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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Brzezinski Conducts Political Audit In Ukraine

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

Addressing journalists, noted US political analyst Zbigniew Brzezinski suggested that, given a mixed Parliament, Ukraine would have a hard time carrying out economic reforms, adding that he saw this country gripped by the paralysis of parliamentary control.

Mr. Brzezinski further said that the West and international financial institutions would increase financial aid to Ukraine if a Centrist became the new Speaker. A stark recommendation, to be sure. President Kuchma did his best to soften it when he said that what Ukraine actually needed was direct foreign investment. Mr. Brzezinski is known to rank among the advisers most trusted by US investors, especially in terms of political risks. Ukraine thus should behave itself within its geopolitical class. To this end, the Ukrainian President’s homework is supposed to consist in encouraging the general public to bring social pressure on Parliament to keep the reform ball rolling, says Mr. Brzezinski. He also “inspected” two Ukrainian regions considered important for the US: Kharkiv (which lost the Bushehr contract but is still determined to implement the one on tanks to be supplied to Pakistan, generally allowing itself a degree of “autonomy” from Kyiv) and Dnipropetrovsk oblast where the situation is being monitored by a Western plenipotentiary, specifically with regard to the “Lazarenko problem” and “space-rocket potential.”

Mr. Brzezinski’s “political audit” caused an outrage in Parliament. The Communists proposed declaring him persona non grata. The Day’s Iryna Havrylova interviewed several Deputies on the subject.

Natalia Vitrenko (Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine): “Zbigniew Brzezinski, as inveterate anti-Communist, saw that the situations in Russia and Ukraine could cause the existing political regimes to collapse. Our financial crisis is the direct result of IMF policy; the kind of reforms we have are precisely what Brzezinski has always advocated. And nor was his visit to Ukraine a coincidence: he arrived precisely when the country was gripped by a presidential crisis aggravated by the miners’ strikes. He is a politician experienced enough to foresee the outcome. He came as a preacher of reforms to control them and have them encouraged. His approach is one of undisguised blackmail. This US political analyst declared that the IMF would give Ukraine additional loans, subject to the condition that a Centrist Speaker was elected. This is outrageous blackmail aimed at Ukraine and all People’s Deputies. And the kind of homework Brzezinski is giving Leonid Kuchma today can mean only one thing: America will back him in the coming campaign. In fact, he became President in 1994 only because he had the international financial institutions’ support. The same game is being played now. If he continues in the vein of anti-popular reforms, he will have US support and this is what Zbigniew Brzezinski’s visit is all about.”

Roman Zvarych (Rukh): “I know Mr. Brzezinski well. He used to be one of my professors at Columbia University. He is very reserved and if he comes up with such sharp statements, he has to address the situation that has developed after four years of Oleksandr Moroz as Speaker. What has been going on for the past three weeks is the legacy we have received from those four years when our Speaker, instead of assisting consensus, guided Parliament along a course resulting in the appearance of two polarized camps. This cannot but affect the new Parliament. There is no stable majority and the prospects for forming one are questionable. The non-leftist majority is trying to achieve some kind of balance and the package vote was all about that. Contrary to what The Day wrote, this plan was not conceived in the Presidential Administration. And I don’t think that there is any Parliament paralysis. Rather the Left’s stubbornness helped us unite. Mr. Brzezinski suggested a centrist Speaker. Something well to expected from an experienced political analyst who understands only too well that in the presence of a Leftist or Rightist Speaker the Ukrainian Parliament will not be blocked for three weeks but paralyzed for four years. Granting that Mr. Brzezinski gave Mr. Kuchma any homework, I would call this an improper on his part. However, knowing Mr. Brzezinski’s diplomatic skill, I am inclined to assume that he did not say this in so many words, rather a statement hinting at the appropriateness of certain measures. Be it as it may, I am positive that if we had more friends like Zbigniew Brzezinski in certain Western capitals, Ukraine’s integration into Europe would be less of a problem.

Photo by Viktor Marushchenko, The Day

 

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