• Українська
  • Русский
  • English
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

With NATO or Russia

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

The Verkhovna Rada Defense and National Security Committee
has prepared a draft resolution defining Ukraine's stand concerning the
Kosovo peacekeeping mission. The Day's Tetiana KOROBOVA discussed
it with the Committee Chairman, Heorhy KRIUCHKOV.

The Day: Is your draft resolution one of those cases when
the executive and legislature share the same views on a problem?

H. K.: I think the President, Verkhovna Rada, and executive structures
will agree in principle that Ukraine must confirm its readiness to participate
in the international peacekeeping operation. But on what terms? First,
consent from the Yugoslav government, although some believe it unnecessary,
since there is the UN resolution. Second, there is the UN Security Council
mandate. A decision to this effect has been made. At this stage it remains
to discuss technical details, but the most complicated aspect is financing.
I mean we do have specific assistance plans. Last Tuesday this was discussed
at length and depth with the NSDC Secretary, Defense Ministers, First Deputy
Foreign Minister, and chairman of the relevant parliamentary committee.
We discovered we had no differences in approaching the problem. In a word,
we have a very interesting variant of Ukraine's participation. It is nonstandard
and it can smooth over a lot of sharp edges and eliminate a lot of nonsense.
You know that the biggest problem is who will be in command of our contingent,
NATO or Russia. This aspect has brought forth much speculation.

The Day: So how do you propose to avoid making the choice?

H. K.: I can't tell you just now, I have no right, but the plan
is very interesting. All I can say is that our Defense Ministry made a
wise decision. We intend to pass a resolution expressing our principled
attitude to what has happened and reaffirm Ukraine's readiness to take
part in the peacekeeping operation, stating our terms and conditions, and
instructing the Foreign and Defense Ministries to submit the relevant proposals
in keeping with established procedures. The Cabinet will be instructed
to scrape up the funds to cover the expenses involved in the peacekeeping
mission. I think that most in Parliament will vote for this resolution.

The Day: Would you kindly explain how could the Communists
regarding Milosevic as their blood brother and Russia as their elder brother
come to terms with the Ukrainian leadership which, in your opinion, is
steering a NATO course?

H. K.: In this case every effort must be made to stop the bloodshed,
and I don't think that Albanians and Serbs can make peace among themselves.
This hatred will last for hundreds of years. So a system must be introduced
to keep them apart and make them stop fighting each other.

The Day: Do you mean placing Ukraine between Russia and NATO?

H. K.: No. Why? Personally, I think that this Russia-or-NATO
problem is in many respects an artificial one. I don't think that Russia
will have a sector; most likely the Russian contingent will be scattered
throughout all the sectors.

The Day: But there are certain Russian politicians specializing
in the Balkan theme. They do not rule out the possibility of the Kosovo
province being divided into two parts, one with the Serbs under Russian
control remaining in Yugoslavia, and the other under NATO control going
to Albania.

H. K.: Our draft resolution has it in black and white - and no
one expressed any doubts about it, not the Foreign or Defense Ministry,
and not the NSDC - that Kosovo is an inalienable part of the Union Republic
of Yugoslavia. In other words, we make our stand absolutely clear: we are
against violating Yugoslavia's territorial integrity. And then what is
Russia?

The Day: But there is still the nagging feeling that whatever
foreign political steps we make we demonstrate our ill-famed "multivector"
approach.

H. K.: This has nothing to do with the issue at hand. Believe
me. I agree that our provincialism, narrow-mindedness, debility if you
will, are still there. But in this case we are dealing with a problem that's
too humanitarian to aggravate it with all these elements.

PS:

The draft parliamentary resolution On Ukraine's Participation in the
UN Peacekeeping Operation in the Union Republic of Yugoslavia was rejected
on Friday, reports The Day's Tetiana KOROBOVA. Outwardly,
the stumbling block was a clause about ratifying the Ukrainian-Polish agreement
"on forming a joint military unit to participate in international peacekeeping
and humanitarian missions." The Communists proposed deleting it (the situation
has changed after Poland joined NATO). Rukh, on the contrary, wanted to
vote on these clauses, yet in both cases the electronic billboard did not
show even 200 ayes.

"I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the press (e.g.,
The Day) carried US Ambassador Steven Pifer's statement to the effect
that the Ukrainian government has already forwarded a letter to the NATO
headquarters with its proposal of Ukraine's military participation in the
Kosovo peacekeeping operation," stresses one of the draft's authors, chairman
of the relevant commission Heorhy Kriuchkov. "The resolution should be
passed and our stand on matter determined allowing for this fact," he added.

As for Ukraine's stand, it has its specifics: there is no mention of
NATO, just "participants in the UN peacekeeping operation." One can assume
that NDSC Secretary Volodymyr Horbulin's "scamper" through the parliamentary
lobby and his urgent talk with the Communist Kriuchkov were an attempt
to make his own changes in the text. As in the case of the belated clause
about "Ukraine, which proposed a specific plan of settling the Yugoslav
crisis at its early stage." One may further assume that this is also the
result of compromise, although the Left probably could not bring itself
to mention the Ukrainian President's "peace initiatives." They may have
thought along the same lines as Speaker Tkachenko: the President proposed,
and he signed what was given him to sign.

In addition, the resolution makes no mention of Kosovo. The lobby praised
it as Volodymyr Horbulin's excellent invention, as such an approach seemed
to gain access not to a province but to the country, and not for street
fighting but for something else, like building bridges.

Another aspect was also adjusted: the Cabinet is not instructed to "provide
budget funds" for the peacekeeping operation. Instead, it is recommended
to "resolve the matter" which, in Mr. Kriuchkov's opinion, indicates "other
possibilities," while practical analysts believe the clause is meaningless.
Before the draft resolution voted on, Rukh leader Hennady Udovenko shared
with The Day what sounds like an interesting observation: "The draft
resolution is not bad. Kriuchkov often acts from the standpoint of the
state. Our participation in the peacekeeping operation is necessary. It
has its history. Ukraine has won quite a reputation. Our peacekeepers are
gaining valuable experience. We must be everywhere, at all costs. Ukraine
must take a decisive stand, otherwise they will ignore us again." Indeed
they will, unless they find an answer to the question: Why are you so poor
if you are so smart? Well, if you are poor, it means you are ..." But that
is another story.

And then the next question will be, What is the Ukrainian President
actually after? Does anyone know the answer? When posed this question,
Heorhy Kriuchkov said from the podium, "In this particular case the President's
approach is severe; he wants everything to prepared, checked, and submitted
to Verkhovna Rada." In fact, Mr. Horbulin is said to have been chagrined
by the vote, yet Presidential Representative Roman Bezsmertny seems unperturbed:
"It was a normal Friday situation, with slightly more than a quarter of
the Deputies in attendance. Everything will be resolved on a weekday. All
obstruction comes from Right and Left extremists. Thus, it is safe to assume
that the President's official presentation of the documents will be successful.

But maybe this is precisely the reason for the vote turnout?

 

Heorhy Kriuchkov and Defense Ministry have a plan to avoid making the choice
Rubric: