(en) France, Organisation Communiste Libertarie (OCL) - Courant Alternatif, CA #238 - Ukraine: Nothing to expect from Europe or Russia (fr)

Between the Orange Revolution of 2004, and "euroMaidan" 2014, much has changed in Ukraine. 
The image of a European Eldorado can attract the "post-communist" populations has 
considerably tarnished without drastic austerity diktats of the IMF and measures. 
Ukrainian political leaders still had some credibility. They now partly lost: In 2014 the 
"leaders" proclaim themselves as such and are not necessarily followed by the crowd. For 
ten years, the parties are then successively allies fought, succeeding to lead the country 
without nothing changes for an impoverished population, kept under the yoke of 
dictatorship, soft or hard, and several heads, according to the period. ---- Back on said 
Orange Revolution and its aftermath ---- We wrote in AC in January 2005 that while most of 
the Western media had the "orange revolution" as a spontaneous movement for democracy, on 
looking closer we saw that spontaneity was more than the CIA Ukrainians themselves and the 
significant presence of fascist elements in this movement tempered singularly democratic 
spirit! In 2004, the candidate supported by the EU and the United States, Viktor 
Yushchenko was the winner of the "third" Ukrainian presidential run. It could not be 
otherwise as the West had put forces and dollars in the game to ensure that the country 
would shift both in the Euro-Atlantic camp. Yet the persistence of a significant (43%) for 
the candidate considered "pro-Russian" (already Yanukovych) score showed that nothing was 
resolved domestically.

Then ensued a long period of musical chairs between the main actors of political life that 
can still be found now, for the most part. Yulia Tymoshenko (1) is a short time Prime 
Minister before being sacked in September 2005. She returns in December 2007 and was 
defeated in the 2010 presidential election Viktor Yanukovych (already twice prime minister 
- 2002 and 2004) which puts the alliance with Moscow to date and imprisons Yulia 
Tymoshenko (recently released to start a umpteenth career after removal of Yanukovych.)

These vibrations, which have allowed any time to improve the lives of Ukrainians have 
ruined the credibility of the politician sphere considered more corrupt. This is what has 
allowed this time, a significant part of the "popular speech" is postage both leaders, 
including fascists, and big brothers, European or Russian.


A desire fantasized Europe but that is not the only engine of revolt!


The movement said EuroMa?dan, born November 27, 2013 formally to oppose the government's 
decision to ratify an Association Agreement with the European Union, quickly overwhelmed 
its initial application, but does not give up. Its dynamic massive occupation of streets 
and squares it is constituted and solidified around another requirement: the overthrow of 
President Yanukovych and his government and implicitly cleaning the corrupt state 
apparatus. For a militant revolutionary syndicalist Ukrainian, "integration into the EU is 
not the central issue protests, but it is implicitly considered by the protesters as a 
natural step that should eventually be taken by a" good "government after the fall of 
Yanukovych. " [2]

It's a little Ukrainians take for idiots under-informed as to proclaim that if the people 
took to the street it is only because Europe is massively in his eyes that speak of values 
of freedom and democracy. This somewhat idyllic vision of a Europe of wages, social 
security with a warranty with unlimited freedom of speech and a good life could be 
explained in the 2004 Ukraine Orange Revolution who had known no economic and social 
improvement since independence took place in 1991 and since that time the EU did not know 
his adjustment policies, restructuring and current austerity. Years of economic 
depression, declining living standards, widespread corruption had because of the hopes 
raised by the end of the "real communism", and it is a country exceeded by more 
authoritarian regime of Leonid Kuchma President supported by the U.S. since 1994, and then 
by his successor Yanukovych that characterizes the state of mind of the majority of 
Ukrainian population then.

Ten years later, things have changed a bit. If Kiev the European flag was still waving, 
many Ukrainians also know that Greece, Spain, Portugal or Italy, it burns! If, in 2004, 
could reasonably believe that rallying the country to Europe could drain to Ukraine 
consequent financial aid to give a little air to the economy, many know that now the 
situation has, too, changed Europe Barroso and Catherine Ashton is the austerity imposed 
diktats of the IMF and the time is the stranglehold of populations more than the 
distribution of hampers to calm people and buy social peace. It is also noteworthy that 
the opposite block, are discharged on Ukraine to maintain Russian influence also are 
likely to significantly reduce crisis and require new situation.


