Modern Independent Ukraine at 35: Achievements and Problems

On Aug. 24, Ukraine celebrates Independence Day. Modern Ukrainian independence is 35 years old, although it would be more accurate to speak of the restoration of its independence, as the history of its statehood dates to the times of Kyivan Rus and was affirmed in the modern period in1918. Ahead of Independence Day, the Bouquet Kyiv Stage cultural festival took place in Kyiv. As part of the festival, several discussions with public figures were held on the grounds of St. Sophia’s Cathedral, moderated by Kyiv Post editor-in-chief Bohdan Nahaylo, focusing on the achievements, problems, failures, and prospects of 35 years of Ukrainian independence.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The discussions were attended by former dissident, political prisoner, and Ukrainian lawmaker Oles Shevchenko, diplomat and former foreign minister ambassador Vadym Prystaiko, renowned writer Andriy Kurkov, lawmaker and businesswoman Kira Rudik, British journalist Peter Dickinson; and former Ukrainian ambassador Oleh Shamshur. Kyiv Post publishes some of the highlights of the discussions. Andriy Kurkov: “The Soviet Union was a tenant who did not pay utilities and did not pay rent. And that ended in 1991. Since then, basically, there are no tenants. We are all owners of this land; we all live here, in a territory of freedom, in fact. And this moment when Ukraine gained independence was the birth of this space of freedom that we entered. We shaped it ourselves and continue to shape it, because it did not come easily; it had its price. Journalists were killed, there were attacks, there was a struggle for freedom of the press and freedom of speech, and now, during the war, we still have problems faced by bloggers and others, but basically, we live in a territory of freedom.” Other Topics of Interest Russian Missiles Strike Kyiv Railway Facility, Killing One Worker A Russian ballistic missile strike on a railway enterprise in Kyiv’s Darnytsia district overnight killed a Ukrainian Railways worker. Writer Andriy Kurkov (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) Former dissident and political prisoner Oles Shevchenko highlighted one of the most interesting details of the independence process. In August 1991, the majority in parliament belonged to the pro-government Communist Party. Without it, it would have been impossible to vote for independence through a legitimate process and declare withdrawal from the Soviet Union. Oles Shevchenko: “There was a critical moment, a critical minute, when some of us began arguing that we should not vote for independence now; first we needed to deal with the Communist Party, ban the Communist Party, establish a measure of responsibility for them, and only after we had dealt with the Communists in Ukraine once and for all would we declare independence. Thank God, they were the smaller part, and we managed to convince them that their proposal would not pass among us.” Oles Shevchenko (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) The discussion also noted that Aug. 24, 1991, was Ukraine’s “second” modern declaration of independence. The first was proclaimed in January 1918, but the young Ukrainian state did not survive the aggression of the communist Bolsheviks from Russia. Andriy Kukov: “I always have the feeling that we do not know enough about these events and somehow do not learn about or ignore this period, because the entire history of 1918-21 is very important for us to understand how easily independence can be lost when you actually have the same window of historical opportunity that we had in 1991. Meanwhile, there is a system where these two holidays exist side by side – for example, in Lithuania. There is a holiday celebrating the restoration of independence, and there is a national independence holiday marking 1918” But today we must discuss the present, as Ukraine was created when politicians and the people chose the future over the past. Vadym Prystaiko: “I constantly urge, and I urged my diplomats, instead of trying to compete with Russia over who is the older and younger brother, to look to the future and say: ‘I don’t know what you think about history, but the future belongs to us,” Vadym Prystaiko (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) On Ukraine’s main achievements over 35 years Opinions were divided between what Ukrainians have managed to achieve and the potential for the future: e.g., technological achievements, the resilience and vitality of the Ukrainian nation, the development of a cultural sphere distinct from Russia, as well as its rapid development – faster than expected. Oles Shevchenko: “If the first revolution, in 1991, was the Revolution of Independence, and it placed the Ukrainian state on the geopolitical map of the world as a new, independent European state, then the Orange Revolution in 2004 gave our nation the most important thing – freedom of speech, which we have enjoyed from 2004 to this day. And the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 gave us complete independence, a complete break with the Moscow imperial center,” Kira Rudik: “Thirty-five is an age when you are still searching for who you are, but you know who you are not. We clearly understand who we are not and what we will not be in our future. But we are still searching for points of support and the direction in which to move. And we