www.boell.de/ society has emerged during these cold No- ukraine vember and December days on Kiev’s Maidan Savin K. Wohlstand durch Arbeitsmobil- Square. The next heightening of domestic and ität: Ukrainische Perspektive // DGAP-Schrift- geopolitical tensions in Ukraine is already pro- en zur Internationalen Politik. Partner, Nach- grammed – the presidential elections in spring barn, Konkurrenten: Dynamik und Wandel 2015. Until then, the Ukrainian civil society, an den Grenzen in Osteuropa. – Berlin, 2009. opposition as well as the EU will have to de- – pp. 19-22. e-mail: [email protected]

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 8 EuroMaidan: Context and Meanings

by Andriy Portnov, Berlin

10 January 2014

urrent events in Ukraine, which have al- had no political leaders. Rather, it was a spon- Cready received the metaphorical tag of taneous assembly of indignant social network “Eurorevolution”, have caught everyone off users, which gathered a few hundred people guard: the Ukrainian authorities, the opposi- at most. Initially, thousands of participants of tion, the European Union, the Russian Federa- Saturday meetings, as well as of similar Eu- tion. This multifarious and dynamic situation roMaidan gatherings across Ukraine, empha- surprised many observers with a realization sized that their demand is the signing of the that a sizeable part of the country’s population EU association agreement, and that they are is formulating a demand for a new (“Europe- not aligned with any political power what- an”) political and social lifestyle. In the given soever. text I try to reconstruct the chronology of some It would seem that the demonstration’s main events and propose their contextual in- depoliticization might have launched its in- terpretation. evitable marginalization. But at 4 a.m. on The very first part of the protest took place Saturday 30 November, something appalling during the night of Thursday 21 November took place on the Maidan. Under the pretence 2013 on the Independence Square (known as of having to prepare the square for the tra- the Maidan) in . It took shape as a reac- ditional New Year’s tree, special police force tion against the refusal of the authorities to “Berkut” brutally attacked the students who sign the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement were camping there. Outraged by this devel- at the Vilnius Summit of the Eastern Partner- opment, hundreds of thousands of people ship. On Saturday 23 November, for the first poured into the streets of Kyiv on Saturday. time since the Orange Revolution, Kyiv saw Thus, the protest turned not only political, a large gathering of up to 100 000 demonstra- but also plainly anti-governmental: idealistic tors under the slogan of European integration. calls for Euro-integration were accompanied I would say that a significant part (if not the now with demands for resignation of both the outright majority) of those protesting in the President and the Prime Minister. capital that day were reacting not to the gov- The leaders of the three oppositional par- ernment’s declaration of putting the negotia- liamentary factions (Arseniy Yatseniuk from tions with the European Union on hold per se, `s “Bat`kivschyna”, Vitaliy but rather to the style and form of the way Klychko from “Udar”, and Oleh Tiahnybok it was announced*. Citizens were informed from far-right “Svoboda”), now officially about this decision post-factum, without any heading this protest, were totally unprepared sort of open discussion, even though on the for its scope. They were also not prepared previous day the authorities assured everyone to deal with provocations that aimed to por- that the Association agreement will certainly tray scenes of violence and frighten observ- be signed in Vilnius. ers, particularly external ones. The epicentre Those who congregated on the Maidan of such provocations was the storming of the that night were not political activists, and they Presidential Administration using a building

* author’s emphasis

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 9 Andriy Portnov

excavator, the subsequent beating by police of Kiselev, over the past month the authorities all who were nearby, and the arrest of about “made obviously wrong decisions with en- ten random passers-by on the charge of public viable consistency, and every such decision incitement to violence. In practice, this lead to lifted the task of solving the crisis onto a new unprecedented mass protests in Kyiv. Demon- level of difficulty” [1]. Meanwhile, the end strators occupied several municipal buildings of December made clear that the Maidan is (including the City Council headquarters) a problem for the opposition as well as for and returned to the Maidan. This time, they the government. The former, the opposition, brought tents, barricades, and a stage. keeps trying to tame the Maidan, which un- On Tuesday 3 December the Verkhovna doubtedly surpasses the level and scope of its Rada did not gather enough votes to force the political outlook. And the latter, the govern- government’s resignation. Neither the author- ment, attempted to counter the Maidan with a ities nor the opposition, it seems, took note of big concert in support of the acting president advice offered by Victoria Nulland (the Assis- on Saturday 14 December. At this event, Prime tant Secretary of State for European and Eur- Minister Nikolai Azarov spooked the audi- asian Affairs at the U.S. Department of State) ence with declarations that the EU demands and Catherine Ashton (High Representative of Ukraine include legalization of same-sex of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security marriage. Policy). They called for a proper roundtable By arranging this Anti-Maidan, the au- and for formation of a coalition government, thorities wanted to show that the crisis is not which could assume a full responsibility for about people opposing the government; it’s the unavoidably painful economic reforms. about one part of Ukraine opposing another During the visit of these VIP guests, on the part. Manipulations with this faulty notion night from Tuesday to Wednesday 10 De- was made simpler by the fact that existent cember, police forces in Kyiv attempted to distrust of the government in the East and dislodge the demonstrators, and dismantled South of the country does not find a reflec- some of their barricades. This was streamed tion in these regions’ electoral preferences. live online. Within a few hours, thousands This is due to the fact these regions, in general, of Kyiv residents gathered on the Maidan. do not view the country’s “national-democrat- By dawn, the police backed off. The Maidan ic” political factions as capable of represent- was elated. And the protest, now fully and ing them, and the ruling Party of Regions can irreversibly, surpassed the reaction to Euro- exploit votes to stop “the nationalists” from integration hindrances, and turned into op- coming to power [2]. Indeed, in Ukraine, there position to the current political regime. The is currently no democratic force committed to government, meanwhile, approached all calls working consistently with the primarily Rus- for political roundtables not as a potential way sophone electorate in the East and South of the out of this crisis, but rather as a decorative ar- country. rangement for the West (even though on 13 But in no way does this situation mean December both President Victor Yanukovych that, on socio-cultural and political levels, and the leaders of the opposition participated geographically defined “two Ukraines” actu- in one such roundtable). ally exist, one of which allegedly dreams of To sum up, in the words of Evgeniy nothing but a “reunion” with Russia, while

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 10 Andriy Portnov

the other is busy only with merging its pro- Putin announced that this help for his “frater- European notions with a cult of a nationalist nal” country came “without any kind of condi- hero Stepan Bandera. Regularly replayed in tions”. Kyiv’s courtier journalist commented: both English- and Russian-language publica- “Who prevented the central banking institu- tions around the world, the defective theory tion of the European Union – European Bank about the non-existence of Ukraine as a cul- for Reconstruction and Development – from tural entity – complete with prompts for a purchasing Ukrainian bonds, say, for 15 bil- “peaceful divorce” of its two parts [3] – mis- lion euro? They’ve got no money for Ukraine? takenly describes contemporary Ukraine as an Too bad. Turns out Russia does have money analogue of Czechoslovakia, where the Slovak for Ukraine” [5]. But soon it became clear part can split, in a “velvet” manner, from the that Moscow’s gifts were far from altruistic. Czech part. In reality, the curious phenom- They are not without an expiration date (for enon of existing diverse interpretations and instance, the gas discount will be reviewed definitions of “Ukrainian-ness” in the con- every quarter) and they are directly linked to text of post-Soviet political realities – as well Ukraine’s “proper” behaviour [6]. No official as co-existence and competitiveness of these admission into the Customs Union was men- different understandings – supports Rory Fin- tioned, which allowed less far-sighted observ- nin’s important observation that “the thesis of ers to overlook the Kremlin’s bid for a new Ukraine’s ‘weak’ national identity is not only model of integration, consisting of owning conceptually vague but analytically useless” and controlling strategic areas of Ukraine’s [4]. It is evidence of the potential of a search economy. (The new framework will be built for new concepts and new terminology that on interlocking, inter-sectorial integration – in could describe Ukraine’s social reality. other words, on Russia’s co-ownership and On Sunday 15 December, in advance of co-management of the key sectors of Ukraine’s the million-strong people’s gathering against economy. [7]). Ukraine’s joining the Customs Union of Belar- Russian money gave President Yanu- us, Kazakhstan, and Russia, many worried that kovych some time to stitch up the most appar- “a clash of the two Ukraines” will be staged ent holes in Ukraine’s budget. But it did not there. But the publicized meeting of the Party solve the structural problems of the country’s of Regions was cancelled. As for the gathering economy – direct results of multiple errors in support of the authorities, it was declared by the current and previous governments. “indefinite”, and after a few days those camp- It’s worth noting that Ukraine stood on the ing near the were sent home. verge of bankruptcy not due to the threat of Most observers agreed that the government signing the EU agreement, but due to the gov- adopted the tactic of ignoring the Maidan in ernment’s extensive leaning on the economy, hopes for its self-marginalization. as well as an unfavourable business climate, On Tuesday 17 December, President Ya- widespread corruption, and irresponsible nukovych left for a business trip to Moscow. populism of the ruling elites [8]. As a result of his visit, Ukraine was promised This short-term ability to save the status- a credit of 15 billion dollars, as well as a lower- quo through capitulating (an important in- ing of the cost of gas from around 400 to 268.5 gredient of which, it seems, will be Ukraine’s dollars per thousand cubic meters. President loss of control over the gas transport system)

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 11 Andriy Portnov

was positioned by Azarov’s government as a also suspected of trying to head something it big economic success. President Putin looked did not actually create, and which surpasses far more convincing in his role as a winner, it intellectually. As Yuriy Ruban accurately having acquired another trophy following commented, the Maidan is looking for an- Snowden and Syria. But the biggest illusion swers to a problem which will not be solved of Kremlin seems to be a deep believe that, in by any of the opposition leaders’ victory in general terms, Ukrainians and Russians are presidential elections [11]. In other words, the “one people” [9]. This stereotype automati- Maidan is trying to formulate the need for a cally blocks official Moscow`s ability to ade- programme of reforms, which not does exist, quately access both the Maidan events and the as well as the need for a new socio-political social disposition in Ukraine in general. force, which also does not exist yet. At the same time, the diplomats of most So what exactly is the Maidan? How can countries of the European Union (it is diffi- we explain the phenomenon of its self-orga- cult to speak about a thoughtful and coordi- nization? Which historical metaphors can de- nated EU foreign policy) either truly do not scribe its nature? Possibly the most popular, understand, or not want to understand, the though far from incontestable, is the metaphor Kremlin’s reasoning as far as the Ukrainian of the Zaporizhian Sich. It refers to the early question is concerned. The European negotia- modern political phenomenon of Cossack self- tors did not quite comprehend President Ya- government, ended by Russia’s absolutism at nukovych’s position when they kept talking to the end of the 18th century [12]. While most him about freeing Yulia Tymoshenko1, instead visitors live in tents set up in the centre of of addressing his expected topics of finan- Kyiv, the crowded weekly Sunday gatherings cial assistance and guarantees of re-election are comprised of educated, enterprising and in 2015. Neither did they grasp the depth of well-off middle-aged people who weave their the Kremlin’s interest in disrupting Ukraine’s hopes for change into a loosely-defined notion signing of the EU association agreement. As of Europeanization (I will return to this topic James Sherr astutely notes, for Brussels the shortly). The Maidan, then, can be described Association agreement was an alternative for as a temporary space of non-conflicting coop- Ukraine`s EU membership, but for Moscow it eration and coexistence of people from very was the EU enlargement by other means [10]. different social circles. I think most of these During the traditional crowded Sun- individuals are united by their denunciation day Maidan gathering on 22 December 2013, not only of the ruling authorities, but also of the leaders of opposition took the stage and Ukraine’s post-Soviet political and economic announced the creation of an NGO called situation in general. Any positive aspects of “People`s Union Maidan”. This amorphous this alliance are vaguer and less rationalized: body, brought forth without any open discus- they merges elements of nationalism with the sion, quickly raised questions and suspicions. mythology of Europe. First of all, it was presumed that the opposi- As far as nationalism is concerned, the tion is trying to look busy despite its lack of Maidan has already legitimized nationalist strategy or decisiveness. The opposition was slogans (such as “Glory to Ukraine – Glory to the Heroes!” [Slava Ukrajini – Herojam sla- 1 Yulia Tymoshenko was released 22 February, va!]) and flags (such as the black-and-red flag 2014

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 12 Andriy Portnov

of the nationalist underground of World War new challenge for international politics. In II) as symbols of a pro-European protest [13]. this context, Ukraine’s ability to avoid mass The black-and-red flag was raised in place of violence while solving political conflicts is the monument to Lenin, which was destroyed absolutely vital. The country’s post-Soviet in the evening of December 8 near the Besar- history saw no parliamentary executions, no absky Market. The far-right party “Svoboda” use of firearms against demonstrators, no po- proudly claimed responsibility for this; at the groms. Both the society and the political elites same time, it curbed its usual anti-immigrant so far have shown their resistance to violent and homophobic rhetoric. As for “Glory to scenarios, leaning towards finding peaceful Ukraine!”, I think we can discuss not only its solutions to all crises. legitimization, but also the transformation of During the night of the Catholic Christ- meaning it underwent on the Maidan. This can mas, journalist was as- be illustrated by the speech given on the Maid- saulted in the vicinity of Kyiv. Once again, an by the leader of the Polish conservative Ukraine was pushed to escalate the conflict. party “Law and Justice” Jaroslaw Kaczynski, It was shoved towards the use of force, lead- which ended with “Glory to Ukraine!”, lead- ing to further isolation of the current govern- ing to a number of discussions in Polish right ment from the West. This mosaic, made up of periodicals. While one writer saw it as the Pol- slightly disoriented but still confident authori- ish politician’s “resurrection of Galician fas- ties, weak opposition, a self-assured Kremlin, cism”, historian and essayist Andrzej Nowak a newborn civil society that has no adequate wrote that at this time, “Glory to Ukraine!” parliamentary representation, and an eternal- has become analogous to the slogan “Long live ly confused and tardy European Union, can to Poland!” (Niech żyje Polska!) which has a develop in most (un)expected ways. Only one broad patriotic sense [14]. thing is clear: Ukraine’s economic and political As for Maidan’s pro-European rhetoric, crisis is not solved. And the story continues… it is based on the mythology of Europe as a space of the rule of law, social justice, free- dom of movement and expression, which was References widespread in countries of the former Warsaw Pact and the Baltic nations prior to their join- [1] Evgeny Kiselev, Maidan: prodolzhe- ing the EU. This mythology of Europe far sur- nie sleduet, http://newtimes.ru/articles/de- passes not only the content of the failed associ- tail/75987 ation agreement, but also the actual condition [2] Vladimir Pannioto, Net takoj partii!, of the European Union. It does not correspond http://www.capital.ua/news/11079-net-takoy- to the realities of today’s Europe. But I would partii suggest that it is equally important to discuss [3] An example of the text which denies the authenticity of such ideas themselves, as the subjectivity of Ukraine: Orlando Figes, Is well as their ability to mobilize the most ac- There One Ukraine?, http://www.foreignaf- tive portion of the population. Considering the fairs.com/articles/140560/orlando-figes/is- European Union’s lack of keenness for further there-one-ukraine His article was first called enlargement into the post-Soviet area, we have «There is no Ukraine». Compare the observa- the problem of “Europe beyond Europe” as a tions about the authors of the similar publica-

