Ukraine has been
a country of Slavic people who experienced successive occupation and governance by Mongols, Poles, Lithuanians,
Turks, Germans, and Russians. In
1922 Ukraine became a republic within
the USSR, more commonly known then as the
Soviet Union. The dissolution of the
Soviet Union in 1991 brought independence to Ukraine - by default!
But independence was not a “happily ever after” for Ukraine. History has proven that independence from colonial rulers or from breakup of states - like Yugoslavia- bring internal civil strife and turmoil until new states learn how to govern themselves democratically. And even then, more internal conflicts among parties bring further turmoil, as the current anti-government demonstrations in Thailand and Ukraine show. Democracy brings freedom, but some time that freedom becomes like a cattle stampede that tramples the civilized concepts of democratic governance!
That’s Ukraine
today! And it is history repeating
itself, as it did in 2004 with the so-called “Orange Revolution” (Orange color of the protesting flags). But that Ukrainian uprisings was about
“fraudulent elections,” won by Viktor Yanukovych -current president- not about government policy as are today’s
protests. The Orange Revolution forced
the annulment of those elections, and the Orange Revolution favorite, Viktor Yushchenko, won the re-run
elections. Yushchenko won that election
with plenty of support from the Western media
who depicted him as a democrat,
while it portrayed Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of the Party of Regions
in mostly Russian speaking Eastern Ukraine, as a Russian stooge.
Viktor
Yushchesnko’s rule turned out to be too
corrupt and outlandish, and the idol of
the Western countries sank in the polls as his campaign promises didn’t
materialize, and unemployment and social
discontent became widespread. The
discontent was topped by a report of the International Organization of
Migration that estimated 117.000 Ukrainians were trafficked into forced labor
or prostitution since 1991! Yushchenko
lost badly in the next elections, and his prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was
convicted for corruption and she is till in prison.
Viktor
Yanukovych returned to power with a
solid parliamentary majority. The
European Union(EU), which has failed to lure Ukraine into the Union under
Yushchenko, renewed its efforts to do so under Yanukovych, and an accord was negotiated. But after Russia raised some objections over
some EU trade clauses with Ukraine that would have harmed commerce with
Russia, Yanukovych refused to ratify it! Then came the Western media headlines again
that Yanukovych was buckling ro Russian pressure not to sign the EU
accord, and the leftovers of the
Yushchenko and Tymoshenko supporters hit
the streets for another “Orange Revolution”
demanding that Yanukovych’s
government resigns and news elections be held.
But with a solid majority in the parliament, Yanukovych’s party defeated a motion for new
elections, and he just choose to ignore
the protesters.
The new leader
of the opposition, Vitali
Klitschko, relies heavily on
former supporters of Viktor Yushchenko
and Yulia Tymoshenko. He is a Ukrainian
heavyweight boxer with 43 knockouts on his 45 bouts boxing record, and he
aspires to score his 44th knockout, but in politics, by ousting Viktor Yanukovich from office!
And he has wide support from the Western media propaganda who inflates
his relative small rallies as massive anti-Yanukovych protests.
BBC America reported on December 3, 2013, 5pm (Central Time) that “thousands of protesters were camping
outside the government’s offices,” and showed video with fires lit by
protesters to keep warm. But a U.S.
Public Broadcasting Network (PBS)
reporter that spend the night with protesters reported on December 4,
2013, 7.00 am (Central Time) that “only 200 protesters" camped outside the
government’s building!
This distorted
view of massively inflating the Ukrainian protests by the Western media to
discredit Viktor Yanukovych - who the West considers as pro-Russian, brings to
mind the same inflation of the
anti-government protests in Venezuela, Iran and Brazil - all
against governments not friendly with the U.S.,
the imperial lord of Europe,
while reducing the size of anti-U.S. protests in Pakistan, Yemen, or
muffles altogether the massive anti-U.S. protests against the U.S. military
bases in Okinawa, Japan. NHK (Japan’s Global TV broadcasts in English) has reported repeated massive 50.000 people
or more Okinawans protests against the U.S.
bases there, but those protests have always been censored by the Western
media! Even Russian president’s
Vladimir Putin statement that “the
anti-Yanukovych rallies in Ukraine were instigated by outsiders,” an indirect reference to the U.S. and Europe, fell on deaf ears in the Western media,
or were passed as a footnote!
The current
pro-European protests in Ukraine remind us similar protests in Georgia who
brought the pro-Western leader Mikhael Saakashvili into office in 2004. It was a disaster that not only drove into
bankruptcy the Georgian wine industry and other business after Russia banned
imports of Georgian wine and other products,
but also Georgia lost two provinces,
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, who
declared their independence from Georgia with Russian military back up! Ukraine is heavily depended on Russian
exports and imports, as well as on most
of its military industry and supplies.
The West would like to bring Ukraine in and isolate Russia, but most Ukrainians see it as suicidal. And looking at the near bankruptcy of the EU
states of Greece, Italy, Spain,
Portugal, and Ireland, they would rather
forget the EU integration and remain as free agents to get the best deals with
both Europe, Russia, and even China,
where Yanukovych is currently visiting
to open up new trade opportunities in Asia.
The
Epilogue: There won’t be another
“Orange Revolution” in Ukraine as the Western media portray the current
protests there - because the first “Orange Revolution” idolized by the West
as the
embodiment of democracy was a political disaster! I believe most Ukrainians have learned a lesson from the Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko rotten "oranges revolution" to risk another encore!
Nikos Retsos, retired professor
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