Ukraine is stunned by the case of alleged serial murderer Anatoly Onopriyenko,
who is charged with the murder of 52 people, including ten children, the
youngest of whom was a three month old baby. If found guilty, obviously
such a person does not deserve to live, and their will be a virtual unanimous
chorus demanding his execution. President Kuchma has already promised to
take the matter up with the Council of Europe, to try to get permission
to make this one exception to Ukraine's moratorium on capital punishment,
a condition of Ukraine's membership in the organization. And if Europe
refuses to go along? Then, "to hell with Europe," says my Ukrainian wife.
Most people will agree with her.
That would be a mistake. Of course, there is nothing unjust in putting
to death a monster capable of robbing and killing scores of people. But
sometimes justice is not the only priority. In the real world doing the
right thing in one area can mean doing something absolutely disastrous
in another, and Ukraine could be approaching precisely such a situation.
The Council of Europe is probably the weakest and least important of
the various European and Atlantic organizations uniting the West. It is,
however, the only such organization of which Ukraine is a member. And for
Ukraine that makes it paramount. President Kuchma might have been offended
at being excluded from associate member in the European Union, but the
latter really had no choice. It means to build a continental market economy
without borders, ultimately with anybody being able to travel from Warsaw
to Lisbon without let or hindrance. Of course, it had to demand that new
associate members like Poland institute visa requirements for its former
Soviet neighbors to the East. Otherwise, when the border between Poland
and Germany comes down, Germany would be flooded by millions of economic
refugees. And that could be the beginning of a new Iron Curtain between
East and West.
It is obvious to one and all that Ukraine is sinking by the day into
the quicksand of the CIS, which is not just an organization but a modus
operandi and way of life. It means a model of politics and the economy
which make the few unbelievably wealthy and renders the great majority
poor and powerless. It is incapable of evolving into Western style representative
government because the few that are really represented in the corridors
of power can effectively shield their doings from public view. The only,
albeit fraying lifeline Ukraine is still holding onto is the Council of
Europe, which has, let us recall, already established a fund to help Ukraine
defray the expenses of locking mad dog murders up for life. Just one firing
squad here could sever that lifeline, and Ukraine could sink forever.