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 13 Andriy Portnov

tions in Russian: Anton Shekhovtsov, “Re-or- out/ ganisation” of the Ukrainian space, or Putin`s [10] James Sherr, Ukraina-Rossia-Evropa: agents in Ukraine, http://anton-shekhovtsov. otravlennyj treugolnik, http://gazeta.zn.ua/ blogspot.de/2013/12/re-organisation-of-ukrai- internal/ukraina-rossiya-evropa-otravlennyy- nian-space-or.html treugolnik-_.html [4] Rory Finnin, Ukrainians: Expect-the- [11] Yuriy Ruban, Maidan jak problema Unexpected Nation, http://www.crassh.cam. politychnoji ekonomii, http://glavcom.ua/ar- ac.uk/blog/post/ukrainians-expect-the-unex- ticles/16262.html pected-nation [12] One of the most vivid descriptions [5] Viacheslav Pikhovshek, Dekabr 2013 of Maidan as a new Cossack Sich was pro- goda, rabochij vizit Prezidenta Ukrainy v posed by the Russian journalist: Arkadii Moskvu, http://lb.ua/news/2013/12/17/247980_ Babchenko, Territoria voli: Maidan glaza- dekabr_2013t_goda_rabochiy_vizit.html mi rossijskogo zhurnalista, http://blog.i.ua/ [6] See the detailed analysis of the Mos- user/181571/1324078/ cow agreements in: Alla Eremenko, Tatiana [13] See more in: Andreas Umland, How Silina, Yuriy Skolotyanyj, Aleksey Izhak, Ar- Spread of Banderite Slogans and Symbols tur Lantan, Zapomni, kak vsio nachinalos`, Undermines Ukrainian nation-building, http://gazeta.zn.ua/internal/zapomni-kak- http://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/op-ed/ vse-nachinalos-_.html how-spread-of-banderite-slogans-and-sym- [7] James Sherr: Ukraine ‘is in dangerous bols-undermines-ukrainian-nation-build- situation’, http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ ing-334389.html politics/james-sherr-ukraine-is-in-a-danger- [14] Andrzej Nowak, Pytanie do Rafała ous-situation-334161.html Ziemkiewicza, http://niezalezna.pl/49626-py- [8] See the details about the economic tanie-do-rafala-ziemkiewicza crisis and its causes in: Boris Grozovskyi, Bankrotstvo Yanukovicha: pochemu Ukrainu zhdiot smena vlasti, http://www. About the Author: forbes.ru/mneniya-column/mir/248507- bankrotstvo-yanukovicha-pochemu- Dr. Andriy Portnov is a historian and essayist ukrainu-zhdet-smena-vlasti?fb_action_ from Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv, currently ids=616033621786909&fb_action_types=og. Research Fellow at Wissenschaftskolleg zu recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_ Berlin and Guest Professor at the Humboldt object_map=[555981511142697]&action_type_ University in Berlin, founder and co-editor map=[%22og.recommends%22]&action_ref_ of the intellectual web-site Historians.in.ua map= The author of five books and numerous [9] Compare: Timothy Snyder, Ukraine: articles on intellectual history, historiography Putin`s Denial, http://www.nybooks.com/ and current memory debates in Eastern and blogs/nyrblog/2013/dec/13/ukraine-putins- Central Europe. denial/ See also his previous blog: A Way Out e-mail: [email protected] for Ukraine?, http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/ blog of Andriy Portnov http://urokiistorii.ru/ nyrblog/2013/dec/05/ukraine-protests-way- blog/308

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 14 EuroMaidan in Dnipropetrovsk: Problems and Peculiarities

by Victoria Narizhna

22 January 2014

nipropetrovsk is not Ukraine’s first city, strated a commendably tolerant approach. Dbut neither is a second. This old-time joke The only violent conflict was an attack on is often applied to describe various Ukrainian the “tent camp” - a somewhat strong descrip- cities, as it was indeed in relation to many a So- tion of the two tents in - car- viet city in the past. Dnipropetrovsk, however, ried out not by the riot-police as in Kiev but may be in the position to assert its primacy as by the so-called “titushkas”, groups of young the subject of the joke, since in its particular sporty men who are hired to do dirty jobs for case there is more than a fair share of truth in pay. Even this episode, however, stirred a it. Back in Soviet times the city was hailed as wave of indignation among Dnipropetrovsk the “forge of cadres” which remains relatively residents who saw it as the violation of a tacit true to this day: like in the past it produced agreement between the authorities and the elite party cadres for the Soviet Union, today’s city community (most city inhabitants believe Dnipropetrovsk has given to the independent that the attack was ordered by certain local bu- Ukraine many of its oligarchs and well-known reaucrats to showcase their loyalty to central politicians. The “fame” remains, despite the authorities). Moreover, the incident was even fact that members of Ukraine’s current politi- seen as violating the tradition of the city’s dis- cal leadership come from the “Donetsk clan” engagement, an attack on its common sense and Dnipropetrovsk’s most famous daughter that has always underpinned local authori- Yulia Tymoshenko - not extremely popular at ties’ waiting position allowing them to pre- home anyway - is in jail. pare possible ways of retreat and demonstrate A joke or not - it looks like Dnipropetro- a measure of readiness for joining a winning vsk residents have seriously accepted this as party. their identity background. To a large extent, Rumours that started to circulate shortly the specificity of protest movement in the city after the attack confirm the city population’s can be explained by its self-identified “other- specific penchant for maintaining the har- ness” and “differentness”. A common argu- mony. The legend has it that the “titushkas” ment holds it that a low protest participation attack was organised by a high-rank official rate in Dnipropetrovsk is determined by the at Dnipropetrovsk city council. After the in- region’s pro-Russian sentiment and its sup- cident the official was reportedly promptly port for incumbent authorities. It is, in my summoned for an unpleasant discussion at the mind, a simplistic explanation. security service (SBU), chided for crossing the Dnipropetrovsk’s inherent tendency limits and advised to remedy the situation as is to keep a distanced position in any so- soon as possible. They say that now the same cial and political processes. This is a feature official is responsible for providing financial typical of all local community - from rank- help to Dnipropetrovsk’s EuroMaidan. and-file citizens to power structures. In a Regardless of how much truth or tale there month of recent protests in Dnipropetrovsk, is in this story, it is a good example of Dnipro- the city has not seen a single clash between petrovsk’s specificity as seen by its own resi- the protesters and the police, which demon- dents: the authorities here do not like to quarrel

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 15 Victoria Narizhna

with the citizens and avoid coercive measures. real visible conflict to make the reluctant Dni- This idea can be supported by other ex- propetrovsk residents join street protests. amples of how Dnipropetrovsk’s govern- EuroMaidan is Dnipropetrovsk remains ment plans of suppressing EuroMaidan were a “weekend rally”. Sunday rallies, called Peo- thwarted in the city. Thus, a court decision ple’s Veche by the opposition , gather a few banning assemblies in some of the city’s pub- thousands participants (the largest, of around lic places from November 26 to December 31 7 thousand people, was on December 8). The 2013 (a motion passed by courts in the entire rest of the time the city’s tranquil atmosphere Ukraine) was cancelled by the Court of Ap- belies any presence of protest feelings. peals on December 19, after the city council A useful comparison can be made here withdrew its claim. In their fight against the with the 2004 protests of the Orange revolu- protesters, Dnipropetrovsk authorities tend tion. Although they were not bigger in num- to use more nuanced methods: for example, bers, the protests’ symbolic presence in the city by organising a permanent fair in European was more evident. Orange ribbons on trees, Square, the centre of the city’s EuroMaidan. flags flying from private and office balconies, Even those, however, give an impression of a badges and ribbons on people’s clothes, cars nominal, half-felt way of demonstrating their decorated with orange symbols - the whole loyalty to Kiev. Protesters have free access city so openly manifested its solidarity with to European Square, while sellers at the fair the protest that the dry figures of the polling (read: street vendors sent here from elsewhere stations and their protocols looked like a com- in the city) are always on the standby to pack plete nonsense. Now car drivers are happy to up their wares and give way to a few thou- greet the protesters’ march - an already tradi- sands of protesters. tional component of all Sunday rallies - with The authorities’ talent and prepared- their horns, but are less enthusiastic about ness to bring a situation under control has decorating their cars with the protest flags. been proven in other cases of public protest. What may be the reason behind such pas- A strike initiative by the metro construction sivity, considering that the residents’ level of workers and employees of a local electrical dissatisfaction with the authorities and their transportation company quickly died out on response to the recent events is very high? It its own, although it is not entirely clear what should be admitted that, regretfully, Dnipro- lay behind - promises and deals with the strike petrovsk proved unprepared to spontaneous committee or the authorities’ skillful pressure civil activity and self-organisation. The 2004 on the strikers. protest took place under the leadership of A lack of serious confrontation between the concrete political parties and had a well- the community and the elite creates a peace- defined goal - the annulment of the rigged ful atmosphere in the city. On the other hand, election results and, if possible, the opposition it significantly reduces the residents’ protest candidate’s victory in a new vote. The current potential. In Dnipropetrovsk, like the rest of protest, by contrast, is spontaneous, ambigu- Ukraine, mass protests against the suspension ous and without a clear vector to the future. of an EU agreement were galvanised by the It requires from its participants a very high government’s use of force on the night of No- level of self-awareness and self-organisation. vember 30. In other words, there should be a Party leaders - at least in Dnipropetrovsk - do

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 16 Victoria Narizhna

not support the movement with money or or- tivity. To be a subject does not mean to sim- ganisational effort. Although a positive thing ply keep one’s distance and care about own’s in many respects, this has clearly proved too proper interests; it is primarily to learn to take difficult a challenge for the city residents. responsibility for one’s own life and for the Perhaps, in spite of their cherished sense world around. This awareness is something of individualism and independence, the peo- that the residents of Dnipropetrovsk definitely ple of Dnipropetrovsk still experience a stron- lack; the result, to quote a favourite phrase of ger influence of the lingering consequences of the independent Ukraine ‘s first president, be- the totalitarian system than their compatriots ing “we have what we have”: we have a high in Kiev or Lviv. They have a weaker belief degree of anti-government criticism in daily in their own strength and a bigger hope for life conversations and a low degree of public a “strong leader” and command from above. protest. This may help explain why Dnipropetrovsk These factors, in my opinion, to a large ex- felt a deeper frustration after the Orange revo- tent determine the current low level of public lution failed to radically change Ukraine’s so- support for the protest movement, despite the ciety and the state. I often hear that - despite presence of a high degree of anti-government the general anger against the authorities and sentiment in Dnipropetrovsk society. The city their policies such as tax increases - represen- is not so much pro-Russian, as it is damaged tatives of Dnipropetrovsk’s business commu- by the legacy of Russian and Soviet power. It nity justify their passivity in the current pro- is less pro-government than it is disillusioned test movement by saying: “We have already and indifferent. protested once. What dit we get from it?” In- Demography of the rallies deserves a deed, current level of participation in the pro- special attention. The base of any public pro- test movement on the part of local small and test in Dnipropetrovsk is usually composed medium-size entrepreneurs is incomparable of a specific category of people, the so-called to 2004, when this social category was very ac- “Hurrah-patriots” or “professional patri- tively involved in the protests. ots”. It is essentially a “protest substratum” Oleksandr Blyuminov, a left-leaning blog- consisting of older people who entered the ger, wrote in his entry “Why will Maidan independence period with a significant back- win?”: “What is Ukrainian society today? It ground experience of fighting against the sys- is split. But not in two opposing camps with tem. They have carried on their fight for all their own goals and values, as we are being 22 years of the independence , in the difficult wrongly convinced by dumb propagandists. context of the Russian-speaking and - to an No, Ukrainian society is split between those extent - Soviet-minded Dnipropetrovsk. These who have developed a higher sense of subjec- people speak exclusively in Ukrainian, under tive self-awareness and those who have not”. no circumstances switch to the interlocutor’s This observation does sound reasonable and language, profess nationalist views and per- can be equally applied to Dnipropetrovsk. ceive themselves as inhabitants of a ghetto Recent events have clearly demonstrated that rather than equal citizens. As a result, they are individualism of the type “my cottage is at the hardly able to do anything more than express edge” (moia khata skraiu), typical of Dnipro- discontent in different ways. This category of petrovsk identity, does not amount to subjec- people is helpless in the conditions of a spon-

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 17 Victoria Narizhna

taneous protest, when a community’s creative to unite Ukraine’s East and West in the search potential and its ability to formulate a strategy of a solution and a common movement. By and identify its goals acquire paramount im- contrast, nationalist slogans of the “Svoboda” portance. party and its followers, as well as the protest- On the other hand, participation of stu- ers’ general animosity towards the East as the dents, young business people and young pro- president’s stronghold, sow a feeling of alarm fessionals in the protest movement remains among rank-and-file city residents. very low, at least on the local level. It is worth In an article “How to make sense of our noting, however, that it is impossible to assess senseless situation”, Ukrainian historian and a real level of the protest potential in Dniprop- publicist Yaroslav Hrytsak argues that to fos- etrovsk on the basis of the numbers and demo- ter a new Ukrainian nation the already exist- graphic composition of the city’s rallies. Lots of ing union between Lviv and Kiev has to be local residents have left for Kiev’s protests or extended to include a third component, en- travel their regularly to attend Sunday rallies. gaging the country’s eastern and southern re- Obviously, those are mostly young, strong and gions. He writes: “For me personally the most active people. Perhaps, the demographic com- suitable candidate for this role is Dnipropetro- position of EuroMaidan in Dnipropetrovsk is vsk - not the first city, but neither a second by also determined by this factor - the departure far”. Regretfully, he only makes a brief men- of the youngest and most active protesters for tion of this idea, without explaining further the capital. what makes Dnipropetrovsk worth the role. Moreover, Dnipropetrovsk residents are I, for one, am ready to agree with the idea weary of the ongoing radicalisation of the even without an explanation. Dnipropetrovsk problem of “two Ukraines”, as a result of the does seem to be a suitable third pillar to pow- events in Kiev. In a moment of crisis, Ukrai- erfully support the fight for a transformation nians’ perceptions of the civilisational and of the system. Donetsk and Lugansk have been ideological differences between Eastern and subject to the pressure of the pro-government become more acute (these oligarchs and the informational blockade for differences exist although they are less dra- far too long to provide such a reliable plat- matic than when presented by the advocates form. Besides, the inhabitants of these regions of separatism on both sides). For many resi- have suffered an even more profound damage dents of Eastern Ukraine, including Dniprop- to their subjective self-awareness than their etrovsk, the protest movement embodies the compatriots in Dnipropetrovsk, aggravated values and meanings of the west of the coun- by years of the economic crisis. The third pil- try, which they do not share. Hence, their feel- lar, however, is to be chosen from these three ing of estrangement. And although EuroMaid- symbolic cities which are invariably named an brings up many problems acutely painful as the supporting base for the incumbent au- for the whole Ukraine - such as corruption, the thorities and the pro-Russian or - indeed - pro- defacto elimination of independent courts, the Soviet sentiment. transformation of police force into the authori- What is clearly needed now is a sufficient ties’ personally controlled security services, motive for Dnipropetrovsk residents to cross and the economic downfall - these issues do the borderline between individual discontent not receive nearly enough emphasis to be able and public protest. Should all the unhappy cit-

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 18 Victoria Narizhna

izens make their criticism public, this would surely come as a big surprise for the power vertical. For now, however, Dnipropetrovsk remains relatively disengaged from the pro- test. It is true that the maximum numbers of people attending EuroMaidan rallies in the city are comparable with other Ukrainian cit- ies and are much higher than in other regime’s “strongholds” such as Donetsk or Lugansk. It is also evident, however, that under cer- tain mobilising factors the protest movement could grow much stronger. To achieve this goal, it is in the first place necessary to locate Dnipropetrovsk’s “launch mechanism”. What can compel its citizens to start voicing their criticism actively and loudly? What can accelerate the evolution of the city’s individualism into proper subjectivity? Alas, for now the questions remain unanswered.

