European discipline

“My parents know something about the European Union, but they never even heard about the Council of Europe.” I heard this from a German diplomat, who shared his opinions of the tenth anniversary of Ukraine’s membership in one of the most influential organizations on the continent — the Council of Europe. The anniversary was last week. The ceremony to sign the document marking Ukraine’s accession to the Council of Europe took place on Nov. 9, 1995. This was a truly milestone event. Why are Germans so unaware of this organization whose immediate priority is to protect human rights? The best answer is a rhetorical question: Why should Germans take note of an association committed to the rule of law, when Germany’s democracy is the object of envy for many European nations? In this sense Germany and Ukraine are worlds apart. The 10th anniversary of membership in the Council of Europe was not observed at the government level in Ukraine. Not a single television channel ran a story about this historical event, when the Ukrainian flag was raised for the first time in Strasbourg.

Still, this date did not pass unnoticed by everybody. A roundtable entitled “Ukraine’s 10 Years in the Council of Europe. Accomplishments, Problems, Prospects” took place on Nov. 9. Initiated by the Institute for Security Problems and held under the auspices of the Information Bureau of the Council of Europe in Kyiv, the roundtable was attended by eminent politicians, diplomats, and scholars, including National Security and Defense Council deputy secretary Serhiy Pyrozhkov, former Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk (who signed the documents on Ukraine’s accession to the Council of Europe in 1995), chairman of Ukraine’s permanent delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Borys Oliynyk, parliamentary human rights ombudsperson Nina Karpachova, Polish Ambassador to Ukraine Jacek Kluczkowski, and Ukraine’s former deputy foreign minister and foreign minister, Oleksandr Chaly and Kostiantyn Hryshchenko, respectively.

STRASBOURG COMMANDMENTS

It is not surprising that many Ukrainians have no idea what the Council of Europe is all about. How can they be expected to know anything, given the news policies of both the commercial and government mass media? Even renowned experts, who are unversed in the basics of international politics, often confuse the Council of Europe with the European Union. For future reference, almost all the countries on the European continent are members of the Council of Europe. Only obvious black sheep in the realm of democracy, such as Belarus, have been denied this right. The main commandment of this organization, headquartered in Strasbourg, is to uphold the principle of rule of law.

What good does membership in the Council of Europe do for rank- and-file Ukrainians? First, it guarantees them the fundamental rights and freedoms common to any civilized nation. Second, it allows them to complain to the European Court about any violations on the part of the Ukrainian government. Statistics suggest that every year increasingly more Ukrainians avail themselves of this right. This year the European Court considered 36 cases brought by Ukrainians versus 13 cases in 2004. While some might conclude from this that democracy is deteriorating in Ukraine, others see it as a sign of citizens’ growing legal awareness and ability to defend their rights.

Unfortunately, the Council of Europe, much like the rule of law, has been mentioned in Ukraine only when the country’s top leadership has come under criticism for violations, encroachments, or failing to honor its commitments to the organization. Leonid Kuchma repeatedly accused the Council of Europe of having double standards. In plain terms, Kuchma’s accusations boiled down to the following: since you are bad, why don’t you allow us to be bad as well? This kind of approach may have been behind the Council of Europe’s intentions to suspend Ukraine’s membership on a number of occasions.

During the roundtable Borys Oliynyk recalled: “It so happened that we barely avoided being expelled from the Council of Europe because of the death penalty. Then we hurriedly passed a bill to abolish the death penalty not only in time of peace, but wartime. All of Europe panicked. Now the Europeans have to ‘catch up with us.’ Slowly they are adopting what we passed in one fell swoop.” Ukraine is thus setting an example for other members, albeit accidentally.”

The new leadership respects the Council of Europe. Yevhen Marchuk recalled that President Viktor Yushchenko visited Strasbourg on the third day after his inauguration, and parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn recently addressed the members of PACE. During his speech President Yushchenko repeatedly stressed the exceptional role that the Council of Europe played in the triumph of democracy in Ukraine, i.e., the Orange Revolution. Nonetheless, observers in Strasbourg were not mollified by such praise, and a month ago PACE rapporteurs criticized Ukraine for the first time. Their 99-page monitoring report outlines the main problems, including the Gongadze case. The Council of Europe points out that, to date, it has not been established who organized the killing of the journalist.

ALL-SEEING MONITORING. ENOUGH?

One month has passed and Ukraine has made no visible progress in resolving the problems pointed out by PACE. The prosecutor general has been replaced, and we have a new minister of justice, who is a specialist in the Council of Europe. Yet the process has not moved beyond the stage of making appointments. Oliynyk believes that the country’s leadership should pay more attention to the parliamentary delegation working in Strasbourg. After all, the delegation members are often in charge of spheres on which the Ukrainian parliament has little influence. They often have to persuade PACE members to tone down their resolutions concerning Ukraine. This time around, the PACE rapporteurs were unrelenting: the final version of their resolution was even more sharply worded than the draft document.

Ten years of membership is quite a long time. “In 10 years Ukraine has learned much from the Council of Europe,” Oliynyk pointed out. However, instead of fulfilling our commitments to Strasbourg in three years, we have been trying to do this for the past 10 years. This is hardly a positive thing. Nonetheless, the parliamentarian sees an element of injustice in this: “There are some worthy members who have fulfilled twice as few commitments, but are not subjected to the monitoring procedure.”

