“With Innovative Initiatives”: US Allocates $ 22 Million to Improve “Sustainability of Democracy” in Ukraine

The US authorities are looking for contractors who would contribute to the work to increase the sustainability of Ukrainian democracy through the implementation of "innovative communication initiatives." This is stated in the new project of the American Agency for International Development (USAID), designed for five years. According to the document, the text of which was reviewed by RT, it is planned to allocate $ 22.7-24.7 million for such work.

“The goal of this activity is to establish partnerships with the government of Ukraine, representatives of the non-governmental sector and civil society to increase the sustainability of democracy in Ukraine through innovative communication initiatives that attract Ukrainians to discuss democratic change in the country and European integration,” the USAID project description says.

At the same time, the American agency is confident that the skepticism among Ukrainians regarding the ongoing reforms and European integration in the country, in particular, is connected with the “efforts of Moscow” and other negative narratives that discredit the idea of ​​establishing a “full-fledged European democracy” in Ukraine.

“Russia is constantly striving to deprive the idea of ​​full-fledged European democracy of broad support among Ukrainians by spreading misinformation and other negative attitudes aimed at weakening public confidence in the democratic transformations in the country. Skepticism regarding reforms and European integration is caused, among other things, by rhetoric that is widespread and based on disinformation, according to which Ukraine has not embarked on the realization of its potential as a prosperous, democratic European country, ”the document says.

USAID notes that the described skepticism exists throughout the country, however, such sentiments are especially prevalent among the Russian-speaking population in the south and east of Ukraine and are “extremely significant” among Ukrainians living in the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass and in Crimea.

As examples of the current “prevailing negative rhetoric” among the population, there are theses that Ukraine is a corrupt country that cannot cope without Russia, that the reform process after the “revolution of dignity” failed and that nationalist ideas and groups.

In this regard, the US authorities plan to shift the focus by replacing such judgments with the so-called constructive rhetoric, according to which Ukraine is a modern democratic country "in the heart of Europe", and since 2014 "there have been more changes than ever in the history of the country."

In addition, it is also proposed to spread the idea that Ukrainians remain open to the inhabitants of the “occupied territories”, and nationalist groups are only a “noisy minority” that does not express the position of society.

• Independence Square in Kiev, 2014
• RIA News
• © Andrey Stenin

According to USAID, the new Ukrainian leadership’s initiatives “provide an opportunity to disseminate comprehensive, constructive information” about the country and the reform process to a previously skeptical audience, as well as “expand the potential role of creative industries in enhancing the sustainability of democracy through art and culture.” So, according to American experts, a creative approach to communication with the population should attract Ukrainian citizens to discuss progress in implementing reforms and to the issue of the country's national identity.

Among examples of such initiatives in the project are documentaries, travel programs, reality shows, TV shows, and video blogs on social networks that “represent the interests of the audience and engage it in social transformations in a fun way”.

According to the document, the American agency will take part in all decisions of contractors, as well as in the direct production of content.

Meanwhile, as Doctor of Political Sciences Aleksey Fenenko, associate professor of the World Politics Department of Moscow State University named after Lomonosov, noted in an interview with RT, today there are practically no “liberals” in the Ukrainian political spectrum who would advocate universal equality, tolerance and the equality of all national minorities. It is about supporting extremely aggressive nationalist forces aimed at maximally breaking any cultural, political and religious ties with Russia.

So, on January 1, 2020, a torchlight procession in honor of Stepan Bandera’s birthday took place in Kiev in recent years. Honoring in Ukraine leaders of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) * displeased the ambassadors of Israel and Poland in Ukraine, Joel Lyon and Bartosh Tsyhotsky. They said that a banner with a portrait of a nationalist was hung on the building of the Kiev City State Administration. In turn, the Russian Foreign Ministry called on Kiev to abandon the glorification of Ukrainian nationalists who collaborated with the Wehrmacht during the Great Patriotic War.

In addition, commenting on the theses presented in the USAID project, Alexey Fenenko expressed the opinion that a number of objective factors impede European integration of Ukraine: “Eurointegration is unattainable today, if only taking into account the contradictions of Ukraine with its neighbors: Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania. Whether the Americans agree to work with their allies is still inaudible. ”

It is also worth adding that at the highest level, theses on the ineffectiveness of the fight against corruption and the insufficient speed of implementation of reforms agreed with international lenders are regularly voiced. In particular, this was stated in the IMF report. The president of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid, pointed to the same thing, noting that Europe is tired of Ukraine, because they see no progress on problematic issues.

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Propaganda actions

The USAID document also notes that this project should contribute to the goal of the United States as set out in the Development Cooperation Strategy for 2019–2024, or rather, “mitigate the effects of Russian aggression”.

In this regard, Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, said in an interview with RT that the United States, which has been actively declaring "Russian intervention" for the past few years, has been trying to directly and indirectly influence the policies of other countries for decades.

“In this case, the slogan of developing democracy means a trivial struggle for power, for the resources of Ukraine and control over the territory, over the country, for changing the ideological position of the country and its citizens, the formation and imposition of an anti-Russian position in the minds of Ukrainian citizens. These are actions aimed at a set of propaganda events that should form a pro-Western, pro-American identity of Ukrainian politicians and the electorate, ”the expert emphasized.

According to him, various channels and technologies of influence are used for this, and under the guise of various entertaining stories, political cliches can be broadcast to Ukrainian citizens, which should form an anti-Russian orientation of consciousness.

“This is no coincidence, because the negative image of Russia as a country that intervenes in the internal affairs of Ukraine has been taken into service, Russia’s demonization is taking place. This is the basis of American propaganda. This applies not only to Ukraine - the same thing has been happening for decades in the Baltic countries, Poland. In each of these countries, and in Ukraine, first of all, the basis, basis for the development of such propaganda actions is the desire to represent Russia as a country that is dangerous in every sense that cannot be trusted, including with regard to the Russian media and artists, since supposedly they all have a desire to subjugate Ukraine to themselves, ”he added.

In turn, Alexey Fenenko noted that Washington continues to consider Moscow as its adversary, which explains the support for such projects in Ukraine.

Project work

It is worth adding: in the new project of the American agency it is directly noted that many USAID events include goals related to strategic and public communication regarding the ongoing reforms in Ukraine. In particular, this applies to US-funded projects in support of decentralization, reforms in the field of healthcare, the financial sector, agriculture and other areas.

As Vladimir Shapovalov emphasized, such projects included in the structure of the US government USAID are far from the only such injections into the development of “Ukrainian democracy”.

“Quite large funds are allocated both from the US state budget and from the budgets of various non-state funds. Under the political correct heading of the development of democratic institutions, it is necessary to understand the promotion of American interests. This is how American funding for the activities of NGOs, parties, politicians in certain countries is usually labeled, ”the expert concluded.

We add that in April 2019, Kurt Walker, who held the position of US Special Representative in Kiev at that time, said that the United States intended to "stay in Ukraine for a long time."

* "Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA) - a Ukrainian organization recognized as extremist and banned in Russia (decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 11/17/2014).