What has Ukraine accomplished in its ten years of independence, and what it is to be done in the immediate future?

Viktor MEDVEDCHUK, First Vice Speaker of Verkhovna Rada:

I think that we have succeeded in reorienting the traditional Soviet legislative system toward other priorities and values over the past several years. Slowly because of the circumstances but surely, the domestic legislative machine is beginning to operate for the benefit of the citizen. And there is a real basis on which to do just that: the new Constitution of Ukraine. As for all that talk about the fundamental law’s shortcomings, it constitutes additional proof that we have grown up in the past decade, gained more experience, so we are now prepared to take the next step on the winding historical road to building our state.

There is one other accomplishment that must be mentioned. It occupies a special place on the long list of socioeconomic problems solved over the years of independence. There are no interethnic and interfaith conflicts in Ukraine. Now this is a real attainment, because their presence casts doubt on the very existence of a state. Regrettably, there are enough examples to cite. We are among the few post-Soviet countries that have been spared interethnic and interfaith bloodshed. True, some of our “friends” abroad, along with homegrown breast-beating patriots, would not mind inhaling “with flaring nostrils the heady smell of a civil war.” The lessons of the cassette scandal are important for the authorities as much as for the entire society. Of this I am convinced.

We have also suffered losses, including the loss of the energy stemming from the enthusiasm of the first years of independence, energy which unfortunately was wasted by our national patriots primarily for narcissism and laudatory verbiage; it was a loss of time, considering that our neighbors have long forgotten about problems that are still preventing us from living a normal life. To this end, we have lost hundreds of thousands of clever and industrious compatriots forced to leave their native land to find a normal living elsewhere. Everything we have failed to achieve in Ukraine has been our own doing. For this reason it is very important for us now to remain capable of looking critically on our own efforts and deeds. Now is the time to overcome legal nihilism at all levels of state power and, eventually, in everyone’s mind. In other words, we must see to it that one and all unswervingly abide by the constitution and laws in force. Those in power must give the man in the street an example of how to adhere to the law in letter and spirit. Voltaire wrote that freedom actually consists in being dependent only upon the law. One does not have to reinvent the wheel trying to find a special Ukrainian way of development. The Europe we are so eager to join has long offered us formulas of success tested by time and real life.

Oleksandr LAVRYNOVYCH, state secretary of the Ministry of Justice:

The main points we have scored from the date of proclaiming independence primarily include the creation of all the institutions required by an independent polity; we have a system of administration and Ukrainian borders secured by international treaties, most of which have even been demarcated, with others being in the delimitation phase. It is extremely important that over the years our society has become convinced to rely on its own resources, its own producers and consumer market, without expecting anyone to solve our problems for us. Paternalistic moods have registered a lower level after dominating us in the first years of independence. In addition, everyone has a free choice now; finally, we all have an opportunity as well as an obligation to make our own choice. All this is a tremendous accomplishment of the Ukrainian state.

However, there is still much to be done to protect every citizen, at least at the level at which our state is currently protected, so we can have an effective system of ensuring the citizen’s constitutional rights, an effective judicial system in Ukraine, so that every court would be a real guarantor of the Ukrainian civil rights and liberties, as is laid down in Article 55 of the Constitution of Ukraine. All this is a priority, something we must accomplish in the next couple of years. Of course, we must provide most favorable conditions for increasing the gross domestic product by boosting domestic output and its competitiveness on the international market. We have done a great deal over the years, although we meant to solve much more problems. The first years of independence were marked by romantic expectations; we believed that all we needed was freedom and independence, and the rest of the problems would surely get solved somehow or other. Far from all can pass muster when tested by freedom after long years of totalitarian dependence. This is true of our whole society.

Mykhailo POHREBYNSKY, political scientist and director of Kyiv’s Center for Political Research and Conflict Management:

We can discuss three phases of state building. We have passed two and are in the third phase. The first coincided in time with Leonid Kravchuk’s presidency. It was a phase of Ukraine’s symbolic coming to be a separate territory, subject to political speculations, ruination of symbols (and not only symbols, but also the economy, social contacts, hierarchy, social guarantees, and so on) of the Soviet epoch and the assertion of symbols of a new Ukraine. It was a phase of the destruction of one reality and the formation of symbols of a new reality, a phase marked by the emergence of a state of symbols.

The second phase was when state power came to be (1994-98), a period of searching for and asserting new social structures, social hierarchy, institutions of state administration and official coercion against the background of overall economic decline (which still continues) and desperate attempts by society to adapt to new conditions and institutions.

Finally, we have the third phase. We are in it now. It is marked by the strengthening of the institutions of the state and society. In a sense, this society is the direct opposite of the authorities. However, without the state there can be no society. Everything began after reaching the critical point, sometime toward the end of 1998, when the adaptation potential exceeded that of the destructive trends, primarily in the economy and particularly in its part that was privatized in 1994-95 (e.g., small businesses) and was functioning more or less effectively before the end of 1998. Nongovernmental organizations have started functioning more or less effectively over the past 2-3 years. Likewise, public response to events at the turn of 2001 is a graphic example of society coming to be. This also goes for strengthening the independence of the courts of law. The process of enhancing political parties has begun (with SDPU{o} being undeniably in the lead and we are likely to have another two strong parties after next year’s parliamentary elections).

This phase may last considerably longer than the previous two, maybe ten to fifteen years. In the end we must have a situation in which symbols transform into values, with the state and society functioning accordingly.