The failure of Yanukovych since 2010


Beyond the latent internal conflict liable to a historical division of the country - 
between the Russian-speaking east, industrial and culturally very close to Russia and the 
West more "Ukrainian", agrarian, Catholic (Eastern Rite Greek and Roman) less populated, 
more interested in western Europe later Russia - the real reasons for the hatred of 
Yanukovych take both the corruption of its government and, upon his arrival to power in 
2010, his attempts partly failed and postponed to impose unpopular neoliberal measures, 
reform of the health system leading to the closure of many hospitals, the introduction of 
health insurance instead of the unconditional coverage a very unpopular pension reform 
(with the increase in retirement age for women) against the wishes of more than 90% of the 
population, the attempt to write a new Labour Code that would have legalized the work week 
48 hours and 10-hour day, the transformation of railway corporation ...

But all these projects have been stopped and the government had to backtrack. Prices of 
natural gas, electricity, heating, water is frozen at a level that is one of the lowest in 
Europe and in the former USSR, the draft Labour Code is buried in parliament; pension 
reform (introduction of mandatory instead of solidarity system of retirement savings 
plans) is paralyzed. The government has realized that he could not get this package with a 
low level of support as in the population. And this, even though living conditions, 
housing, wages and incomes of workers and the general state of the economy, already leave 
much to be desired, and that people all legitimate reasons for demand better living 
conditions.


A radicalization of the movement in January 2014


The wicked laws of "Black Thursday", on January 16, led to a radicalization of the 
movement. They had to punish protesters for a variety of actions: occupation of 
administrative buildings: 5 years in prison, wearing helmets and uniforms during 
demonstrations, motorcade or mounting a tent or stage: 15 days, etc.., plus fines, plus a 
range of possible sentences, left in a blur for simple comments deemed defamatory towards 
the authorities or dangerous as "extremists."

The evacuation of the town hall of Kiev headquarters of the protest movement, occupied 
since December and had found refuge where about 700 people, was the condition laid down by 
the Government for the implementation of the law of amnesty for 234 demonstrators pursued 
for political offenses, some risking up to 15 years in prison. But the negotiations, 
conducted exclusively by the opposition parties and the conditions laid down by the 
executive were far from meeting the requirements of tens of thousands of people who 
occupied the site. A sign of the tensions within the movement was the fact that 
paramilitary nationalist opposition parties immediately after the evacuation of City Hall 
Sunday, February 16, were deployed to defend the building in order to avoid it reoccupied 
by other demonstrators. This fracture was immediately used by Yanukovich who has waited 
two days to launch its offensive retaliation against the Maidan.

"As for the" major figures "of the movement, we see the same thing in Russia, Turkey 
etc..: There are politicians who are trying to land at the head of the movement, but the 
bulk of the protesters do not recognize them as the leaders. Yes, there are different 
political currents, even Ukrainian nationalists in the movement (and the left part of the 
"civilian" protesters), but the overwhelming majority is - as in Russia etc.. - The 
non-partisan civil activists, ordinary citizens. " (Julia, Praxis center of Moscow 
http://www.praxiscentre.ru/ )

Yanukovych's decision to launch a bloody repression had taken a long time, but delayed by 
tactical considerations (try to oppose them the two main opposition parties, make some 
concessions in exchange for a reflux movement, win time ...). The protesters refused to 
leave the place and some of the buildings despite the withdrawal of unfair laws and 
amnesties, expansion and radicalization of the movement, the consolidation of a 
self-defense organization likely to reverse in term balance of power with anti-riot units 
(Berkut) [see Box 2], accelerated his decision to strike a blow.

Despite the terrible repression of the first day, with twenty deaths, the movement held 
firm reoccupied the square, rebuilt the barricades at night. The second day, with at least 
47 dead, already weakened power has played his last card by launching one second deadliest 
offensive, officially militarizing the Berkut (the "Eagles", riot police) with weapons of 
war and police not even taking the trouble to hide to become snipers and shoot balls 
Kalachnikof the crowd.

Meanwhile, in Lviv, largest city in the West, people go siteholders after controlling the 
police and proclaim the independence of the city while in many areas, police 
reinforcements were blocked by protesters and in Kiev, reinforcements flocking to nearby 
rural areas and suburbs to lend a hand and resist the loads supported by bands of Berkut 
"titushkis" (civilian thugs recruited by the regime). In the fighting, 67 police officers 
were taken prisoner by insurgents and thousands of protesters reach deal behind their 
shields of metal or wood, to defend the place meter by meter and spend all night. The 
police withdrew.

Despite the terrible toll, repression has not defeated, that is to say, it has already 
lost, that the balance of power has not been reversed and the street imposes its power. 
Obviously, at this stage, the pursuit of excessive repression against thousands of people 
willing to defend by all means, including armed, would have led to unimaginable spiral. 
The fragility of the political power of the President, the internal contradictions of the 
ruling class, external pressures (from Germany, France and Poland and Russia) will do the 
rest and forced to accept Yanukovych truce (imposed by the EU and Russia), which will 
prove to be a surrender.

The logical and inevitable radicalization of the movement at this time, its extension to 
new populations and strata, its generalizability to a large part of the territory and the 
likely increase in its "military" level clashes pushed the powers continental neighbors 
(mainly EU and Russia) to intervene, under the guise of putting out fires and restore 
calm, restore foremost social and institutional. In addition, as the comrades of the SAT 
say "The EU, Russia and other world powers are unlikely to allow the creation of a chaotic 
war zone in a country that has large gas transit routes and oil, 15 nuclear reactors " . (3)
At this time, the EU and Russia should be pushed towards the exit Yanukovych and change 
management team in the country by the parliamentary opposition in the saddle, responsible 
for maintaining the balance between the interests of European capital and those of Putin 
regime.

In addition, neither the EU nor Russia have an interest in letting it develop movements 
that could echo what has happened lately in the Balkans (Croatia, Slovenia) and winter in 
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Tuzla, Mostar, Sarajevo ...) which is drawn a social movement, 
ignoring the ethnic divisions imposed by the European Union and especially Germany, has 
united the Serbs, Croats and Bosnians to try to impose a local authority controlled by 
general meetings against official administrations established and controlled by the 
international community.


The main elements of the crisis


Ukrainian crisis plays out at several levels, with different actors and all challenges.

There was first the polarization manifested in the clash between Yanukovych and the 
protest movement, with armed clashes days of February 19 and 20, could only continue and 
expand as a Another outcome was not found. However, internal tensions movement street and 
Independence Square reflecting both a competition between different political groups 
(right and far right) but also between different groups and organized a new dynamic 
movement born in January when power promulgated the "law of January 16," which has seen a 
new mobilization and the emergence of new people, obeying any leader or party in the 
occupation of the square and streets: a heterogeneous set but able to say next and 
independently of already structured political groups, and that despite the importance of 
their role, particularly in terms "military". Socially too, the composition seems to have 
changed slightly from mid-January. If participants in the movement continue to come from 
all social strata and classes as early in recent weeks more "proletarian" component was 
noted, including the notable presence of many young devices metropolitan areas.

However, "we can not say that the working class entered the Maidan. Yes, the number of 
workers has increased, but they do not see themselves as a class, for them, it is an 
irrelevant category. So there is no "class-for-itself" in Maidan. And the majority of the 
working population in Kiev is still apathetic. As I said, the composition of the class is 
now more "universal". The majority, I think, is always represented by the students and the 
petty bourgeoisie, most of the proletarians of the western regions of Ukraine. This is 
especially true for those who remain permanently " . (2)


Emergence of autonomous popular initiatives


The only unpredictable element - and incomprehensible to various elites - which is drawn 
across the path of negotiations and the 'normalization' to achieve mutually beneficial to 
these various institutional arrangements, was the fact that tens of thousands of customers 
refused to leave the Maidan against the removal of unfair laws or amnesty, not trusting in 
their own ability to combat and self-defense, even if the defense of barricades, All 
witnesses agree that the various fascist groups have played a significant role.

But below the barricades and the front line of street fighters in the space that is 
appropriate to the heart of the capital, the Occupy movement is also something else: 
self-managed campgrounds , the information centers, mutual aid areas, centers of 
self-organized emergency care, places of distribution of hot meals ... in short, the 
paradigmatic features a contemporary and colorful urban uprising, with its dynamic 
individual involvement, collective solidarity, support horizontal tasks ... all coexisting 
with the occupations of buildings of political power, mostly initiated and controlled by 
organized (mainly Svoboda) groups, the noticed the presence of self-defense units and the 
high visibility of a right-wing propaganda, its countless Celtic crosses, flags and other 
insignia.


The far right


It has been said many often contradictory things, or at very different cases, the presence 
and importance of the extreme right. While some openly and minimize want to ignore it, 
others do exactly the opposite, only talk about it, see only the fascists at work or 
maneuver, whether in some "antifa" or from the "conspiracy theorists" who claim to see 
behind every social movement, every internal conflict in a country they defend the camp, 
the hand of the CIA, the U.S. administration, Wall Street and fascism, using the same 
mechanics as Western politicians who believed the "hand of Moscow" in every social or 
anti-colonial significant movement.

On this line, the PCF is very strong: it explains the Ukrainian situation the appearance 
of Nazi movements, and using the same recipe as that explained the strikes in Germany in 
1953 and Hungary in 1956 by the presence of fascist elements pro-Western.

