kgb files

[sjoyce]

Yesterday I read in the Kyiv Post that Mr. Yanakovych has declared that he will close the KGB files that were recently opened for people to do research. It will make it more difficult for some of us to research our family history.

[Hannia]

Hello Joyce.

Just wait until he decides that rock n roll and the Internet are bad for Ukrainians too. That will be the wake up call for the ones that voted for him and more importantly for the ones that didn't vote at all.

[sjoyce]

Today reading the Kyiv Post there was an article that made my stomach drop. Serhiy Kvit of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy is denouncing the new minister of Education and Science. The article can be found at
Kyiv Post. Independence. Community. Trust - Opinion - OP-ED - An appeal by Kyiv Mohyla Academy president to education sector workers
It appears the fear is that the new minister will rewrite Ukrainian history and the students will not know their own history, culture or language.

[Hannia]

Dear Joyce,

I'm at that point in my life, where I look at politics anywhere and everywhere as Hollywood for ugly people.

Don't stress out too much re what is currently happening in Ukraine. Since independence, Ukraine, for all intents and purposes, has been governed by cartoon-like characters. Just take a closer look at Tymoshenko, the only man in Ukrainian govt, as she likes to refer to herself. By the looks of the Ukrainian parliament, she is also the only woman.

I am not terribly concerned about Yanukovych. His origins, his career in Donetsk, and his populist endorsement of Russian as a second language, does immediately lead one to question his commitment to Ukraine's independence. BUT his very close connections to the Ukrainian oligarchy make any political or economic move toward a union w/Russia highly unlikely. Oligarchs like Aktemov, the steel industry captain and chief Yanukovich backer, have no reason to expose themselves to the competition of Russian businessmen and to the scrutiny of Russian police.

I think that Yanukovych did not become president of Ukraine in order to cede his authority to the Kremlin over questions such as transit fees for Russian natural gas and basing rights for the Russian Black Sea Fleet at the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol. He is there strictly for the benefit of his financial backers. They want to get as rich as their Russian peers, if not richer.

Yanukovych is a tough guy w/a criminal backgd, and probably psychically very well equipped for the next five years of bruising encounters with the Kremlin.

I also suspect that in a short time, he too will become fluent in Ukrainian. Yanukovych may not understand the need for cultural polish, but his backers certainly do.

My final thought is that Ukraine does have a constitution, which includes a process that will protect Ukrainian history from any revision.

[sjoyce]

Thank you Hannia. I am very new to Ukranian politics so do not understand most of it, having lived in a democracy all my life. I think I will stop reading the Kyiv Post. My concerns have been for family still living there. I should know, if they have survived this long, they should make it through the next 5 years

[Hannia]

Joyce,

Don't stop reading the Ukrainian papers, but read everything w/a grain of salt, just like we have to do here in the States.

[IreneLviv]

You are tooo optimistic Hannia - what is going here after elections is just terrible.
You refer to constitution - He will rewrite it to his own taste and he does not care about any laws or consitution - as shows this new 'coalition' in our Parliament.
Protests in Lviv against pro-russian Minister of Education, a thief and a villain
бН кЭБНБЕ Х йХЕБЕ ОПНУНДЪР ЮЙЖХХ ОПНРХБ ЛХМХЯРПЮ дЛХРПХЪ рЮАЮВМХЙЮ(тнрн) - рЮАЮВМХЙ, ЮЙЖХЪ ОПНРЕЯРЮ, кЭБНБ, ТНРН - мНБНЯРХ - оНКХРХЙЮ - кЕБШИ аЕПЕЦ