Euro-Maidan: rampage or fair struggle?

By Vestnik Kavkaza

The Ukrainian delegation is to go to Brussels in the near future to restore a dialogue with the European Union on signing the association agreement with the EU. In this context demonstrations in support of European integration continue in Ukraine. Premier of the country Nikolai Azarov complained to the EU and U.S.A. ambassadors that the situation with massive protests in Kiev became uncontrollable: “People are ordered to take over state buildings, the work of state facilities is prevented, ultimatums are issued. This is the road to nowhere.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an even stricter appraisal of Euro-Maidan: “The events in Ukraine resemble not a revolution, but a rampage. And in fact it doesn’t really correlate with relations between Ukraine and the EU… They say that a dream is taken away from the Ukrainian people; but if we look at the agreement, we can see that many people won’t last until the dream, even though the dream is nice, because the conditions are very severe… It is not a revolution, but a well-planned action. The actions have been prepared not for today, but for the presidential campaign in spring 2015.”

Meanwhile, the results of the Vilnius summit, where the Ukrainian president rejected signing the association agreement are called a tactical failure of the EU by Alexander Gushchin, deputy director of the Post-Soviet Space Countries Department of the RSUH: “However, it is a failure in one round, while the whole game is not over. The events in Ukraine are connected, first of all, with the position of such countries of the EU as Poland and Sweden which initiated and intensively supported signing of the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU. Positions of countries from Old Europe differ from positions of countries from New Europe, first of all Poland which considers itself a referee in the region, returning to ideas which Poland used to have in the period between the First and the Second World War.”

According to Gushchin, association with Europe is an ideological and mental, rather than economic issue for residents of Ukraine: “There is an illusion about a European Dream, which is actively used by leaders of the Ukrainian opposition. At the same time, we speak about economic aspects, common history, common humanitarian space, however, do it not always professionally.”

Alexander Gusev, the head of the Center of Strategic Development of the CIS Countries under the Europe Institute of the RAS, thinks that the events which are taking place in Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankovsk, Lvov are a result of the inconsistent policy of the Ukrainian leadership.

The expert says that it would be great if people read the association agreement attentively: “The work is quite voluminous, because its appendix is huge, but in general there are 236 pages. It would bring nothing good for Ukraine and first of all for the Ukrainian people. Only difficulties with extension of European goods market would wait for Ukraine.

As for Moscow’s position, according to Gusev, “friendship, trade and political relations with Ukraine are very important. Thus, it was natural that Russia interfered in the process. The last meeting of two presidents clarified the situation and to some extent prevented the signing of the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU.”

Meanwhile, Gusev believes that the current Ukrainian authorities are losing the information war: “We can recall the events in Tskhinvali in 2008, when we actually lost the information war. The same is happening in Ukraine today. The mass media plays a very significant role. And the developments in Kiev are a result of significant influence of the mass media on people’s minds. The Ukrainian leadership hasn’t used all possible leverages, I don’t mean a crackdown. But it is not a group of people or a small protest. Attacking state power buildings should be called a takeover. And that’s how it should be treated. If the authorities are able to protect themselves, and have all the necessary mechanisms for this, they have to use the chance. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to influence and adequately assess the events which are going on in Ukraine today.”