Per Aspera... to Europe

Our acquaintance and communication with professors and students of the Ostroh Academy National University in 2003 has become a pleasant discovery for our newspaper, many of its journalists, and, we believe, also for our readers. They proved (in part, through their publications in The Day) that they not only have a clear stand toward our country’s further development but are also able to defend it in public. Thus, asking them to answer the questions of our New Year’s questionnaire, we hade no doubts that we will obtain an interesting express-analysis of last year’s major events and tendencies as well as a prognosis, or rather action plan, for 2004. Besides, we suggested our New Year’s students’ questionnaire to alumni of two most respected universities, the Ivan Franko Lviv National University and Kamyanets-Podilsky State University. Please give a brief account of what was good and bad in the last year’s developments in the world, our country, and your private life. Under what conditions, in your view, the year 2004 — year of presidential elections and the 350th anniversary of Pereyaslav Rada — could be successful for our country? How can we avoid the mistakes of the past and make the process of European integration irreversible? Certainly we wish you every success and hope that you will soon occupy a significant place in Ukrainian society. However, we would like to know how you yourself view your place in the processes of the Ukrainian society’s transformation and what you are prepared to do to help Ukraine enter the community of the developed countries as soon as possible.

Vasyl KOBYLNYK, fifth year student, Historical Faculty, Kamyanets-Podilsky State University:

1.Speaking about Ukraine, the good event was primarily peaceful settlement of the Tuzla problem. Ukrainian diplomacy’s steps in the negotiations on Ukraine’s entering the WTO and EU were also rather successful.

Among negative aspects is the fact that in the twelve years of our independence Ukrainian authorities have failed to introduce the rule of the law and achieve necessary attainments in the economy to secure decent living standards for Ukraine’s citizens. One can also point to inconsistency and vagueness of our foreign policy.

Among positive events in my private life I would mention my first trip to Kyiv where I got a chance to familiarize myself with the cultural monuments of Ukraine’s capital and Ukraine in general as well as to work with documents of the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine and Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine.

2. To avoid former mistakes, one has to realize that one should learn from one’s mistakes instead of repeating them and also that it is better to learn from somebody else’s mistakes than your own. We should understand that no help will come from the outside and we have to count only on our own powers and abilities.

To make the process of European integration irreversible, we need a consistent policy by the authorities. We should adopt the necessary legal acts, and not simply adopt but have enough courage to observe them.

3. Perhaps every university student hopes to occupy a high place in Ukrainian society. Being a future teacher, I can state confidently that I will dedicate all my efforts to improving the state of affairs in Ukraine. I hope that young people like myself will be able to join their efforts and present new ideas on how we can make life better in our native land. I believe the elite that has formed in the Soviet times won’t be able to do anything worthwhile in these terms, because many of its members are looking backward in search of the future. Considering this, I believe that the future belongs to the young who will generate new ideas.

Volodymyr KONDYK, fourth year student, Journalism Faculty, Ivan Franko Lviv National University:

1. Last year was complicated. Recall, for instance, the Iraqi War, elections to Russia’s State Duma, and Tuzla crisis. On a global scale, this year has finally defined the major forces in the political confrontation, while Pope John Paul II didn’t receive the Nobel Prize.

For Ukraine, 2003 has become a year of declared European integration. It also was the Year of Russia, which is perhaps obvious to anybody. I mean not only territorial conflicts but also energy dependence. This was also a year of Viktor Yushchenko’s expulsion from the East. Finally, this was a year of the epoch-making work titled Ukraine Is Not Russia [by President Kuchma], which can be treated either as an official statement or as defining the terms of our foreign relations. Yury Andrukhovych’s Twelve Hoops was also published, which, in my view, has completed the era of Ukrainian post-modernism. However, all this will become clear during next year.