That said, the extreme-right movements are present in the movement.

Of all, the best known is the Svoboda Party (Freedom Party), which won 10.44% of the vote 
(over 2 million) in the last parliamentary elections in 2012. Until 2004, it was called 
National Social Party of Ukraine. This Parliament with 38 members, it is the only party to 
be active in the street and on the initiative of several occupations of buildings in Kiev, 
Lviv. It is now pro-European, then there are three more years, he campaigned against the 
integration into the European Union. He claims the legacy of nationalist movements of the 
past that actively collaborated with the German occupiers, and by anti-Soviet nationalism 
during the Second World War. It is openly xenophobic, racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic.

Red and black flags that can be seen floating in the demonstrations, the occupation of 
City Hall, it's them. In western Ukraine, the party seems to collect relatively important 
votes in the working classes (except in Kiev where he especially supported in a part of 
the educated middle class and wealthy), while in Eastern Ukraine, it is populist Communist 
Party and the Party of Regions which benefit most from the labor vote.
According activist Autonomous Workers Union, we must distinguish between militants and 
diffuse sympathy they may encounter in a part of the opinion. "The two political camps are 
dominated by populist right-wing ideologies - a wild mix of conservatism and nationalism. 
This is the main problem, because the actual number of right-wing extremists is still 
small compared to the crowd that, at times, has gathered 100,000 or more, while the 
potential mobilization of all fascist Ukraine is about 1-2 thousands. But their ideas are 
welcomed by the partisan crowd and they are very well organized, and also people love 
their "radicalism". An average Ukrainian worker hates the police and the government, but 
he never fight openly for fear of risking his comfort. Therefore, he or she welcomes an 
"avant-garde", which is ready to fight on his behalf, especially if this vanguard sharing 
"good" patriotic values. " (2)

But he adds, people do not mix, "there is a certain physical distance between the Nazis 
fighters and protesters" normal. " It is a trait noted by several witnesses and actors of 
the situation: many people, especially younger, mix ideological references and will draw 
on both the right ideas (tradition, machismo ...) and left ( anti-capitalism), in a 
mythical national past or other sources (New Age) something to build referrals and 
social-political imagination. There was even a group Avtonomniy RISO (Autonomous 
Resistance), which happily mix anarchism and ultra-conservative nationalism.

The extreme right undeniably occupies an important place, but is neither hegemonic nor the 
driving force of the mass movement and it is not true that his political objectives 
coincide with those of the protesters, who, remember, as the only common denominator from 
Yanukovych and very limited confidence, or absent, in the opposition parties.

Meanwhile, it is a fact that groups of revolutionary anarchists and left are very small 
and have a real difficulty for forward axes that would introduce other issues in the field 
of social needs in particular, and open a political space that reaches at least to 
counterbalance the extreme right. The actual pressure exerted by the fascist groups on one 
side and the other, the failure of anti-capitalist and radical groups to agree on limited 
points, but specific and concrete (against the 50% increase in public transport Kiev, for 
example), forced into a sort of semi-underground and scattered interventions, individual 
and more watered down. Finally, some leftists, by fascism, supporting the government or 
declared themselves neutral.


More ...?


Ukraine crisis is far from resolved. On the one hand because the fall of Yanukovych and 
the movement that resulted have not exhausted all their effects, including local and 
regional, and very clever who can predict the future dynamics. Secondly, and more 
importantly, because the new government will have to hold together contradictory behind 
the political crisis and interests, very concretely, the weak and divided ruling class, 
will she send to recompose in this new political situation? Ukraine is in recession, the 
currency was devalued, the public debt is increasing and places the country on the brink 
of bankruptcy (default), that is to say in a liquidity crisis. We are talking about 
limited reserves within three months ... And then the unknowns are legion: the role of 
funder of Russia in this new environment, the actual leverage of the EU in this respect, 
the game and the actual place of the U.S. administration, etc..
Ukraine's new Minister of Finance ai, Yuri Kolobov, found that "the amount of assistance 
required macroeconomic Ukraine may reach $ 35 billion in 2014 -2015 "and said he asked the 
granting of emergency" credit within a week or two "(4) without specifying the amount. And 
he said he wanted an international conference of donors (EU, U.S., IMF ...) which, of 
course, does not "give" anything but lend under the express terms of "liberal" reforms to 
make the country a large profitable area for the purposes of capital - especially those 
that Yanukovych wanted to implement but which he resigned - as has been done in Eastern 
Europe post-communist, in the years 1990-2000, and in peripheral countries of the Euro 
Zone since 2008 ...

