 Ukrainians Want A Country That Respects Them By Volodymyr SENCHENKO |
Respect from one's own country.
This is exactly what the citizens of independent Ukraine quietly hope for, and sometimes openly demand. Respect and protection from the state is the nerve that runs along modern Ukrainians political outlook.
These feelings may be somewhat unfamiliar to our Western readers, because they are probably already citizens of well-known countries afforded international esteem, and this recognition is their personal parasol in relations with the local authorities and citizens of other countries. For example, the residents of the European Union enjoy an equal amount of dignity and, frankly speaking, act a bit superior toward those of us who are not members of the EU or NATO. The power of the newly united continent makes them feel strong and confident.
This confidence is even greater among Americans and Israelis. In the case of Americans, Europeans themselves may sometimes feel like the object of haughty behavior. The muscle-bound U.S. military can dispatch air power or marines to any corner of the globe, where its compatriots have been offended or not given their due. Israel, for its part, is not so powerful as the United States, but its citizens get no less respect or protection. In addition to military force, Tel Aviv can also appeal to international Jewish organizations for an even more important form of support - finance. In short, everyone knows that it's not a good idea to mess with Israeli citizens. This is good, this is right and this is the way it should be. These and other reasons are why the national state came about in the first place.
When the USSR was strong, its citizens used to feel a protective state parasol over their heads as well. This international cover had military, diplomatic and ideological dimensions.
Of course, one cannot claim that Soviet citizens were loved and respected all over the world, but other countries were at least a bit frightened of us. For example, I remember reading about a truck full of valuable goods that was robbed in Italy. The robbers were known for never leaving any witnesses alive, but they did not do any killing this time, because the drivers were from the Soviet Union. The bandits were apparently so afraid of inviting an attack against their country by its well-armed eastern neighbor that they restrained their murderous instincts.
Today, the citizens of Ukraine are the least-protected people in Europe.
Yes, Ukraine and Ukrainians are little-known in Europe, because even the most remarkable of them continue to be considered Russians. Shortly after Kyiv's declaration of independence, I had a squabble with French customs officers who questioned the existence of a Ukrainian state. After I showed them
a map, they still kept saying "Russia, Russian" as they nodded their heads. Within the past 13 years of its sovereignty, Ukraine has yet to position itself among its European neighbors as a full-fledged country. The situation with its citizens is of course analogous.
In addition, Ukraine has developed a strange stereotype as a country with an unpredictable foreign and domestic policy. Ukrainians are seen as beggars with weak morals and prone to criminality.
In my view, the root of the problem is that Ukrainian independence was never unanimously approved. Some people viewed it as an attempt to destroy the great Russian Empire. Others did not want another economic competitor in Europe. Still others simply didn't like Ukrainians, believing them to be xenophobic anti-Semites.
The media representative of these three different viewpoints created a single negative image of Ukraine. Moreover, the images of the people and the authorities were synthesized. For instance, the so-called "tape scandal," which alleged the involvement of President Leonid Kuchma and other top officials in serious crimes; or the U.S. accusations that Kyiv sold radar systems to Saddam Hussein on the eve of the allied invasion of Iraq.
Sometimes the charges become absurd.
I recall once reading that Poland had blamed Ukraine for an off-color snowfall. Ukrainian factories, which in fact had been shut down, were blamed for "the environmental disaster." Soon, they will allege that we cause earthquakes...
Of course, our "friends" are also quick to note Ukrainian participation in criminal groups or activities. From five million to eight million Ukrainian citizens are working abroad and, as we know, every family has its black sheep. But as soon as there is a report about a crime having been committed somewhere in the world, the media immediately tells us that a Ukrainian might be involved. Those media rarely go back and correct the earlier assumption if it turns out to be wrong.
I would even say that it has become dangerous to admit that you are Ukrainian abroad. To Czechs, Ukrainians are the bottom of the barrel, although this does nothing for bilateral relations.
Another feeling of helplessness among Ukrainians is caused by their own state's policy - by the absolute indifference of Ukrainian officials to their compatriots at home and abroad. There are numerous instances of Ukrainian citizens getting into a mess in some foreign country because the officials in Kyiv failed to fulfil their direct obligations, one of which is the protection of citizens. Despite the posh official appearances and speeches of our authorities, diplomatic representatives often ignore the international harassment of their fellow countrymen, to the anger and disappointment of the latter.
