Meanwhile, in Feodosiya, little understanding of just what NATO is (09/24/06)

Meanwhile, in Feodosiya, little understanding of just what NATO is

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

FEODOSIYA, Ukraine - Discotheques pumped Russian techno beats, "shashlyky" grilled on open flames, while teenagers bought large swaths of white cotton candy for their tight-skirted sweethearts.

A humid July 16 night on Lenin Avenue, the main beachfront drag in Feodosiya, didn't reveal any hint of the anti-NATO vitriol heaped upon 200 U.S. Marine reservists just two months earlier.

While fierce, at times violent, anti-NATO protests threw this sleepy resort town into the international spotlight in late May, the average Feodosiya resident can't offer a basic definition of what the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is.

"An alliance of Americans and those ... what are they called?" said Anatolii Kurylo, 26, a Feodosiya resident.

Though most can't offer even a basic definition of what NATO is, they are sure they don't want anything to do with it.

Of the 12 people approached by The Weekly as they enjoyed a sunny Monday morning in a downtown Feodosiya Park, seven said they were against Ukraine's membership in NATO, four supported it, while one was indifferent.

Of the four respondents supporting NATO, three were tourists visiting Feodosiya. Five of the seven respondents against NATO membership were Feodosiya residents.

"It's an Atlantic alliance. Well, we don't need military bases here. We need to live calmly and that is all. Without any weapons and without any of that crap," Mr. Kurylo said.

The fact that the majority of Feodosiya residents consider themselves ethnic Russians, and also believe Crimea should be a part of the Russian Federation, is the main factor that fuels the anti-NATO sentiment.

Ukrainians and all Slavic people should unite with the Russian Federation into a single union under Moscow's guidance, Mr. Kurylo said.

When asked why Ukraine shouldn't follow Poland's lead instead of Russia's, Mr. Kurylo dismissed the Poles as a nation he didn't care for.

"I've lived in Crimea all my life, and I want to keep living in Crimea," he said. "I want to comunicate in the Russian language and I want Russian to be my native language, my family and my son to live here. Let it stay that way."

Though he didn't participate in the anti-NATO protests, Mr. Kurylo said he supported them, as did most Feodosiya residents.

The protests were triggered by the arrival of more than 220 U.S. Marine reservists from the Selfridge Air National Guard Base on May 27 in order to set up a training base for a military exercise.

In a February vote, the Verkhovna Rada had denied permission for the Sea Breeze exercise, giving pro-Russian political forces cause to launch the protests, which numbered several hundred people.

Denied hotel reservations, the U.S. Marines had to hunker down in a Ukrainian naval hostel for two weeks amidst round-the-clock picketers who protested their presence and heckled them. They eventually left without carrying out their mission.

When the U.S. Advantage arrived to unload military and construction equipment, the anti-NATO protesters blocked all the port's exits, preventing anything from being unloaded.

U.S. military technical personnel were forced to leave with the ship.

A separate group of about 100 Marine reservists who arrived on June 2 were ambushed at 4 a.m. by protesters who rocked the bus back and forth, even shattering a window.

Uliana Kvakusha, 65, said she participated in the Feodosiya protests, but couldn't offer a definition of NATO. "I know that we shouldn't enter NATO," she said. "We don't have any business being in NATO."

In fact, it was a Belarusian tourist who was able to offer the best definition of NATO.

"It is a Euro-Atlantic military bloc," said Natasha Semenov, 34, who supported the anti-NATO protests while watching them on television in Belarus.

"During the Cold War, the Warsaw Pact and NATO were the two opposing sides. Then the USSR collapsed and the Warsaw Pact ceased its existence. So the only remaining military force was the NATO bloc. Now its military troops and fleet are entering into other countries," she said.

For this very reason, she supports independent Belarusian and Ukrainian armies that are aligned with the Russian Federation. NATO needs a counterbalance so it doesn't monopolize Europe's military might, Ms. Semenov said.

A Kirovohrad tourist offered the second best definition, though it was admittedly vague and elementary.

"I guess it is a military organization for creating safety all over the world and safety for those countries who are members of this organization," said Yulia Dutchak, 21.

However, she said she's against Ukraine joining NATO because membership would be too expensive for the government, which is still trying to develop the nation and the economy.

Instead, Ukraine should maintain good relations with all its neighbors, she said.

In the view of Maksym Rupeta, NATO is an American ploy to buy off Ukraine.

Furthermore, the referendum is an attempt by Ukraine's pro-Western leaders to force NATO down the throats of Ukrainians, he said.

"We don't want it," Mr. Rupeta said. "We don't want either America or NATO. But they decide instead of us. So what are we supposed to do?"

Since his appointment on May 26, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor Jr. has been especially careful in his remarks about the issue of Ukraine's NATO membership, repeatedly stressing that membership is a matter up for Ukrainians to decide on their own. He has said he expects a nationwide referendum on NATO by 2009.

Until then, Mr. Taylor said he expects the Ukrainian government will conduct an information campaign to make Ukrainians more aware.

"One of the things I hope we can do would be to sponsor discussions, dialogues, conferences, roundtables, where Ukrainians and others can have conversations about the good things and the bad things about joining NATO," Mr. Taylor told reporters in June. "So if the Ukrainian people decide, we will be glad to help."

Judging by the knowledge of the average Feodosiya resident, the U.S. and Ukrainian governments have their work cut out for them.

Of the seven Feodosiya residents approached by The Weekly, only one was able to form even a basic definition.

"It is a military accord," said Valerii Sherkov, 50.

"Between?"

"Between states," he said.

"Which states?"

"Mainly Western," Mr. Sherkov said.

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