Ukraine's Decommunisation Laws
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Action Plan of the Government for 2016
Action Plan of the Government for 2016 1 Goal set by the Government Ukraine is currently under exception circumstances having survived deep political and economic crisis against the background of Crimea occupation and war in the East. However, a reason of such crisis is deeper that current political and economic shocks or Russian aggression. Procrastination with the necessary reforms throughout the course of 25 years of independence resulted in it. Ukraine is one of the weakest reformers among Eastern European countries, i.e. changes that happened in the country from the time of collapse of the communist camp are not as great as those in the neighbouring EU member states. Consequences of such procrastination turned out to be disastrous for the Ukrainians. Starting from the 90s being somewhere at one level of economic development with such countries as Poland, Slovakia and Romania we are now trailing them multiple times. The rates of economic growth in Ukraine are much lesser than the growth rates of the economies of our Western neighbours. Salaries of the Ukrainians are 3 to 5 times lowers that the salaries paid to the Poles, Slovaks and Romanians. Nevertheless, Ukrainians can catch up with its neighbours and achieve the same level of economic development and welfare. Quality human capital, advantageous geographical position and powerful base of natural resources create high potential not only to overcome the crisis but also for rapid development of the country. Such potential can be implemented only by means of drastic and effective European reforms, which should bring results visible for the people. The goal set by the Government is to ensure growth of the people's standard of living and improve quality due to sustainable economic development. -
Decommunization, Memory Laws, and “Builders of Ukraine in the 20Th Century”*
ACTA SLAVICA IAPONICA, TOMUS 39, PP. 1–22 Articles Decommunization, Memory Laws, and “Builders of Ukraine in the 20th Century”* David R. Marples INTRODUCTION This paper provides a critical overview of the Decommunization campaign in Ukraine up to the spring of 2017, which marked two years since the beginning of the program introduced by the four Memory Laws ratified by Ukraine’s president Petro Poroshenko in May 2015. In reality, the process of removing Soviet statues and memorabilia began well before Euromaidan, especially in Western Ukraine where Lenin monuments and others of the Soviet period were swiftly removed from the late 1980s into the early years of independence.1 But I address the formal campaign headed by the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance (hereafter referred to as INR), which began in the spring of 2015. I provide an analysis of the program and its results, the results of opinion polls, some critiques and also the reasons why it remains controversial, particularly outside Ukraine. The particular focus is 20th century “builders of Ukrainian independence” as defined by these laws because this question has solicited the most attention, along with the physical changes that have resulted to the map of Ukraine, mon- uments, and memorials. Decommunization has a wider context than the Mem- ory Laws, including a program of administrative decentralization and a new Education Law, introduced in draft form on September 5 and approved by the president on September 25, 2017, which will gradually render the Ukrainian language as the only language of instruction in schools and higher educational institutions.2 Clearly the decentralization program cannot be fulfilled while a conflict situation remains in the eastern parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. -
Memory of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in Post-Soviet Ukraine
ACTA UNIVERSITATIS STOCKHOLMIENSIS Stockholm Studies in History 103 Reordering of Meaningful Worlds Memory of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in Post-Soviet Ukraine Yuliya Yurchuk ©Yuliya Yurchuk, Stockholm University 2014 Södertörn Doctoral Dissertations 101 ISSN: 1652-7399 ISBN: 978-91-87843-12-9 Stockholm Studies in History 103 ISSN: 0491-0842 ISBN 978-91-7649-021-1 Cover photo: Barricades of Euromaidan. July 2014. Yuliya Yurchuk. Printed in Sweden by US-AB, Stockholm 2014 Distributor: Department of History In memory of my mother Acknowledgements Each PhD dissertation is the result of a long journey. Mine was not an exception. It has been a long and exciting trip which I am happy to have completed. This journey would not be possible without the help and support of many people and several institutions to which I owe my most sincere gratitude. First and foremost, I want to thank my supervisors, David Gaunt and Barbara Törnquist-Plewa, for their guidance, encouragement, and readiness to share their knowledge with me. It was a privilege to be their student. Thank you, David, for broadening the perspectives of my research and for encouraging me not to be afraid to tackle the most difficult questions and to come up with the most unexpected answers. Thank you, Barbara, for introducing me to the whole field of memory studies, for challenging me to go further in my interpretations, for stimulating me to follow untrodden paths, and for being a source of inspiration for all these years. Your encouragement helped me to complete this book. -