translated by Vladyslava Reznyk

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 19 EuroMaidan in Lviv: a View From the Inside

by Pavlo Ostrovs‘kyj, Lviv

beginning of February 2014

he EuroMaidan movement began when took the flags of Ukraine and the EU and Tangry Ukrainians all over the country made our way to Svoboda Avenue. We also started to protest against the government’s brought with us a self-made poster “People of decision to abandon the process of Ukraine’s Kiev – all to the Maidan!” – realizing that main European integration. My fellow students and events would take place in the capital. On our I joined a rally at Lviv’s central square on the way to Lviv’s Maidan we were inviting our first day of the protest. We could not imagine friends to join us straightaway (although it then that the protest movement would reach was kind of late for a rally at 10 p.m.). In two such a scale and that the whole world would hours the number of people grew from 14 to support the demands and hopes of Ukrainian 200. Some of the active participants came out people. with the idea of a flash-mob – it took us only a

Maidan for the Future

I learned the news about the government’s U-turn on Ukraine’s EU integration from the in- ternet. My friends and I were shocked. It became clear that instead of the promised EU standards Ukrainians could get a USSR 2.0. version. We had a feeling that we, Ukrainian students, had been suddenly deprived of a decent future; that everything had been de- Maidan in Lviv © Pavlo Ostrovs’kyj cided behind our backs. We could not stand it any longer. On the same evening we gathered few minutes to form a huge human circle and at our student dorm to discuss how we could the letters EU. We realized the importance of influence the situation. In some cities people making the voice of young Ukrainians heard, were already filling up their central squares to but we could not imagine that we were tak- show their protest against the government’s ing part in historical events. Our act of civil actions. Without wasting time, we got ready, resistance lasted for more than four hours; we

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 20 Pavlo Ostrovs‘kyj

ipate in the protests. To keep the protest- ers in high spirits, the organizers put up a stage and invited to the Maidan singers, bands, public figures and other speakers. A field kitchen opened near the main tent to provide food and drink to everyone. Why did all those people come out? They did it because their dream about a decent life in a European Ukraine was stolen. They were frustrated by a sudden change in the country’s geopolitical course and hoped to influence the president into © Carmen Scheide signing an association agreement in Vilni- us. But the 29th of November brought an- other disappointment – the agreement was parted with the decision to meet again the fol- not signed. And on November the 30th a few lowing night. dozens of students remaining in the Maidan The second day of the protests was re- in Kiev were violently dispersed by the special markable for its massive student protest rally police unit Berkut. Even those who tried to which gathered thousands of students in front escape were badly beaten. Ukrainian and for- of the regional state administration. Young eign journalists were also among the victims. people moved along the streets of Lviv in huge columns chanting “Ukraine is Europe”, “Join A new quality of the Maidan us!” and “Revolution”. In the evening the first mass rally took place in Svoboda Avenue. A violent crackdown on a peaceful pro- Lviv’s mayor called on the city test outraged the Ukrainians – in the evening residents to take part in the event. Well-known of November the 30th thousands of people public figures took to the stage to express their joined a mass protest rally in Lviv. They disagreement with the government’s decision came to protest against the brutal dispersal and to demand the signing of an association of the students in Kiev. The Maidan in Lviv agreement with the EU. During the rally the announced general mobilization – every day activists were putting up tents, for the protest thousands of people from Lviv left their city was announced as an indefinite action. The for Kiev to support the protests in the capi- tents were supposed to become a centre of the tal. One of the tents in Svoboda Avenue was European movement in Lviv. The authorities turned into a headquarters where those who did not approve of the tents and tried to ban cared could bring money, warm clothes and them through court. But they did not succeed. food for the protesters in Kiev and Lviv. Every day the Maidan in Lviv saw be- From the first days of EuroMaidan like- tween 10 and 30 thousand participants. At the minded demonstrators in Kiev started to form beginning those were mostly young people. various interest groups. Thus, Maidan’s Civil University administrations allowed their stu- Sector would organize creative actions – they dents free attendance so that they could partic- worked with the police force persuading them

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 21 Pavlo Ostrovs‘kyj

to take the people’s side and treating them to No access to politicians hot tea; they made newspapers and carried out public awareness work. The initiative Eu- Another characteristic of Lviv’s Maidan roMaidan SOS united human rights defenders is its wary attitude to politicians. In the first and all those who wanted to help the victims days of the protests students would not al- of Berkut’s brutality. Car drivers joined the low politicians on to the Maidan stage. Thus, Automaidan movement and organized pickets a Svoboda deputy Yuriy Mykhalchyshyn who near the residences of the most odious govern- sneaked to the stage and made a disparaging ment officials. There were dozens of similar comment about the students who guarded the associations in EuroMaidan, who co-existed in stage from politicians was booed by the crowd. a relative peace. This episode is quite remarkable also for the Lviv’s Maidan saw the formation of its fact that Svoboda won the 2012 local elections own civil movements. One of those was an in Lviv and Mykhalchyshyn became a depu- association for an “Economic boycott of the ty in one of the city constituencies. After the Party of Regions business interests”. The idea crackdown of November the 30th politicians was to exert economic pressure on the Party were allowed access to the Maidan’s stage, but of Regions deputies. Volunteers of the boycott the number of people in the square began to movement would stand outside the shops be- fall. The current situation is different from the longing to members of the ruling party and Maidan 2004 when Ukrainians pledged their distribute flyers with the calls to boycott their hopes with one politician. Now most people products. The argument was quite simple – understand that ordinary citizens and politi- every hryvnia paid to the pro-government cians have different goals and they can rely businessmen would be used to strengthen Ya- only on themselves and the like-minded com- nukovych’s rule and his authoritarian regime. rades. Thus, one of the main tasks after Euro- As a result of the numerous pickets and pub- Maidan’s victory would be the creation of the lic condemnation, the PR fraction in Lviv city efficient mechanisms of public control over council and the regional administration volun- politicians and government officials. tarily dissolved. The remaining loyalist mem- bers of the ruling party continue to count losses. A hot time Our struggle was also inspired by the un- precedented levels of support from the city’s In January the numbers of protesters business community and ordinary citizens. in Kiev’s and Lviv’s Maidans grew smaller. Representatives of local businesses contrib- While the attendance was higher on Sundays, uted to organizing bus transportation to Kiev. on weekdays it largely fell. At this point, how- It was also a pleasure to see automobile points ever, the authorities added a generous helping serving free hot tea and coffee to everyone in of fuel to the protest fire – the Party of Regions Lviv’s Maidan. Mobile network operators in and communist MPs at the Verkhovna Rada in Svoboda Avenue offered free top-up service, what was a clear violation of Parliament’s vot- while city hostels provided free rooms to the ing procedures passed a number of laws which activists. Hundreds of city residents brought significantly restricted civil rights and were food and warm clothing to protect the protest- primarily directed against the participants of ers in Kiev and Lviv from the cold weather. mass protests. The manner in which the laws

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 22 Pavlo Ostrovs‘kyj

were passed deserves a special attention. Pro- ment. When , the leader of government MPs voted for themselves and for Batkivshchyna, declared in his speech that the their absent colleagues. Although there was only protest leader is the Ukrainian people, slightly more than a hundred deputies present EuroMaidan took his words as mockery. The in the assembly, the electronic voting system anger spilled over, especially among the most showed 239 yes-votes, with the 226 needed. radical protesters. Right radicals clashed with When the opposition MPs tried to stop the il- the police lines on their way to parliament in legal voting by removing the electronic cards Hrushevskoho street. Protesters, led by the of the missing deputies, parliament’s vice- “”, threw Molotov cocktails; the speaker Igor Kaletnik proposed a hand vote. police responded with fire from traumatic All present pro-government MPs voted by a weapons. From time to time, fighters of riot- show of hands and without even bothering police Berkut would leave their lines to snatch to count them, Volodymyr Oliynyk, a mem- and violently beat a protester. In response, the ber of the counting committee, announced the radicals set on fire several police buses. A few adoption of the laws by 235 votes. The adopt- hours into the confrontation, a water gun was ed laws were even more brutal than the vio- brought from the side of the Verkhovna Rada lations of the parliamentary procedures that and started to spurt water on the protesters. took place. Thus, they introduced criminal li- Considering that the temperatures in Kiev ability for libel and extremism. These concepts were well below zero, such government’s ac- were given such a wide interpretation that any tions amount to torture in accordance with potential criticism of the authorities or calls to the international law. Later police officials resist the state despotism could lead to serious claimed that the water gun was used to put prison sentences. The laws also introduced a down the fire of the burning bus. In actual ban on car processions of more than 5 vehicles fact, however, the bus had completely burned and a possibility of blocking internet sites by down long before that. state officials. Moreover, all civil society orga- nizations obtaining grants from abroad were A popular game: “block Berkut” supposed to be registered as “foreign agents”. These are only a few from the list of absurd The government called for additional legal norms introduced by the controversial police forces and Berkut units from all over laws. They sparked uproar in Ukrainian so- Ukraine to reinforce its positions in the capi- ciety and were dubbed by journalists as the tal. The protest movement responded with a “dictatorship laws”. In their comments on the surprising efficient self-organizing measure. new laws, however, state officials argued that The information about the police mobilization similar provisions existed in many European quickly spread in the regions, with people all countries. over the country organizing blockades of the On January 19th, the Epiphany festival police units and Berkut bases, and coordinat- in Ukraine, there were massive protest rallies ing their activities through social networks. in many Ukrainian cities; protesters in Kiev’s Roads and exits from military units were ef- EuroMaidan expected from the opposition fectively blocked. This campaign helped to an action plan against the dictatorship and obstruct the movement of police forces in the name of a leader of the resistance move- Lviv, Volyn, Rivno, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ter-

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 23 Pavlo Ostrovs‘kyj

nopil, Odessa and Transcarpathian regions. a dozen of Ukraine’s regions with low pro- I was lucky to take part in a night shift at a government support. On January 30th the ac- police base in Lviv. All the exits from the base tivists responded to the request of the head of are blocked with car tires; every block post has its own kitchen and a fire to keep warm. The posts have radio connection; if necessary the activists can move from one post to another. Since the weather is cold, volunteers join the blockade for two-three hours. And concerned Lviv residents bring them hot drinks, soup, sandwiches, hot bottles and warm gloves. The atmosphere at such block posts is incredible – people easily get along together for a common goal. They realize that their task is not to let through police reinforcement units who will use force against the protesters in Kiev. The ten block posts are constantly manned by around a hundred people who feel honoured to sacrifice some of their personal time for the success of the revolution. The city council building is decorated with a meaning- ful slogan “A free place for free people”.

The revolutionary administration

After the news of the first deaths in Kiev, Lviv announced a strike. Local people gath- ered in front of the regional administration and made their way inside to demand answers from the head of Lviv regional administration Every participant at the Kyiv Euromaidan received this Oleh Salo, appointed by Yanukovych. Under message on his cell phone: “Dear customer, you are the pressure from the infuriated citizens, Salo registered as a participant of a mass riot.” submitted his resignation. But the protesters “Dear operator, you may kiss my revolutionary ass.” decided to stay in the building and keep it un- der control. The entrance to the government the regional council of deputies and vacated building is obstructed by a barricade and is the buildings. However, the administration guarded by civil and party activists. Recently remains under control of the People’s council, they had an argument about the division of which was formed by the Maidan. control in the building, but managed to sort it out. The overtaking of Lviv state adminis- It is quite clear now that the struggle will tration had a domino effect – it was followed go on, and the residents of Lviv will have a by similar occupations of state institutions in strong role in it. Although the Verkhovna

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 24 Pavlo Ostrovs‘kyj

Rada scrapped the dictatorship laws, the president was not in hurry to sign this deci- sion into law. The newly adopted amnesty law for the arrested activists has been labeled a “hostages law”. Local people are also out- raged by the fact that two of their compatri- ots from Lviv – Yuriy Verbytskiy and Roman Senyk – were killed in the past few days. The tension is high in Lviv, as it is in Kiev. Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s words on the Ukrainian people as the only leader of the resistance turned out to be prophetic. The nation is tired of waiting for European sanctions and decisive actions from the politicians. Ukrainians have dramatically taken the process of building a new country in their own hands. Their main principle is self- management. EuroMaidan has self-defense units – a prototype of a military and police force; medical volunteers, a kitchen, a group of its own lawyers. If necessary, it will find its own economists, financial specialists, diplo- mats and tax officials. EuroMaidan has made clear one simple truth: it is possible to function without official state institutions, which makes life only better. When needed, people can form their own self-management institutions and provide them with official powers.

translated by Vladyslava Reznyk

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 25 Laws are for “Suckers”, not for “Big Shots”

by Larysa Denysenko, Kiev

beginning of February 2014

uromaidan 2013 was born as a peaceful We are now facing a situation when the Eprotest and later an uprising of Ukrainian constitutional and conventional mechanisms, people against: the lies of the authorities and as well as the laws, are powerless to resist the pro-government forces, violations of human usurpation of power by the president, who rights and basic freedoms, abuse of the law, suppressed the legislative, executive and judi- state pressure on all levels, humiliation and cial branches of power in the country. distortion of values, concepts, meanings. Ukrainian parliament, dominated by the In 2004 the events that led to the Orange parliamentary majority of the president’s rul- revolution and a re-run election of the Presi- ing party and its traditional allies the commu- dent of Ukraine included systematic violations nists, blocked the possibility of a legitimate of electoral rights and freedom of speech on resignation of the current government. A cor- the part of the authorities. They were opposed responding bill was proposed by the opposi- by Ukrainians who took to the streets to pro- tion but was not voted by parliament, making test against the rigged result of the election. it impossible from a procedural point of view Numerous systematic violations were later to raise the issue in parliament again this year. acknowledged in a historical decision of the The anti-constitutional violence was or- Supreme Court of Ukraine. chestrated and directed by representatives of This time the situation is more complex. the executive power. The special police unit The president of Ukraine and government of- “Berkut” - part of Ukraine’s law enforcement ficials have committed systematic violations system - committed violations of a number of of human rights, enshrined above all in article Constitutional provisions by conducting a vi- 39 (freedom of peaceful assembly), article 28 olent dispersal of the peaceful protesters in the (right to being treated with dignity), article 29 Independence Square. They had to be rescued (right to freedom and personal integrity), ar- by the Church who provided shelter to the ticle 34 (right to freedom of speech and free victims and saved them from further violence. expression of thought and beliefs), article Currently, we observe violations of 55 (right to a fair trial) of the ’s criminal law, the law on police, and Ukraine and the corresponding articles of the norms concerned with administrative vio- the Convention for the Protection of Human lations against the protesters who took part in Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, to which Automaidan motorcades. They are persecuted Ukraine is a party. Moreover, the authorities by traffic police, summoned for interrogations and state officials have committed grave viola- and are subject to police raids at home ad- tions of the principle of the rule of law, guar- dresses. anteed in part 1, article 8 of the Constitution, Moreover, the pro-government forces together with the constitutional principle of exert a constant pressure on the vulner- article 19, which states that state officials are able part of Ukrainian society, especially obliged to act only on the grounds and in the the employees of state enterprises on the manner envisaged by the Constitution and the state budget payroll. The authorities use laws of Ukraine. pressure, intimidation and threats against

