The Supreme Court thus granted the RF Ministry of Justice’s official request that this NGO’s activities be stopped because of “transgressions” detected in its “economic activities.” The said transgressions boiled down to the public appearances of Valerii Semenenko, co-chairman of this NGO, his participation in public life and projects commemorating the Holodomor, after the Federal National Cultural Ukrainian Autonomy in Russia (NKA) was officially suspended in October 2009. Semenenko said that his radio statements [interview with RFE/RL] and involvement in various projects were his own initiative, that he acted as a private individual, not as an NKA representative. He assumed that the Russian Ministry of Justice wanted the NKA closed for political reasons. Shortly before the Supreme Court’s ruling ethnic Ukrainians in Russia said the Ukrainian cultural movement was under pressure from the authorities.
The fact that the cultural rights of ethnic Ukrainians in Russia are not adequately provided for has been known for a number of years. It happened so that on the date of the RF Supreme Court’s ruling The Day was playing host to Volodymyr Doroshenko, chairman of the Kobzar Republican Ukrainian National Cultural Center in Bashkorstan, who told the editors about the abolition of the NKA, adding that “the Ukrainian movement in Russia has been shattered.” What’s left is the Association of Ukrainians in Russia and some ethnic Ukrainian NGOs that did not respond to the invitation by Russian authorities to register as national cultural autonomies. As for the reasons behind the NKA abolition, Doroshenko said they could always be found if one wanted to find them, the more so that the ethnic Ukrainian community in Russia isn’t properly consolidated.
More on the status of Ukrainians in Russia, ban on actions in commemoration of Holodomor victims will be in The Day’s upcoming issues. Below are comments by experts with regard to the abolition of the Federal National Cultural Ukrainian Autonomy in Russia.
Iryna KLIUCHKOVSKA, director, International Institute for Education, Culture, and Contacts with the Diaspora at the Lviv Polytechnic National University:
“I have been following the situation in Russia for the past several years and everything has pointed to the eventual abolition of the NKA. Ukrainian communities in Russia have never enjoyed normal conditions of existence. At first the problems were attributed to the worsening of relations between Ukraine and Russia during the Orange Revolution and Viktor Yushchenko’s presidency. However, after the last presidential elections, despite both heads of states declaring that these relations have improved on an intergovernmental level, these conditions have not changed. There are three million ethnic Ukrainians in Russia, making up the world’s largest Ukrainian diaspora. In a normal European country this community would be given all the conditions necessary to thrive. It’s hard to even comment on what’s going on in Russia. There are interesting statistics illustrating the status of Russians in Ukraine and Ukrainians in Russia (I recommend that everyone concerned study them carefully). Whereas the national cultural needs of Ukrainians in Russia are actually not provided for, Ukrainian budget appropriations for those of ethnic Russians speak for themselves. I think that this claim will result in the European Court’s recommendations, but most likely the needs and requirements of Ukrainians in Russia will not be met. This is very sad, considering that the Ukrainians in Russia are exemplary citizens who love their country of residence. However, they want to implement their rights as ethnic Ukrainians. Why doesn’t the [Russian] state let them do so? There will be regular parliamentary hearings in December, with the issue of Ukrainians in the world on the agenda. I think this matter will be broached by all means. The Ukrainian community in Ukraine and abroad must show its attitude. Filing a claim with the European Court by the Ukrainians in Russia isn’t enough. The whole Ukrainian community and the Ukrainian state must come out in their defense. There are two factors that influence the status of the Ukrainian diaspora in any country: support from the country of residence and that of the home country. If either of the factors does not work, this Ukrainian community can’t function effectively.”
Igor CHUBAIS, Russian scholar, historian, political analyst:
“I fail to comprehend the Russian government’s attitude. They sharply reacted to the narrowing of the sphere of use of the Russian language in Ukraine. By the same token they should establish the status of Ukrainian in Russia, considering the large number of ethnic Ukrainians. Then we would be on an equal footing. However, there is no parity between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine has the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea inhabited by a large number of Russians. I think this policy [of Moscow] is erroneous. Some actions turn out to be wrong, inadequate from the outset. I don’t understand why it was necessary to take away that cultural autonomy from the Ukrainians in Russia. I generally consider that in our multinational [multiethnic] country every nation [ethnic group] should have every cultural right. As regards political rights, they must be equal for all. The same politicians stressed during the Orange Revolution that Ukrainians aren’t Russians, that they constitute en entirely different people. Today they’re saying that Ukrainians and Russians are the same people. I see no logic behind the policy and strategy of our leadership, let alone that certain things are declared without any proof. In many respects what this government is doing reminds one of the light of a fading star. We see this light although the star may have died millions of years ago. As a Russian national, I have nothing against a Ukrainian cultural autonomy in my country. The rights of ethnic minorities must be respected in a cultured country.”
