Is it too late for Kiev to woo Russian-speaking Ukraine?

[newthinking]

A series of missteps may mean the new government in Kiev has lost what influence it had in Ukraine's Russia-friendly southern regions.

Source: Christian Science Monitor
By Sabra Ayres, Correspondent / February 28, 2014

Sevastopol, Ukraine

With Russian military forces now in Crimea and the regional government claiming loyalty to impeached President Viktor Yanukovych, it looks as if the new government in Kiev may have already lost any influence it had in Ukraine's southern regions.

But if Kiev loses the mostly Russian-speaking populations in the east as well as the south, many say much of the fault will be at the hands of the leaders of the antigovernment protests in Kiev and the political opposition leaders, who have done very little to woo voters in these regions. As a result, the country is now more deeply divided than it ever has been its 23 years of independence.

“They don’t take our opinion into account on the Maidan,” says Andrey Foman, referring to Kiev's Independence Square. The actor, from Simferopol, stood with demonstrators outside the Crimean parliament this week and showed support for greater integration with Russia. "This is a clash of two cultures now in Ukraine."

Mr. Foman’s complaint of not being consulted about the government reshuffle is a common theme among Russian-speaking Ukrainians. In many ways, they are right.

The antigovernment demonstrations that started in late November were sparked by Mr. Yanukovych’s backtracking on a campaign promise he had made to sign a trade and association agreement with the European Union. The demonstrations spiraled into an antigovernment, anticorruption movement that called for Yanukovych’s removal. Ukrainians across the country agree that corruption within the ruling elite has plagued the country for too long and hindered its development.

But the protests on the Maidan evolved into a movement in which nationalist groups developed a key role. This worried the Russian-leaning east and south, which are densely populated, heavily industrialized areas, where a large percent of the population is employed by state-subsidized, Soviet-era industries. They value political and economic stability above all else, and fear that integration into the European Union will erode the basic standards of living they have now. They are nostalgic about the Soviet Union and believe many of the western Ukrainian nationalist groups collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.

More: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2014/0228/Is-it-too-late-for-Kiev-to-woo-Russian-speaking-Ukraine

[usa liberal]

1. really complicated situation

I don't see how this is going to work out when exactly half of the voting population is anti-russian and pro-western and the second half is exactly the opposite

they are just going to go through these cycles over and over again

may be it would be benefitial to just break the country apart in two and let them go their separate ways

[Democracyinkind]

2. Crimea, IMHO, is the one part of Ukraine that Russia can't afford to lose strategically.

Even after Ukrainian independence, Russian force projection in the region always bested that of the Ukraine.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Yes.

On the subject of backtracking on a campaign promise he had made to sign a trade and association agreement with the European Union :

The EU blew that when they offered $1 billion in full knowledge Yanukovych needed c. $8 billion. He had no viable economic alternative other than to pick up the strings with Russia. Even now the US is only offering to underwrite a further $1 billion.

Now it appears the IMF is prepared to talk again despite having been shafted by Ukraine twice. In return they will expect , as before, higher consumer gas prices , devaluation of the currency and reduced government spending.

What their population will suffer will make Greece look like a picnic.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

4. All these nationalists in these places seem to think the EU is their salvation,

which is bizarre. Even Salmond over in Scotland seems to think they can help out their country vs the rest of the UK if it gains independence. Silly.

[JVS]

5. When they trashed Russian monuments, it sent a signal