At his recent meeting with the Russian mass media Ukraine’s prime minister and presidential hopeful Viktor Yanukovych made a number of sensational announcements that are nothing short of campaign statements. He said that if he were elected president, he would not support the idea of Ukraine’s accession to NATO, but would instead seek second official language status for Russian and the introduction of dual citizenship in Ukraine. Do these ideas represent an about-face from the policy of Euro-Atlantic integration declared by President Kuchma, a refusal to develop Ukraine’s nation-state identity, or a campaign statement addressed to a specific target audience? The Day decided to seek answers to these questions from Leonid Kravchuk, one of the most experienced Ukrainian politicians, an early advocate of Yanukovych’s presidential nomination, Ukraine’s first president, and one of the fathers of Ukraine’s independence.
“Yanukovych’s latest ideas about NATO, the Russian language, and dual citizenship made headlines on Monday. Let us begin with his statement about Ukraine’s refusal to join NATO. Does it indicate an about-face from the Euro-Atlantic integration policy announced by President Kuchma and endorsed by the National Security and Defense Council?”
“I view these announcements calmly. All of them should be received as statements from a presidential candidate, not a president. Presidential candidate and president are ‘two big differences,’ as they say in Odesa. When a person wins the presidential elections, many other factors are suddenly at work, the major one being that, under the Ukrainian constitution, it is the Verkhovna Rada that decides the fundamentals of foreign and domestic policy. It determined these fundamentals back in the 1990s. A few touches were added later, in particular those relating to the nation’s military, but on the whole parliament has not revised its stance on European integration. Therefore, should Yanukovych win, he will have the constitutional right to submit his proposals regarding foreign and domestic policies to the Verkhovna Rada. Should the Verkhovna Rada accept his proposals, he will bring them to life. Currently at work are the principles of foreign and domestic policies, which have been approved by the Verkhovna Rada and supported by Ukraine’s President Leonid Kuchma. I view Viktor Yanukovych’s statement as his personal opinion — nothing more and nothing less. Today this opinion alone cannot bring about an immediate reversal of Ukraine’s foreign policy.”
“Do you share Yanukovych’s view?”
“I have always upheld the view that Ukraine should become a full member of all European structures, in particular the three most influential ones: the European Union, the Council of Europe, and NATO. This has been and will be my standpoint. Election campaigns throughout the world are often probing in nature. Obviously, Viktor Yanukovych is interested in finding out how the public, political forces, and the opposition will respond to this. That is, similar statements from presidential candidates are a kind of ‘litmus paper.’ They are made to probe public sentiment and adjust one’s election platform accordingly, but only its tactical part, not strategic. This is what is being done.”
“What do you think of the prime minister’s idea to grant the Russian language the status of second official language?”
“We have the Constitution of Ukraine, which reads in Paragraph 10 that Ukrainian is the official language. To introduce a second official language the constitution has to be amended. If the Verkhovna Rada passes such amendments, then we will have two official languages, but I will not vote for these amendments because it is my view that Ukrainian is the only official language.”
“How would such a decision affect the formation of the Ukrainian political nation and the Ukrainian national identity?”
“I don’t think that languages, even if we had five of them, can in and of themselves divide the nation into five parts. Everything depends on how the nation has developed historically and on its historic roots. Consider Switzerland, for example. It has three or four official languages, but this does not in the least affect the unity of the nation and the people, who are united by their common history and goals: humanistic, economic, and political. I have been there many times and seen children playing in the street and easily switching from one language to another — from German to French to Italian — without noticing that they were speaking a different language. If the Russians, Jews, and Poles in Ukraine knew their language, as well as Ukrainian, this would be our ultimate achievement in this sphere. Then we could stop dividing Ukraine into two parts: western, which wants to speak Ukrainian only and treats Russian disdainfully — I know what I am saying — and eastern, which wants to speak Russian only and disdains Ukrainian.
“If we pass laws to enable Ukrainian-language books and newspapers to be published freely and improve the economic situation in Ukraine’s book publishing industry, then this issue will no longer be relevant. For example, The Day is an authoritative, popular publication. It is published in both Ukrainian and Russian.”
“And in English too.”
“Indeed. So, if other newspapers follow suit, we will gradually bring it home to people that they must know two or three languages. The most important thing is the quality of products, originality of the newspaper, its reputation and the reputation of its staff, so that everybody knows that the newspaper publishes the truth, which makes it a pleasure to buy and interesting to read. If all of this is present, the reader pays almost no attention to the language.”
“But won’t this mean a relapse to Soviet-era Russification at its worst, as none of the state leaders will devote any attention to developing the Ukrainian language because it will no longer be fashionable?”
“I do not believe that we will regress under Yanukovych. I believe that we will live by civilized laws, by those norms that have already formed in Ukraine, and not a single step back will be made — only steps forward will be taken.
“I repeat: no one — neither the Cabinet of Ministers, nor the president — can pass a law on two official languages until the constitution is amended accordingly.”
“Another issue raised by Viktor Yanukovych is dual citizenship with Russia. Some experts believe that dual citizenship could turn some of Ukraine’s regions that are home to large Russian communities — the Crimea, Donbas — into something along the lines of Abkhazia.”
“Today we do not have dual citizenship, but millions of people are working abroad, Russia included. There they are harassed in every possible way. As illegal laborers they are discriminated against. How can we protect them? If economic growth continues in Ukraine, dual citizenship will do no harm.”
“Won’t this be used as an excuse to interfere with Ukraine’s domestic affairs under the guise of protecting their citizens?”
“Right now they are claiming to be protecting the Russian-speaking population, especially in the Baltic nations. But such protection is strictly nominal in nature, because to protect means to bring people home and give them housing and jobs. This is in fact only political interference, not organizational or legal.”
“Would the simultaneous implementation of the three initiatives mentioned above mean a Belarusian scenario in Ukraine?”
“I understand the Belarusian scenario as the creation of some special union with Russia, not the Single Economic Space, but something larger. Let us approach this issue from a historical perspective. Five years ago, when Yeltsin was still in power, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko began the process of unification with Russia. Has anything been done in all these years? Will Russia really take Ukraine on its back and carry it into the bright future? Lukashenko is simply trying to preserve his lifetime presidency. As the elections draw closer, he begins saying that Belarus cannot live without Russia and that it will die without the Russian language. After yet another reelection his thoughts return to Belarus because he doesn’t want to be a governor of one of Russia’s oblasts. He wants to be the president of Belarus. I am certain that Viktor Yanukovych — if he is elected — will want to be a full-fledged, full-blooded, and responsible president of Ukraine. I’m saying this because I know the character and intentions of Viktor Yanukovych.”
