Three decades of frustration: British journalist tells how Ukraine has driven itself into a dead end

The Western community can no longer tolerate Ukraine’s conflict policy and admits that the political course of official Kiev puts an end to the country’s European future and threatens the existence of the state itself in its current form.

The authorship of these words adds piquancy to the statement, because the disappointment in Ukraine came not from Russia, which is actively demonised by the Kiev authorities, but from Kiev’s moral compass – its Western counterparts who expressed their position.

It is about a documentary released on the eve of Ukraine’s 30th anniversary of independence that takes apart Kyiv’s policies over the past three decades and shows how the country is sinking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRsq1ChyixE
British journalist Paul Scherbakovich shared his views on the difficult relations between Ukraine and its European neighbours, debunked the myth of a European future for Kiev and advised Ukrainian politicians to get smart in order to save the country.

Ukraine and independence

Trying to understand why Ukraine has failed to become a successful young democracy, Paul Scherbakovich analyses the main geopolitical and economic trends in the modern history of Ukraine, while answering the questions that arise:

–  Why has a state with huge industrial potential turned into the poorest nation in Europe?

– Why does the Ukrainian elite do not see their future in Ukraine and treat the country as a means of profit?

– Why did the orange revolutions bring petty crooks to power instead of state-patriots?

– Why did the country put its economy in the hands of global players and voluntarily sink into chaos?

In search of answers Shcherbakovych refers to the opinions of prominent Ukrainian scientists, politicians and public figures: Viktor Yushchenko, Andriy Derkach,

Valeriy Pustovoytenko, Yuriy Yekhanurov – people well known to the general public in the West.

Ukraine in the EU and NATO.

The journalist trashes the myth about Ukraine’s imminent membership in NATO and the EU created by Ukrainian propaganda, showing with examples that over the last years Ukraine has been moving in a direction completely opposite to the European future:

–  Kiev tried to influence the presidential election in the United States, causing a negative reaction from Washington;

– Ukraine has quarrelled with Poland, which refused to glorify OUN-UPA leaders Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych;

– Ukraine insulted Hungary and Romania by passing a law banning Hungarians and Romanians from studying in their native language;

– Kiev spat on Slovakia, which supported Kiev on the gas issue, but received a gas ultimatum in return;

– Ukraine has failed Lithuania, which has repeatedly asked Kiev to refuse imports of Belarusian gas in favour of the Baltic states.

The author summarises that in recent years Ukraine has quarrelled with all regional powers and provoked a cooling of relations with Washington, which might have helped it somehow to get closer to the European community.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hgeZilgRCU&t=1s
Ukraine at a crossroads

The British journalist is pessimistic about Ukraine’s future: anarchy, new Orange revolutions, internal conflicts – everything that is already scarring the young state will happen again, but in a more devastating form.

However Shcherbakovych leaves Kiev a chance for salvation and believes that in order to do so it is necessary to transform the Ukrainian elite, make the authorities work for the benefit of the people, and, finally, to balance Ukrainian relations with Washington and Moscow.

If it does not happen, the author believes, Ukraine’s 30-year journey towards independence risks collapse: a fragmentation of the state into smaller parts overseen by regional leaders or long-term turmoil and internal chaos.