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 26 Larysa Denysenko

those who dare to peacefully resist injustice. a party, such as the European Convention of In recognition of an active role of Ukrai- Human Rights and the International Covenant nian students in the current events, the Min- on Civil and Political Rights. All these laws are istry of Education and Science of Ukraine has intended to strengthen and legitimise an ugly colluded with the Security service in violation symbiosis of a criminal-police state, whose of articles 7, 8 and 14 of the Law on Personal citizens are suppressed by the authorities for Data Protection. They force university and any critical comment, thought, or statement; college teachers to reveal personal data of stu- for free movement and peaceful assemblies. In dent protesters and threaten them with expul- other words, the laws adopted with numerous sion from higher education institutions. violations and in direct violation of the Consti- Ukrainian courts have demonstrated their tution seek to legalise repressions. complete lack of independence from the exec- In accordance with the principles, laid utive and the president. By an “order” of Kiev down in the decisions of the European Court state administration and in violation of the of Human Rights, state authorities and state constitutional norms, they have curtailed the officials should carry positive and procedural right to peaceful assembly in the city without commitments. providing a legal justification for such a deci- In particular, this concerns establishing sion. precise and clear rules, defined in the special On December 19th 2013, the constitution- law on peaceful assemblies, which has not so al majority in parliament effectively replaced far been approved by parliament. At the same the judiciary by passing a law “On eliminat- time, however, the so-called “January 16 laws” ing negative consequences, preventing pros- introduced an additional article 110-1 to the ecution and punishing people in connection Criminal Code of Ukraine, which establishes with events taking place during peaceful as- criminal liability for very loosely defined “ex- semblies”. The law guarantees freedom from tremist activity” (including “extremist” com- criminal prosecution to all participants of ments in the internet and social networks). peaceful assemblies and protest actions. The Because of the state’s complete failure to courts, however, continue to ignore the law; as meet its commitments in the protection of the of December 2013, many protesters remained citizens’ rights and freedoms, the Ukrainian in detention. people rely directly on the constitutional pro- On January 16th 2014, parliament adopt- visions. The realisation of this right, however, ed a number of repressive laws in a hasty pro- is obstructed by courts, whose direct responsi- cedure that violated the procedural code, the bility should be to ensure its full implementa- constitution and certain decisions of the Con- tion. stitutional Court of Ukraine. Regardless of the Moreover, first-tier courts have been en- violations, the president signed the laws and gaged in an unacceptable practice of turning made them effective on January 17th. The laws the victims of state violence into perpetrators. significantly reduce the scope of human rights In their decisions they tend to resort to an out- and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution rageously disproportionate punishing mea- of Ukraine (which is directly forbidden in part sure of preventive detention. 3 article 22 of the Constitution), and enshrined Although courts of appeal have been in international treaties to which Ukraine is partly able to redeem the situation, profes-

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 27 Larysa Denysenko

sional conduct of some of the first-tier judges which effectively crushed the existence of raises doubts about their commitment to jus- freedom of peaceful assembly in the country tice as one of the basic constitutional premises. as such. This led to a new form of confronta- A judicial system which should be based on tion. a subtle understanding of justice consistently The people of a nation has a right to re- undermines it by turning the victims into bellion* under the circumstances when it is criminals. otherwise impossible to abolish a government The violence committed by “Berkut” took - a government which will not voluntarily re- place in violation of a constitutional norm al- sign, which adopts anti-constitutional laws, lowing law enforcement officials to refuse car- which ignores the principle enshrined in ar- rying out a criminal order. This was the result ticle 19 of the Constitution of Ukraine, which of yet another violation - the unlawful actions manipulates the country’s courts and law en- of the law enforcement authorities who disre- forcement services, and which commits daily garded article 29 of a special law on policing violations of constitutional and international by authorising law enforcement activity at treaties provisions. night time. It is a legitimate right of the people which It is worth emphasising that the introduc- - although not directly proclaimed by the Con- tion of the so-called “laws of January 16” guar- stitution - can be explained and justified by a antees impunity to police and “law enforce- number of existing constitutional norms (in ment” officials responsible for carrying out the the Constitution of Lithuania, for example, brutal dispersal of the peaceful protesters in this right is directly acknowledged). It is a the Maidan. The fact that this sort of an “indul- right advocated in the works of the famous gence letter” was provided to the perpetrators philosopher John Locke and mentioned in by members of the pro-government parlia- various international documents. mentary parties and the president proves - for In accordance with the Universal Declara- me - that the unlawful orders of a clampdown tion of Human Rights (a binding international came from most senior state officials. treaty for Ukraine, according to article 9 of the Thus, the actions of the president of Constitution): “ it is essential, if man is not to Ukraine and state authorities of all branches be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, of power - legislative, executive and even ju- to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, diciary - subvert article 5 of the Constitution that human rights should be protected by the of Ukraine declaring the Ukrainian people as rule of law”. the bearer of sovereignty and the sole source But the legitimate actions of the protest- of power in the country. ers were met with even more oppression on In critical conditions, the people are al- the part of the government, including violence lowed to act according to the principle of di- that left several people dead, beatings and rect democracy and defend their rights in a persecution. peaceful protest, relying exclusively on direct Why is all this happening? The person application of the constitutional norms and the who currently holds office of the President of provisions of Ukraine’s international treaties. Ukraine is a criminal, twice convicted of vio- A peaceful protest lasted until the adop- lent crimes against personal property. tion of the so-called “laws” on January 16th, The political elite in modern Ukraine does

* author’s emphasis Euxeinos 13 (2014) 28 Larysa Denysenko

not feature descendants of the aristocracy, ues and rights is the matrix of a criminal.* who were subject to systematic extermination A characteristic recent episode is the vile at all periods of the nation’s history. Instead, attack on the journalist Tetyana Chornovil, fa- the country gave birth to a genetically defec- mous for her exposure of corruption among tive elite - comprising of party bureaucracy Ukraine’s highest criminals-in-office, such with hereditary richesse, on the one hand, and as the president, prime-minister and the in- business elite with largely illegally accumu- terior minister. She was attacked at night on lated wealth, on the other. To put it simpler, the Kyiv- motorway and violently the country is ruled by thieves and party func- beaten. It is worth paying a special attention tionaries. But in this particular case, we have to the official cynicism and the complete lack to deal with ordinary criminal thugs of the of professionalism in the police actions - after lowest rung. the attack they opened an investigation on the It is a difficult and painful question why grounds of “hooliganism”, a criminal code the Ukrainians had to elect this particular per- article which mainly deals with public order son as their president. Regardless of the fact violations. While the victim remained in in- that the elections were to a great extent rigged, tensive care, with medically confirmed serious one has to admit that has a to severe injuries, the authorities gave in to the large electoral base. Some saw in him a “strong pressure on the part of the media and human hand”, a “simple lad like us” or indeed a “per- rights defenders and reclassified the crime. If son who knew suffering”. we take into account the time of the crime, its Soviet prison system was meant to cripple details, the victim’s professional and opposi- and destroy people. It was especially damag- tional activity, and the lack of transparence ing for those who already had rather shaky in the police investigation, we may come to a moral principles. Prison may not necessar- conclusion that the attack can be qualified as ily kill a human but it does kill humaneness. a contracted attempted murder. The authori- Prison lives by its own rules, laws and habits. ties in the meantime are trying to present the Those do not include respect for human dig- crime as a banal road accident gone wrong. nity, rights and freedoms. In fact, there are no An avalanche of human rights abuse is rights and freedoms in prison. getting worse and more horrifying. After the When a prisoner goes back to normal life, beatings, violence and torture by the police, he tends - unconsciously or otherwise - to ap- the authorities failed to prevent the deaths of ply the same rules that exist behind bars in least five people. “Berkut” continues to perse- free life. cute people and torture them with brutality Such people live by the right of force, and cynicism. There is ghastly video footage by the right of a “big boss”; it is as if they of many episodes available online; Ukrainians have a microchip of discrimination placed who can’t remain indifferent try to document under their skin - it is a mechanism dictat- the crimes by collecting evidence and video ing to humiliate the weak, to intimidate, to materials. bully; requiring to annihilate a strong and Laws are for “suckers”, not for “big shots”. principled opponent to be able to intimidate The “suckers” are we, ordinary Ukrainians, as the weak, to suppress them and oppress has been well demonstrated by the so-called their will. The complete disregard for val- “laws” of January 16th. And as for “big shots”,

* author’s emphasis Euxeinos 13 (2014) 29 Larysa Denysenko

they know no laws and may completely ig- their human rights and freedoms; nore them. Hence, the president’s actions are - defending Ukraine’s European choice; absolutely logical and predictable within his - demanding the resignation and court mindset. All other branches of power act cor- trials of state officials whose actions violate respondingly - in a conscious or unconscious the Constitution of Ukraine; hierarchical imitation of the “big boss”. - aiming to change not only the govern- The president’s inner circle contains per- ment but mainly the whole political system; sonalities with an easily recognisable criminal to achieve a new quality and essence of state past; one may even get an impression that the reforms and state officials. rampant gangsterism of the early 90s is re- turning to plague our country as it did at the It is necessary to emphasise that perhaps beginning of its independence. The bandits for the first time in the history of Ukrainian grew muscles, they sharpened their fangs, confrontations, Euromaidan does not sim- they have caught Ukrainians unprepared for ply raise the most pressing and immediate such a huge amnesty and the criminals’ as- question of changing the government. The cension to big and small thrones. Euromaidan movement involves the work of “Berkut”s savage attack against the peace- analysts, independent experts, various pro- ful protesters can be also seen in this light. In fessionals, small and medium size business the criminal world the allegiance - and espe- entrepreneurs, scholars and artists, who on cially of those lower in the hierarchy - must be their own initiative develop projects of a to- tied in blood. It is a mutual bloody cover-up, tal change and reload of the current political which makes the subordinates more obedient, system that has completely discredited and more submissible, more dependable. It also practically destroyed itself. Political system makes it easier to turn them into scapegoats transformation should become the most im- and hold responsible for everything. portant task for a new people’s government in In Christian church believers partake of the future. the blood of Christ from the priest’s hands; One of the main issues here is the lustra- Ukrainian officials “partook” of the blood of tion. Many analysts argue that, unlike Germa- victims from the hands of their “big boss”. ny, the Czech Republic, Poland and Lithuania, The perverse culture of total “circular cov- Ukraine has been fatally slow with starting er-up” reveals itself in the alleged resignations the process of lustration. As a result, indepen- of some minor government officials and inves- dent Ukraine has admitted into its govern- tigations against certain representatives of the ment elite former communist party officials state, whose names and official positions re- and members of secret services who used to main unknown. It is an unacceptable fact, con- work for and maintain the repressive system sidering these people’s public role and status. of the Soviet power. One can’t but agree. The opposition that came to power in The Ukrainian people are fighting 2004 wasted the country’s chance for lustra- against this system by: tion, provided by the Orange revolution. It - establishing the principle of direct de- was a chance to lustrate the officials responsi- mocracy; ble for systematic violations of electoral rights, - conducting peaceful protests to defend freedom of thought and freedom of speech in

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 30 Larysa Denysenko

Ukraine. This failure had a number of negative About the Author: consequences, which can be illustrated by the following example. Larysa Denysenko is writer and lawyer. Serhiy Kivalov, then head of the Cen- Her literary career began in 2002 with the tral election commission whose negative victory at the literary contest ‘Crowning the role during the elections was recognised by Word’. Larysa Denysenko is the author of 12 the Supreme Court of Ukraine, is currently books for adults and 3 books for children. She head of the parliamentary committee on the was born in 1973 in Kyiv. She graduated from rule of law and justice. He is in charge of le- the law faculty of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv Na- gal issues and the provision of legal edu- tional University, passed a law draft course cation, which is an utter nonsense, consid- at the Justice Department of the Netherlands. ering the accusations against Kivalov as a She is one of the attorneys who represent state official whose duty was to ensure a fair the human rights in European Court of Hu- and transparent election but who instead man Rights (Strasburg). She worked for the got involved in a massive electoral fraud. Justice Department of Ukraine as a scientific It is then of utmost importance to en- consultant in specialized parliamentary com- sure that this time a law on lustration will mittee, managed the national department of be implemented to prevent those officials, ‘Transparency International’. Several years who by their anti-constitutional acts or com- she combinated her legal practice with work placent passivity caused systematic viola- at nation-wide 1+1 Channel, where she is the tions of human rights and freedoms in the author and the host of culturological program country, from serving in all branches of state ‘Document +’. power, including local government, educa- e-mail: [email protected] tional and scientific institutions, courts and bar, armed forces and other military units, tax and customs authorities and other state institutions with quasi-judicial functions. Of no less importance is the issue of individ- ual re-accreditation of all judges, state officials, and members of law enforcement agencies, which could allow to identify those people who have no moral right to occupy their positions or be engaged in similar professional activities. Systematic changes will be required in al- most all spheres of public life to avoid the pos- sibility of systematic violations of human rights and freedoms in the future. This is a project that many independent analysts and experts have been working on. It is a project for everyone who cares for Ukraine’s future, who feels per- sonally responsible for the quality of life, qual- ity of people, quality of the state in our country.

translated by Vladyslava Reznyk Euxeinos 13 (2014) 31 The Writers and the Maidan

by Alexander Kratochvil, Prague

7 February 2014

hen the Soviet Union was dismantled ning with Peter I. and the creeping Russifica- Win the early 1990s, the Ukrainian au- tion of Ukrainian culture and society in the thor and civil rights activist Dmytro Pavlyčko 20th century during the Soviet Union, the cul- stated with regard to the significance of the tivation of language always was an important Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko factor for Ukrainian identity. No Ukrainian (1814-1861): “Our rebirth is taking place un- author could elude this aspect of preserving der the flags and slogans of Shevchenko”. cultural identity, as the extent to which au- Even during and after the Orange Revolution thors were committed to their language and Shevchenko played a positive role as an icon culture was an important indicator of patrio- for the unity of the then politically and socio- tism in Soviet times and afterwards. However, culturally heterogeneous regions. The life and this patriotism was ambivalent as the Stalin- works of Shevchenko are seen in the tradition- ist repressions at the beginning of the 1930s alist discourse by many Ukrainians as a sym- heralded a process through which the Soviet bol of the country, culture and history. The Ukrainian authors generally unconsciously classical western Ukrainian author of the 19th undermined the attractiveness and vitality of century Ivan Franko (1856-1916) and the char- the and literature by pre- ismatic representative of Ukrainian modernity serving Ukrainian literature in the folkloric Lesja Ukrajinka (1871-1913) hold a compara- forms of the 19th century. This was accompa- ble, but less influential position as intellectual nied by an increasing disinterest in the litera- and moral authorities. With attributions such ture and the marginalization of the Ukrainian as prophet (Shevchenko), stone crusher and language as a conveyor of this literature. With conscience of the people (Franko), or “chain- a combination of socio-political factors of Rus- breaking daughter” of the Prometheus (Ukra- sification, this led to an intended loss of pres- jinka) these authors are given the function of tige of the Ukrainian language and literature creating a national identity and securing cul- as a whole. tural continuity. These three authors are en- At the beginning of the 1990s, the gener- gaged as heroes and identity-creating figures ation of authors born in the 1960s and early on the basis of a tradition of “national awak- 1970s began to question and programmatical- ening” and “nation-building” which has its ly deconstruct this discourse surrounding the roots in the 19th century. This tendency was national and social mission, for example with even intensified during Soviet times because the carnival literature derived from Michail of the educational and propagandistic func- Bachtin, whose most renowned representa- tion of the literature of socialist realism. This tive is the internationally known author Jurij tradition shaped a literary discourse, which Andrukhchovych (born in 1960), or with the continuously comprised the national commit- prose of Oksana Zabuzhko (born 1960), which ment and responsibility of the authors and deals with gender-related and post-colonial their works and persisted into the early 1990s. issues and has also been translated into other Due to the numerous restrictions on the languages. This generation rejected the social Ukrainian language in Tsarist Russia begin- obligations and political functions of writers

