After 15 years of independence, there is not a single clear reason for Ukraine to remain one country.
The existence of “Big Ukraine” makes less and less sense, because the only thing its different parts still have in common is… football.
Let’s go back to 1991. At that time, our independence came out of the blue and nobody really knew what to do with it. Apart from a few dissidents locked up in Siberia, we Ukrainians never dreamt of, or fought for, this independence. If anyone doubts that, I strongly suggest looking up the results of the March 1991 referendum. The next referendum, in December 1991, when the majority supported Ukraine’s independence, was nothing more than an indicator that society was confused and did not really know what it wanted.
In this aspect, little has changed since 1991. Ukrainian society remains confused, which is evident from the various opinion polls that almost always paint an odd picture: the majority’s support of Ukraine’s further integration into European institutions, while favoring closer ties or even reintegration with Russia and the former republics, at the same time. All kinds of “awareness campaigns” (with a great deal of money spent on them) have generated little or no impact.
The Orange Revolution, as it turned out, was nothing but a general protest against the existing state of affairs in the country. It certainly was not a united, well-thought-out push for a new structural model. You don’t think so? Please go back to the results of the last parliamentary elections, then replay the “Orange government” saga in your mind, and after you do that, check the name roster in the current Cabinet of Ministers.
The everlasting struggle for power in Kyiv between different political actors possesses one uniquely post-Soviet aspect. It always consumes the involved parties entirely, leaving no space or time to come up with coherent reform strategies and policies that the country so crucially needs.
The existing structure of power in Ukraine complicates the situation even more. There is a president, a prime minister and the rigid, centralized, hard-to- control executive branch. With the non-stop conflicts between a powerful president and a powerful prime minister (names left aside), who is the head of the executive branch? This has been the pattern from the very moment an experienced apparatchik like Leonid Kravchuk realized that he wanted maximum power and minimum responsibility. That model sure did work for him, and it worked especially well for his successor, Leonid Kuchma.
A purely parliamentary republic could have solved old and prevented new conflicts and contradictions within the elite (or between different elites, for that matter). But the latter was already preoccupied with what it always did best: being involved in a power struggle and personal enrichment.
Another fatal blow to Ukraine’s future as one country was the elite’s ignorance and refusal to implement radical administrative reform (by the way, how are you, Mr. Bezsmertny?) which could not only have ended the country’s totally artificial Soviet division into 25 oblasts, but also could have outsourced the main decision-making power to its historically established regions: Transcarpathia, Galicia, Volyn, Donbas, Podil, Crimea, etc. Yes, it would have required Ukraine to become a federation. The Galicia Assembly failed because Mr. Chornovil and Co. were building it with the usual Ukrainian type of brick – half steps.
Even if introduced tomorrow, Ukraine’s federalization would no longer help to keep the country united. Because now, wherever in Ukraine you may be, there will always be us and them, and what we want is totally different from their wishes.
The secession of Western Ukraine – and not just Galicia – will allow us, Western Ukrainians, to achieve what can no longer be achieved by “Greater Ukraine.” It will make possible a smaller Ukraine as an integral part of Europe. Our small compact country will not be called just “Ukraine” anymore, but we will still be Ukrainians. European Ukrainians, that is.
There will be another state – right next door to us – bearing the name “Ukraine,” its capital will still be Kyiv and its national symbol, just like ours, will still be Taras Shevchenko. Let that Ukraine go wherever it wants to – or not move at all. Let that Ukraine be proud of its huge industrial potential; have Russian as a second – or first, or the only – state language; retain an overregulated economy permanently feeding total corruption; have laws that only deepen lawlessness; shout a strong “NO” to NATO and “YES” to Moscow’s chokingly tight embrace. Let those Ukrainians be happy the way they want to be – in their permanent crisis of identity and blind belief that the government always will and should take care of them – after all, they have their rights, too!
But right now, in today’s “Unified Ukraine,” it is we who are losing our country, which is rapidly becoming theirs. They outnumber us, and many of them hate us. Some of this hatred is historical but most of it is actively fueled these days. To see it, all you need is a connection to the internet and a browse through Eastern and Southern Ukrainian web forums, and please, don’t underestimate the number of their visitors.
In our part of Ukraine, we may have often misunderstood them; we may have always overestimated our ability to spark that Great Resurrection of national self-consciousness in their minds. One thing is sure: we never ever hated them. We have always thought that what all our brothers and sisters from the East and South really need is us being out there for them in the name of our common and suddenly independent Ukraine. They did not, and we are still unable to fully appreciate this fact.
It is time for Ukraine’s elite to climb down from the Hills of Pechersk, shake off their permanent state of denial and face reality. This country looks, acts and sounds ridiculously artificial. It is time for us, Western Ukrainians, to realize that if we want to save our Ukraine and everything we know, feel and call “Ukrainian,” we need to move on and break free from this country. Otherwise, it will drag us forever into the permanent Eurasian “yesterday.” If we ever want our Ukraine to join Europe, then we have to stand up and peaceably, but strongly raise our voice for full independence for our Ukraine from theirs.
Dmitry Koublitsky is a co-founder and former president of the Europe XXI Foundation (Kyiv) and a Lviv native. He has been advocating full independence for western Ukraine since 1996.
