Sparked by the president’s decision to halt the country’s European integration, the ongoing uprising in the Ukraine has become a first class emergency issue for the European Union. The crisis affects the EU on a number of fronts and it puts into question the very state of the Ukrainian and its future.
Has the time come for Kiev’s political elite to rethink the country’s future?
The Ukraine’s civil conflict directly affects the EU because, according to Russia’s declarations, the issue regarding the country’s relation with Brussels hinges on the development of the situation in Kiev. In Russia’s view, the only acceptable solution would be the total submission of the Ukrainian society to the pre-Maidan uprising situation.
It affects the EU as well because the Ukraine had applied for tighter ties with the bloc. The U-turn taken by the Ukraine as regards its policy towards the EU, however, brought the discussions at the Vilnius “Eastern Partnership” Summit to a standstill. The Ukraine gained its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But, as was the case with the other former Soviet republics that gained independence, the Ukraine was not an ethnically homogeneous state. Even if its citizens declared themselves proud of their new national identity, there was still a deep divide. Some were inspired by the prospect of a European future, while others continued to cling to the Russian motherland. In other words, society was divided along pro-western and pro-Russian lines and along Catholic (in its eastern form) and Orthodox lines.
This is the situation even today. It is a situation that keeps the country divided. The worst is that each side does not understand the other.
The belief that Joseph Stalin was the most Russian tsar after Peter the Great is supported by many scholars. Regardless of whether or not this true, it is a common belief that the Soviet dictator implemented a so-called “Great Russia” policy. He moved populations and delineated new borders during his administrative reform in the late 1920s. He also created ethnic enclaves and deeply altered the demographics of the entire country. In brief, Stalin’s policy of “Russification” lingers in nearly every problem regarding the ethnic character of the former Soviet republics.
The situation was further complicated by a policy of Russian assimilation that was pursued after Stalin’s death.
More than any other Soviet republic, the Ukraine was affected by the assimilation and the Russification policies of the Kremlin. Diversity in religion, language and culture, even though these were all part of a bigger Slavic civilization, were considered mortal enemies by Moscow’s rulers and any discussion about the Ukrainian language and culture was banned.
When the Ukraine gained its independence, it faced a rather unique and difficult reality. The majority of the country’s population did not speak Ukrainian, the official language of the new state. The population in the eastern part of the country spoke only Russian and still considered Moscow as the capital. From the very moment of independence, the two sides of the Ukraine were present and ready to clash with each other.
Moscow, during the first years of a weak administration under Boris Yeltsin, did everything in its power to fuel the crisis. It acted as a medieval Lord who claims control over lands he owns by right.
Over the past 15 years, Kiev has struggled to find equilibrium between two conflicting politics and two opposing aspirations. Moscow openly supported one side - the one of the pro-Russians - and bitterly attacked the other.
But when, finally, the Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovych took power and declared once more the country’s desire to join the EU, his new stance was considered serious and reliable. In the EU, it was thought that Kiev at last had found equilibrium.
But it was too good to be true. It seems as though it was all a game of illusion played by the pro-Russian side. It was a risky game that has now led us today’s uprising. Is there a solution? There cannot be a winner from either side of the growing divide and the Ukraine will remain saddled with its deep domestic problems. The fact is that the only way to avoid further complications and conflicts is for the Ukraine to free itself from foreign influence. Moscow’s response will be pivotal.