OSCE High Commissioner for Ethnic Minorities Max van der Stuhl, visiting Ukraine on the Russian government’s request to find out about the human rights of the Russian ethnic community, had a number of meetings with central functionaries and leaders of the Rus’ Society regional branches in Lviv, Kharkiv, and Odesa. Mr. van der Stuhl explained that OSCE experts would visit Ukraine in August, as proposed by Kyiv in response to Moscow’s initiative, and compact Ukrainian ethnic communities in Russia, since complaints are received from that country about breaches of minority rights, particularly those of ethnic Ukrainians.
The OSCE High Commissioner deserves all possible praise for his considerate comments and inferences in the interethnic domain. “It would be premature to make any statements for the press after visiting Lviv and Kharkiv,” he told The Day after meeting with Serhiy Hrynevetsky, head of Odesa’s regional state administration. “First, we intend to analyze what we have seen and heard.” At the same time, Mr. Stuhl made it clear he was glad to see an atmosphere of interethnic understanding prevalent in Odesa, particularly at Harmony Gymnasium [High School] No. 6.
“Most importantly, I see no friction or differences between the local Russians and Ukrainians,” the High Commissioner pointed out, apparently referring to mounting interethnic tensions in Lviv after composer Ihor Bilozir’s murder. Sharing his Lviv experiences with Odesa leaders, Mr. van der Stuhl said he was alarmed by events in that venerable Ukrainian city, especially by an outburst of extremism which he had seen on a video tape. He believes the local authorities should take more active steps or make their stand clear with regard to such manifestations. Nor was it necessary, he pointed out, to form any volunteer squads allegedly to inspect Russian language broadcasts or Russian songs. “I hope to discuss this during the talks in Kyiv at the end of the week,” said Mr. Stuhl.
While in Odesa, the OSCE High Commissioner discussed these issues with First Vice Mayor Leonid Sushkin, Russian Consul General Mikhail Sobolev, Harmony School principal Tayisiya Ivanova, Viktor Goriainov, Chairman of the Center of the Russian National Movement in Ukraine (incidentally, a retired Soviet military intelligence officer), and leaders of three other Russian associations, members of Odesa’s Russian Movement Council. In accordance with the stated mandate, all meetings were held in strict confidence. When he met with Russian Consul Sobolev even Volodymyr Levchuk, deputy head of the regional state administration, accompanying the OSCE delegation, was barred access by the consulate guards. “That’s the Russian Consul General’s business,” was the High Commissioner’s comment. “He is to decide whom to invite. Since there was no invitation [for Volodymyr Levchuk], he was not admitted.” Mr. van der Stuhl used the same tactic when meeting with the leaders of four Russian ethnic communities who gave him a package of documents detailing various grievances.
It is unlikely that the package contained the official (signed and sealed) “Message of the Assembly of the Rusich Russian Ethnic Community (a group which considers all Eastern Slavs part of a common nation which they refer to as Rusich — Ed. )” addressed to all “Rusich communities along with all Russian and Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine” and disseminated by Rusich activists. During rallies in Odesa, Russian movement leaders made it clear they rejected Ukraine’s political course. Specifically, they accused President Kuchma of not being true to his campaign promises and commitments (e.g., official bilingual status and an alliance with Russia and Belarus). Instead, the document reads, “Ukraine has not only blocked the formation of a single union state, but also initiated the creation of all those ‘corridors’ and ‘maneuvers’ of anti-Russian orientation... Ukraine actively conducts an openly Western-oriented foreign policy, aimed at rapprochement with NATO countries,” and suchlike. Hence the authors reserve the right, “in case the newly elected President of Ukraine fails to comply with our demands,” to “initiate a movement to create a Russian national autonomous entity within Ukraine, capable of defending our ethnic, political, economic, social, and other rights.”
About one-third of Odesa’s populace is made up of ethnic Russians; Russian is the language of instruction at most grade schools and daycare centers; almost all newspapers are published in Russian as are broadcast television and radio programs; Russian is also used inlocal institutions of higher learning, there is a Russian drama company, and so on. Rusich leaders, however, protest “the trend to reduce the number of Russian language schools.” In other words, they are outraged by the desire of the Ukrainian majority in Odesa to enroll their children in Ukrainian schools using the official language of instruction. The said message makes it clear that the language policy is not the point. Something far more important is at issue. The OSCE High Commissioner is not likely to be of any help to the Rusich leaders whose actions already could come under the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
