EDITORIAL: Europe turns its back on Ukraine (08/08/04)

EDITORIAL

Europe turns its back on Ukraine

This week we follow up on our previous editorial describing Ukraine "in Moscow's embrace," as Kyiv altered the country's defense doctrine to reflect what it sees as the new reality in its foreign relations - a reality not entirely of Ukraine's making.

For weeks or even months now, we have reported how the European Union and NATO have made it known that Ukraine is not in line to join either body. At its Istanbul summit, NATO refused to consider a Membership Action Plan for Ukraine, and Romano Prodi, the head of the European Commission (the EU's executive body), stated outright that Ukraine would never become an EU member. Thus, it seemed, Ukraine's stated desire for Euro-Atlantic integration was but a pipe dream. As we have seen, a "good neighborly" Moscow is only too eager to jump in and fill the void - to assume the role of Ukraine's chief international partner.

On July 30, from Ukraine's neighbor to the West, Poland, came expressions of alarm over the latest developments, and appeals to Europe and the United States.

In an interview with Polish Radio 1 in Warsaw, President Aleksander Kwasniewski noted that Ukraine "is still searching for its place and is under strong Russian influence and pressure to integrate into this country." Ukraine, he said, would like to integrate with Western Europe, "however, unfortunately, not the whole of Western Europe wants to help Ukraine on this issue."

The Polish president expressed bitterness that the EU and the West "haven't understood the significance of the Ukrainian issue," and he pointed the finger specifically at "the three great leaders" - the prime ministers of France and Great Britain and the chancellor of Germany, noting that in Istanbul "there was a lack of understanding and determination, or perhaps there is a conviction that Ukraine is in the sphere of Russian influence."

That same day, 13 Polish political leaders and activists issued an appeal calling for support of Ukraine's aspirations for membership in European and Euro-Atlantic structures. Their statement underscored: "A new iron curtain on the eastern border of the EU would be harmful and dangerous for Europe. Ukraine today stands at a crossroads, and its European orientation seems to be threatened. This has happened in great measure through the stance of those European governments and circles that are taking away Ukraine's hope for future membership in the EU and NATO."

The appeal's signatories - former government ministers, members of Parliament, ambassadors and activists of the Polish-Ukrainian Forum - argued that taking away this hope from Ukraine "deprives it of the motivation to undertake difficult reforms..., weakens the position of those Ukrainian politicians who declare the necessity of integration with Europe... [and] on the other hand strengthens the forces desiring a return to the situation before the disintegration of the USSR."

The statement addressed Western leaders in Europe and the United States with the expectation that they "declare in a clear manner that, if Ukraine indeed comes close to European standards in political, social and economic life, its membership in the EU and NATO will not only be possible, but desirable."

This is wise counsel from "new Europe" - from a land that well understands where Ukraine is at this stage in its development as an independent state, and knows well the threats that emanate from the east. "Old Europe" and the United States would be well advised to heed the experienced voice of Poland and to stop turning its back on Ukraine.

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