But, with only 13 days left before the Eastern Partnership Summit in Lithuania, now is not the time to give up. Now is the time for Ukrainians and everyone else interested in a better future for Ukraine to take action.
Everyone should press President Viktor Yanukovych and his ruling Party of Regions through all available channels. Yanukovych must: release imprisoned ex-Prime Minister YuliaTymoshenko now as part of a commitment to end selective justice; adopt a law to curb prosecutorial powers as part of the creation of a fairer criminal justice system; and adopt a law to ensure fair and democratic elections. Simultaneously, Ukrainians should throw themselves at the mercy of EU decision-makers and encourage them to overlook Ukraine’s poor leaders and embrace the best interests of the nation – which lie in Western integration.
Yanukovych has been toying with the EU and his own nation since coming to power. He says he wants a democratic nation integrated with the West, but his actions tell the story of an autocratic leader who wants to monopolize political and economic power. One day, the EU is his No. 1 priority; then another day his prime minister, Mykola Azarov, says Russia is the No. 1 priority.
No matter how much power Yanukovych and Azarov accumulate, however, Ukraine’s 45 million people – and everyone else who supports their aspirations – will have the final say. That means people should write open letters, articles, organize, call members of parliament if you know them, urge influential businesspeople to press the case for the signing of an EU-Ukraine deal.
Mercifully, Europe’s envoys to Ukraine – Pat Cox and Alexander Kwasniewski – haven’t slammed the door shut on Ukraine yet. Parliament still has time to act when it meets again on Nov. 19, only nine days before the summit kicks off.
If Ukraine lets this opportunity slip away, it may not come again until 2016. The EU will be tired of Ukraine and immersed in its own elections in 2014. Ukraine has a presidential election in 2015. The disappointment will be worse than in 2008, when Ukraine blew its chance to sign a membership action plan with NATO – worse because joining the EU has always been more popular with Ukrainians than joining the Cold War military alliance. A failure in Vilnius will likely mean that Ukrainians are forced to endure a repressive state and visa restrictions on travel even longer.
Let’s hope the fervor of Ukrainians in 2013 is more like 2004, when Yanukovych got a clear message during the Orange Revolution that he cannot steal an election, than it was in 2008, when the nation sullenly accepted NATO’s rejection. No mattter what happens in Vilnius, however, the dream of Western integration will never die.