Monitoring is a process whereby the Council of Europe keeps track of how Ukraine is honoring its commitments. Many Ukrainian politicians consider this humiliating, even though over the years this course of action has provided additional impetus for implementing requirements, which is in Ukraine’s interests. Marchuk says it is crucial to continue monitoring, especially in view of next year’s parliamentary elections. “This is a disagreeable procedure, of course. But we must admit that the monitoring process has disciplined Ukraine and sometimes spurred the previous leadership to action. It appears that the new leadership needs spurring now,” Marchuk said. “Everything indicates that it is necessary, especially until the parliamentary elections are over.”

Addressing the roundtable, Kostiantyn Hryshchenko emphasized that Ukraine must treat the fulfillment of its commitments to the Council of Europe more seriously. “For each resolution there has to be a budget, and a program for each commitment. Unless this happens, the Council of Europe will never become the center of our Europeanism, but will remind us about our Asian roots. To promise and renege on your promise is not a sign of Europeanism or a civilized individual,” he stressed. By way of example he cited the Charter of Regional Languages, which has been ratified but, in his view, cannot be implemented for the time being. “Can we implement it at this time? Of course not. Because the budget has no funding for it, and no institutional changes have been implemented,” Hryshchenko said.

“Whatever they say, if you look at key trends, Ukraine is the first to test out standards that European countries want to implement in the future,” says Oleksandr Chaly, another distinguished diplomat. As for the Charter of Regional Languages, he believes that Ukraine undertook “commitments that are enough to set a record.”

The roundtable participants voiced diverse opinions on Ukraine’s implementation of its commitments. Nobody denied that some of the Council of Europe’s criticisms of Ukraine have significant implications. Incidentally, in her interview with The Day Hanne Severinsen emphasized that democratic elections in Ukraine are not reason enough to discontinue the monitoring, and that the Council of Europe will comprehensively analyze Kyiv’s fulfillment of its commitments: “In order to start talking about a post-monitoring dialogue (the stage that follows once monitoring is lifted) — apart from free and fair elections — we will need evidence of the proper functioning of democratic institutions and the implementation of significant reforms. We will assess the situation in general by using the benchmarks stipulated in the resolution.”

COUNCIL OF EUROPE INSTEAD OF THE EU?

The roundtable participants made quite a few unexpected and, in my view, somewhat provocative statements. Chaly said that “Ukraine’s membership in the Council of Europe is presently the best possible, self-sufficient, and perhaps the only form of realizing Ukraine’s European aspirations over the next 20 to 25 years.” Why, you ask? The EU is experiencing “a systemic economic and ideological crisis,” which is why in the coming years it will not have Kyiv on its agenda. Therefore, Chaly believes, “the Council of Europe will enable us to feel that we are a European nation, without any limitations, without joining the EU.”

He calls it an injustice that many experts are trying to “set a mythical Europe against Ukraine, saying that Ukraine will not join Europe.” Chaly believes that “the EU seems to have appropriated the brand name of Europe, which is wrong.” It is through the Council of Europe that Kyiv can influence “the future of the European project.” Certain preconditions seem to exist for such influence. First, Ukraine is one of Europe’s largest countries, both territorially and numerically. Second, our country has one of the largest delegations to PACE. Third, Ukraine is paying one of the largest membership dues. Fourth, we have one of the largest representations. “The Council of Europe needs some new energy, the energy of new European countries, new young democracies, leaders of the future,” Chaly emphasized. All of this is true. However, to direct this energy into the right channel one must first learn to keep one’s promises and honor one’s commitments.

Academician Yuriy Pakhomov approached the question of Ukraine’s membership in the Council of Europe with philosophical gravitas. “Let us first build Europe on the inside and later on the outside. We had to direct all our energy potential toward the inside and expand it from the precept that we are heading for Europe,” Pakhomov said, adding, “In Ukraine Europeanism has been transformed into some sort of national idea.” Is this good or bad? “If events unfolded in a moderate fashion, this would be good, if this very idea had a logical course from beginning to the big end. However, now it is reminiscent of the communist idea,” Pakhomov said. He explained that as long as there was blind faith in communism, it “had influence over people and could mobilize them. But as soon as this idea broke apart and it became clear that it was a myth, the preconditions for the collapse of the Soviet Union emerged...If an idea of such magnitude is being destroyed, it is better for it never to have existed, because when this happens it breeds depression and hopelessness,” he said, summing up, “We should fill the idea of Europeanism with an idea of competitiveness.”

Ukraine’s European integration may be viewed from different angles: formally, by counting the number of documents signed with the EU; geographically, by pointing out that Ukraine will never leave the European continent; or civilizationally. Ukraine demonstrated its choice on Nov. 9, 1995, when its flag was raised for the first time alongside the flags of other European nations.

INCIDENTALLY

Last week Ukraine was not alone in celebrating the tenth anniversary of its membership in the Council of Europe. On Nov. 9, 1995, the small Balkan country Macedonia joined this organization. This date will go down in Skopje’s history twice, because on Nov. 9, 2005, the European Commission recommended that the EU member states grant Macedonia the status of candidate for EU membership. Meanwhile, Ukraine is not on the list of prospective members. Perhaps the reason for this is not merely Brussels’ special attitude toward some countries as opposed to others.