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I I EURO-ASIAN JEWISH CONGRESS I I I I I I I I I ANTISEMITISM IN EURASIA- I 2013 I by Vyacheslav Likhachev I and Semen Charny I Issue# 10 I I I KYIV I 2014 I I I Special Report: Anti-Semitism and the Ukrainian Political Crisis, January 2014 I By Vyaches/av Ukhachev I At the end of January, the political crisis caused by a standoff of the government, basing its power on violence and a mechanism suited to repressions, against the active part of Ukrainian society, spilling out onto the streets, has reached its peak. After the peaceful protests were brutally dispersed on November 30, 2013, I the confrontation turned violent. In the many fights with riot police that took place on December 1, 2013, on Bankovaya street, and January 19-23 on Grushevskogo street, thousands of protesters had been wounded and five were killed. I Against the backdrop of global events in which hundreds of thousands people are involved, the problems of anti-Semitism and the safety of the Jewish community naturally become relevant. Besides natural· and quite justified concerns, the "Jewish topic" that interests us has not been lost in a sea of topics more I important to the country and society. ')ews and Euromaidan" is a topic that doesn't leave the pages of many media, not just Jewish ones. It is very noticeable due to reasons I shall examine somewhat later; first, it seems to me to be necessary to contextualize it properly. I Hundreds of thousands of people have gone out onto the streets of Ukrainian cities. -
ONE STEP FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK an Assessment of Freedom of Expression in Ukraine During Its OSCE Chairmanship
ONE STEP FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK An Assessment of Freedom of Expression in Ukraine during its OSCE Chairmanship December 2013 Table of Contents I. Summary & Recommendations 1 II. OSCE and the Domestic Legal Framework 3 III. Freedom of Expression: Broadcast & Print Media 6 IV. Ethics of the Media 11 V. Violation of Journalists’ Rights 12 VI. Access to Public Information 15 VII. Conclusion 16 About Freedom House and the Institute of Mass Information 17 Background Information: Freedom House has been engaged on the ground with the Institute of Mass Information and others on the interrelated issues of freedom of expression and corruption. Together with the Institute of Mass Information, we have a unique vantage point into the challenges and opportunities for the freedom of expression in Ukraine, especially as they pertain to journalists and activists, gained through our support for training journalists and the establishment of an independent platform (Nikorupciji.org) to investigate and cover instances of corruption at the local level. Freedom House has consulted with the government of Ukraine to share our concerns about how gaps between laws and practice in protecting the freedom of expression have a corrosive effect on the prospects for democratic advancement. We look forward to continuing this engagement. Given the importance of this year for Ukraine we commissioned a special report to assess Ukraine’s progress on freedom of expression commitments in the human dimension. 1 I. Summary & Recommendations: Ukraine, its Chairmanship of the OSCE, and Freedom of Expression 2013 is the first year Ukraine has held the Chairmanship in Office (CIO) of the OSCE since it became a participating state in the organization in 1992. -
Ioulia Shukan Embarking on the Routes of Revolution: Why and How
Ioulia Shukan [Paryż] ● ● ● ● ● ● Embarking on the routes of revolution: why and how ordinary Ukrainian citizens joined their forces on the Maidan ( Winter 2013–2014) Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej Rocznik VII, 2017 ISSN 2084-0578 DOI: 10.26774/wrhm.172 The Maidan was a large-scale protest movement which sparked off on 21 November 2013 in Kyiv, in the Independence Square, a city-center loca- tion (Maidan Nezalezhnosti)1. Several hundred individuals – journalists, citizen activists and students – gathered there to voice their opposition against the decision of the country’s President, Viktor Yanukovych, to sus- pend the signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union, scheduled for the following week. Following a violent police intervention launched on the night of 29 and 30 November to rid the place of protesters, the movement turned into a mass rebellion of ordinary citizens who, from 1 December on, pursued the permanent occupation of the square. Before- hand, the large majority of those people had distanced themselves from political life, and had not been involved in any civic activism and exercised their citizen’s rights occasionally on election days: in fact, 92% of them were not members of any political party, trade union or association2. 1 This paper was written within the framework of the “3 Revolutions” project imple- mented by the College of Europe in Natolin. 2 Survey carried out by the “Democratic Initiatives” foundation, in cooperation with the International Institute of Sociology in Kyiv, December 7–8, 2013, see: http://dif. org.ua/article/maydan-2013-khto-stoit-chomu-i-za-shcho (access: 10.09.2017). -