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 32 Alexander Kratochvil

all the more because those established authors to the global millennium generation, which from the older generation who became po- according to the recently debated cover story litically active in the early 1990s (e.g. Dmytro by the American social scientist Joel Stein in Pavlyčchko or Ivan Drachč), were unsuccess- “Time Magazine” is ironically called the “me ful and soon appeared to be politically cor- me me generation”. This generation is regard- rupted. The new literature of the Zabuzhko- ed as apolitical and socially passive. The pro- Andrukhovych generation of the 1990s was, tagonists in this literature, which is often cat- by contrast, political in the sense that it reflect- egorized as pop culture, depict themselves in ed the specifically national and historical con- their environment in a self-centered manner. stellations of Ukraine, which emerged during However, this self-centeredness is only the cultural and political transformations, and apolitical, when it is measured with a tradi- revealed the ideological constructs of the past tional, institutionally oriented and normative with its metanarratives and aesthetic strategies political concept that is linked to parties and in a playful manner. These forms of reflection ideological programs. Starting from their own also comprised present works and authors of interests and a non-institutionally anchored Soviet and anti-Soviet orientation, which re- and organized, rather individual commit- sulted in significant tensions in the Ukrainian ment, the generation is indeed political in the literary scene1. sense of civil society involvement. The devel- The handling of the historical self-image, opment of civil society is also seen as a way of cultural remembrance and national identifica- leaving post-Soviet thinking behind. This at- tion strategies in the second half of the 1990s titude is clearly reflected in literature, cinema had a massive impact on the organization and and music. Irena Karpa (born in 1980) pro- the institutions of literary life in Ukraine. It vides an example of this in her novel Bitches became decentralized according to regional, get everything, in which she describes the ex- socio-political, aesthetic and institutional char- periences of a Ukrainian actor and director; in acteristics2. This trend continued into the new the novel there are repeated references to the millennium. The generation of authors fol- consistently ongoing politicized issue of the lowing Zabuzhko and Andrukhovych belong usage of the Ukrainian language: “– ‘My sweetheart, you know, if you ever 1 For example Andruchovyč, Ju. want to achieve anything, you have to eradi- Rekreaciji, different editions (printed first in 1992); Andruchovyč, Ju. Moskovijada, different cate all ‘Little Russian’ things in you. Stay editions. (first printed in 1993), Zabužko, O. Polovi for a while here in Moscow, visit the theater dosldžennja z ukrajins’koho seksu, different editions (first printed in 1996), Irvanec’, O. Rivne- language course, and assimilate here. .. This Rovno, different editions (first printed in 2001). is what all actresses from Ukraine did here. 2 See also Mala Ukrajins’ka encyklopedija Schulschenko, for example ...’ aktual’noji literatury. Proekt povernennja And then everybody – cameramen, pro- demiurhiv. (eds.) Ješkilev, V., Andruchovyč, Ju. In: Pleroma 3/ 1998; in greater detail see ducers and directors – started to boast how also Kratochvil, A. Aufbruch und Rückkehr. their mothers or fathers returned to Moscow Ukrainische und tschechische Prosa im Zeichen der Postmoderne. Berlin 2013, pp. 53-73; for the from Tbilisi, Yerevan, Kharkov, or Tallinn af- restructuring of the literary canon, see. Hundorova, ter the war, crammed Russian poems, prac- T: The Canon Reversed. New Ukrainian Literature. ticed theatrical language from morning to of the 1990s. In: Journal of Ukrainian Studies, Nr. 26, Summer-winter 2001, pp. 249-270.

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 33 Alexander Kratochvil

night, and strictly forbade themselves from younger people, as well as the observers of the articulating one single word in the provincial Maidan movement alluded to their indepen- languages of the losers that they had left be- dence from the political parties time and time hind. again during the first weeks and massively de- – ‘And look, they accomplished every- fended themselves against being swallowed thing! – yelled someone and drew strong ap- and manipulated by the opposition parties. plause. In their performances and statements authors Trisha smiles amicably […] – ‘Thank and musicians such as Zhadan, Karpa or Rus- you very much, my dears’, – thought Tri- lana supported this renunciation of the tra- sha and grinned widely. You are all really ditional parties and the institutionalized and very kind, but I could care less about your generally corrupt post-Soviet politics. They recipes for success. Why should I destroy assisted the civil society activities surround- something inside me? I came to create some- ing the Maidan movement and the social ac- thing – myself and something around me. tions based on the activities of individuals and I will go home and build my own empire. groups. Thus, Maidan developed its own or- This is how everything always begins.“3 ganizational and social structures during the Like in their literary text, the younger week-long protests. authors also take a different approach in Politicians from the established parties as their public appearances than the “Zabužko- well as the opposition parties lagged behind Andruchovýč generation”, which appealed to the potential of civil society as represented a more intellectual audience in their lectures, by the Maidan, which as Denysenko stated essays and newspaper interviews. The young- became the “germ cell” of the new Ukrainian er authors like Serhij Žadan (born in 1974), politics. There will be no déjà-vu of a second Irena Karpa, Larysa Denysenko (1973) use Orange Revolution resulting in the restoration more popular, mass media formats including of the “old system”, because – in addition to social networks. By participating in concerts, the different political context – the Euro-Maid- demonstrations, civil disobedience activi- an is being carried out and organized by a dif- ties, they took on a public relations function ferent and younger generation. And they did and attracted attention to the events. Popu- not take to the streets because of a president lar musicians and bands such as the Eurovi- and as Andrej Kurkov writes “they do not sion Song Contest winner Lyzhyc’ka want their ideas to be packed into the slogans (born in 1973) or Taras Chubaj (born in of the opposition parties. They will not let any- 1970) and Svjatoslavrs Vakarchuk (born in one take away their independence and dig- 1975) also have a high profile in this regard. nity. Therefore it is not their objective to put In the past the artists tended to only sel- someone in office, rather to live in a civilized, dom state their social or political position. This European Ukraine” (taz, 9 December 2013). changed with the 2013 Euro-Maidan at the lat- After approximately three weeks of dem- est. Both the actors who at the beginning of the onstrations and protests, the moment arrived protest movement were primarily students or at which the representatives of the protest movement realized that the Maidan demands 3 Karpa, I. Bitches get everything. can hardly be met without including opposi- Charkiv 2007. pp. 184-185 (Translation AK)

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 34 Alexander Kratochvil

tion politicians. Thus, the Ukrainian writers ul- Kiev. In the authors’ view the enormous pow- timately lent their voice to the opposition poli- er of the protest definitely required an action ticians for the formulation of a first political and reform program for the time after Maid- action program, which stated the short-term an. They stated that a Plan B and Plan C would and medium-term objectives of the Maidan probably also be necessary, in case there are movement and called on Jacenjuk, Tjahnybok riots and police crackdowns and a state of and Klitschko to finally act in a convincing emergency is declared. All of this had been way on the basis of a clear-cut program. The ominously looming in the air for weeks. The Agenda 5/12 was prepared by Irena Karpa and writers now gave the cues to their politicians. Viktorija Narizhna and immediately signed by They stressed that “despite their deep antipa- several thousand people. Members of all gen- thy towards Janukovych they do not want his erations joined the call, and subsequently the head, rather wish to have their own country younger and middle-aged authors met in a back for themselves, a country in which there literal and figurative sense on Maidan Square. will be no place for figures such as Janukovych This resulted in additional initiatives (e.g. on and Asarov as well as for Titushky4 and thugs social networks with the popular ironical com- from the Berkut special unit.” ments of Jurij Vynnychuk, the media appear- The authors emphasize how poorly the ances of Zabuzhko and Zhadan, which had ruling politicians deal with the state entrusted legal consequences, or Andruchovyč’s Open to them and the people and how they view the Letter to Foreign Media). state and its people as resources for their per- The Agenda 5/12 can be divided into a sonal enrichment like in some form of stone- catalogue of demands with three foci. The first age capitalism. According to them, Janu- pertains to social issues such as the protection kovych is someone who since taking office has of the protesters from police violence as well acted like an occupier of Ukraine who stops at as the release of the political prisoners. The no one and nothing. This “occupier” came to second point concerns the political system and power due to the failure and weakness of the demands for the government to resign, the Orange politicians. signing of the association agreement with the The total rejection of the current political European Union, a new electoral law, a lustra- regime by so many and primarily young peo- tion law as well as demands for a change to ple is a revolt against political incompetence the constitution regarding the powers of the and the arrogance of power. After the bloody president. The third point appeals more to the police crackdown on peaceful demonstrators emotional level and explicitly calls on opposi- in late November on Maidan Square, Larysa tion politicians to do their work as politicians Denysenko directly addressed Janukovych in and present a reform program for the first year writing: “You have no lifeline and no line of of government. The proponents of the agenda expressed their wholehearted support to the 4 Strong, younger men, who were opposition politicians. partially hired on short notice by government- related organizations or by the Party of the The point in time for the Agenda 5/12 was Regions, in order to provoke riots during the well chosen, directly before the mass mobili- peaceful demonstrations against the Janukovyč government or to directly attack smaller groups zation on the second Sunday of December on of gvonerment critics or individual persons. which the “March of Millions” took place in

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 35 Alexander Kratochvil

destiny anymore. The youth of this country Yet what these opponents will do with the has risen against you. You have no future any- cannibals is not entirely certain”. And that is a more.” reason for hope … In recent years in Ukraine, authors from the younger generation such as Karpa, De- translated by Michael Dobbins nysenko and Zhadan have tackled issues of identity, cultural remembrance and individ- ual position in a globalized world. In addi- About the Author: tion to the already mentioned novel by Karpa Bitches get everything, their works include, for Alexander Kratochvil is currently J.E. example, Denysenko with her novel Echoes Purkyně Fellow at the Czech Academy of Sci- about a young German woman, who follows ences in Prague and is carrying out a research the tracks of her grandfather during the Sec- project on trauma and culture of remembrance ond World War in Ukraine or the novel by in the (Eastern) Central European literatures. Žadan Vorošilovhrad (translated recently into His most recent book “Aufbruch und Rück- German). The students’ and young protest- kehr. Ukrainische und tschechische Prosa im ers’ rigid rejection of the political exploitation Zeichen der Postmoderne” was published in of the Euro-Maidan demonstrations, which 2013 in Berlin (Kadmos). Between 2005 and were joined by large parts of the population 2009 he organized and directed the Ukraini- of central and western Ukraine, and the orga- cum in Greifswald. In addition, Alexander nization of the Maidan as a field for social ac- Kratochvil conducted research in the Cluster tion by groups independent of the state is an of Excellence “Cultural Foundations of In- expression of a civil society mindset aimed at tegration” at the University of Konstanz. He a reconfiguration of Ukrainian politics. This also teaches courses on Ukrainian literature at mindset was also defined in the “Agenda 5/12 the Humboldt-Univeristy of Berlin and works of the authors as a mission for policy-makers. as coordinator of the research project Region, It appears as if the authors and intellectuals Nation, and Beyond. An Interdisciplinary and had abandoned the traditional role of writers Transcultural Reconceptualization of Ukraine, in Ukraine as a voice and prophet of the peo- Univ. St. Gallen. He translates Ukrainian and ple as attributed to Taras Shevchenko in the Czech literature into German. Among others, 19th and 20th century. The authors are hardly his translation of Oksana Zabuzhko‘s novel interested in a national, political ideology with “The Museum of Abandoned Secrets“ was a social mission anymore. With their text and published in 2010 by the Droschl publishers. media appearances they are more focused on e-mail: [email protected] civil society themes and take a stand against the post-Soviet politics aimed at retaining power, which today‘s – or actually yesterday’s – political elite represents. Zhadan described the youth at the Euro-Maidan as the “non-lost generation”, which is pitted against cannibals - “cannibals” who could simply eat up their opponents within the boundaries of dialogue.

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 36 Crimean Passions Around EuroMaidan: An Active Pro-European Minority of Crimeans Against the Autonomous Republic’s Pro-Eurasian Authorities and an Ambivalent Majority

by Andrij Ivanec‘

21 January 2014

t is obvious: Euromaidan has already be- and supporters. Some politicians and analysts Icome a phenomenon of Ukraine’s social even believed that this experience made the and political life, even regardless of the fact Ukrainian society immune to future mass- that formally it has achieved none of its pub- scale protest actions. Such analyses, however, licly proclaimed goals - such as signing an proved completely wrong. Deepening eco- association agreement with the EU, bringing nomic problems and, specifically, the risk of to justice those responsible for the violent a default, together with a curb on civil rights dispersal of student protesters on November and restrictions of the freedom of expression, 30th, and a radical re-formatting of Ukrainian led to an escalation in the protest potential. The government on both institutional and indi- government’s decision on 21 November 2013 vidual levels. Moreover, Euromaidan has no- to suspend the preparations for an association tably changed the socio-political climate in the agreement with the EU detonated a bomb of country and is instrumental in creating a posi- public unrest manifesting many Ukrainians’ tive image of the Ukrainian people abroad. dissatisfaction with the state of the country One thing that makes Euromaidan different and their support for Euro-integration. A new from its predecessors - “the granite revolu- powerful impulse to the momentum of the tion”, “Rise up, Ukraine!” campaign, the Tax protests was given by the violent crackdown Maidan and even the Orange revolution - is its of the anti-riot police “Berkut” on Euromaid- sheer scale. A Euromaidan rally In December an student protesters. For most Ukrainians 2013 (the so-called Veche) saw a record num- it served as a turning point in their struggle ber of protesters in Ukrainian history. Accord- for Euro-integration, which became a fight for ing to Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, it their constitutionally guaranteed rights of per- was also the largest pro-European demonstra- sonal security and peaceful assemblies. tion in Europe. One may add that this protest Crucially, before the November events is also likely to last longer than the Orange Ukrainian society had actually reached a con- Maidan. sensus on the importance of Euro-integration. The main difference, however, lies in Eu- A characteristic detail is how even the Ukrai- romaidan’s new quality as compared to pre- nian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarch- vious Ukrainian protest campaigns. In 2004 ate voiced its support for Euro-integration Orange revolution supporters pledged their together with other churches. The govern- hope for a better life in the country with Viktor ment’s suspension of the signing of the Asso- Yushchenko, a candidate in the presidential ciation agreement with the EU was perceived election, making his name the most popular by many Ukrainians as a threat of a reversal slogan in Maidan: “Yushchenko!”. But when in its foreign policy direction. Furthermore, the elected president failed in his actions and the events at the Vilnius summit produced in excelled in his inability to act, a wave of revo- the society a psychological feeling of the loss lutionary enthusiasm was replaced by a sense of the European perspective, which could of profound disillusionment and political apa- transform Ukraine into a normal European thy on the part of orange revolution activists country and ensure for everyone a decent and

