Nine years ago, on May 15, 2007, The Wall Street Journal’s Marc Champion wrote an assessment of Viktor Yanukovych’s political transformation. An editorial by The Ukrainian Weekly noted this makeover and the observations of the media.
Mr. Champion wrote: “Victor Yanukovich [sic], prime minster of this strategically important nation wedged between Russia and the West, has undergone one of the most extreme makeovers in global politics. Just two years ago, the Russian-back machine politician was a pariah in the West after he claimed victory in the 2004 presidential elections, which were marred by fraud and a brutal poisoning that left his opponent disfigured. …[Today] he has positioned himself as a champion of rule of law and democratic values, a visitor to Washington, Brussels and Davos, as well as Moscow. …He even polished his Ukrainian, which he now speaks in public instead of his first language, Russian.”
Simon Bell of the London-based Sunday telegraph wrote, “The pro-Moscow leader who was prevented from becoming president of Ukraine by the ‘Orange Revolution’ is attempting to reinvent himself as a Western-leaning conciliator who defends democracy.”
The Weekly’s editorial asked, “How is it that these two newspapers (and others) have discovered a ‘new and improved’ Viktor Yanukovcyh?” Ukrayinska Pravda published a series of articles two months earlier that pointed to spin-doctors, from the United States. This same U.S. firm, led by Paul Manafort and his team, advised Mr. Yanukovych and the Party of Regions on its election campaign and worked to promote its leader, both in Ukraine and abroad.
“…Are we seeing a case of a true makeover, or is it simply that Mr. Yanukovych’s advisers have taught him how to handle himself? Is it Mr. Yanukovych who is enjoying success as his rating have improved, or is it his spin-masters who are the success story? …Do Mr. Yanukovych and his team negotiate in good faith? Do they play fair? Does Mr. Yanukovych keep his word? Do his words really mean anything at all? Recent developments in Ukraine lead us to answer in the negative.”
Today, it should be noted, Mr. Manafort is working on an image makeover for presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Source: “Yanukovych’s makeover,” The Ukrainian Weekly, May 27, 2007.