Dangerous Myths How Crisis Ukraine Explains
Dangerous Myths How the Crisis in Ukraine Explains Future Great Power Conflict Lionel Beehner A Contemporary Battlefield Assessment Liam Collins by the Modern War Institute August 18, 2020 Dangerous Myths: How the Crisis in Ukraine Explains Future Great Power Conflict Table of Contents Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................................... 1 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter I — Russian Intervention in Ukraine: A Troubled History ............................................. 12 Chapter II — Russian Military Modernization and Strategy ........................................................... 21 Chapter III — Hybrid Warfare Revisited .............................................................................................. 26 Chapter IV — A Breakdown of Russian Hybrid Warfare ................................................................. 31 Proxy Warfare ..................................................................................................................................... 32 Information Warfare .......................................................................................................................... 38 Maritime/Littoral -
Goodbye Lenin: a Memory Shift in Revolutionary Ukraine by Serhii Plokhii
Goodbye Lenin: A Memory Shift in Revolutionary Ukraine by Serhii Plokhii Sunday, December 8, 2013 witnessed by far the largest public protest to take place in the city of Kyiv since the Orange Revolution of 2004. About 800,000 people poured into Independence Square (Maidan) and Khreshchatyk Boulevard in the city center to protest actions taken by the government of President Viktor Yanukovych. The protests had been initiated eighteen days earlier, on the night of November 21, by a few hundred people appalled at the abrupt change in the policy of the Ukrainian government, which, under pressure from Russia, had refused to sign the long-awaited association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union. The EuroMaidan, or the European Maidan protests, as they became known in the media, were started by Kyiv yuppies—a relatively small group of Western-oriented journalists, businessmen, political activists and students—who saw in the association agreement their last hope of reforming Ukrainian politics and society in order to liberate them from the Soviet legacy and the corrupt Russian-backed regime of President Yanukovych. The EuroMaidan turned into what became known as the Revolution of Dignity on Sunday, December 1, after government riot police brutally dispersed student protesters encamped on the square. Close to 350,000 Kyivans took to the streets of the capital. The orientation toward Europe and signing of the association agreement with the EU remained among their slogans and goals. But the new protest was fueled first and foremost by their refusal to countenance the regime’s brutality as a way of solving political problems. -
UNA General Assembly Gathers for 2013 Annual Meeting
ХРИСТОС НАРОДИВСЯ! CHRIST IS BORN! THEPublished U by theKRAINIAN Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal W non-profit associationEEKLY Vol. LXXXI No. 51-52 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22 - DECEMBER 29, 2013 $1/$2 in Ukraine McCain accuses Moscow Yanukovych gets loans, cheaper of blocking Ukraine’s EU path gas in opaque deal with Putin by Zenon Zawada KYIV – Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on December 17 signed a series of agreements with the Russian Federation government and its natural gas monopoly, Gazprom, that will bind Ukraine’s economy and politics to Russia and close the door to an Association Agreement with the European Union for at least the next two years. The key agreements consist of a condi- tional reduction in prices for Russian gas by a third (subject to a quarterly review) and a loan of $15 billion, in the form of periodic $3 billion purchases of two-year bonds, at an annual interest rate of 5 percent (amounting to a total interest payment of $1.5 billion). The first $3 billion tranche was bought by Russia this week. What’s not known is the concessions Mr. Yanukovych surrendered in Moscow to get these conditions, fueling speculation that Zenon Zawada they were significant: either requirements Kobzar Taras Sylenko sings Kozak bal- UNIAN to buy more Russian gas, a stake in lads to demonstrators occupying the U.S. Sens. John McCain (foreground) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on the Euro- Ukraine’s state-owned gas transit system, Kyiv City Council building on December Maidan in Kyiv on December 15. -
