The Manifesto of Ukrainian Nationalism

On March 16, representatives of the political party Svoboda, Right Sector, and the National Corpus (i.e. the Azov batallion’s political wing) gathered to sign a National Manifesto.

The document affirms the ideological unity of the three main forces of Ukrainian nationalism, and conveniently summarizes its core vision.

Considering the Poroshenko’s governments ever greater submissiveness before Ukrainian nationalist forces, and the specter of them assuming an even more central role in the regime that might well soon replace his, it is now all the more vital to understand their vision for Ukraine.

Below, I provide a translation of this document, stressing readability over word-for-word accuracy.

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We, Ukrainian nationalists, understanding the catastrophic state of our country and with the goal of acquiring and developing a great national state, capable of securing the prosperous existence of Ukrainians and a future for Ukrainian children, are uniting our efforts on the basis of fundamental, unambiguous, and unchanging principles and goals, and thereby offer a concrete plan of action that we can embark upon straight away for the achievement of these goals.

1. Define as a priority of state policy the realization of Ukraine’s national interests.
2. New vector of Ukrainian geopolitics – orientation not to the West or the East, but the creation of a new European unity – that of the Balto-Black Sea Union.
3. Recognize the Russian Federation as an aggressor state… break diplomatic relations, blockade the occupied territories, end Russian business activities in Ukraine, sanction Russian capital, goods, and services.
4. Recognize [the LDNR] as occupied territories and develop a real plan to liberate Crimea and Donbass. Immediately embark upon economic, informational, and reconaissance-sabotage actions in furtherance of these goals.
5. Return the right to recreate a nuclear weapons capability as a foundation of national security in light of the violation of the Budapest Memorandum.
6. Create a high-tech professional contract army, and a reserve army, based on the territorial principle.
7. Legalize the right to armed defense and gun ownership.
8. Eliminate hostile propaganda from the Ukrainian information space. Cultivate traditional values, strengthen national consciousness. The Ukrainian language should be the only state language.
9. Carry out a real lustration… strengthen criminal punishments for corruption.
10. Introduce a workable procedure for impeaching the President and make a law about the recall of deputies of all levels and judges.
11. Introduce elections for judges and certain categories of local bureaucrats.
12. Liquidate the oligarchic system: Return subsoil ownership to the state, as well as strategic objects and enterprises, illegally privatized after 1991; liquidate private monopolities, end capital flight to offshore havens.
13. Guarantee the labor rights of Ukrainians and create conditions for an effective labor union movement.
14. Create a new socially just tax code, which will encourage the development of small and medium businesses.
15. Encourage the development of national atomic and alternative energy as a foundation of energy independence.
16. Ban the trade of Ukrainian strategic resources, such as agricultural lands.
17. Introduce real self-government by creating self-sufficient territorial units with a large degree of authority.
18. Rationalize immigration law, including effective provisions against illegal immigration and the creation of conditions for the return of Ukrainians to the motherland.
19. Restore positive dynamics in the national demographics; strengthen the traditional family, strengthen national-patriotic education, and place our bets on the young generation.
20. Encourage the creation of a single local church based in Kiev.

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You can read my full analysis of each of these points at my article on The Unz Review: The 20 Theses of Ukrainian Nationalism.

But to briefly summarize:

(1) Part of the opening paragraph is pilfered from David Lane’s 14 Words. While I do realize Ukraine is one big cargo cult, maybe try making it a bit less obvious?

(2) It is schizophrenic in its simultaneous advocacy of repression and liberalism. The extension of local powers, conscientiously carried out, is basically equivalent to federation – that is, what Minsk II formally calls for – and which Ukrainian nationalists have always unconditionally opposed. That is because they know that local government across much of Novorossiya will imply the emergence of Russophile administrations and the rejection of the unitary model imposed on Ukraine from Lvov. This suggests that that any self-government provisions they have in mind would end up being cosmetic, at most. Therefore, reading between the lines, it calls for Ukrainization at the barrel of a gun, and its conversion into a repository of cannon fodder for Poland

(3) From a realistic perspective, it is unfeasible on multiple geopolitical and economic levels. Ukraine doesn’t have the money for a high-tech professional Army, and it will have even less when it defaults as a result of the IMF withdrawing from the country as soon as they start implementing their economic program. If they do go for nukes, Russia will quickly become an aggressor country in reality, as opposed to just fiction.