UKRAINE IN THE MAELSTROM AGAIN: A COUNTRY DEFINED MORE BY ITS PAST THAN BY ITS FUTURE

 

For a while, Ukraine seemed to have successfully distanced itself from the grip of the Kremlin. 

But, like every country that lived under the Soviet for more than a decade, the specter of corruption soon raised its ugly head.  Old tricks, and renewed alliances, rendered a country on the verge of freedom unable to rise to its own expectations. 

After almost a quarter of a century, Ukraine is faced with the stark reality that it might not be an independent country, but one ruled almost by proxy.  Elections in post Soviet era countries can easily be swayed.  Pressure from the Kremlin still has the power to subvert the destiny of nations.

The latest presidential action, just this week, has nullified an agreement that would have seen the Ukraine joining the EU zone at least in certain commercial aspects.  And the reason why the EU deal fell through is that the sitting president refused to free former president Tymoshenko, a precondition of the EU deal, who was jailed on trumped up charges of corruption that made way for what many have called a rigged election, whose winning candidate closely aligns himself with the Kremlin.

The people of Ukraine however, have not forgotten their ability to protest. Having already changed the course of history twice in the past two decades, they are now taking to the streets again.  This time, they are protesting the current's president, Viktor Yanukovych for letting EU deal fail.  

The protest however, was not as peaceful as it had been in 2004.  Many protesters were brutally torn off the streets and arrested.  Many of them were injured as the police broke up the protest. 

This repression of the people's will does not bode well for Ukraine.  Already many people know that the current government favors a close alignment with the Kremlin, and that could spell both economic and human rights downturns.  But more importantly, the peaceful Orange revolution, which had brought the hope of a future devoid of repression and persecution, is now little more than a memory of what could have been.

Source : France 24/ 11.30.13