Daily Times

The western press does not understand Ukraine. That is clear after weeks of reporting the demonstrations. We are given the absolutely minimum background on the history and culture of Ukraine. This is like when writing about the sea to only write about the waves and not the fish and rocks beneath.

Until relatively recently, the national consciousness of Ukrainians rarely surfaced. In the mid 19th century, when it was almost a totally peasant society, they were either subjects of Russia or Austria — and quiet ones at that. Only gradually did a sense of being Ukrainian develop. Even as part of the Soviet Union, nationalists were a small minority. Their best and brightest went to Moscow to study, write, sing, dance or work in government. This is what they wanted to do and the people back home were proud of them. Nikita Khrushchev was Ukrainian and rose to be premier of the Soviet Union between 1958 and 1964 (he was responsible for the building of the Moscow metro and later denounced Stalin in a landmark speech). So, most Ukrainians did not feel like political outsiders.

However, we can go further back than that. In 1453, Constantine fell to the Ottomans. The Roman Empire ceased to exist. The Orthodox Church many consider to be the true church once the Roman emperor, Constantine, had moved his capital to Constantinople. After the fall of Constantinople, the centre of gravity of the church shifted to Kiev and Moscow.

For a long time, the Ukrainian church was independent. Not until 1686 did it come under the authority of the Moscow patriarchate. Moscow was considered to be the ‘third Rome’, following the previous sites of the headquarters of the church in Rome and then Constantinople. The powerful and popular church in Ukraine owes allegiance to the Moscow patriarchate. Ukraine’s industry and agriculture remains dependent on supplying Russia. Oil supply will long be an umbilical cord. Even if the country moved its centre of gravity westward, these things would remain true.

Arts and culture have long had a significant Russian orientation. A number of Ukrainians have written in Russian and are considered by Russia to be among the best — Nikolai Gogol, the playwright, who satirised political corruption in the Russian empire, Mikhail Bulgakov, the novelist and author of The Master and Margarita, an enduring bestseller, and Anna Akhmatova, the greatest female poet in Europe, among others.

Fifty percent of the population of Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, speaks Russian at home although the Russian ethnic group is only around 13 percent. In Ukraine, as a whole, it is 17 percent. Vladimir Putin does not expect Ukraine to lose its present day independence but he would like history to be recognised. The closeness is far more than the UK and France or Spain and Italy. It is more like Germany and Austria or Sweden and Norway.

From Moscow’s perspective, it makes economic sense if Ukraine furthers its economic links by joining the new customs union that embraces many ex-Soviet states. It will also give Ukraine a powerful voice again in Moscow. However, this does not mean that Ukraine cannot get closer to Europe but it must take it a step at a time as must Turkey. It is less economically developed than Turkey and is politically less democratic. There is no good reason, other than EU realpolitik, why Ukraine should jump over Turkey in the queue.

Mikhail Gorbachev, ex-president of the Soviet Union, when in office, used to talk about Russia being part of the “European home”. Putin has echoed that sentiment but Europe has not reciprocated even though Russia, in its culture and arts, is arguably the leader of all Europe.

The US and Europe have broken the US’s promise not to expand NATO up to the Russian borders. Besides being militarily unnecessary, it is a profound provocation, putting Russia on the defensive and making it wonder what the EU is up to when it wants to embrace Ukraine so tightly. Personally, I favour Ukraine being at the front of the queue for entering the EU just as I do Turkey but the EU has not set about it in a sensitive enough way. Perhaps there is a way for the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union to forge a treaty of cooperation.

The demonstrators have to straighten their ideas out. Too many of them appear to be allowing the violent militants (many from the far right) too much latitude. Only if the majority of the crowd now occupying the city’s main square makes it clear to those using violence against the police that they must stop is a full dialogue with the government possible.

Maybe a new election, as the opposition calls for, will break the impasse between them and President Victor Yanukovych, especially if the political prisoners, including Yulia Tymoshenko, are freed. Whoever wins an election would have to acknowledge the importance of the Russian-speaking east and not try to steamroller it.

The writer writes on foreign affairs and can be contacted at jonatpower@aol.com