EDITORIAL: A mature Mr. Kuchma and the national idea (09/08/96)

EDITORIAL

A mature Mr. Kuchma and the national idea

Recently, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, a Russian government newspaper published in Moscow, announced a contest for the best concept of a national idea for the Russian Federation among its 150 million citizens.

The concept is to be outlined in seven typed pages or less, and the winner will receive 10 million rubles, approximately $2,000.

Some may say that this is a democratic approach to building a national idea, but it is also a sad comment on the state of affairs in Russia. Can a price tag be put on a national idea?

When elected in 1994, President Leonid Kuchma was viewed as a leader who would drive a wedge between Ukrainian citizens in the east and west of this vast country of 52 million. Some said he did not have a concept of a national idea, nor did he feel one was necessary. During his presidential campaign, many analysts predicted that Mr. Kuchma would pull Ukraine toward Russia, and the regions apart, causing rifts on such issues as language, symbolism, religion and culture.

Today, Mr. Kuchma has matured into a committed statesman. Speaking at the Ukraina Palace on the fifth anniversary of independence, the Ukrainian president concentrated his attention on the importance of a national idea for Ukraine, not as an ideology to live by, but as a unifying force among the citizens of Ukraine.

"It is most important that this national idea live in the consciousness of our society, that it be a laurel for the entire nation and not just flowery words on paper," said the Ukrainian leader.

"I understand the national idea to be one grounded in deep, historic traditions, which date back to the days of Kyivan Rus, the Halytsko-Volynsky kindgom, the Kozak state.

"This is the idea of a strong and flourishing Ukraine, an idea built upon the principles of statehood, patriotism and solidarity ..." noted President Kuchma, explaining that in order for citizens of one state to grow, they must not allow the divisive past to influence the future.

A national ideal is beginning to take root in Ukraine. With the adoption of the new Constitution in late June, with the upbeat celebrations marking the fifth anniversary of Ukrainian independence on August 23-26, and with the introduction of a new national currency, the hryvnia - which revives the traditions of Kyivan Rus - citizens in every corner of Ukraine are beginning to show signs of understanding who they are and where they come from. There is an awareness growing among Ukraine's citizens that they are indeed one of Europe's oldest states.

Why even in the Crimea, the most restive of Ukraine's regions, the blue-and-yellow flag was proudly flown in Simferopil on Independence Day. The Ukrainian language, once rarely heard on the streets of Kyiv, and even less frequently in eastern regions, is coming into its own, as more and more citizens are practicing their native tongue, abandoned by most during Soviet times.

Unlike in Russia, there are no contests on the national idea in Ukraine, but there is a growing awareness in the populace that they have one homeland, and that homeland is Ukraine. Perhaps these are the people who are the real winners.