Oleksandr Sushko: Favourable solution of Ukraine’s crisis stands little chance of success

From the very beginning the meeting of four Ukraine’s presidents couldn’t be the key to resolving political crisis, as it is not the presidents who participate in confrontation.

Oleksandr Sushko, Ukrainian National Coordinator of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum analyzes the situation in Ukraine in the interview with the EuroBelarus Information Service.

 - How do you assess the meeting between Yanukovich and his ex-counterparts? A lot of hopes were connected with this meeting.

- Maidan protests are going on; several thousand people gather in downtown Kiev these days. As to the meeting of the four presidents, it is the first Yanukovich’s attempt to formulate a message to Maidan and Ukrainian society since the political crisis escalated. The roundtable discussion was controversial since the beginning, for it is not the presidents who participate in confrontation; the real goal is the dialog between the authorities and the Ukrainian society.

At the meeting, the presidents have voiced their concerns about the tensions in the Ukrainian society.

If we think about this meeting as about the first step to the broad public dialog, it is a positive achievement. However, if that is the end of it – such roundtable won’t bring any results.

Yanukovich made a hint about the possibility to release some Maidan’s participants, but promised nothing. As to the main issue - non-signing the Association Agreement with the EU, - we only heard general declarations, which say that Ukraine still sees integration with the EU as its strategic goal, but nothing further.

We all are familiar with strange Yanukovich’s remarks about the text of the Agreement with the EU: a week before the signing it suddenly turned out that Ukrainian authorities disagree with some provision of the document, though it is the president and the government who were preparing and initialing the text of the agreement. Saying that in the given situation Association Agreement cannot be signed means that the authorities don’t go halfway to meet the demands of the society and make no real steps to resolve the political crisis.

- Ukraine is manning the barricades. Who are the confronting parties for all that? The version about the confrontation between the pro-European and pro-Russian forces looks a bit simplified.

- There is no confrontation within the society, its groups or segments. The confrontation is between the society and the authorities, who are trying to represent it as “West-East” confrontation. However, Maidan is addressing and opposing the government of Ukraine, which failed to realize its own decisions.

Of course, there are some Eurosceptics in Ukraine, too, but the difference in opinions didn’t cause public confrontation. Some are indifferent about the European integration. Still the main problem is antagonism between the authorities and the civil society activists.

- What side of the barricade doesUkrainian National Coordinator of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum occupy?

- National platform comprises organizations that see European integration as their main goal. Platform, on a large scale, was created to promote the idea of Ukraine’s Eurointegration.

Since the very beginning we demanded to return the situation to the earlier state, before November 21, when the government decided to postpone signing Association Agreements with the EU for no good reason. And after the forcible dispersal of Maidan we demanded to punish those guilty of it. That clean-up operation was the first case when excessive force was used against the peaceful protesters.

- Yanukovich claims to continue the dialog with the opposition; however, he is going to negotiate under his own terms. How do you expect the situation is going to develop?

- It is most likely that no serious steps towards the society will be made and preservation of conflict (which, I’m afraid, won’t be resolved in the nearest future) will remain. Judging by the behavior of the authorities, favourable solution of Ukraine’s crisis stands little chance of success.

Whether the authorities will dare to use force against the protesters remains unpredictable.

Current confrontation can develop into a prolonged political conflict that might last for months or, even, years. I think that Euromaidan will be defining Ukraine’s political agenda up to the presidential elections of 2015.

- How Eurorevolution can influence the future of the Eastern Partnership?

- We have already understood that the progress with EaP ideas is hard to achieve, Inspired by Russia, the opposition against these ideas is growing; Eastern Partnership becomes the object of geopolitical contention, so there won’t be easy ways out.

However, the society has made it clear that European integration is the interest of the whole society, not some group or elite’s project; which means that the EaP is strongly supported by hundreds of thousands Euromaidan’s participants.