Simferopol, January 18 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Ukraine's proposed integration with the European Union would run against , an accord between Russia and the Cossacks of Zaporizhia, that put Ukraine under Russian sovereignty and "is not revisable," said the parliament of Ukraine's autonomous region of Crimea.
“January 18, 2014, is the 360th anniversary of the Council of Pereyaslav, an outstanding event in the history of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples, one that determined their future and the future of the entire Eastern Europe for many years to some,” the legislature’s presidium said in a statement passed at a meeting.
“Reunification with Russia protected Ukraine from the national, economic and spiritual oppression of the Catholic Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and other seekers of Ukrainian lands. That kind of ‘Europization’ would have meant enslavement and loss of the Orthodox faith and cultural identity to our people,” the presidium said.
“Unfortunately, political gamblers who are holding forth today on the civilizational choice of Ukraine forget that such a choice has already been taken, that it was made by our ancestors many centuries ago and is based on the perennial desire of the eastern Slavonic peoples, which have the same roots, close historical ties, similar cultures and spiritual values, for unification. This choice is not revisable! We Crimeans are fully aware of the momentous significance of the Council of Pereyaslav, an event that should set an example to our contemporaries and our descendants for all time. May the day of January 18 become a symbol of peace and inseparable friendship between the brother peoples of Ukraine and Russia!” the statement said.
Parliament chairman Volodymyr Konstantinov, speaking at the presidium meeting, said: “When we speak of the decision made in Pereyaslav, we are speaking not so much about the past as about the present and future.”
“Attempts are being made now to make us choose our vector of integration though such a choice was taken once and for all as far back as 360 years ago at the Council of Pereyaslav. Attempts are being made today to force an artificial civilizational choice on us. Such a choice has already been taken! We are part of the Russian world. Being part of the Russian world is not a problem but an advantage, which we must learn to use,” Konstantinov said.
“We have been and remain a component of a huge cultural and economic space that significantly differs from what the European Union brings together. What we need to do is not to change our essence in order to be integrated into someone else’s home as spongers but to improve our own home, make it more comfortable, securer, richer. This is an absolutely feasible task if we join forces in handling it with our blood brothers and our well-tested friends,” he said.
“We – both Ukraine and the Russian Federation – are parts of the same cultural and economic space. We are united by our shared heroic past and by our shared problems of today, which we solve effectively and successfully when we are acting together. I don’t doubt for a second that we have a shared great future. And no matter how hard they try to pull us apart and drag us into various ‘unions’ and ‘spaces,’ we will keep being drawn toward each other and support each other in difficult moments. If we are together we will overcome anything!” Konstantinov said.