The EU has neither the means nor the will to pay anything outside the euro zone, the IMF 
is suddenly - and very strongly - encouraged by government authorities of the European 
bourgeoisie to the job, to come take urgent matters in hand and do what he can do in this 
division of labor among key decision makers in global capitalism.

Comrades of the OCL

(Late February 2014)

Notes:

(1) Yulia Tymoshenko was called the "gas princess" in Ukraine. The term was picked up in a 
loop in the Western press at the time of the Orange Revolution. However, during the events 
of 2014 this term has almost disappeared from feathers called free world and is now 
qualified as "icon" or "passionaria." But Yulia Tymoshenko is nothing other than oligarch 
who made his butter with the company of the Ukrainian oil and has been repeatedly singled 
out for laundering and abuse of power. Everything is done now to conceal the economic 
aspects of the events that are reduced to a mere "political" opposition between two blocks 
and two parts of the country.

(2) "Maidan and Its contradictions: an interview with Ukrainian revolutionary syndicalist" 
Pr?tel? komunizace. http://pratelekomunizace.wordpress.com/

(3) "Politicians had to obey the crowd", interview of 28 January 2013, available on our 
website: oclibertaire

(4) AFP, 24 February 2014

- Inset 1 -

Parliamentary parties

The former opposition

The All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" [Bat'kivshchyna], the former president Yulia 
Tymoshenko (whose references range from Margaret Thatcher to Evita Per?n) and currently 
headed by Arseniy Yatsenyuk (25% of the vote in the 2012 elections);

Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (Udar), "Coup" in Ukrainian, former boxer Vitali 
Klitschko (14% of votes), liberal center-right linked to the CDU Angela Merkel;

The philo-Nazi party Svoboda ["Freedom"] (10% of votes), very present in western countries 
and organized force main in the street.

The former government block

Party of Regions Viktor Yanukovych (30% of the vote);

Communist Party of Ukraine (13%).


- Box 2 -


The military organization of the movement

Subject little touched by the Western media. The protest movement has seen create a body 
for protection and defense, trained volunteers supervised not former military or veterans 
of the Afghan war ... This super service order has been placed under the authority Andriy 
Parubiy, 42, founder of the National Social Party of Ukraine (ancestor Svoboda), 
re-elected in 2012 on the lists of "Fatherland" party and Tymoshenko called the "Commander 
EuroMa?dan." February 7, Parubiy publicly announced that the "Council of Self Defense 
Maidan" organizes "the United Revolutionary Army" throughout Ukraine.

"We see the need for our growing ranks of 10 000-15 000-30 000-40 000 people who could go 
to Kiev and effectively oppose the plan. Therefore, in the coming days, our leaders of 
self-defense will go across Ukraine to coordinate the activities of all divisions of the 
defense units that already exist. Where they do not exist, we seek to create. We go beyond 
barricades Maidan Maidan because not only here in the capital, it is all over Ukraine. "

The main basic structures of self-defense will sotni ("centuries" groups from 80 to 150 
people) coordinated by a regional command. "We emphasize that we prepare a plan for 
resistance, nonviolent, but very active. We will fight local corruption, we do a thorough 
cleaning, we will conduct our own information warfare. We have our own active 
revolutionary army. [*] ".

The statement said that the defense force already has 12,000 volunteers, a figure probably 
overestimated. Officially unarmed, in fact equipped with sticks, baseball bats, bars, 
knives and Molotov cocktails during clashes these defense units like the embryo of a 
paramilitary force explicitly designed to measure - and Do less equal footing - with the 
forces of riot police ... so that they of course do not make heavy use of weapons of war, 
with tanks and artillery, etc.. Days of February 18 and 19, showed that the resistance of 
various militant groups, reinforced by thousands of protesters, was already powerful 
enough to retain the street, despite the dozens of deaths, hundreds of injured, that would 
it was a few weeks later?

Other groups have also been very active in the street, defending barricades and clashes 
with the Berkut. We can mention two Narodniy Nabat (The Tocsin of the People) and Volna 
Zemlya (Ground Wave), where references seem diametrically opposed and go anarchism radical 
ecology.

On the assumptions of a gradual militarization of the conflict, revolutionary syndicalist 
comrades SAT on their side felt come and did not exclude late January, "the emergence of 
an underground movement guerrilla fighter, who would reminiscent of the IRA in Northern 
Ireland. "

___ [*] "The council of Maidan self-defense organizer united revolutionary army Throughout 
Ukraine," February 8, 2014, announcement on the official website of the movement 
EuroMa?dan ( http://euroMa ?danpr.wordpress.com /).