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We tell you about Europe
The fate of Europe is partly at stake in Kiev today.
Even though police brutality towards students gave the EuroMaidan movement its momentum, and its various component now demand an in-depth change of the political system, the desire for Europe that started the movement remains firmly in its heart.
The desire for Europe means an array of simple demands that are too often undervalued in the EU: an impartial justice system, an unyielding struggle against corruption, freedom of expression, trustworthy security forces, functioning institutions and a transparent and democratic State, ensuring wealth is shared and not confiscated by a few oligarchs.
Therefore, after starting the « Republic of Maidan » on the same square that saw the Orange Revolution, civil society wants to affirm that Europe, when it is true to its fundamental values, is desired by the people.
Against the fiction that was built by the European far right and loosely supported in public debate, civil society affirms that being against Europe does not mean being with the people.
It is crucial that Europeans hear this message in order to lucidly make the choice that is theirs today. Twenty years after the Yugoslav wars, three years after the beginning of the Arab Spring and as scores die everyday in Syria, the nature of Europe’s political project is challenged at its very door.
The choice is clear.
On the one hand, beleaguered after months of negotiations and disappointed in Ianukovich’s rebuttal of its propositions, Europe gives up on the Ukrainians and their desire for Europe and leaves them at the mercy of the oligarchs and their godfather Putin.
If it let the butcher of Chechnya carry on with his imperialistic project of reviving the Soviet Empire, whose fall was « the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century », Europe would keep drifting towards a bureaucratic, soulless system, far from its peoples’ aspirations. It would feed its own adversaries and contribute to the entry of the enemies of Europe and democracy in the European parliament, which is often and wrongly presented as inevitable.
On the other hand, Europe can decide to take up Moscow’s challenge and to vigorously support the Ukrainian democrats who are struggling to save their country from dictatorship and from becoming, as the world looks on, a new Belarus.
Europe would then regain its civilizational momentum by promoting democracy without any compromise and being faithful to its core values, which alone spark popular support. This momentum would also revive the European popular project within the EU, especially in Hungary and in Greece.
Supporting the Ukrainian democrats means helping them maintain the « Republic of Maidan » as long as possible, for
Firstly, the « Republic of Maidan » proves that a working democratic society is possible: it is a space of solidarity and brotherhood, where public goods belong to all, where utilities – from heating to waste disposal – are working, where everyone has enough to eat, where freedom of expression and freedom of the press are guaranteed, where everyone is welcome and where civil society is vibrant.
Secondly, because as long as it exists, the « Republic of Maidan » provides a protection against the repression and the violence of the security forces.
In order to maintain it, political support through the visit to Kiev of political and civil society leaders must be complemented with renewed international media attention and financial support, be it public or private.
Supporting the Ukrainian democrats also means standing by them in their confrontation with the nationalist far right, which is gaining strength thanks to the role of the Svoboda party in EuroMaidan’s political coordination.
Democracy implies daily, unfailing commitment for human rights and against racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and any form of discrimination. No struggle, be it for national liberation or against colonialism, can justify renouncing or altering that commitment in the name of the struggle against the common enemy.
In order to ensure this, diplomatic vigilance, the continuous presence of Ukrainian democrats in the international media and the increased integration of Ukrainian civil society into European civil society will be relevant and crucial.
Finally, as civil society’s defiance of politics is deeply rooted in its disappointment following the Orange Revolution, supporting the Ukrainian democrats also means ensuring the continued cooperation of political and civil society leaders in order to define clear and shared objectives and to form a leadership supported by consensus.
Other Europeans, most particularly those who have lived through democratic transitions in Eastern Europe, can play a key advisory role and therefore increase the movement’s chances of success.
By committing to supporting Ukrainian democracy with determination and enthusiasm, and therefore proposing a project based on human rights Europe will be able to oppose the far right’s sinister agenda from the Atlantic to the Ural and once again gain popular support and live up to its peoples’ aspirations.