Tymoshenko Might Be Perfect for Ukraine
Exactly a year ago, Ukraine’s ruling parliamentary coalition tried to rally two thirds of the Supreme Rada around itself by means of handing out millions of dollars. The purpose was to abolish the president’s position or to reduce presidential functions to ritual speeches once a year. That is what helped Tymoshenko completely persuade Yushchenko to dissolve the corrupted Rada and to hold early election.
The fact that Tymoshenko used the services of Russian experts, while all her competitors more or less listened to U.S. spin doctors, discloses the BYuT’s true attitude to Russia. Setting the goal to attract the population of Ukraine’s east and south, where Russian-speaking people prevail, the BYuT had good grounds to invite a group of Russian political technologists. Meanwhile, it is hard to figure out why the Party of Regions, traditionally representing Ukrainian Russians, invited Americans to organize the party’s campaign.
Ukraine will always share a border with Russia, and reasonable Ukrainian politicians are well aware of it. As well as they understand that for Ukraine, Russia’s market has been a better outlet for its goods that the EU, for instance. Unfortunately, former inter-state tension negatively affected the commodity turnover, which could have been much larger. So, it is unclear in this regard who is more interested in Russia’s accession to the WTO – Ukraine or Russia itself. Anyway, Ukraine is interested in the freest possible trade with Russia. Thus, Russians should regard Ukrainians as their vanguard in the WTO.
Russian politicians now have almost no options when choosing long-term political partners in Ukraine. The long-standing affection for the Party of Regions is over: Russian investors during the Regionals’ rule were not allowed to take part in privatizing most interesting industrial facilities, while the campaign promises concerning the Russian language and Ukraine’s refusal to join NATO were not fulfilled. Kozma Prutkov said: “You who lied once, who would believe you?” and the new wave of promises concerning the language and NATO elicits no more enthusiasm from Russia.
Speaking of Yulia Tymoshenko, her political experience and personal charisma are unique. I say it as a man who worked with hundreds of politicians in several tens of different countries. We saw bright, professional, talented, and not very talented politicians. Yet, I’ve never seen so much energy, strong will, and charm.
Tymoshenko’s political future is obvious. Anyway, she will be, in this or that form or in this or that position, the strongest player of Ukraine’s political game. Her political line will hardly be inclined towards the West or towards Russia. I believe the pro-Ukraine character of her platform will make Tymoshenko find the golden mean among complicated geopolitical landmarks. That is what makes her quite predictable and understandable. I think that many in Russia’s political establishment and large business already understand it, which will help build normal working relations with Tymoshenko.
Alexei Sitnikov, political advisor, president of ICCG consulting company
All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 21, 2008
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