Yuschenko’s arrival

The second day of the 21st Economic Forum in Krynica was a logical
continuation of the first one.

(http://www.vestikavkaza.ru/analytics/politika/42495.html): energy, regional policy, the EU’s future and Polish reform experience. It seemed the agenda was defined before the event’s end. The Caucasus and Central Asia await us on the third day, which is why the show was stolen by the former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yuschenko. He was the star on two panels of the day.

Notwithstanding his neat appearance, Saakashvili seemed to be a man of fine fibre, but Yuschenko presented himself as a martyr for democracy, a man who truly believes in democratic values and who is as saintly as the Pope in the sphere of European policy principles.

“I’m proud of the twenty years of independence of Ukraine and most of all of the five years of my presidential term, when we have had the highest pace of economic growth and international investment. We have changed internally and externally during these years: now we dress, think and feel differently. We have come back to the European home, where our state Kiev Rus came from. Nobody can turn us back, nobody can make us believe that a slave can be happy. Now we are not slaves anymore,” Yuschenko stated. He is also sure that the EU will come to higher-level of integration and Ukraine will be a part of this space.

The speech was more than pleasant for European officials in the context of the critical attitude to dialogue between the EU and former Soviet space on the part of the Baltic Sea countries. By the way, it was a surprise for many journalists.

The Baltic Sea representatives appeared to be sceptical towards the EU. The speaker of the Estonian parliament said that the establishment financial prudence by some EU countries results in sad thoughts about political prospects of the European integration. “We are in one boat, we should help other countries to solve their problems, but we don’t want to be victims of this situation, which discredits the EU in the population’s eyes,” she said.

Optimism was hardly observed in the panel devoted to youth policy in the EU and the CIS. The Turkish professor, Ihsan Sezal, gave the most adequate speech, which said that the problem of morals has been topical at all times. However, at the moment it has become a part of the global crisis, lack of values and directions for development. On the other hand, no recipes for curing new or old diseases were presented.

At last the first session on the South Caucasus was held. It appeared to be the first surprise: some Azerbaijani, Armenian and Georgian speakers agreed with each other that one of the reasons for regional problems is the active presence of Russia in the South Caucasus. Ukrainian experts supported them. Such a consensus was a surprise not only for the Russian participants, but also for the European representatives. One Armenian expert said behind the scenes that the region can be solid only if it unites against a common enemy. But why should it be Moscow?

Meanwhile, the leader of the Azerbaijani party Umid, Igbal Agazade, stated that the Nabucco project is the spine of economic growth in the region, and implementation of it is only possible if all participants are involved, including Turkmenistan. We should discuss involving Asian countries in Nabucco. It will open new possibilities for the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Nabucco can guarantee the political stability of the region and later development of relations with the EU. We have such reliable partners as Georgia, Ukraine and Romania. Europe should support us and not let Russia and Iran blackmail democratic countries. If Armenia leaves Nagorno-Karabakh, each country of the region could develop modernization projects, Agazade said.

Aleksey Vlasov, Moscow-Krynica. Exclusively to VK.