Why did the people of Ukraine elect Yanukovych in the first place? The wealthier Russians in the East might have rigged it, but they aren't close in numbers to the native Ukrainians. I want to believe Russia is the bad guy, but I feel Yanukovych didn't have many other options. Integrating with the EU doesn't guarantee anything for them- and they hit a lot of problems once Russia decreases their financial support. Ie, their currency will default amongst other things.
The election was eerily similar to Bush V. Gore http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_presidential_election,_2010
The news sounds a little more promising today. but, I worry that some pro-Western demonstrators will have unrealistic goals. In a lot of ways Russia has Ukraine by the short hairs and there is only so much they can move before Putin starts retaliating.
I'm curious to know what percentage of the Ukrainian population favors closer ties with the EU (not joining the EU, at Ukraine's current economic level there's 0% chance the EU will let Ukraine join in the next 20 years) and what percentage wants closer ties with Russia.
Their government can stop the violence by giving those people what they want. There's a reason they're out in the streets setting up barracades and arming themselves. Fighting them is only going to result in more people joining them in the streets.
But is that what the majority of Ukrainians want though? It's obvious that these protestors represent a big chunk of the Ukrainian population but are they the majority though? What if they represent only 30%, 40% or 49% of the total population, than in that case the government absolutely shouldn't just give in to what the protestors demand and ignore the need of the majority.
Who cares what the majority wants? Its all about who gets out and works for what they want. Even here the majority doesn't matter. Its all about what the 30% to 50% of people who turnout for elections want. Democratic ideals are bull**** if they can't really be implemented. The implementation of democracy has yielded nothing but an aristocracy of people in positions of power in both parties and supported by a minority of society who proclaims to be well-informed enough to impose their beliefs on the rest of us.
So, what if the government gives them what they want and then the actual majority takes to the street to get back what they wanted which was cavalierly given away? This thing has a lot of potential for civil war. It's a political choice between two large foreign powers that is split on ethnic lines, with significant populations of both with deep roots in the country. You could almost split the country in half, except Ukrainians wouldn't consent to giving up half of their historic territory. To avoid more bloodshed, they need a compromise that both sides can live with. Total victory for one side or the other is more likely to result in continued resistance or else repression.
That would be great. I think you'd end up with a goverment that's alot more accountable to the people who support it, but I'm doubtful that there's a silent majority sitting back and watching this whole thing play out in a manner inconsistent with what they want -- in Kiev anyway.
Actually there's already more than ten thousand Russian troops in Ukraine. The Russia Black Sea Fleet is based in Ukraine along with some amphibious assault troops as well.
I don't think the EU is a silver bullet, but I think it speaks for an admiration for advanced democratic institutions we often take for granted.
Huge developments in the Ukraine today. Where will it lead? Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was freed from prison in the eastern city of Kharkiv and flown to the capital city of Kiev, arriving late Saturday. Her release could give the opposition a figure to rally around. "It is very nice to be able to feel the fresh air and to see people," she said in a statement upon her release from a hospital in the prison. "I hope our whole country would be able to see the sun from today. Because the best sons of our country lost their lives, those who covered bullets with their bodies, they have given up everything, so that now we all, each of us can be happy. "Now we have one task -- to make sure that each drop of the blood won't be dropped in vain, that each drop of the blood won't be forgotten." Her release prison came as Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych insisted in an interview aired on Ukrainian TV Saturday that he was not resigning and not leaving the country and would work to prevent further division within the country. He spoke in Kharkiv, a pro-Russian stronghold, as the nation's parliament voted unanimously to remove him from office and to hold new elections on May 25. The vote came a day after he signed a peace deal with the opposition intended to end days of bloody protests and fueling speculation he might heed calls for him to step down. At the presidential residence in a Kiev suburb, his living quarters were vacant, his guards were gone. Government buildings, protest gatherings and the central city were devoid of police and security forces, who had opened fire on protesters this week, killing dozens. As a CNN crew drove to Yanukovych's residence, it passed checkpoints set up by protesters. When the crew arrived, the gatekeepers said they were not allowing the general public onto the grounds, but they let journalists enter. The civil servants asked that the reporters treat his home as a crime scene and referred to it as the "people's residence." A senior U.S. State Department official said Yanukovych had left Kiev for Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv after Friday's peace agreement that European Union leaders helped broker. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, had been on the phone with Ukraine's foreign minister. That's "not unusual," the official said. Yanukovych has strong support in the East, where many ethnic Russians live. The opposition was triggered by his loyalty to Russia and a decision in November to turn away from a deal with the European Union. In many parts of Ukraine, people have toppled statues of former Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin, a founder of the Soviet Union. The communist empire had included Ukraine, and the country gained independence in 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union. In the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, one of Yanukovych's chief opponents called for him to be pushed from office as soon as possible. The parliament passed a resolution to free Tymoshenko, a hero of the country's 2004 revolution. She was sentenced in 2011 to seven years in prison after being convicted of abuse of authority over a natural gas deal negotiated with Russia in 2009. The case against her was widely considered in the West to have been politically motivated. In 2012, after she was allegedly beaten unconscious by guards, she went on a hunger strike to draw attention to "violence and lack of rights" in her country. In Washington, White House press secretary Jay Carney said U.S. officials were closely monitoring developments. "We have consistently advocated a de-escalation of violence, constitutional change, a coalition government, and early elections, and today's developments could move us closer to that goal," he said in a statement. "The unshakeable principle guiding events must be that the people of Ukraine determine their own future," he said, adding that the United States will support the Ukrainian people "as they pursue a path of democracy and economic development." Key Yanukovych allies left office, and the presidential duties were handed off until a new cabinet is selected. During the parliamentary session, resignations were announced for the speaker and another leading presidential ally. Hours later, parliament elected a new speaker, a rival to Yanukovych, and gave him the duty of coordinating the executive office until a new cabinet is in place. Another opposition parliamentarian received the duties of acting interior minister. The Verkhovna Rada sacked Yanukovych's prosecutor general. http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/22/world/europe/ukraine-protests/index.html?hpt=wo_c1
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Ukraine: -Tymoshenko out -Yanukovych dismissed -Some in East not happy -Maidan runs Kyiv -Yanukovych has a zoo <a href="http://t.co/pENGXOW83e">http://t.co/pENGXOW83e</a></p>— RFE/RL (@RFERL) <a href="https://twitter.com/RFERL/statuses/437345753103884288">February 22, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<iframe src="http://english.share.rferl.org/flashembed.aspx?t=vid&id=25273737&w=800&h=453&skin=embeded" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" width="800" height="453"></iframe> Yanukovychgrad. http://t.co/SAskpq15WR
I really hope things work out for Ukraine but I get a bad feeling that things are going to get worse.
