Posted by Bohdan A. Oryshkevich on May 18, 2002 at 22:18:15:
In Reply to: Kyiv Post likes Communists? Unfortunately, posted by Andrew on May 18, 2002 at 17:37:54:
The current issue of a World Affairs published in Washington is devoted to European and NATO Expansion. This journal has Jeane Kirpatrick on its advisory board. She was a leading advisor to President Ronald Reagen. It appears to be a conservative journal.
In it Ukraine comes out on the bottom of the list in many categories as to Euro-integration (even lower than these countries in most categories) with Moldova, Belarus, Russia, and the Bosnia. Even Albania is ranked higher.
A European diplomat who is based in Kyiv is quoted in this journal as saying that when he travels to Lithuania from Kyiv he feels that he is re-entering Europe.
From a very different perspective this journal writes the same about Ukraine as S. Gmrya.
I read the Kyiv Post article before I knew who wrote it. I would add that many western analysts feel that way. But they would not state it bluntly or directly.
The secret is to prove by argument and by action that this author is wrong. There is no other way.
200,000 people went to honor Lobanovsky. How many went to demonstrate for free speech after the Gongadze scandal? That is what it will take to develop a desire to enter Europe. Action and support of democracy.
Lobanovsky was recently quoted in the leading English journal, World Soccer, that the trouble with Kyiv Dynamo in competing successfully in Europe was that not enough players on the team spoke Russian. That is unfortunately were the mentality of the people is in Ukraine, still.
Until there is progress on this issue Euro-entry by Ukraine will be the equivalent of mating a biplane from 1918 with a supersonic jet fighter.
Bohdan Oryshkevich