The EU Tries to Help Ukraine Protesters; Where Is Obama?

When people vote with their feet these days, it's no longer necessary to leave their country. It's more likely to happen in a large street gathering with mobile phones at the ready - as Ukraine's embattled President Viktor Yanukovych is finding out. On Tuesday he promised that some demonstrators arrested in the massive protests sweeping the capital, Kiev, will be released, in his bid to defuse a political stand-off that is threatening his leadership. The street protests have continued for three weeks, the largest and most sustained since 2004's pro-democracy Orange Revolution, some drawing hundreds of thousands of people to Kiev's streets and Independence Square. In 2004, Yanukovych was driven from his newly proclaimed presidential election by the Orange Revolution protesters labelling the election rigged, led by Yulia Timoshenko, the iconic woman with braided blond hair. Yanukovych was finally elected president in 2010, narrowly beating Timoshenko, who was subsequently imprisoned on corruption charges, which her supporters say were trumped up. In his effort to stop the current massive protests against his decision to align economically with Russia instead of the European Union, Yanukovych has now also vowed to renew talks with the EU on concluding the much-awaited popular trade and political agreement, after his refusal to sign the deal last month prompted Ukrainians to pour out into the streets in the hundreds of thousands. Yanukovych indicated he was still ready to sign the deal at a summit next Spring, but only if the EU can offer better financial terms. He was speaking in a televised meeting with his three predecessors, meant to find a solution to the standoff. "If we find understanding and if such compromises are reached, the signature will be put" on paper. The three weeks of protests against Russia have grown larger and more vehement after police twice violently dispersed demonstrators. Tensions escalated even further Monday when armed law enforcement troops stormed the office of the top opposition party, breaking glasses, smashing doors and confiscating computers. The opposition is demanding three things : the release of the dozen protesters who remain in jail, the prosecution of the police who beat protesters, and the replacement of the government by one committed to European integration. It is unclear whether Yanukovych's counter-offers can bring the sides closer together. Yanukovych said he has told the prosecutor-general to ensure the release of some of the protesters - those who haven't committed grave crimes and who have children or families, he said. Investigations of those freed would continue. But Yanukovych appeared unreceptive to the criticism voiced by Leonid Kravchuk, Ukraine's first president after the country's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, who said that beating protesters is unacceptable. "Law enforcement must know that it is forbidden to beat people. And there can be no justification for anyone" who does so, a stern Kravchuk said, sitting beside Yanukovych and two other former leaders at a table decorated with blue and yellow flowers - the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Kravchuk, and his successor, Leonid Kuchma, hinted that the resignation of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov would help defuse the crisis. Yanukovych did not comment on that. Ukraine's economy has been in recession for more than a year, and the government is in desperate need of foreign funding to avoid a default. Moscow has worked aggressively to derail the deal with the EU and lure Kiev into its own economic group by offering price discounts and loans, but also imposing painful trade restrictions that could affect Ukraine's export-leading steel and mining industries. However, Ukraine is dependent on Russia for its gas and petroleum supplies. Yanukovych said he would renew talks with the International Monetary Fund about getting a bailout loan. But some analysts were skeptical that Yanukovych's pro-EU talk was genuine, believing that in light of his sudden turn-around before a summit in Lithuania last month to sign the deal that he was still playing off Russia against the EU. And the raid on opposition party headquarters Tuesday could hardly be expected to help protesters believe in his willingness to meet political conditions required by the EU. That may be the real problem : the protesting opposition want the democratic rules that the EU pact would require, while Yanukovych and his circle prefer a Russian-style oligarchy that curtails democratic rights. Experts point out that Yanukovych is neither pro-Russian nor pro-European. "He is pro-Yanukovych," according to Taras Kuzio, a research associate at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies. "He's going to do anything he can to try and stay in power." Eugene Chausovsky, a Russia analyst for the global intelligence firm Stratfor, says that had Yanukovych opted for the EU association agreement rather than the Russian custom union, "we would have probably also seen protests, except from a completely different segment of society. It shows the difficulty of ruling Ukraine. It's a split country." Ukraine, with 46 million people, that used to be called the "breadbasket" of Russia because of its large grain production, has long held a contentious place in European politics. For several hundred years, it was part of the Russian empire. After the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine became independent and began to cultivate greater economic ties with the European Union, angering Russia. ~~~~~ In a speech to the European Parliament, the EU's enlargement commissioner, Stefan Fuele, said the EU was ready to help Ukraine financially "including through topping up IMF loans with macro-financial assistance [and] stepping up the European Union's financial assistance programmes," but it was not clear whether this was an increase over previous offers. Yanukovych has complained of the cost of upgrading Ukraine's economy to EU standards, saying €20 billion ($27.4 billion) a year would be needed, while the EU offered only a fraction of that sum. Meanwhile, two top western diplomats arrived in Kiev on Tuesday to try to help reduce the tensions, but dozens of pro-Yanukovych activists picketed the office of the EU commission in Kiev before the arrival of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who met for several hours with Yanukovych. The picket lasted several hours. Also arriving in Kiev on Tuesday, US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland met with opposition leaders, including Vitaly Klitschko, the heavyweight world boxing champion who leads the Udar (Punch) party, Arseniy Yatsenyuk of Timoshenko's Fatherland party, and Oleh Tyahnybok of the far-right Svoboda party. Nuland was also scheduled to meet with Yanukovych. ~~~~~ Dear readers, because of the media space devoted to reporting events in the Middle East, especially the Iran nuclear deal and the war in Syria, it is easy to forget about other significant world situations. Ukraine is one of them. President Obama effectively abandoned the Urkaine when he announced that the missile defense network shields planned for Poland would be placed in Alaska instead, thought to be done as an Obama gesture toward Russia's concerns for its Ukraine border. The EU has picked up the Ukraine question, trying to pull it toward the West and democracy through trade agreements. A non-Russian Ukraine is key for the future safety of Europe, and if Obama refuses to engage Russia, the EU must. Russia feels threatened because it considers Urkaine to be an integral part of its territory, despite Ukraine's post-Soviet independence - and many Ukrainians agree. This is the key problem in today's street-led battle. To succeed as a country, it is clear that Urkaine needs economic assistance and trading partners. Russia proposes to take on that role, but many (most?) Ukrainians want to be part of Europe, not Russia. They want democratic institutions and a free market economy - goals they know will not be met if their president aligns them with Russia. The European Union and the United States should support the Ukraine democrats with funding and trade offers, and with diplomatic pressure on both Yanukovych and Russia to accept economic and political freedom for Urkaine, while assuring Russia of the security of its Ukraine borders. For Vladimir Putin, the last thing he wants is a democratic Ukraine spreading its ideas into the Russian region next door - from St. Petersburg to Moscow - where such ideas would find fertile ground. That will inevitably come with or without a democratic Ukraine, but for now, Russia needs to hear the right words to re-assure it, while the EU and America help the people of the Ukraine to break with the Yanukovych oligarchy.