Mapping of Dialogue Initiatives to Resolve the Conflict in Ukraine
Mapping of dialogue initiatives to resolve the conflict in Ukraine January 2015 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 4 CHAPTER 1. CHARACTERISTICS OF CONFLICT SETTLEMENT IN UKRAINE 6 MULTI-LEVEL NATURE OF THE CONFLICT 6 DIPLOMATIC INSTRUMENTS FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION 9 THE APPLICATION OF OFFICIAL, SEMI-OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL DIPLOMACY INSTRUMENTS TO RESOLVE THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE 11 NATIONAL DIALOGUE AS A TOOL OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN UKRAINE 13 TRACK TWO DIPLOMACY TOOLS OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION 16 CHAPTER 2. DIALOGUE INITIATIVES OF UKRAINIAN NGOS 17 CHRONOLOGY OF DIALOGUE INITIATIVES DEVELOPMENT 17 UKRAINE TODAY: IN SEARCH OF SOCIETY CONCEPTION (FOUNDATIONS FOR FREEDOM) 18 DIALOGUES ON MAIDAN (INITIATIVE OF “CULTURE OF MAIDAN IN UKRAINE”) 18 “ODESSA FOR CONSENT” (ODESSA REGIONAL MEDIATION GROUP) 19 PUBLIC DIALOGUE (CIRCLE OF PEOPLE’S TRUST) 20 P.E.A.C.E SUMMIT (INSTITUTE FOR CULTURAL RELATIONS – UKRAINE) 21 LOCAL INITIATIVES (MYKOLAIV, KHARKIV AND SLOVIANSK) 22 THE INITIATIVE OF CHANNEL 17 TO HOLD DIALOGUES WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SO-CALLED DPR/LPR 23 WOMEN’S DIALOGUE INITIATIVE 25 CONCLUSIONS 26 RECOMMENDATIONS 27 CHAPTER 3. DIALOGUE-ORIENTED PROJECTS WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF INTERNATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS AND EXPERTS 28 THE CRIMEAN POLITICAL DIALOGUE (PATRIR: 2009 – 2014) 29 A HIGH-LEVEL PLATFORM TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE (CRISIS MANAGEMENT INITIATIVE) 30 THEATRE FOR DIALOGUE 31 DIALOGUE IN UKRAINE: POSSIBILITIES, PARAMETERS AND INVOCATIONS (MEDIATEUR, INTERPEACE AND ICPS) 31 NANSEN DIALOGUE NETWORK (NORWAY) 32 JAPANESE “PEACE -
Revolution and Reform in Ukraine EVALUATING FOUR YEARS of REFORM
ITRevolution DOES and Reform NOT in Ukraine MATTEREvaluating Four Years of Reform HOW SLOWBy Silviya Nitsova, Grigore Pop-Eleches, YOU and Graeme RobertsonGO LNG AS YOU DON'T STOP PONARS Eurasia July 2018 Revolution and Reform in Ukraine EVALUATING FOUR YEARS OF REFORM JULY 2018 Silviya Nitsova University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Grigore Pop-Eleches Princeton University Graeme Robertson University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill PONARS Eurasia is an international network of scholars advancing new approaches to research on security, politics, economics, and society in Russia and Eurasia. PONARS Eurasia is based at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. This publication was made possible in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors. Program Directors: Henry E. Hale and Marlene Laruelle Managing Editor: Alexander Schmemann Senior Research Associate: Sufian Zhemukhov Program Associate: William McHenry PONARS Eurasia Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) Elliott School of International Affairs The George Washington University 1957 E Street NW, Suite 412 Washington, DC 20052 Tel: (202) 994-6340 www.ponarseurasia.org Cover image: Shutterstock/Vadven 393132940 © PONARS Eurasia 2018. All rights reserved Executive Summary In February 2014, Ukraine grabbed the world’s attention with its second revolution in a decade. The corrupt and increasingly authoritarian administration of President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown. After the revolution, Ukraine embarked upon a wide- ranging series of economic and governance reforms. In this volume, we assess the progress of these reforms and analyze the main factors that explain the successes and failures we see. -
Memory of Stalinist Purges in Modern Ukraine
The Gordian Knot of Past and Present: Memory of Stalinist Purges in Modern Ukraine HALYNA MOKRUSHYNA Thesis submitted to the University of Ottawa in partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the PdD in Sociology School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies Faculty of Social Sciences University of Ottawa © Halyna Mokrushyna, Ottawa, Canada, 2018 ii Table of Contents Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... iv Preface ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Methodology ....................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Research question ............................................................................................................................................................................ 10 Conceptual framework ................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2: Social memory framework .........................................................................................................................................