French and German students unite in support of a democratic Ukraine (06/03/01)

French and German students unite in support of a democratic Ukraine

by Kyrylo Horiszny
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

STRASBOURG, France - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) met in Strasbourg on April 23, with one its goals being to discuss the authoritarian backslide of the Ukrainian government and the exclusion of Ukraine from its ranks. On this occasion, Ukrainian students of France and Germany protested against the threat of isolation of an entire country by calling Europe to support the pro-European and democratic forces in Ukraine.

Located in the Alsace region, Strasbourg has been a historic lynchpin of Franco-German discord. However, history can record that on April 23 the French and Germans held hands in Strasbourg. Truth be told, the students were probably not moved by this symbolic gesture, nor by the region's tumultuous past, but were concerned above all with the fate of their country of origin, Ukraine.

Now that Kyiv is racked by political crisis after the murder of opposition journalist Heorhii Gongadze, Europe has decided to react to the increasingly authoritarian Kuchma government. In early April a commission of the Council of Europe adopted a series of recommendations advising the exclusion of Ukraine from its ranks; the recommendations were adopted unanimously by the 20 commission members present.

Ukraine has already had six similar warnings since it joined in 1995, but this time the crisis has escalated and the ever-more-present specter of Moscow pushed the Ukrainian Student Union of France to proclaim its concern on the occasion of the opening of the Parliamentary Assembly.

Together with their German counterparts, almost 90 demonstrators gathered before the door to the Council of Europe to plead the cause of a "European Ukraine." This is a double-edged sword since, although closer ties to Europe have always been the battle cry of the current regime, the demonstrators insisted that the European Ukraine they dream of must have a more democratic dimension.

"By taking this action," said Vladimir Poselsky, one of the spokesmen of the demonstration, "we are acting on the hope that today a real possibility exists to change the situation and put Ukraine back on the track of democratic development, just like most of the other states of the former Communist bloc (from Poland to Serbia)."

"Two conditions are necessary for this to take place," Mr. Poselsky continued, "the first and essential condition is internal in nature: democratic and pro-European forces of Ukraine should organize and form a unified democratic coalition. The second condition is external in nature: Europe, its institutions and its national governments should give stronger support to the Ukrainian democratic opposition."

He underlined: "This is the principal message that we wish to spread with our action. In this respect, we consider that excluding Ukraine from the Council of Europe is not a pertinent answer to the Ukrainian issue, because it does not distinguish the current government from the Ukrainian civil society that is being born."

Most of the students arrived from Paris and Reims by bus just a few hours before the demonstration began and were joined by other groups from Metz, Strasbourg, Fribourg, Munich and Belgium. Ukrainian flags and signs sprang up before the Council of Europe, while the public chanted: "For a European Ukraine!"

Large bilingual streamers were held up for curious onlookers, with slogans such as, "A democratic Ukraine happens through Europe" and "Tarasyuk, Yuschenko, Holovatyi = European Ukraine" (the latter a reference to three reformers of the current Ukrainian administration who were considered overzealous by some powers).

Serhii Holovaty made his way through the crowd to salute the demonstrators before going inside the Parliamentary Assembly hall. A staunch pro-European, the former minister of justice and current liberal deputy in the Ukrainian Parliament was one of the most important people behind Ukraine's joining the Council of Europe.

Enthused by this demonstration abroad, he could not help but deplore the escalation of the dispute and consequently its origin. "This is the first time that I see this many Ukrainian flags before the Council of Europe," he remarked somewhat bitterly.

Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Anatolii Zlenko also greeted the demonstrators. At the head of the Ukrainian delegation in Strasbourg, Mr. Zlenko, the former Ukrainian ambassador to France, stated to the crowd, "You are right in giving your support for an independent Ukraine" - to which the demonstrators added "independent and democratic!"

Surrounded by a human chain of placid French State Security Police, the cohort of demonstrators sang traditional Ukrainian songs and shouted pro-European slogans, while three students in Ukrainian shirts distributed leaflets to the stream of European deputies at the entrance to the hall.

The press also was present, including journalists from the RFI, Reuters, AFP and BBC news services.

At 12:30 p.m., armed with petitions, representatives of the Ukrainian demonstrators left to present their requests to the general secretary of the Council of Europe, Walter Schwimmer of Austria. The delegation consisted of Mr. Poselsky and of the presidents of the two respective student associations, Stefan Mironjuk of Germany and Cyril Horiszny of France. Mr. Schwimmer was not indifferent to the doubts raised regarding the efficacy of sanctioning a whole country in distress.

During the meeting Mr. Schwimmer said he felt "sensitive to the actions made by a rising generation, and to its message for the democracy." Afterwards, the students paused with Mr. Schwimmer for a souvenir photo on the steps of the assembly.

The verdict came three days later: the exclusion of Ukraine was unanimously rejected - that despite the initial recommendation of the Parliamentary Assembly's commission.

Mr. Schwimmer said he believes that "the serious warning" given by the Parliamentary Assembly was not without effect, because Ukraine's foreign affairs minister felt it worthy to travel to Strasbourg to plead his country's cause, before declaring without ambiguity (as stated in an AFP report): "We wish for the Ukrainians to remain in the European family, which is for us a challenge."

Nevertheless, PACE deputies adopted two amendments offering a further two months to Ukraine to make "substantial progress" - failure to do which would result in its parliamentary delegation being expelled from the next session in Strasbourg.

Although the impact of the student action on the Council of Europe's decision cannot be determined, the majority of European deputies seem to have discerned the counterproductive effect of the isolation of Ukraine.

FOR THE RECORD: Ukrainian students' declaration

| Home Page |