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Nation-Building in Ukraine

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Nation-Building in Ukraine Nation-building in Ukraine Kiev´s Ukrainianizing Effect on the Power Elites from the East and South Eirik Bergene Master´s thesis - European and American Studies Faculty of Humanities UNIVERSITY OF OSLO SPRING 2014 I II III Copyright © Eirik Bergene 2014 Nation-Building in Ukraine. Kiev´s Ukrainianizing Effect on the Power Elites from the East and South. Eirik Bergene http://www.duo.uio.no Print: Reprosentralen, University of Oslo IV V Abstract The traditional east/west divide of Ukraine in terms of language, ethnicity, culture, religion and, not the least, historical memory, continues to nourish conflict and serve as a threat to the country´s integrity. The balancing of Ukrainianizing policies on the one hand, and the safeguarding of the rights, privileges and interests of the country´s large Russian minority on the other, has proven a major challenge to the shifting political leaderships in Kiev. Whereas a too nationalist approach to state driven nation-building easily could anger Ukraine´s Russophones and nourish cultural tension, Professor Pål Kolstø at the University of Oslo has argued that failure to establish a distinct Ukrainian nation could delegitimize the state project and facilitate reintegration with Russia. This thesis sets out to investigate this balancing act in Ukraine, and also shed light on how politicians originating from the traditionally Russia/Eurasia-oriented eastern and southern regions of the country approach the delicate nationality issue. In particular, it sets out to test a hypothesis promoted by Kolstø, according to which Kiev exerts a Ukrainianizing influence on these politicians. By applying nation-building theory it also seeks to shed light on the dynamics of the triangular relationship between Ukraine as a nationalizing state, the large Russian minority in Ukraine and the Russian Federation as the national homeland to this minority. VI VII Acknowledgements For the accomplishment of this thesis I owe deep gratitude to a number of people. First and foremost, I am grateful to my supervisor, Professor Pål Kolstø, for sharing his vast knowledge and for guiding me through the process with honest criticism, encouraging comments and sound advice. This thesis would not have been made possible without his assistance and valuable contribution. I would also like to thank all of my respondents, who willingly shared their profound knowledge on the Ukrainian nationality issue with me. A special thanks also goes out to my friends Tatiana Ovinnikova and Dmytro Loza for helping me identifying and contacting my respondents. I would like to express my gratitude to my friends at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Ukraine, not only for moral support and for providing me with a working station during my first field trip, but also for always making me feel so welcome in Kiev. Finally, a big thank you goes out to my friends, family and everyone else who one way or another have supported me throughout the process of writing this thesis. VIII IX Table of Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Preface ............................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research questions ......................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 Identifying units of analysis ......................................................................................................... 7 1.4 Thesis outline ................................................................................................................................... 8 1.5 Limitations ....................................................................................................................................... 9 1.6 Definitions and clarifications ..................................................................................................... 10 1.6.1 The nation ................................................................................................................................................. 11 1.6.2 State vs. official language .................................................................................................................. 11 1.6.3 Pro-Russianism ..................................................................................................................................... 12 2 Theoretical and methodological framework .................................................................... 13 2.1 Applying nation-building theory to Soviet Union successor states .................................... 13 2.2 Early nation-building theory discussion .................................................................................. 14 2.3 A triadic relational nexus ............................................................................................................ 16 2.3.1 National minority ................................................................................................................................... 17 2.3.2 Nationalizing state ................................................................................................................................. 18 2.3.3 External national homeland ................................................................................................................ 20 2.4 Criticism of the triadic nexus model ........................................................................................ 20 2.5 Methological considerations / Selection of data ..................................................................... 22 2.5.1 Interviews .................................................................................................................................................. 23 3 Leonid Kuchma ...................................................................................................................... 25 3.1 Background .................................................................................................................................... 25 3.2 The language issue ........................................................................................................................ 28 3.3 Foreign policy ................................................................................................................................ 36 3.4 The 1999 Presidential Elections ................................................................................................. 45 3.5 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 49 4 Viktor Yanukovych ............................................................................................................... 50 4.1 Backround ...................................................................................................................................... 51 4.2 The language issue ........................................................................................................................ 53 4.2.1 The Law On Principles of the State Language Policy ............................................................... 61 4.3 Foreign policy ................................................................................................................................ 63 4.4 Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 71 5 Expectations to and perceptions of nationality policies ................................................. 73 5.1 Expectations to Kuchma and Yanukovych ............................................................................. 73 5.2 Reactions from the Russian minority in Ukraine .................................................................. 77 5.3 Reactions from the Russian Federation ................................................................................... 83 5.4 Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 85 6 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 87 6.1 Final thoughts on Kolstø´s hypothesis ..................................................................................... 90 7 Literature ................................................................................................................................. 92 8 Interviews .............................................................................................................................. 100 X 1 Introduction Ukraine is currently undergoing its biggest political crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union over twenty years ago. The traditional east/west divide of the country, it seems, was never fully overcome, and continues as a basis for separatist attempts as the country is now faced with the threat of civil war. The shifting political leaderships´ efforts to balance ukrainianizing policies with the safeguarding of the rights and privileges of the large Russian minority over the past two decades, have seemingly failed. This thesis sets out to investigate this difficult balancing act. In particular, it seeks to determine how Russophone and allegedly pro-Russian politicians approach this delicate issue in a country
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