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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

Is Notoriety Ukraine’s Sad Fate?

16 November, 1999 - 00:00

The Western press could — and sometimes should — be reproached for its slight interest in Ukrainian affairs and hence a rather weak knowledge of what is really happening in this country, so incomprehensible to the West. The reasons are quite simple. Some Western diplomats and experts admit privately that at first they expected Ukraine, a country that officially proclaimed independence and thus put the quietus on the soon to completely vanish Soviet Union. Then they expected a blooming of democracy, market open above all to their own goods, and conditions for their doing successful business. Since none of this happened, it brought new disappointment and then the complete loss of interest on the part of the press. What has remained behind were such traditional subjects as Chornobyl, Kyiv Dynamo, the brothers Klychko, and less often our unheard-of rampant corruption.

But the Ukrainian elections, whose results have a serious bearing not only on Ukraine but also on the whole Europe which will have, sooner or later, to answer a number of rather ticklish questions, were only covered in the English language, French, and German press one day before October 31 as a second-most-important event after reports on the developments in Chechnya, Latin America, and the Balkans. Moreover, the coverage was crammed with stereotypes, as if borrowed from the presidential administration’s platitudes being widely spread by information agencies (e.g., Reuters). Only The Financial Times explained to its readers that behind Leonid Kuchma’s election campaign, dirty and aggressive toward his opponents, stood a person suspected of having close ties with the so-called Solntsevo Mafia in Russia and of having laundered money through Belgian banks. Ukrainian official bodies refuse point-blank to say anything coherent on this subject. Investigators cannot prove or reject their own suspicions, for they have been awaiting Ukrainian visas for several months.

The International Herald Tribune, Le Figaro, and Liberacion have been writing about corruption in the Ukrainian state apparatus and inability of the authorities to handle its existing problems. They have been writing this, without forgetting to note that Mr. Kuchma is nonetheless considered “pro-Western,” while his main rivals — Mr. Symonenko and Ms. Vitrenko — threaten to regain nuclear weapons, renew old practices, and form a Slavic union.

In any case, Ukraine has become notorious. While the Western man in the street almost never takes an interest in what is going on outside his own household, the eyes of a Western banker, businessman, or politician conjure up, directly aided by Ukraine itself, the image of a country never to deal with and keep clear away from as far as possible. Yet, it is also being stressed that Ukraine is a very important partner with a potentially lucrative market and such.

Of course, I would not like Ukraine to have the same daily press as Russia — because of the Caucasus war, laundering of the multibillion- dollar criminal money, or the preoccupation over who is going to have his finger on the nuclear button, or, for that matter Pakistan — because of the military coup in a country presenting itself as a nuclear power.

I do not like having to always persuade people that Ukraine is in fact as much a European state as France, Italy, or Poland. And how can I possibly do this if, in reply, I am simply shown a newspaper clipping?

Paris

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