UCRÂNIA II - UCRAINA II - UKRAINE II

«Se sob a pressão das manifestações Ianukovitch decidir no último momento assinar o acordo, (…) peço-vos que assinem sexta-feira sem hesitar e sem condições, incluindo na minha própria libertação. Hoje não é apenas preciso libertar os presos políticos. É preciso libertar a Ucrânia.» Yulia Tymoshenko
«Yulia Tymoshenko: Ukraine, not just political prisoners, today need freedom» (http://www.tymoshenko.ua/en/article/yulia_tymoshenko_28_11_2013_01)

Appeal by Yulia Tymoshenko to the leaders and parliaments of a United Europe

«Ukraine's moment of decision with Europe has arrived. As you are all well aware Ukraine, which for hundreds of years has wandered through history's mazes and dead ends, can through signing an Association Agreement with Europe finally anchor itself in the family of free societies. So this Agreement is no mere treaty. For us it's a recovery of our nation's promise, it is a window through which we can pull ourselves out of a dark past into a European reality. All Ukrainians realize that signing this Agreement means that we will have to work very hard and endure hardship for a certain period of time in order to gain the many benefits of deep association with the European Union. Once the Association Agreement is born, however, our fight to reform our society into a true democracy and market economy, with a justice system underpinned by the rule of law, will have real meaning because we know what the ultimate goal will become - full Ukrainian membership in the European Union.

But just in the final moments before the Vilnius summit where Ukraine's European dreams would at last become reality, President Viktor Yanukovich, by suddenly pushing down hard on all the political brakes, announced that he no longer intends to choose Europe as Ukraine's destiny. He has turned the entire machine of the Ukrainian state around, ruining the hopes and plans of a vast majority of Ukrainians for European integration. There are two reasons for this fiasco: the arguments presented by Russia's president were especially convincing and impossible for Ukrainian state to reject, and Yanukovich has decided that to safeguard his rule, Ukraine must remain in the twilight zone in which he leads his life, that no-man's land between two civilizations.

Indeed, President Yanukovich has never really had a European or any other strategy in the sense of a fully thought through strategy to assure Ukraine's successful future or its European destiny. He is always searching for a narrow tactical path, some international instrument or other, that will enhance his ability to stay in power which in turn will guarantee his, and his cronies, accumulation of wealth.

From the start, Yanukovich's only motivation for saying that he would sign the Association Agreement was to use the Agreement to legitimize the authoritarian and corrupt rule of his clan. The European community, however, by establishing the necessary criteria for fulfillment, did not leave him any space for double standards. So Yanukovich decided not to sign the Association Agreement after all. To disrupt the Association process, he conveniently used the false arguments of insurmountable Russian pressure and economic losses caused by Association with Europe.

Evidently, Russia exerts pressure, but this pressure would not be an obstacle for Yanukovich to sign were he certain sure that the Agreement would be a warrant for his continuing power. However, democracy, freedom of speech, free and fair elections, just courts, termination of corruption and political persecution, which are inherent in the Agreement, are incompatible with authoritarian rule. This realization could explain why Yanukovich deemed the Agreement harmful.

Now, to my mind, there are two scenarios under which events could unfold. If under the pressure of massive Ukrainian manifestations on "Euromaidans" throughout the country, Yanukovich, may yet decide to sign the Agreement in the last moment on the 29th of November in Vilnius. This is the first scenario. There is a minuscule hope for this, a hope based on the authoritarian ruler's fear of a people's rebellion. If Yanukovich makes a positive decision in Vilnius on Friday, I implore you to sign this historical Agreement without hesitation or conditions, including the condition of my release from prison. I understand very well that for you this matter is not only about freedom for one political prisoner. That the condition of my freedom is, primarily, a test for Ukrainian authorities' ability to think and act in a European way, a test of their sincerity in embracing European values, most importantly, that the law is not a servant of political whim. They failed this test.

I thank you with all my heart for the fight you have been waging for three years now to free political prisoners in Ukraine. Yuri Lutsenko, myself and others, we all know that our fates have not been sealed because of your unswerving support. So I, indeed all Ukrainians, are in your debt for the unstinting efforts you have made to defend democracy in Ukraine. Today, however, it is not political prisoners who should be saved, but Ukraine itself, and this means signing the Association Agreement in case Yanukovich agrees. By signing the Association Agreement with us, you will help the whole nation to cross a civilizational divide, one created by false ideologies and old imperial aggression; you will take one more important step in forging Europe's ever closer union.

Unfortunately, though, the most probable turn of events is that Yanukovich will not sign the Agreement. In this second scenario, his intention will be to use the platform of the Summit to continue his lie, declaring his European intentions, which are only a facade for building a corrupt authoritarianism back home. If Yanukovich fails to sign the Agreement in Vilnius on 29th of November, he will never sign it. Any further belief in his pro-European promises, any expectation that he may sign the Agreement sometime in the future would provide him with time to cement his dictatorship.

In such circumstances, there will be no chance of even partially fair elections in Ukraine, no survival of even half-independent media, political or economic competition, no remnants of human and civic rights and hopes for positive change. Ukrainian society and political opposition are too weak to withstand the challenges they face on their own. The decline to full dictatorship could be abrupt and radical.

In this scenario Ukraine will be shifted to that part of humankind that resides in that poisoned zone of authoritarianism, injustice, clan economy and corruption, civilized and developed societies will seem very distant lands. And there is a very strong risk of falling into the trap of
stagnation. Our world is a living organism, and authoritarian regimes are a type of virulent disease that slows and distorts the development of all mankind. I beg you: if Yanukovich fails to sign the Agreement in Vilnius, do not leave dictatorship in Ukraine any space for survival. The practice of dictators enslaving their nations can no longer be viewed as solely a matter of domestic politics. Such monopolies of power have to be eliminated with the full arsenal of civilization's peaceful international instruments.

That is why I am calling on you not to trust the empty pro-European rhetoric of Ukrainian authorities, but to activate all available instruments and make sure that the presidential elections due in Ukraine in 2015 will be truly fair and free. This will give possibility for new democratic power, and for Ukraine's democratic minded citizens, to oust the authoritarian regime and for the people of Ukraine to walk confidently down the road towards the United Europe.

I admit with regret that my imprisonment forbids me to stand by you in person try to convince you not to abandon Ukraine at its hour of need. I only believe that you, like me, and like the majority of Ukrainians, feel that without Ukraine there cannot be a strong and United Europe, and without being part of the United Europe, Ukraine's future cannot be successful.

With deep respect and hope,
Yulia Tymoshenko
Kachanivska prison, Kharkiv
November 27, 2013»


Photo by © Grigoriy Vasilenko, RIA Novosti


Excuses in Parliament from Government and agreement to make an inquiry about the violence of police against peaceful demonstrators: Ukraine between Russia and European Union, between energy+debt and potential of development+democracy. What will happen? Is not possible conciliate the different valences with other government? Demonstrators will continue to defend Democracy and linkage to European Union.
 
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