2-3. There is only one way to avoid mistakes: realizing what was wrong in one’s actions; this guarantees success. Was there any Ukrainian politician last year who said even once, “You know, I was wrong about this”? However, pessimism is inappropriate here. Today faith is topical for all of us, as well as realizing one’s potential. In the final account, we all want to work and create something. What can we students do? I think we can do the main thing: create a public opinion, an image, an idea. These are not just high-sounding words, but question of the next few years. I believe in this.”

Tetiana POPOVA, fourth year student, Foreign Philology Department, Ostroh Academy:

1. This might sound sad, but for me the year 2003 was marked by violence, acts of terrorism, and thousands of deaths. Major event for the world was, without doubt, the military campaign in Iraq — not as much the campaign itself but the way it influenced the development of political relations between the countries. Europe has dissented into old and new, Carolina and Atlantic, while controversies inside the European Union have become more acute. However, any event shouldn’t be viewed one-sidedly. It would be good if the Iraqi events became an impetus to view global relations in the context of intellectual partnership instead of military and political advantages. Our neighbor Russia has paid for the Chechnya War with a number of acts of terrorism: the explosion near the National Hotel and Tushino tragedy in Moscow, the bloodshed at Yessentuki, etc. “Force should follow justice, not precede it, because laws are silent amid arms,” the wise Romans used to say. I want so much that in the new year this renowned aphorism became a motto for foreign policy!

2. In my view, the year 2003 has placed our state into a qualitatively new dimension of foreign relations. Signing the treaty on the Single Economic Space (SES) with Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan has resulted in sharpening the problem of Ukraine’s European or Euro-Asiatic choice. Thus, the prospect of signing an associate agreement with the EU is gradually turning from a myth into a real chance for our country’s integration into the European community. Ukraine’s first steps to meet the requirements needed for entering the WTO can be regarded an indicator of Ukraine’s orientation toward the European choice. Now it’s Europe’s move...

Unfortunately, historically our people’s fate for some reason has always followed the Publius Sir’s principle, “There is no danger one could avoid without being exposed to another danger, while Ukrainian politicians have always been compelled to turn their faces to either the East or West. 350 years ago, having just liberated themselves from the yoke of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Ukrainians found themselves under the Muscovite state signing the Treaty of Pereyaslav. One could say that Bohdan Khmelnytsky had a good excuse: he was unaware of how things would turn out. However, do we have any right to reject the European choice and repeat the bitter experience of previous years?

3. What can we students do to help Ukraine enter the circle of the developed countries? My answer is, try to become a true elite for Ukrainian society. This means not only obtaining excellent knowledge, but also not losing our spirituality and preserving respect to our people under any circumstances. An educated and nationally aware young person free from the stereotypes of the past, not a passive one wallowing in drug addiction, is able to become a guarantee of our state’s prosperity.

Oleksandr YUHA, fifth year student, Historical Faculty, Kamyanets-Podilsky University:

2. In my view, the coming year could prove successful for Ukraine under the following conditions. First, the presidential elections should be held according to principles of fairness and justice; the fight between candidates should be civilized, with no slanders or slinging mud at each other; the elections shouldn’t be held according to the principle, “the main thing is not the electors’ votes but who counts them.” Second, speaking about the 350th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Rada, I subscribe to expert historians’ opinion that this event of the mid-seventeenth century should be studied and researched as a part of history instead of manipulating it in the political sphere. Third, the Ukrainian government should make its final choice in terms of its foreign policy direction: should it be western or eastern. In my view, history has already given us a graphic evidence as to how much good the eastern vector of Ukrainian policy, or rather our eastern neighbor Russia’s tutelage, has brought Ukraine, in part, in terms of the latter’s gaining independence and building a sovereign state.

3. Speaking about how I see my place in the process of Ukrainian society’s transformation, I think about working in the educational system. I could be a schoolteacher or a university professor, which would give me a chance to work immediately with the pupils or students. Using my knowledge of my country’s history, its events and facts, I would raise in them a consistent faith in their own forces and the powerful potential of our nation in general, which, if reasonably used, will inevitably lead to building a true democratic state in the full sense of this word and Ukraine becoming a full member of the European family, enjoying all the attendant rights.

