Ukraine is once again being inspected by the Council of Europe (by now standard procedure) to see how this country is coping with its commitments undertaken over four years ago. This time, however, it is under a new motto, and a new issue is causing concern in Europe: the referendum scheduled for April 16, plus the election results.
This is more evidence that in the view of the Western democracies something is not right. They will keep Ukraine under close watch as long as they deem it necessary. While earlier the Ukrainian political leadership fought to retain its right to be seen by the West as a kind of scarecrow/bogey, so that every time PACE convened a session Ukraine would again be humiliated for having capital punishment in its criminal code, something considered inadmissible by Western Europe, today another issue is in the limelight. It is about the practical application of democratic theories. Under the Soviets, the whole thing would be dealt with simply and effectively: another Western attempt to interfere into a sovereign country’s internal affairs.
The CE’s constant inspections and reports, considering their findings, could be described as a school graduation exam, with the student taking it being a priori under deep suspicion. And with reason. In the eyes of the so- called old democracies, Ukraine will long continue to be a clumsy junior grader unable to comprehend simple universally accepted things. And so Hanne Severinsen, senior inspector and special rapporteur on the Ukrainian affair, promised that she would leave no stone unturned in her June report, including the status of democracy and domestic political situation, legislation, ethnic minorities, etc. Ukraine apparently wants to be regarded as a straight A student, meaning its leadership will have to pay close attention to what is being said in the West, rather than constantly attributing all its shortcomings to the struggle between the good President and bad Parliament.
This, of course, means that the Council of Europe ranks with the most influential European institutions, being also one of few where Ukraine has gained admittance. It also means that Ukraine is not Russia, the latter being a real bogey in the eyes of Europe, treated with wary respect and an interest in its natural resources.
Ukraine is still regarded as a novelty, a phenomenon still to be fully comprehended in the world arena. With time, this phenomenon could become commonplace. Nicholas Peterson, Vice President of the Danish Institute of Foreign Relations, like Hanne Severinsen and some of their French and German colleagues, feels certain that with time Ukraine could not only claim European Union membership but also get there ahead of Turkey (the latter was recognized as a candidate for membership by the Union’s December session in Helsinki). One reason is that some experts have come to see Ukraine as a European country, after all is said and done, unlike Turkey which is most often referred to as having “utmost importance” for Europe. Yet nobody accepts Ukraine as an undeniable member of the European community of nations — due to its recent Soviet past, other psychological considerations, and the fact that Ukraine still looks like Russia without Chechnya, in the words of a French expert. Just as the Soviet Union was once described as “Upper Volta with missiles.”
In fact, Ukraine does not have any special reasons foaming at the mouth to demonstrate that it is as worthy of EU membership as, say, Bulgaria. It would be much better if this country behaved in a way causing CE no further concern. In that case it would become apparent that nothing is perfect even with the “old democracies” (e.g., Austria), and that The Financial Times would do better not to carry articles about stolen IMF credits; that every effort should be focused on creating an economic boom. In that case it would become apparent that Europe is not only the West, and that its future largely depends on us.