already understand not only what we want from the world but also what we can give it. We are no longer appearing as a supplicant but as a strong state that knows what it can give the world. And we must speak with our partners from this position. Taking this position earns us a lot internationally, even from those who initially doubted us. We are a country that can ensure not only its own security but also the security of a large bloc; we are a country of innovation and an example of how this can be integrated not only into the public sector, but also into businesses that the whole world is watching. We have something to show the world and should not have a sense of inferiority.” Kira Rudik (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) Peter Dickinson: “History is usually the history of kings, prime ministers, and military commanders; in other words, people who move nations forward. But if you look at Ukraine, everything is the opposite – it is the history of many people; it is the history of a nation that collectively decides what its future will be. This is clear in both the Revolution of Dignity and this War of Independence. The Ukrainian nation is driving these historical developments forward; this is very, very unusual. Ukrainians are very conscious of who they are, what they are, and what they want. It is very noticeable. This is a good foundation for the future.” Peter Dickinson (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) Andriy Kurkov: “We can say that we became noticeable in the cultural sphere abroad only starting in 2014, with the Euromaidan. In any case, the media provided the impetus for increased interest in the country and its culture. Before that, for many Europeans, Ukrainian culture basically remained part of the Russian Empire. And it must be said that Russia invested enormous amounts of money in promoting its culture. And it incorporated everything into its own culture. So, basically, everyone in France and Italy knew the better-known contemporary Russian writers, as well as Russian classics, which are still studied at universities and so on. But since 2014, since the Euromaidan, political interest in Ukraine has grown. There was an understanding that Ukraine is not Russia.” Corruption and Russian Influence. On problems and mistakes Oleh Shamshur: Discussions about Ukraine’s current problems generated no less debate. This included corruption, as well as the relatively slow progress in developing independent institutions after 1991. Participants in the discussions saw the difficult Soviet legacy and Russia’s strong influence over Ukraine even after 1991 as one of the reasons. “The point of no return was very difficult for us. If we compare ourselves with our friends in the Baltic countries, we lacked two things that they had, which made their path less painful. At the time they restored their independence, they had a consensus among the elites on foreign and domestic policy priorities, and they had those elites. At the time we restored our independence, we essentially had no elites,” Oleh Shamshur (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) Andriy Kurkov: “Now Ukraine is paying for its independence. And it is partly paying for the fact that politicians in the early 1990s were not active and did not work on creating a truly independent state separate from Russia. There was no competition of ideologies. Until recently, and even now, there has been competition between charisma-driven politicians, people who want to appeal to voters. Now I hope this war will change our political structure.” Oles Shevchenko: “It was in 1990, when Ukraine had sovereignty, and we had already become members of parliament, but the Soviet KGB still existed. Of course, we decided in the Verkhovna Rada to end the KGB’s existence. Instead, we were supposed to create the SNBU, the Security Service of Ukraine. And then Lt. Gen. Holushko spoke in the Verkhovna Rada. He was nominated for approval; he had been the head of the KGB in Ukraine, and now he was nominated to become head of the SNBU. He received a majority of the votes... Two months passed, and then he fled to Moscow, taking all the most important, classified documents from the newly created SNBU with him…. But we lacked strength; the Verkhovna Rada had insufficient democratic forces. What needed to be done was to completely dissolve this KGB structure and create it from scratch, so that no former KGB employees or their relatives could enter it…” Peter Dickinson: “Yes, corruption is present in Ukraine, in the discourse and in discussions, and this affects the international perception of Ukraine. But corruption is not only a Ukrainian issue; it also exists in EU member states that have joined the EU in recent years, and even in those that have been in the EU from the beginning. Most importantly, we know about corruption cases in Ukraine because they are being exposed, uncovered, and investigated. This speaks to the rapid development of institutions and civil society.” Kira Rudik: “I would like us to be able, with our hands on our hearts, to say that we are passing on to our children a country in a satisfactory and sustainable condition. From the perspective of public administration, we are still a long way from that. But if we look back at the path we have traveled, it has been a journey from the post-Soviet space to a strong European state whose progress toward the EU cannot be stopped.”