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 37 Andrij Ivanec‘

dignified life. For a large part of Ukrainians, cally constructed movement. Ukrainian 2014 the perspective of an EU integration embod- “Euro-revolution” has demonstrated its civil ied their hope in overcoming the most acute society’s coming of age and maturity; many Ukrainian problems, such as corruption, pov- segments of civil society and their ideas ap- erty, dysfunctional state structures, and estab- pear more productive for the country than the lishing new standards in social, economic and actions and ideas of the pro-government or political life. even the opposition politicians. It is obvious, As a result, there emerged a qualitatively however, that Euromaidan’s heterogeneous new form of public protest - Euromaidan. Its civil society sector is too short of time to pro- principal difference from the Orange maidan pose its own independent political project in is that opposition politicians today are not re- the nearest future. Its activists mostly realise garded as unconditional leaders and organis- this and accept the need to work with existing ers of the masses. Civil society tends to act on politicians to achieve socially important goals. par with the political opposition and - with This is clearly a difficult task, requiring mu- limited success - to form the opposition on its tual commitment from the civil society sector own. According to public opinion polls, the and the political establishment alike. absolute majority of Euromaidan supporters But - as it has been already stated - Kiev’s joined the protests in Kiev not in response to Euromaidan is a phenomenon of national the opposition’s calls. What was an uncondi- importance. And not only because among tional loyalty to the opposition‘s presidential its activists there are representatives from all candidate in 2004 transformed ten years later, the country’s regions, including the Crimea on Euromaidan 2014, into the civil society’s and . (Significantly, Independence ambition to turn politicians into instruments Square in November-December featured the of positive changes in the country. Charac- flags of the Crimean Autonomous Republic teristically, the first rally to take place was and the , while the hungry pro- the students’ Euromaidan, followed by the testers for many days on end could treat them- Euromaidan of the political opposition in Ki- selves to Crimean plov and other dishes of the ev’s European Square. Later these two move- Crimean Tatar cooks). Euromaidan also has its ments merged on Independence Square. The counterparts, its supporters and opponents in merger, however, is not absolute. In spite of Ukrainian regions. the opposition-initiated creation at the end of December of the All-Ukrainian Union “Maid- Euromaidan in the Crimea: an active an”, consisting of politicians and civil society minority representatives, Kiev’s Euromaidan includes more than twenty various civil groups and Euromaidans beyond Kiev sprang up in unions outside the opposition’s control. In November-December 2013 in practically all fact, it is possible to speak of the ongoing ef- regional centres and in many smaller towns. fort of Euromaidan participants to establish They are, however, of different formats. A between different civil society structures a permanent Euromaidan in city centre, with a symbiotic network model of relations and stage, exists only in Lviv; in some cities there self-organisation, against the attempts of the are tent camps, while in others only regular political opposition to build and lead a verti- activists’ meetings take place. The appearance

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 38 Andrij Ivanec‘

of a Euromaidan in the Crimea is an expect- number of ethnic Russians is higher than the ed surprise. The Crimean peninsula consists general Crimean indicators. of two territorial administrative units - the Crimea’s ethnic composition explains its Crimean Autonomous Republic and Sevasto- widespread pro-Russian sentiment, which in pol. Both regions are traditional Party of Re- some residents of the Autonomous Republic gions (PR) and Viktor Yanukovych’s electoral and Sevastopol has taken the form of Euro- constituencies. Only Donetsk and Lugansk re- phobia. However, there is also a significant gions show a higher than in the Crimea level number of Crimeans who hold opposing of electoral support for the pro-presidential views or support Ukraine’s integration into forces. Thus, for instance, in a 2012 parliamen- Europe and the Eurasian Union at the same tary election, in spite of a low turn-out, the time. Thus, already in late November 2013 Party of Regions received 52,3% and 46,9% of Crimea saw public pro-EU protests in such votes in the Autonomous Republic and Sevas- towns as Yevpatoria, Feodosia, Dzhankoy, topol respectively; in the second round of the and Yalta. Later similar relatively sporadic ac- presidential election Yanukovych got 78% of tions took place in Kerch. Most systematic ac- the Republic’s votes. Party of Regions mem- tions happened in Sevastopol and the capital bers enjoy a full control of the executive and of the Autonomous Republic Simferopol. legislative branches of power in the Republic; From late November to early January the the Party of Regions’ outfit in the Autonomous residents of Simferopol witnessed almost daily Republic “The Regions of Crimea” holds 82 events organised by Euro-activists. On week- out of 100 seats in the local parliament. The days those were activities of a few dozens of Party of Regions also controls the absolute ma- activists on the square outside the Republic’s jority of local administrations in the region, as government building. And on weekends a well as governmental and local administrative column of a few hundreds of people moved bodies in Sevastopol. from the square to the Crimea’s parliament or It did seem that under such circumstances the Representation of the President of Ukraine there was no space for the pro-EU sentiment in in the . A number of au- the Crimea. The region, however, is by many to-caravans in support of Euromaidan drove tokens the most peculiar part of Ukraine; and along Crimean roads. Money, food, medicines the Crimean community is a multifaceted and clothes were collected for the protesters in society. The Autonomous Republic and Sev- Kiev. First protests in the Crimea took place astopol are the only regions in the country under the slogans in support of the president’s where ethnic Ukrainians are not the biggest commitment to Euro-integration and with the ethnic group, the majority of population com- demand to sign the Association agreement prised by representatives of ethnic minorities. in Vilnius. But after the events on November Crimea is also an area, compactly inhabited 29th and 30th, the views of Crimean Euro- by the Crimean Tatar people. According to the activists became more radical - they rallied 2001 Ukrainian census, the population of the with the demands to name and bring to justice Autonomous Republic of Crimea consisted those responsible for the brutal crackdown of the following ethnic groups: 58,8 % - Rus- on Maidan students, and called on the gov- sians, 24,6 % Ukrainians, and over slightly 12 ernment and - later - the president to resign. % - Crimean Tatars. In Sevastopol, the relative As for Crimean printed and electronic

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 39 Andrij Ivanec‘

mass media, most of which are owned by pressure and open provocations. Thus, for the Party of Regions members or the state, example, the authorities in Simferopol would in their representation of the events in Kiev deliberately stage mass counter-rallies at the they largely belied the standards of objective same time and places with the Euromaidan journalism. Many of them contributed to the events. They gathered employees of state anti-Maidan propaganda campaign. Some of enterprises to take part in the rallies and de- the newspapers regularly presented the aver- ployed powerful sound equipment to silence age Crimean reader with stories on the “Nazi the opponents. On December 12th 2013, car coup” in Kiev, “Maidowns” (a nasty blend of tires of the leader of “Udar” youth organisa- the words “Maidan” and “Down”), and de- tion in Sevastopol were slashed and the words picting Euromaidan activists as hired stooges “For Maidan” sprayed on the car. A similar in- or loafers. This media propaganda campaign cident took place in Simferopol on December made Euromaidan supporters in Simferopol 21st 2013: a “Euromaidan-Crimea” coordina- resort to such means of self-organisation as tor Kovalskiy had his Mercedes damaged by personal connections and Facebook networks. unknown people, prompting a criminal inves- At the end of November they elected coordi- tigation by the police. On December 3rd 2013, nators of the “Euromaidan-Crimea” move- attackers set on fire the only Ukrainian Ortho- ment, including Serhii Kovalskiy, an activist dox Church of Kiev Patriarchate in Yevpato- of the Crimean section of Batkivshchyna, Ser- ria, whose deacon father Yaroslav Hontar had hiy Mokrenyuk, head of the Crimean section earlier left with a group of parishioners for Eu- of the non-parliamentary opposition party romaidan in Kiev. Crimean activists continue “Democratic Alliance”, an Udar activist Ismail to report of other provocations and threats to Ismailov and leader of the “Crimean centre them and their families. for business and cultural co-operation “Ukrai- In view of such situation, it may be ar- nian House” Andriy Shchekun. Although gued that regardless of its composition of three of the four coordinators are party activ- civil society and political parties activists, the ists, they were not delegated to the movement movement “Euromaidan-Crimea” is typo- “Euromaidan-Crimea” by their respective par- logically similar to Euromaidan’s civil sector ties. Moreover, in the words of Shchekun, the in Kiev. On December 4th the Headquarters leaders of Crimean sections of parliamentary of national resistance in Crimea was formed, parties were primarily concerned with send- comprising representatives of eight political ing Crimean volunteers to Kiev, rather than parties, 14 civil organisations and 11 activ- organising protest actions in the Republic. ists of the “Euromaidan-Crimea” movement. Shchekun, however, managed to convince Shchekun and Kovalskiy became coordinators young party and civil activists of the need to of the Headquarters’ Council. In late Decem- break through the information blockade and ber 2013 a former head of the Republican For- “show Ukraine and the world that there are estry Committee Anatoliy Kovalskiy chaired people in the Crimea who want to live in a the newly formed organisational committee of European society”. He is certain that they suc- the All-Ukrainian Council “Maidan” in Sim- ceeded in achieving this goal. feropol. Anatoliy Kovalskiy became famous According to Shchekun, Crimean Euro- in 2004 when he refused to sign a permission activists experienced a lot of administrative to grant large plots of land from Crimea’s na-

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 40 Andrij Ivanec‘

tional reserves fund to businesses, controlled ans can be seen as their distinctive feature. by M. Kurochkin, a Russian businessman and facilitator between the Ukrainian and Rus- Crimean Tatars choose Europe sian governments during the 2004 presidential election. The population of the Autonomous Re- Presently, there are no readily available public of Crimea includes 270 thousand sociological data on general population sup- Crimean Tatars, or roughly 13% of general port levels for Euro-integration in the Crimea. population. Despite the apparently low pop- However, a poll conducted in December by the ulation numbers of Crimean Tatars, their na- Crimean organisation of young political scien- tional movement has played an important role tists in Simferopol revealed that out of the 400 in the Crimean and Ukrainian politics. This respondents aged 18-35 60,5% supported the has become possible thanks to the national ex- government’s decision to suspend the Euro- perience of self-organisation acquired during integration process, 24% were against it, while the long years of deportation and resistance 15% remained undecided. In case of a refer- against the communist regime, as well as the endum, 36% of young people (Ukrainian law formation of national government institu- defines people under 35 years old as “young”) tions, such as the general congress Kurultay would vote for joining the Customs Union, or a system of executive bodies - Mejlis of the and 33% - the EU. In other words, the number Crimean Tatar people and local Mejlis bodies. of young Simferopol residents who support One of the strong points of the national move- the European or Eurasian vector of integration ment is its extensive network of international is relatively the same (the difference lies with- links with Muslim and Turkic structures and in the margin of statistical error). It is quite an western donor organisations that provide optimistic result for the pro-EU supporters, support to repatriated Crimean Tatars. considering such factors as ethnic composition In the past few years there has been a no- in the Republic and the hostile media environ- table decline in support for local government ment. It is worth noting, however, that the lev- and the Mejlis among the Crimean Tatars. el of pro-EU support is likely to drop among This is evident from the increased public ac- the Crimean residents of older generations. tivities of the Mejlis political opponents and a Generally speaking, a sociological por- growing approval among some segments of trait of Crimean EU supporters resembles the Crimean Muslims of the idea of the cre- that of the whole Ukraine: although present ation of a worldwide caliphate as opposed to in all social and age groups, they are pre- the idea of upholding the Crimean Tatar na- dominantly young, running their own busi- tional interests. In practice, however, the pres- ness and Ukrainian-speaking. At least, those ent Kurultay-Mejlis system remains the most are the categories of citizens that take the popular and influential in the Crimean Tatar most active part in the “Euromaidan-Crimea” community. The level of public influence ex- events, together with political leaders and - erted by all Crimean Tatar opponents of the to a lesser degree - teachers, journalists, state current system taken together is nowhere near employees and pensioners. On the other the capacity and leverage possibilities of the hand, a significant presence of Crimean Ta- national government bodies. Moreover, last tars among the supporters of local Euromaid- year a two-tier election system to the Kurul-

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 41 Andrij Ivanec‘

tay was changed for direct elections, which institutions. The Composition of the Council increased the number of young delegates and of Representatives of the Crimean Tatar Peo- made a positive consolidating impact on the ple under the President of Ukraine, created Crimean Tatar national movement. under Leonid Kuchma as a step to legalise The Mejlis was among the first to an- the Mejlis, has been changed to include other nounce its support for Euromaidan in Kiev Crimean Tatar figures. In the past few years, and a European civilisational choice for this was not an actively-functioning body. Lo- Ukraine. In December the most influential cal administrations in the Crimean regions, Crimean Tatar politician Mustafa Dzhemilev, presided by Donbass-born Party of Regions a Soviet-time dissident and a BYuT MP, who members, have been gradually trying to oust for twenty-two years was head of the Mejlis, Mejlis representatives from power and replace spoke in front of the pro-EU demonstrators them with more pro-government oriented in Kiev. The recently elected new head of the Crimean Tatars. The “Kurultay-Rukh” frac- Mejlis, , joined the All-Ukrai- tion has lost its right to appoint head of the Re- nian Union “Maidan” Council. Head of the In- publican Committee for Interethnic Relations ternational Section at the Mejlis Ali Khamzin and Deported Citizens at the Crimean Coun- remarks that even those political and religious cil of Ministers. The Mejlis leaders complain structures of the Crimean Tatars that oppose about the disruption of the government’s the national government refrain from running Resettlement and Reintegration programme a public campaign against the Euromaidan. which last year received the record low 10 They include the non-governmental organisa- million hryvnia from the national budget, in tion “Milliy Firqa”, the Council of Represen- spite of the officially allocated 200 million. Ali tatives of the Crimean Tatar People under the Khamzin notes that the state has been unable President of Ukraine and the presently illegal so far to establish a systematic legal basis to in Ukraine radical Muslim organisation Hizb ensure the rights protection and rehabilitation ut-Tahrir. of the Crimean Tatar people. The Mejlis’ choice in favour of Euro-inte- There is, however, a certain number of gration - which probably reflects the general Crimean Tatars who politically support the public mood among the Crimean Tatars - can Party of Regions and took part in Kiev’s Anti- be explained by the ambition to pursue the maidan. They are mostly members of “Sebat”, nation’s strategic and tactical interests. The a non-governmental organisation that unites EU, from a Crimean Tatar perspective, not participants in the land-grabbing movement. only guarantees the general democratic devel- “Sebat”s representatives state that around 800 opment of Ukraine, but also ensures a fairly of its members joined the Antimaidan in Kiev. high level of protection for national minori- A Mejlis leader Khamzin believes that the ties and indigenous peoples. Since the election number was no more than 20-30. of Yanukovych as president in 2010 this has become an important item on the agenda of The Eurasian Choice of the Autono- the Crimean Tatar leaders, since both central mous Republic’s leadership and the Rus- and regional government bodies have been sian factor gradually limiting the scope of co-operation and dialogue with the national Crimean Tatar Since the beginning of the Euromaidan

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 42 Andrij Ivanec‘

protest movement, the Crimean authorities when it approved a proposal to the president have taken a radically negative position. It did and government of Ukraine to “consider in the not come as a surprise when on November short term the possibility of Ukraine’s joining 27th 2013 the majority of MPs in the Crimean the Customs Union”. In other words, Crimean parliament voted in favour of the Ukrainian Party of Regions members proposed to their government’s decision to suspend the sign- senior party cronies in governmental chairs to ing of an association agreement with the EU officially change the country’s foreign policy. in the name of the national security interests, For Ukraine’s commitment to Euro-integra- and condemned the “destructive actions” of tion has been enshrined in laws and its lead- “Svoboda”, “Batkivshchyna” and “Udar” par- ers continue to declare that the EU-association ties. In an appeal to the president, approved process has been only suspended. by the extraordinary parliamentary session on It is clear that a difficult economic situa- December 2nd 2013, Crimean MPs not only tion in the country and the political crisis have harshly criticised their political opponents but caused the Autonomous Republic’s establish- also called on the central government to take ment to fear for its future, advocating the use radical measures. The style of the document of force and unleashing a media war against is evident from a characteristic quote (origi- Euromaidan supporters. Furthermore, central nally in Russian): “the government is obliged authorities could use their Crimean allies’ po- to prevent an unconstitutional revanche on sition as an instrument in the general political the part of the bankrupt political forces that balance of power in the country. At the same profess radical nationalism and have already time, the Crimean leadership’s decisions and crossed the line separating it from ”. It proposals, as well as those in some other re- is of interest to note that the document goes as gions of South Eastern Ukraine, can be also far as actually labelling the government’s op- seen as a symmetrical response to measures ponents as “nazis”. More crucially, however, in support of the Euromaidan movement, de- the Crimean parliament calls on the president clared and adopted by local government bod- to “stop the spread of lawlessness and anar- ies in Western Ukraine. chy on the capital’s street”, to urgently put an Until mid-December the pro-government end to the activities of the destructive forces authorities in the Crimea sought to mobilise including by introduction - if necessary - of the population in support of the central gov- the emergency state. The same parliamentary ernment by unleashing a full-fledged media session heard the parliament’s vice-speaker war. Some of the propaganda content was Hryhoriy Ioffe declare cynically: “for the borderline - to say the least - in the context of events on Maidan in Kiev, for everything that Crimea’s multiethnic community and with took place there on November 29th and 30th regard to Ukraine’s national interests. The and is going on now, those who organise such most controversial came from the Presidium “maidans”should be held responsible”. As of the Crimean parliament who on December such, he actually justified the excessive use of 12th 2013 published an appeal to the people force against peaceful protesters by anti-riot of Crimea. The document described the threat police. to the Republic’s autonomous status from the Another landmark decision of the Crime- “organisers of mass street protests in Kiev” an parliament came on December 3rd 2013, and warned that the Crimeans would be “de-