This is why Ukrainians, contrary to Western expectations, yearn for a strong state that would be respected, together with its citizens, throughout the world. This is why a perfectly reasonable lawmaker in the Verkhovna Rada could express regret over the country's decision to scrap its nuclear weapons, the third-largest such arsenal in the world. Indeed, many ordinary Ukrainians think that we should not have been so hasty to give up the nukes, because the rest of the world doesn't seem to have appreciated the gesture very much. Now there is neither a reason nor the resources to create any new ones.
Some politicians skillfully used this sort of public sentiment when independent Ukrainians began to really vote. Political parties that understood the craving of the people for dignity and led them to believe that they would get it found themselves elected to office. But since the promise has still not been kept, and the authorities continue to busy themselves with getting rich and exploiting their positions in government, the alienation of the people will only grow.
Thus, in the eyes of the East and West, Ukraine remains the ugly duckling, but change could be on the way, with or without the help of the authorities. One vehicle of change is the culture's work ethic, which developed over centuries of farming the land. Another national trait is resourcefulness, which is shared by all the peoples of the Russian Empire - by necessity. These national features, together with thrift, honesty and good-naturedness, earned Ukrainians respect among other peoples. Another adjective used to describe Ukrainians is "cunning." But slyness doesn't equate to dishonesty, just as thrift doesn't mean stingy.
The reader will excuse me for patting my own country on the back, but I would also like to call attention to Ukrainians' capacity for intellectual and scientific achievement. Let it suffice to recall the Russian academic Dmitriy Likhachev, who lamented the brain drain that resulted from Ukraine breaking free of its bigger eastern brother.
These national qualities will eventually lead to national success, in the form of competitive Ukrainian goods and services on international markets. Then, Ukrainians will be able to create their own parasol without the help of an authoritarian state. The people will gather around the party capable of opening the "parasol."
It was precisely this desire to open one's own umbrella, decorated with the colors of one's national flag, that led the former members of the Warsaw Pact to join the EU and NATO. Ukraine will follow this path as well. Why shouldn't it, however, join Russia? Because centuries of experience have shown that the only relationship that can exist between the two east Slavic nations is one of "big brother, little brother." But before this happens, a majority of Ukrainians should be able to say: "I love my country because it loves me."
Today, against the background of the authorities' bacchanalian corruption, this change in national psychology seems impossible. One cannot force an official with a low salary to refuse to take bribes or accept dubious perks, which in effect rob the state of millions. Your can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear. Corruption starts at the top, where high-ranking officials demand income from their subordinates. Every time I give money to a traffic cop, I divide the sum into three parts. He will retain only one-third of the money. The other two-thirds will go "upstairs." My wife sometimes says to me: "When you drive your car sober and don't break the rules, you are depriving the state of revenue."
A good start in changing this situation would be to hire a few thousand officials who would receive decent salaries. Vladimir Lenin once said: "Give us 30,000 revolutionaries and we will turn Russia upside down." And they did! Ronald Reagan also pushed through a lot of unpopular programs, such as deregulation, with a handful of dedicated economists. In fact, there are already many honest officials working in Ukraine, a good leader's job would be to identify and promote them.
Change must come from the top. However the main obstacle to this is that top officials need corrupt subordinates, who fulfill their needs loyally for fear of being turned over to the tax police or other law-enforcement agencies by their bosses, who in turn ultimately answer to political appointees or elected officials.
But other policies such as international neutrality and regional trade can enhance prosperity and thus strengthen the parasol. This means that the next Ukrainian president must maintain Leonid Kuchma's balancing act between East and West. This also means that any power that would like to secure Ukraine's undivided loyalty might again try another tape scandal or Kolchuga conspiracy.
If the authorities continue, however, to be indifferent to the security and pride of their people, Ukrainians will build their parasols on their own, and then the question will arise as to why these venal bureaucrats are needed in the first place.
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Read also previous issue' articles:
The Herodotus of Ukrainian History
Ukraine's Brain Drain
Chauvinistic Smoke A Few Words on Russia
A walk on the underside
Re-inventing Production: Military Giants Discover Consumer Goods
From Cossack to Sumo
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