EDITORIAL: The 11th anniversary (08/18/02)

EDITORIAL

The 11th anniversary

On August 24, 1991, we witnessed an unprecedented event that brought about the realization of an age-old dream and the culmination of Ukraine's decades of hope and struggle under the Soviet regime. Citing "the mortal danger surrounding Ukraine in connection with the state coup in the USSR on August 19, 1991," the "thousand-year tradition of state-building in Ukraine," a nation's right to self-determination and the Declaration on State Sovereignty of Ukraine, the Supreme Council of the Ukrainian SSR declared "the independence of Ukraine and the creation of an independent Ukrainian state - Ukraine." It was a risky step at a dangerous and uncertain time.

Eleven years later we continue to celebrate that bold act of August 24, 1991. As we mark another Ukrainian Independence Day, we are pleased to note that the mortal danger to Ukraine from external forces appears to have dissipated. Instead, however, the danger today is internal.

To be sure, there have been a number of major positive developments just in the year since Ukraine marked its 10th anniversary of independence. Most noteworthy among them were (in chronological order): the destruction of the last SS-24 ICBM missile silo in Ukraine; the adoption of a new land code that legalizes private ownership of land and permits its sale; the end of the Soviet-era internal passport system after the Constitutional Court ruled it was a violation of an individuals' right to freedom of movement; the reduction of the Communist Party's power when, for the first time since the creation of the USSR, that party did not win the most votes in an election; Kyiv's newly proclaimed policy of "European Choice" aimed at bringing Ukraine into the ranks of the European Union; Ukraine's announcement that it will seek NATO membership; and the continued growth of the economy.

But there are major problems.

Ukraine continues to suffer from a sullied image of its own making. NATO and the European Union, as well as Ukraine's other Western partners, all have stated that how far Ukraine progresses in its "return to Europe" and its quest for recognition on the world scene depends primarily on Ukraine itself - on whether words are transformed into reality and whether long-promised reforms are effected. Two salient examples are the machinations during the March elections, and the still unresolved Gongadze case.

There is also the matter of Ukraine playing follow the leader with Russia. Examples of this abound: Ukraine's oligarchs support the turn toward Europe, but only in concert with Russia - "to Europe with Russia" is their catch phrase; Ukraine's leaders announce steps to join NATO, but only after the establishment of the NATO-Russia Council; Ukraine and Russia agree to a joint review of textbooks; and a presidential decree announces that Ukraine will observe the 350th anniversary of the ill-fated Pereiaslav Treaty that resulted in Ukraine's subjugation by Russia.

Above all, there is the neglected welfare of the people of Ukraine: a coal mining industry racked by accidents and deaths; a military that is responsible for the accidental downing of a passenger jetliner and a fighter jet's crash at an airshow; a workforce that must travel abroad to earn a living, etc.

Nonetheless, the people of Ukraine simply cannot afford to lose hope. They must believe in themselves - in their talents and abilities, in their experience and hard work. They must shed the notion that things should be accepted as they are - that those in charge, almost of necessity, are a bunch of thieves. Above all, they must realize their own power, the power of their voices and their votes.

Writing on September 1, 1991, in The Ukrainian Weekly, Ihor Yukhnovsky, a member of the Parliament's Presidium and leader of the parliamentary opposition grouped in the National Council, stated: "Independence for us means that we finally have a chance to establish a free and open society."

Eleven years later we celebrate the fact that Ukraine was given that chance and that the opportunity seized in 1991 is one that still exists.

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