Again from Kiev, a surprise, not to say the truth, is too unexpected. According to the government’s program, the draft of which was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada yesterday, Ukraine continues to seek membership in the European Union and NATO. There is nothing particularly new in this news, the oath of allegiance to Euro-Atlantic integration is what was inextricably mounted as the main dogma in the ideological doctrine of the country after the events on the Maidan. Actually, the reason for the protests of that time was Viktor Yanukovych’s doubts about the need to sign an association agreement with the EU. Supporters of European integration for some reason believe that this signature is a decisive milestone on the way to the sought-after space of Europe and the Euro-Atlantic alliance.
Meanwhile, this is not entirely true. An association is perhaps two extra millimeters in distance, but the distance separating Ukraine from its longed-for goals still remains insurmountable. And the reason is not one, but many. Firstly, it is very likely that the European Union, in a pandemic, ordered a long life. The European countries based strategy is to survive one by one. They fenced off each other with closed borders, grabbing their sovereignty from a common piggy bank. Secondly, even if the EU in some form, after the disease leaves, continues to exist, Ukraine has no way there.
The celebration of Nazi heroes, the ongoing policy of total nationalization, laws infringing on the rights of national minorities - all this is so far from European standards that it is impossible to imagine the crooked and repressive legislative system of a country that Europe will somehow want to incorporate into its own legal field. fantastic assumptions. The President of Poland once expressed himself in the sense that the Ukrainian state in Europe has nothing to do with Bandera. And he knew what he was talking about. To prove on fingers that Nazi accomplices, the culprits of the Volyn massacre and the Jewish pogroms of Bandera and Shukhevych are criminals by all legal parameters, it is not difficult at all. With portraits of two of these prominent figures of Ukrainians, no one will be close to the European threshold.
Another problem is war. I have every reason to believe that Europeans clearly understand that the motivation for hostilities in the Donbass is also partly related to Nazi ideology. Territorial integrity is one thing. In words, Europe supports the unity of the Ukrainian state.
But the direct connection of the infringement of the rights of the Russian-speaking population of the two national republics with their desire to defend their linguistic, cultural and value interests, I think, is obvious to those who prefer not to publicly spread on this topic.
In addition, hundreds of thousands of people who went through the Donbass meat grinder, responsible for the deaths of thousands of residents of Donbass and for many serious war crimes, are completely undesirable guests for Europe. These people are uncontrolled, self-winding, with no weapons braking mechanisms, which can deliver a mortal blow to others at any moment. The Ukrainian war veteran landed in Italy for the murder of journalists is a clear example of the fact that, on the whole, Europeans are able to adequately assess the military conflict in Ukraine.
And finally, the last. The monstrous poverty of the country, the real threat of mass starvation, the absence of any intelligible program of action aimed at improving the welfare of citizens, is also an insurmountable obstacle on the route. Everything that is written in the government program in today's conditions seems impossible.
I’ll quote one: “The Cabinet of Ministers intends to develop entrepreneurial activity, create new jobs, provide equal opportunities for entrepreneurs, adhere to high social standards, and develop education, science, culture and the public services system.” Can anyone in their right mind and hard memory believe that the tasks will be really solved? The Ukrainian leadership has no resource base for this. The budget is empty, debts are colossal, industry is destroyed. About 100 thousand people who lost their jobs in Europe returned to the country. They have nothing to feed themselves and their loved ones. This means that we should already be talking about several hundred thousand people.
I don’t want to offend anyone. If the head of the Cabinet of Ministers, Denis Shmygal, believes that with the available parameters, Ukraine is able to make a decisive breakthrough in the chosen direction, then honor and praise be given to him. Belief in a better future often brings this future closer. But it seems to me that both Shmygal and other representatives of the Ukrainian authorities are clearly aware that they will not see either Europe or NATO in the foreseeable future as their own ears. It’s just that the Ukrainian political tradition of giving out wishful thinking remains unchanged for a quarter century.
The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.