Oleh KRYKAVSKY, fourth year student, Law Faculty, Ostroh Academy:

1. Personally I was deeply worried by the Tuzla crisis. I think it became an eye-opener for those previously viewing our relationship with Russia in a romantic way.

Another worrisome event was the Iraq War. I still cannot understand why the world is watching apathetically while a country, though the most influential in the world, is deciding which countries and regimes threaten global civilization and are to be obliterated against all the norms of international law. Besides, war is always a tragedy, and we cannot ignore somebody else’s troubles.

This year has brought me many new impressions. I was lucky enough to go through an internship at the Canadian Parliament and attend a summer school in Austria. I believe Ukraine’s integration into Euro- Atlantic structures starts from everyone, from changes in our consciousness, culture of service, and will for a better life. Personally, I realized this due to my trips abroad. I have also found many friends from throughout the world. Now they are all interested in Ukrainian culture and history. I think if everyone starts to love one’s own country and promote it instead of exposing our problems to our neighbors’ judgment, it will be easier for Ukraine to regain its place in the family of European nations.

2. This year the Ukrainian democracy will undergo a test when we elect the president. Thus, we should act deliberately. I hope that there were no loud scandals at the elections and Ukraine showed itself as a model of democracy, which we can do if we really want to. Speaking about the Pereyaslav Rada 350th anniversary, it would be better if it did not turn out pompous festivities with Russian pop stars dominating on our stage.

In general, I hope we make this celebration a year of analyzing the Pereyaslav Rada results. But we should remember everything, the good as well as bad. Strangely, we didn’t celebrate anniversaries of Berestechko or the Lublin Union. As for me, celebrating the anniversary of our losing independence is a vestige of the psychology of slaves. I am confident that the Russians are much less interested in the Pereyaslav Rada than we are.

To make European integration processes in Ukraine irreversible, we need to stop shocking the world with our multivector foreign policy. We should decide not only in words but in deed, whether we see ourselves in the EU or the Russian so-called liberal empire. All countries direct their foreign policies to their advantage, while we have elaborated this multivector policy, which is another word for unscrupulousness.

3. We students of the Ostroh Academy are aware that soon the burden of building up Ukraine will lie on our shoulders. I think there is not too much needed to make our country prosper: everybody should devotedly work in his/her place and be a true professional. We are striving for this, learning to be the best in what we are doing.

Roman NEKH, student, Law Faculty, Ostroh Academy:

1. In my view, the contemporary world should be based on the multipolar model, i.e., a number of states influencing global events instead of a single one. This would secure a global system of checks and balances. At present the United States is the dominant power, which strengthens its preponderant position. This situation is dangerous for the world and the United States itself, where a special form of totalitarianism could develop. The tendencies existing in the European Union should be viewed as positive: further economic development of its member countries as well as broadening the Union. The EU countries’ attempts to create a single Constitution deserve special mention, since this would make this organization’s management more predictable.

What was negative in Ukraine’s life in 2003 were permanent conflicts in parliament over the political reform. Certainly we should change the structure of state power. However, this made Ukrainian deputies give less attention to their work on other bills. Among positive aspects, I would single out the stable economic situation in our country.

Speaking about private life, I am doing a job, which I consider interesting. Besides, through it I am making my small contribution to building a law-governed state in Ukraine. What is negative in my life is the lack of money.

2. Ukraine’s most important event in the next year will be the presidential elections. They will define our life for the next five years. I wish that the politician who will become our head of state would see Ukraine in the European Community. The future president will have to make decisive steps to bring Ukraine closer to Europe.

3. The Ostroh Academy National University is raising the future elite with patriotic minds, who view European integration as an irreversible process. The university’s students will guide the economic process in our country and perfect Ukraine’s legislation. Speaking about myself, in the future I would like to concentrate on developing the “third sector” as an integral part of a legal state, as well as securing the observance of human rights in Ukraine.