Dear Editor,

It would be an understatement to say I was surprised on reading Anthony Salvia’s article in Kyiv Post on Jan. 28 titled: “Ukrainian president may deserve to win the Nobel Peace Prize,” in which the author writes about the “terrific” achievements of the president of Ukraine over his first year of presidency.

The Kyiv Post, as long as basic rules of politeness, and decency, are respected, ought to welcome every type of comment, including Salvia’s. It does.

Congratulations.

I imagine that Salvia, a previous U.S. official, expresses an independent view, i.e., that he is not today working and therefore remunerated by whomever to write such an article.

And in such a case, as a 12-year expatriate in Ukraine, and as a banker, a well-informed witness of the situation, as well as last year’s developments, I have a hard time understanding how someone, who I presume is intellectually honest, could make such a proposition.

I would therefore suggest to Salvia very humbly that he try to meet and listen to Ukrainian citizens, to some expatriates, starting with the best informed ones – the journalists and businessmen – and discover what Ukraine’s situation today really looks like and how it has changed or not over the last year.

Nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, even if “politics” ought to play a role, should be thought about in a more serious way, I believe.

My French compatriot Albert Camus’ essay titled “The Rebel” (1951) is worthy of discovery or rediscovery for Salvia. What makes us, including many Ukrainians, great on earth is this capacity to rebel. Albert Camus won the Nobel Prize, but in literature…and I am sure that many of the Nobel Peace Prize laureates (Nelson Mandela to start with) had this capacity to rebel. Maybe Yanukovych has it also, if I believe Salvia.

Jacques Mounier
Head of banking in Ukraine for Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank
Kyiv