Ten years ago, on February 22, 2014, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was impeached by Parliament after deadly clashes between demonstrators and police on Independence Square in kyiv.
On the occasion of the anniversary of the Maidan movement, political scientist Nicolas Tenzer, professor at Sciences Po and specialist in international issues, analyzes for France 24 what remains of this pro-European revolution in a Ukraine at war with Russia .
During the era of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, corruption was endemic in Ukraine. The population seems to say that this problem has not been resolved. What is it really?
Nicolas Tenzer:
Corruption is of course not over.
On the other hand, when we look at the progress that has been made in recent years, it is absolutely extraordinary.
If we compare with Russia, we see that it is still just as corrupt, and even more so.
Ukraine still has a problem, but one that a number of organizations are fighting and governing.
What is new is that those responsible have been punished: former corrupt judges have been indicted.
There is of course still progress to be made, but Olha Stefanichyna, the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for European Integration, has really put the issue of corruption at the heart of the priorities.
The challenge today is obviously for Ukraine to join the European Union and to do this, there needs to be an upgrade of all the anti-corruption systems within the justice system.
To seeUkraine, ten years after the Maidan revolution
Can we say that this upcoming rapprochement with the European Union will promote the fight against corruption?
Nicolas Tenzer:
Absolutely, because a certain number of standards will be put in place.
There are corruption problems in certain countries that recently joined the European Union: Hungary, the most corrupt country in Europe, Malta, Cyprus and Bulgaria.
Today, these countries would probably not meet the criteria necessary for membership.
We are therefore going to be much stricter with Ukraine and Moldova.
But the corruption that still reigns there is very different from that which I saw when I went to Ukraine in the years 2007-2010 during the era of President Yanukovych.
There is not the same intensity.
Corruption is becoming more and more discreet, it is no longer exposed.
In those years, we saw her on the street corner.
However, Ukrainian officials in power after the Maidan revolution have also been involved in corruption cases, like former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Nicolas Tenzer:
Yes of course.
There were others, some even in the entourage of former President Poroshenko [in power from 2014 to 2019].
There was also that of President Zelensky who put an end to it by dismissing and having a number of his former friends indicted by the courts.
We are not in a perfect situation, but there is still dynamism in relation to this scourge.
When I talk with civil society activists from all anti-corruption organizations, there is a real demand to fight against it.
There was also war.
The fact that some people can take advantage of this situation through trafficking in arms or equipment intended for the army, or that municipalities take advantage of rigged public contracts, all of this has become unacceptable.
The vigilance of Ukrainian citizens has increased.
Before the war, there was a very strong division within the Ukrainian political class between the East, which was more favorable to Russia, and the West of the country, which was pro-European. Do you think this division will continue if the war ever ends?
Nowadays, there is no longer this division.
Today, in the Eastern territories, you have 90 to 95% of people asking for two things.
First, the territorial integrity of Ukraine: they do not want to go with Russia.
Then, the majority want membership in the European Union and NATO.
A certain number of mayors, who were said to be pro-Russian, particularly in Donbass, are no longer so at all because they have seen the reality of the occupation since 2014 and even more so since February 24, 2022 They know that this means torture, executions, forced disappearances or even deportations of children.
They actually cannot accept it.
We must shake the idea that there are political differences between Russian-speaking and Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians.
The language does not indicate that there is a choice in belonging and especially not towards the dictatorial and tyrannical regime that is Russia today.
Ukraine will enter a third year of war. How can the conflict evolve from now on when the Europeans fear in particular a gradual disengagement of American military aid?
Nicolas Tenzer:
It should be noted that we are entering the eleventh year of war and the third year of total war.
Before February 24, 2022, there were already 14,000 people killed by this war.
We have obviously changed scale.
If we had understood and reacted in 2014, I think we would not have had 2022. We have now realized that this is our war, that this is the front line that separates the battle between tyranny and democracy, between good and evil.
This is really what it is about when we see the massive nature of Russia's war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide and crimes of aggression.
The Europeans understood this.
We must go much further and arm ourselves more.
While there is this American uncertainty, Europe must be able to defend Ukraine alone.
This requires having a vision of the territorial defense of Europe, being able to come to the aid, if necessary, of Estonia, Lithuania or the Czech Republic which could be attacked by Russia.
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