To ratify the Act of Independence of Ukraine (Aug. 24, 1991), the Verkhovna Rada resolved to hold a referendum on Dec. 1, 1991. At the time it was a matter of necessity, primarily to neutralize the political speculations of opponents of Ukrainian independence, especially in the eastern and southern oblasts of the republic, who declared that the nation purportedly did not support the Act of Independence.
At the time the Soviet leadership in Moscow, headed by President Mikhail Gorbachev, was still hoping to sign another union agreement and was actively working to this end. The international community was also in no hurry to recognize Ukraine’s independence and was waiting to see how events would unfold.
Centuries will pass, but Dec. 1, 1991, will remain an unforgettable milestone in our history. It was then that 91 percent of Ukrainians voted for a free and independent Ukraine. It was an historically unprecedented act of solidarity.
Has the government succeeded in living up to the nation’s expectations of a happier, free life during 15 years of independence? In the following interview Leonid KRAVCHUK, the first president of independent Ukraine, answers this question and others.
Does Dec. 1, 1991, have any special meaning for you?
Kravchuk: It means Freedom Day to me. Today you can call any day in our free Ukraine “Freedom Day.” You can also call the Maidan “Freedom Day.” But now that Ukraine is already free, any day is a freedom day. December 1 was when our people announced their freedom.
What would you say to Ukrainians, who 15 years ago voted for you during the presidential elections? Are we on the right road?
Kravchuk: I am grateful to Ukrainians. You know, I traveled throughout Ukraine both before and after my presidency. I know that there are various people who have different views about me. But today I walk freely among people, shop, and visit bazaars, restaurants, and theaters, and I will tell you honestly: I have never heard any brutal words spoken to me. If such words were spoken, they came from the mouths of representatives of the Soviet Army Officers’ Union, which simply cannot reconcile itself with the fact that Ukraine is an independent, sovereign state. Similar criticism may have come from the communists, who still have not grasped that it is a great blessing to have a party in today’s Ukraine, a much greater blessing than to have a party that serves everyone and no one.
I am grateful to the Ukrainian people that I live among them, that I live in the nation’s capital, with the residents of Kyiv. I have felt happy for 6,000 days and nights because I am living in a free country. I see a new elite taking shape, I see people changing, which is especially true of our youth; I am witnessing the birth of our own middle class.
LONGING FOR THE “ELDER BROTHER”
During the 15 years of Ukraine’s independence the number of people in favor of sovereignty has dropped by 11 percent. These are the results of sociological surveys conducted by Kyiv’s International Institute for Sociology (KMIS) in 1991 and 2006, reports Interfax Ukraine. According to these surveys, in 1991, one month before the referendum, 64 percent of the electorate was prepared to vote for an independent Ukraine, i.e., 89 percent of those registered with local election commissions. Today, one month before the 15th anniversary of that referendum, 53 percent of those polled said they would vote for independence again, or 70 percent of voters registered with local election commissions.
In general, during the past 15 years the attitude to independence has practically not changed in western Ukraine, where trust in the West’s help is stronger, while a negative attitude to the state’s independence has grown in those regions whose residents have a stronger trust in Russia. KMIS sociologists believe that the current decline in public support for Ukraine’s independence, compared to 1991, is explained by the strengthening of positive — and the weakening of negative — views of Russia. Polls conducted in Ukraine show that in 1991 the level of public distrust of Moscow was down by one-third, from 3.03 to 1.91 points. The number of respondents who believe that Ukraine can survive only by acting hand in glove with Russia has increased from 2.77 to 3.09 points. At the same time, the number of those who expect the West to help Ukraine declined from 3.09 to 2.28 points.