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 43 Andrij Ivanec‘

prived of their right to speak, write or be edu- the breakup of Ukraine, the collapse of Ukrai- cated in Russian, the native language for the nian statehood, and the need for a federal ar- majority of Crimean residents”. The appeal rangement, accompanied - sometimes - by not also declared that the “Autonomous Republic so subtle separatist slogans. is in danger!”; “the fate of the whole Ukraine Opposition politicians began to voice their and the Crimean Autonomous Republic is be- concern over the threat of the Crimean separat- ing decided today” and that the “Crimea is fac- ism and the Russian factor. An ex-member of ing a choice: to put up with the forced Maidan- the Ukrainian parliament and the Mejlis head isation, or to stand up decisively against the Chubarov remarked last December that for anti-government and anti-Crimean forces”. him the threat of the Crimea’s secession had It is hardly necessary to argue here that never been more tangible. On December 14th Kiev’s Euromaidan did not voice a single de- 2013, a Svoboda MP and a member of the par- mand to cancel Crimea’s autonomous status or liamentary committee on the national security to ban the use of the in the and defence Yuriy Syrotyuk reported on the peninsula. Those are not programmatic items plans for a Russian-backed special operation for the majority of Euromaidan groups (with to declare the Crimea’s state sovereignty from the only exception of Svoboda’s position on Ukraine. According to Syrotyuk, a meeting the autonomous status which was not in any between PR members of the Crimean parlia- case raised during the Euromaidan events). ment, leader of the party “Russian bloc” and Moreover, if anything the EU integration en- representatives of the party “” sures additional guarantees for the protection had taken place in the Russian consulate in of linguistic and cultural rights of national mi- Simferopol. Allegedly, the secessionist scenar- norities. What was the motive then behind the io was supposed to be launched publicly with Crimean parliament leadership’s deliberate a demand from the Crimean Antimaidan sup- demonisation of Euromaidan? porters for a referendum on the Crimea’s state Some commentators have suggested that sovereignty. “This scenario is a contingency this was more than a simple manifestation plan in that case if Yanukovych loses control of low political culture or a method used to in Kiev and the majority in Verkhovna Rada” consolidate the pro-government forces in the - said the MP. Crimea in a complex economic and political Politicians from the above-named pro- situation. A more sinister implication was per- Russian parties do not confirm the existence ceived in similar public messages: “Nobody in of separatist plans. More in general, it is very Kiev should wrongly assume that the Crimea difficult to make a proper assessment of Rus- will tolerate the enforcement of some else’s sia’s Crimean intentions and Ukrainian action will”; as well as in the initiative of the PR dep- plans, which largely remain hidden from the uty in Sevastopol Serhiy Smol’ianinov to col- public eye. It is obvious, however, that Rus- lect signatures under an appeal to the Russian sia closely watches the situation in the Crimea, president to deploy Russian troops in Ukraine hoping to use it as a leverage of influence in to “counterbalance the army of the United Ukraine as a whole. The separatist card can be States of America and their NATO aggres- only played in the exceptional circumstances. sors”. There has been a steady increase in the Even more so after the signing by the Rus- number of articles in local printed media on sian and Ukrainian presidents on December

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 44 Andrij Ivanec‘

17th 2013 of a deal concerned with a money What next? A no-reply question credit and gas-price reduction, which greatly reduced the risk of any possible separatist It is too early to make any conclusions scenario in the Crimea by the external forces. about Euromaidan’s results. It is obvious, on Besides, the agreement has resulted in a rela- the one hand, that Ukraine’s authorities man- tive stabilisation of the presidential power and aged to steer through a dangerous geo-politi- the economic situation in the country which is cal curve and even to achieve a relative social likely to ease the Crimean political establish- and economic stabilisation in the country. On ment’s fears of what they see as the realisation the other, the Euromaidan movement in Kiev of the worst-case scenario. and other regions has received a worldwide And yet, the ongoing political crisis urges moral support and continues to exist, albeit the pro-government forces in the Crimea to without the real resources for a radical change keep the political situation under control and of the political situation. The best-case sce- consolidate the population’s support. One of nario for the development of the situation in the methods they continue to use is the delib- the country would require reaching a set of erate escalation of artificial threats. Thus, dur- compromises between the government, the ing a press conference in Simferopol after their opposition and the society aimed at reform- return from the pro-government Antimaidan ing the country and implementing the Euro- rallies in Kiev, the activists of the Crimean Ta- integration policy. This looks like a daunting tar organisation “Sebat” declared that some- task, but is not impossible. As for the Crimean when in the first half of 2014 the USA intended Euromaidan supporters, their fate and the sit- to use the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people uation in the Crimea in general will depend as a platform for provocations in the Repub- on future developments in the country and on lic. Since the anti-Tatar sentiment remains geo-political games around Ukraine.... a lingering factor among some segments of the post-Soviet Crimean society, even a hy- translated by Vladyslava Reznyk pothetical threat of provocations may push a certain part of Crimeans to show greater sup- port for the authorities as the only stabilising force. Mejlis’ head of the international section Khamzin characterises the “Sebat” claims as untruthful and immoral. In his opinion, it is a long-shot attempt to create in the Crimean society a negative image of the future activities in support of the Crimean Tatars’ rights, en- visaged by the national government bodies as part of the commemorations for the 70th anni- versary of Stalin’s criminal deportation of the Crimean Tatar people from the Crimea.

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 45 The Blood For Yanukovych

by Oksana Syroyid

21 February 2014

f I were staying in Kyiv now, I would not the first language). I had to study the Russian Iwrite this – I would be busy on Maidan. language, Russian literature and watch Soviet However, I am physically too distanced from TV in Russian. Therefore, it is not my fault the events. And this very fact has made me that I can speak Russian. Regarding nationali- even more emotionally involved. The feeling ties: 17% of the inhabitants of Ukraine identify of despair has forced me to track the online themselves as Russians. Crimea is the only ter- streams and to check the headlines. I have had ritory where there more than 50% Russians, enough time to review all major world media while seven of 24 regions have more than 10% including Russian media. There are no sur- of Russians, and there are 13.1% native Rus- prises from the Russians – they call me and my sians in Kyiv. friends the “aggressive crowd”, our Ukrainian To judge whether the linguistic or nation- and European identity “radical”, and our ef- ality issues have anything to do with current forts to protect our dignity and rights a “riot”. protests I would suggest considering the fol- However, it was sad to observe rather lowing. The majority of the Kyiv population, such superficial analysis even from the promi- especially young people, prefers Russian as nent global media. For example, on one of the their language of communication and most TV channel the analyst asked the reporter, of the young residents of the Ukrainian capi- who streamed from Kyiv barricades, what is tal are on the barricades today. The language the difference in percentage of population sup- spoken out on the Maidan stage does not mat- porting Maidan and Yanukovych. The report- ter. The nationality is never asked about and er admitted that he did not know, but that the cannot be seen under the protestors’ masks. country is divided and that Eastern Ukraine is Finally, the list of those killed is the essential Russian. Such an approach to the analysis of proof that there is no correlation between na- the situation in Ukraine is not only distanced tional or linguistic identity and the current from the reality, but also reflects ideas care- protests. fully invented and implemented by Kremlin. However, the data are logical if you con- First of all, for those who like statistics: let sider them from the perspective of Russian us see whether the linguistic and nationality history and the eternal Russian political in- issues in Ukraine have any impact on the situ- terest in Ukraine. Russia needs Ukraine not ation. Even though 60% of Ukrainians claim only as a market, a military base, or as a gas Ukrainian as their mother tongue, it is true pipe. It needs Ukraine (but only as a territory) that a majority of the population is bilingual to prove its legitimacy as a “great nation” de- – they can communicate in both Ukrainian riving from the Kyevan Rus, an Eastern Euro- and Russian. But you would not claim Swedes pean Slavic state in 9th-13 century. Otherwise, to be British just because 95% of the Swedish it would have to begin writing its history only population is fluent in English. Neither me nor after the Moscow Kingdom founded in 14th my parents could choose a second language century. This state was in fact was not inde- for us as school students (and for some even pendent, rather a vassal of the Golden Horde,

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 46 Oksana Syroyid

a Mongol state. It means that Russia would ment with the EU in favor of closer coopera- not only need to redesign the exposition in the tion with Russia. The data as of January show History Museum on Red Square and to change that if the referendum on the association with all the textbooks for schools and universities. the EU were held today, 47% of Ukrainians It would also have to stop calling itself the would say “yes”. At the same time 34% would “Slavic nation” with the status of “older broth- say “yes”, if a referendum were held on join- er” and the legitimacy to patronize “younger ing the customs union with Russia. In addi- sisters” like Ukraine, Belarus and whoever tion the same research shows that Maidan has was “adopted”. 48% supporters (27% who fully support it) This is why Peter the Great in his dreams and 46% opponents (31% who fully reject it). of Europe, as well as his successors, were so Looking at the data, one would be inclined to desperate to invade Ukraine and ravish its Or- argue that the country is split. However, one thodox Church Metropolis. This is why Stalin could respond: have you ever heard of any killed millions of Ukrainians though famine in public support in Ukraine for accession to a 1932-33 and ordered in 1939 to rewrite history customs union? Me neither -because the pro- and replace the term “Kyevan Rus” with the test is not about the union, whether European term “Old Russian State”. This is why Putin or a customs union. It is all about the values said to Bush at a NATO meeting in Bucharest as well as the will and ability to protect them. in 2008: “You don’t understand, George, that Those who support Maidan support EU in- Ukraine is not even a state. What is Ukraine? tegration because the Maidan and EU values Part of its territories is Eastern Europe, but apparently coincide. People on Maidan share the greater part is a gift from us.” During common values of human dignity, respect to his “reign” Putin put his efforts into proving human rights and accountable government. both to the world and to the Ukrainians that But even more they share trust, solidarity, and Ukraine does not deserve a place on the map personal accountability. That is why they are of Europe but only on the map of Russian me- standing outside for three months, suffer the- tropolis. 25 degree frost, severe injuries and are even As much as the Russian leader is desper- dying just to protect these values. ate to devour Ukraine, the Ukrainian people Most probably, those who fully reject are equally desperate to dissociate themselves Maidan are the same who would say “yes” from Russia. Perhaps the inherent feeling of to the union with Russia. Then another ques- dignity or historical memory of democracy tion is how much do they know about the fostered by the 20 years of freedom led, espe- real Maidan as well as the real Russia? Is their cially in the younger generation, to disgust and awareness and belief in Russian values strong the rejection of the arrogance and superficial- enough to consistently articulate and defend ity traditionally exerted by Russians whether them, not to mention die for them? They can in the private or public treatment of anything reject Maidan but they would never have Ukrainian. enough arguments to oppose it. You can see It is now generally known that the Maid- no supporters of the custom union accession an protests started as a reaction to the decision on the other side of the barricades. The other of the Ukrainian Government to “suspend” side of the barricade consists of brutal police the process of signing an association agree- supported by paid criminal gangs called “ti-

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 47 Oksana Syroyid

tushki” and since February 20th even released er state to fulfil its “mission of protection”. prisoners. It would not be declamatory to say This strategy has been already employed that it is a fight between “good” and “evil”. in Moldova in the 1990s as well as in 2008 to And yes the country is divided into those who invade part of the territory of Georgia. For are ready to support the “good” and those decades the same formula is has been ef- who in fact do not care. Therefore the people fectively exploited in Ukraine, in particular, in this country are just normally socially strati- with regard to Crimea and Eastern regions fied – some of them are politically active and of Ukraine. The actions that complement this motivated and others are not. The only prob- strategy are permanent claims of the Kremlin lem is that the will of those who do care com- and its emissary in Ukrainian (and not only) pletely contradicts the strategic interests of the politics: that “Russian-speaking population” leader of the neighboring state. in Ukraine has some specific rights and that Putin has very diligently approached his is why the country is divided into Russian- goal. He has been very diligent in arranging speaking East and Ukrainian-speaking West; this for many years. He already has made sev- that Western Ukrainians are nationalists and eral “grabs” at Ukraine, in particular in 2000 radicals; that EU integration and therefore all and in 2004. But former President Kuchma was protest activity are supported only by West- too independent, careful and smart enough ern Ukrainians (nationalists and radicals). The not to be embraced by the “older brother”. Ya- Russian lobby in the Ukrainian Parliament nukovych appeared to be the ideal instrument has already suggested changing Ukraine into for manipulation: greedy, almost entirely un- a federal state. And the leadership of Crimea educated, with law self-esteem. has already claimed that they do not feel safe The Kremlin developed the concept of as a part of Ukraine and want to join Russia. It “Russian-speaking population” to justify its had to be the elected President of Ukraine and interference into the internal policies of its not US Senator McCain to reply that “… all na- neighboring states. “Russian interests go as tions must support the territorial integrity of far as Russian speech is heard” – this is one Ukraine, including Crimea”. On the opposite, of the key formulas of Russian international by repeating the mantra that those on Maidan policy. This formula was developed specifi- are radicals and represent only small part of cally for invasion purposes and is strategically the country, Yanukovych is making a strong implemented as follows. The Kremlin claims contribution to the Kremlin’s efforts to open that part of the territory of a given state is the gates for a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russian-speaking. – The “Russian-speaking Another concept developed specifically population” has specific “rights” that cannot for Ukraine and Byelorus is the concept of be properly protected in the unitary state, “single nation”. According to Putin there is which is why the state should introduce fed- no Ukrainian nation, just “Little Russia”. This eralist structures (this part can be skipped). concept is strongly supported by the Russian – The “Russian-speaking population” is sud- Orthodox Church and its “doctrine” of the denly threatened by “other-language-speak- “Russian world”. The core strategy accord- ing population”. – Obliged to protect any ing to this concept is the following. Ukraini- “Russian-speaker”, the Kremlin uses tanks ans are not a separate nation but a “branch” and missiles to enter the territory of anoth- of the larger Russian nation. Since Ukrainians

