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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

Old Songs on the Main Theme

13 November, 2012 - 00:00

By Viktor ZAMYATIN, The Day
Debates on whether Ukraine is a European country and whether it really
wants to take its rightful place in Europe should be forgotten, at least
for the time being, in view of the "interparliamentary conference" where
it was declared that Ukraine will do its best to join the Russia-Belarus
alliance, forming a single economic, political, etc., space. Especially
considering that its participants seriously discussed the possibility of
introducing a "gold ruble" while the Ukrainian President remained silent.

Whether it was another election campaign stunt or the Speaker really
meant what he said does not really matter. A statement was made and now
it is clear why Western analysts maintain that Ukraine does not really
know what it wants; it has to decide its own stand in the first place.
Moreover, any European Union strategy with regard to Ukraine becomes unnecessary;
it will suffice to develop a new concept of relationships with Russia.

Ukrainian diplomats have long complained that this country is regarded
elsewhere in the world primarily through the prism of Russia. And why not?
The Russian leadership amused the people by pulling a fast one on the NATO
brass in Kosovo, placing the world on the verge of another cold war. Milosevic
in Yugoslavia, favored so much by the Russian and Ukrainian Left, seems
to have had precisely this scenario in mind. Under the circumstances, all
Ukraine needs is being associated with Russia eager to reaffirm its reputation
as a Third World country with nuclear missiles, meaning unpredictable,
aggressively brandishing nuclear warheads with one hand and begging for
money with the other.

"No one is waiting for us in Europe. NATO is the enemy of all living
beings. Russia is closer to us." Well, we have heard this before. Of course,
the North Atlantic alliance started the war in Yugoslavia contrary to all
the rules of international law. By the logic of precedent, Russia shows
that it can act however it sees fit. The point is that there is not much
Moscow will accomplish without support from Kyiv. Alone, it stands to lose
its new cold war if and when it starts it. Regrettably, many in Ukraine
are willing to provide this support. A Ukrainian diplomat friend of mine
told me recently that Russia's interest in Ukraine will disappear as soon
as this country turns into yet another Russian province. Perhaps there
are still people in Kyiv who do not realize that not all games have a happy
ending, especially when played by someone else's rules.

It is just that Ukraine seems to lack the right leadership, people who
know things like dignity, pride in one's own nation, or simply prepared
to really care for its interests. We are still steering that "multivector"
foreign political course, something we ought to have long discarded as
part of our ignominious past where the Russian Empire seems to be moving
haltingly and painfully. Maybe this is why Ukraine's voice remains unheard,
whatever Ukraine tries to say.

As for integration into the CIS (political, economic, or whatever),
only the blind cannot see what this pseudo-commonwealth has achieved in
the eight years of its existence.

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