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 48 Oksana Syroyid

and Russians are identical only Russia can un- Government made it possible. The brutal vio- derstand what is going on in “poor Ukraine’s” lence of police is absolutely illogical for Yanu- head. – Europe has to allow Russia to take kovych as he will never benefit from it. But it “care of Ukraine” and to protect Europe from is very beneficial to Putin. The “bloody” Ya- possible “Ukrainian threats”. The implemen- nukovych made him “unacceptable” for the tation of this concept can be seen in the justifi- West, meaning that he either has to resign or cations that the President and the Government to be abandoned by the civilized world. Putin of Ukraine provided upon the abrupt decision is well aware how difficult it will be for Yanu- to suspend the association with the EU. They kovych to resign and the isolation is the best said that we had to cooperate closely with reason for Kremlin “to take care of Ukraine”. Russia since we were two “brother nations”, The recent statement of Angela Merkel that used “to grow up together”, shared the same she agreed with Putin on the joint measures against Ukraine proves that Putin’s strategy is advancing. All the agreements between Germany and Russia, including those in 1918 and in 1939 only had negative consequences for Ukraine. But – no pity. It just shows that Europe, at least its key players, do not under- stand and therefore do not deserve Maidan. Not understanding Maidan is a problem for Europe and serious mistake in Putin’s equa- Kyiv 2013 © Pavlo Ostrovs‘kyj tion. Maidain is not one square that can be values and Russia could understand us better smashed and cleaned up. Maidan is not about that the EU. The same concept was used by the supporting any party or opposition leaders – President of Ukraine to call the extortionate it will deal with which parties and leaders to Russian loan a “ brotherly help”. support when the elections come. . Maidan Putin has taken care of everything, even is 27% of Ukrainians ready to fight for their Maidan. Of course he would be happy to ac- dignity and 21% who are willing to i to sup- quire Ukraine on voluntary basis. However, port this fight. Yanukovych had to implement the protests started and he adapted them to de facto astate of emergency, in order to block his strategy. Kremlin’s emissary in the Presi- Kyiv, close the subway, put armed police at dential administration and in the Ukrainian check points on every downtown cross-road

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 49 Oksana Syroyid

and on the main roads to the city just to pre- experienced something like this? vent these 27% from arriving at their focal Finally, to explain the difference in the point of their struggle. However, it demon- level of support for Maidan and for Yanu- strates that he knows nothing about the people kovych I suggest one illustration. After the he appeared to be the President of. terror of February 18th the medical service For those who never have been on Maidan announced around 9 in the morning next day I can report that the barricaded territory un- that the blood donors were needed. The trans- til recently had its own medical service with a port system was blocked and there was only fully equipped hospital and a number of medi- one donor station in the city. By the noon the cal checkpoints, accommodations and perma- emergency call center reported that the line of nent meal services for thousands,a library, two donors consisted of more than 100 people. In street universities, an IT center, art centers, a few hours the medical service reported that permanent hotlines, etc. It was self-sustaining they have collected enough blood and asked and self-organized. How did it work? I know a people to keep it for other situations of need. doctor, who has been volunteering in the med- Unfortunately, the next situation of need was ical service from the very first days. I know next day and the situation repeated. How a retired prosperous businessman, who has many people do you think would stay in line been going to Maidan every day supplying to give their blood for Yanukovych? protestors with gas and firewood for heating. I know dozens of people, students, top manag- P.S. On February 20th around one hun- ers, analysts, NGO representatives, business- dred people were shot dead by snipers. Doc- men, artists, and public servants who have tors and volunteers were singing the Ukrainian been going there everyday and taking efforts anthem when the bodies of twelve protestors to maintain the Maidan. They cut sandwiches were taken from the improvised hospital in and built barricades, monitored court trials the hotel lobby… Even after resignation Yanu- and protected injured in the hospitals from kovych has to be prosecuted and deprived of the police, delivered grocery and taught in the his lifelong presidential status – he cannot die street universities, coordinated call centers and as a President and have the Ukrainian anthem purchased and installed medical equipment. sung in his honor. And, most importantly, they kept Maidan safe and clean. P.P.S. From the moment I have started to The violence that started on February 18 write it until the moment I finished, just two turned Maidan into one of the most danger- days have passed. The situation is changing ous and apocalyptic places in the world. How- every hour. A solution has not yet been found. ever, the ensuing violence only increased the I always knew that Putin never gives up. But I significance of Maidan for Ukrainians. Despite also know that Maidan will always win. hundreds killed and thousands injured, peo- ple are not leaving Maidan – they are just ar- About the Author: riving with the necessities – food, medicines, tires, equipment. And all of them are bringing Oksana Syroyid, Director of the NGO their courage, mutual trust and belief in their “Ukrainian Legal Foundation” deputy head values. When was the last time that Europe has of Kyiv-Mohyla School of Public Law and Ad-

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 50 Oksana Syroyid

ministration. Graduated from the University process, peaceful assembly, legal status of of Ottawa with Master of Laws degree (2003). state and minority languages in Ukraine and Received degree in Law from Taras Shevchen- education. OSCE/ODIHR international trial ko Kyiv National University (2002) and B.A. monitor. Recurrent lecturer on administrative in Political Science from National University justice issues and opinion writing at the Na- of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (1997). Possesses tional School of Judges of Ukraine. Associate extensive experience in development and im- professor of the Law Department in the Na- plementation of reform projects for Ukraine, tional University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in particular in the area of administrative law, (lecturing on legal research, analysis and writ- administrative justice, independence of the ing). Co-author of handbooks in the area of judiciary and legal education. Contributed as administrative justice and legal analysis and an expert to the development of numerous writing. legislative acts in the area of judiciary, admin- e-mail: [email protected] istrative justice, government decision making

Kyiv 2014 © Irene Karpa vadven.com

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 51 EuroMaidan. Chronology of Events

A peaceful, civil society protest on the During the night from November 29th Maidan Square of Kiev has turned into a to 30th the special force Berkut brutally at- violent change of government, which has tacks and seriously injures many of the peace- escalated into an international crisis in ful protestors, while pretending to put up view of the Russian military actions on the a Christmas tree on the Maidan, the center Crimean Peninsula since late February. of the non-violent protests. As a result the The following chronology summarizes the Maidan is dismantled. That is the prelude to most important events, in order to shed light the second wave of Maidan protests: the pro- on the process of confrontation radicalization test against violence and the ignoring of law and escalation. Six broader phases can be iden- and order by the Yanukovych administration. tified up to now (last update: 8 March 2014). On December 1st, 2013 a mass demonstration The chronology makes no claim to be com- takes place in Kyiv, first on the square in front plete. of St. Michael‘s monastery, as the Maidan was ”closed“. Later that day protesters again First phase – November 21st, 2013 - 29th, 2013: gain space on Maidan where the protest camp Failure to sign the association agreement had been set up for many weeks. Besides the with the EU before the EU-Vilnius summit House of Unions and the City Hall, protest- Peaceful pro-European student protests ers occupy other buildings and use them as a cafeteria, meeting place and for organization- On November 21st, 2013, the Ukrainian al purposes. The political opposition – Udar, government declares that it will not sign the Svoboda and Batkyvshina – now attempt to EU-Association Agreement. Due to this politi- manage the protests with various degrees of cal shift, the Euromaidan is created November acceptance. There are many slogans demand- 24th, 2013 as a peaceful protest against Yanu- ing new elections of the parliament and the kovych. In several cities the protests are linked president. with the national day of commemoration of From then on, people gather for mass the Holodomor. Euromaidan is from the very demonstrations every Sunday. On December beginning a dynamic phenomenon, a living 8th, 2013 the Lenin monument near Bezarab- organism that constantly grows and develops sky Rynok in the centre of Kyiv is smashed ideas as its aims. After the refusal to sign the by protesters. This is the beginning of “Len- treaty with the EU at the EU Summit in Vilnius infalls“ in many Ukrainian cities and towns. (November 28th-29th 2013) and the obvious During December, repressions by govern- Russian interest and interference in that pro- ment forces and state institutions such as tri- cess, the protests on Maidans (public squares) als and street hooligans hired by the Party of in Kyiv and other cities begin to grow. Regions increased. Violence increased against certain groups of persons such as journalists Second Phase – November 29th, 2013 & De- and Maidan activists, e.g. the beating of Tatja- cember 2013: Police violence against peaceful na Chornovol and Juri Lutsenko. In violation protesters of existing laws, judges allow for people to be Mass mobilization in Kyiv and demands for kept in custody without official charges. These political changes in Ukraine are partly intentional provocations by the gov- ernment to stir up the conflict and to end the

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 52 Chronology

protests not with political negotiations, rather increase, and there are intentional attacks on with fierce state violence, This is essentially journalists, medical personal, while existing the strategy of Yanukovych against Maidan in laws are continuously broken during trials the following weeks. and by judges. The protesters occupy local and state government buildings and institu- Third Phase – January 2014: tions, continue to block roads and to prevent Actions and Reactions: Misinterpretations of police forces from leaving their barracks. Pro- the Government testers in other cities, esp. in western Ukraine occupy or block the regional government rep- During January 2014, Euromaidan chang- resentation and the offices of the Party of Re- es its character once again: the peaceful pro- gions (Yanukovych’s party). tests grow more and more into an uprising, The administration does not stop the con- while the protesters became more radical. frontations in the streets, rather start talks and To a great deal this radicalization is a result negotiations to cancel the laws of January 16th of the steady provocation by the Yanukovych and to declare amnesty for arrested protest- administration. The persecution of protesters, ers. These concessions of the government are esp. of the participants of the so called auto- linked to preconditions such as the end of all maidan, expanded. There are cases of severe protests and clearing all government and local torture and several casualties (Viktor Bolotov, government buildings. There seem to be dif- Ihor Lutsenko). Doctors and medical personal ferent fractions and attitudes towards further receive advice to report to the police the per- proceedings in the government. At the same sonal data of injured protesters, and cases of time the Ukrainian government is very close arrests of protesters in medical facilities are re- to bankruptcy and needs financial help. ported. In violation of the law, water cannons Both the EU and Russia declare their non- during minus 20° C temperatures are used interference into internal Ukrainian issues, against protesters and the security forces ap- but the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lav- ply further forbidden measures. rov complains that the US and the EU are al- On January 16th, 2014 a series of laws ready interfering. are passed by parliament, which violate fundamental human rights and freedoms Fourth Phase February 18th - 21st, 2014: and thus pave the way towards a dictator- Escalation of violence, more than 80 people ship (such as in Belarus). It causes a reso- killed lute reaction by the Maidan protesters, and the Yanukovych administration re- Both protesters on Maidan and the opposition sponded with another wave of state terror. in parliament unsuccessfully demand the res- Yanukovych attempts to stop the restless titution of the 2004 constitution. In the mean- protests with new laws. He wishes to restore time the situation escalates on the streets and law and order, instead of finding a compromise. snipers repeatedly shoot at protesters. The In the following days violence escalates, government tries to clear Maidan and the oc- esp. in Hrushevskyj Street and first deaths cupied buildings and discusses an upcoming occur as a result of sniper fire. Clashes with declaration of a state of emergency. This way, special police forces and protesters steadily the army could be used for domestic purpos-

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 53 Chronology

es. Streets and railways to Western Ukraine stop protesting until Yanukovych resigns. are interrupted by police. The “Right Sector” From Rostov/Don Yanukovych declares calls to arms and for militant self-defense on February 28th, in a video to the public against the police and Berkut. Political nego- that he views the political changes as a coup tiations prove to be useless, while combat be- d’état and still regards himself as the legiti- tween self-defense troops on Maidan and Ber- mate president of Ukraine. Russia’s president kut become fierce. Maidan is still in the hands Putin backs him esp. in connection with the of the protesters though. More than 80 people beginning occupation of Crimea at that time. are killed, most of them by snipers. The people With 317 of 331 votes, the parliament declares in Ukraine are in shock and the scene is remi- Victor Yanukovych to be removed from office niscent of war. and plans new elections for May 25th, 2014. It also appoints acting directors of the domestic Fifth Phase February 22nd, 2014: secret service general public prosecution of- Peace negotiations and change in govern- fice, an interim president, head of government ment as well as ministers of internal and foreign af- fairs. Investigations into the 101 deaths which Three EU foreign ministers from Germa- occurred during the conflicts on the Maidan ny (Steinmeier), Poland (Sikorski) and France are initiated. The deceased are now called the (Fabius) come to Kyiv for negotiations. Russia “Heavenly Hundred“. sends an emissary as well (Lukin). They talk to As part of several legal modifications and Yanukovych and the three opposition leaders. personnel-related decisions, the disputed lan- On February 22nd, 2014 they present to the guage law of 2012 is withdrawn, which pro- public a peace agreement1. Yanukovych ac- vides for that the language spoken by at least cepts new presidential elections for 2014 and 10 % of the population is recognized as an of- the restitution of the 2004 constitution. The ficial language. This decision is again reversed Ukrainian parliament votes with a brought several days later, because it is understood as majority for the restitution of the 2004 consti- a provocation against the Russian population.2 tution. Anti-Maidan demonstrations take place Dmitry Jarosh as speaker for the Right on the Crimean Peninsula (Kerch, Sevastopol) Sector and the Auto-Maidan do not accept the and in Odessa. peace agreement and demand the resignation The departure of Yanukovych after the of Yanukovych in the next 24 hours. negotiations with the EU troika and the oppo- Due to personal changes in the govern- sition parties came by surprise to many Ukrai- ment and the new political directions in nians and international observers. His escape parliament Yanukovych leaves Kyiv dur- from Ukraine marks the end of the Maidan ing the night for eastern Ukraine. On Feb- demonstrations and at the same time sheds ruary 22nd, Yulia Timoshenko is freed from prison and travels directly to the 2 Moser, Michael: Language Policy and Discourse on Languages in Ukraine under President Maidan in Kyiv to call on the masses to not Viktor Yanukovych. Ibidem-Verlag, Stuttgart 2013; 1 http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/cae/servlet/ Kulyk, Volodymyr: Language Policy in Ukraine contentblob/671350/publicationFile/190045/140221- What People Want the State to Do. In: East European UKR_Erklaerung.pdf Politics and Societies 27 (2013) no. 2, 280-307

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 54 Chronology

light on other hot spots, most notably the involvement in and occupation of Crimea by Russia as of late February. The events in Crimea and eastern and south eastern cities of Ukraine are closely linked with the Maid- an movement and the development of a civil society in Ukraine. However, it is a different kind of struggle with the unmistakeable in- volvement of international power interests. The focus now shifts from domestic Ukrai- nian affairs and events to constellations re- calling cold-war scenarios.

Sixth Phase February 28th, 2014 - : The Crimean Crisis

On February 20th, 2014 the speaker of the parliament of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Volodymyr Konstantinov (Party of Regions) does not rule out that the Crime- an Peninsula will separate from Ukraine. On February 27th, a Russian flag is hoisted on the parliament building of Crimea. The re- gional parliament and several airports are According to the ballot paper voters in Crimea are given occupied by men in uniforms without na- the choice to join Russia immediatly or to return to the tionality markings. Russia increases its mili- Constitution of 1992 within Ukraine. A third option is not possible. tary presence on the Crimean Peninsula. On Source: www.bbc.com the same day, the parliament decides to hold a referendum on the national affiliation of Crimea on March 16th, 2014. Some interesting links: General information and documents: compiled by Alexander Kratochvil & Carmen http://www.ssees.ucl.ac.uk/library/directory/ ukraine2014.htm Scheide Chronology of events (in German): translated by Michael Dobbins http://www.laender-analysen.de/index. php?topic=ukraine&url=../ukraine/archiv. html

The Ukraine List by Dominique Arel: http://www.ukrainianstudies.uottawa.ca/ orange.html

Euxeinos 13 (2014) 55 The Online Journal ‘Euxeinos. Culture and Governance in the Region’ is published by the Center for Governance and Culture in Europe (GCE-HSG), University of St.Gallen, Switzerland with the financial support of Landys & Gyr Stiftung.

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