“You’re moving where?”
“Ukraine.”
“Oh! Communists, right?”
Nope! Not anymore (arguably not ever, but that’s an argument for another time.)
Wikipedia sums up quite succinctly:
On July 16, 1990, the new parliament adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine. The declaration established the principles of the self-determination of the Ukrainian nation, its democracy, political and economic independence, and the priority of Ukrainian law on the Ukrainian territory over Soviet law. A month earlier, a similar declaration was adopted by the parliament of the Russian SFSR. This started a period of confrontation between the central Soviet, and new republican authorities.
In August 1991, a conservative faction among the Communist leaders of the Soviet Union attempted a coup to remove Mikhail Gorbachev and to restore the Communist party‘s power. After the attempt failed, on August 24, 1991 the Ukrainian parliament adopted the Act of Independence in which the parliament declared Ukraine as an independent democratic state.
Fun fact: next year, while I’m serving in Ukraine, they will celebrate their 20th year of independence from the Soviet Union! The celebrations are sure to be memorable. My Ukrainian tutor, Lyuda, has extracted a promise from me that I will try to make it to Майдан Незалежності (Independence Square), in Kyiv, to participate in the festivities.
Verkhovna Rada of UkraineImage via Wikipedia
Ukraine is a republic under a mixed semi-parliamentary semi-presidential system with separate legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The President is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and is the formal head of state.
Long story short, Ukraine is an independent democratic state (and has been for just over 19 years). Recent politics have fluctuated along the political spectrum, but I’ll save my thoughts on that for now and just let Wikipedia sum up the major political points of interest (vis-à-vis political leadership) since 2004.
In 2004, Viktor Yanukovych, then Prime Minister, was declared the winner of the presidential elections, which had been largely rigged, as the Supreme Court of Ukraine later ruled. The results caused a public outcry in support of the opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, who challenged the outcome of the elections. This resulted in the peaceful Orange Revolution, bringing Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko to power, while casting Viktor Yanukovych in opposition. Yanukovych returned to a position of power in 2006, when he became Prime Minister in the Alliance of National Unity, until snap elections in September 2007 made Tymoshenko Prime Minister again. Yanukovych was elected President in 2010.
From what I’ve read, Ukraine’s primary foreign policy goal centers upon Euro-Atlantic integration, but Ukraine tends to balance this goal with it’s strong and complicated relationship with Russia.
In April the new Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, agreed to extend the lease on a Russian naval base on Ukrainian territory.
The decision by the Ukrainian president, Viktor F. Yanukovich, represented a sharp reversal in policy and a victory for the Kremlin, which had feared that its military readiness would be undermined if the base were closed.
[...]
But the lease extension drew criticism from Ukrainian opposition leaders, who view the base as a symbol of Russian interference in Ukrainian affairs and want their country to have a closer alliance with the West.
Smoke grenades, eggs & tomatoes turn Ukraine parliament into battlefield.
Ukraine has a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the European Union, and interest in integrating with the European Union has been expressed by various parties in the government, as well as the general population.
The new Association Agreement and the Association Agenda will promote further political association with and economic integration of Ukraine into the EU by creating a comprehensive and practical framework through which these overriding objectives can be realized.
More specifically they will help to consolidate democratic reforms notably reform of the judiciary, respect for the rule of law and human rights, transparency and democratic accountability, the fight against corruption as well as increasing citizens’ participation in
public decision-making in Ukraine. (4)
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryschenko has said that integration into Europe has been and remains the priority of domestic and foreign policy of Ukraine.
“The fact that the majority of Ukrainians support Ukraine’s joining the EU demonstrates that the new government’s priority of European integration coincides with the will of the voters,” said Hlib Vyshlinsky, the deputy director of GfK Ukraine.
Enough with politics! (Those of you who know me well, know I can and will go on forever if given the chance…)
Related Articles
- Ukraine is failing the democracy test | Viktor Tkachuk (guardian.co.uk)
- Ukraine’s Yanukovich moves to strengthen powers (reuters.com)
- Clinton Says NATO’s Door Still Open to Ukraine (politics.usnews.com)
I didn’t do the math to realize we’ll be there for the 20th anniversary; thanks for letting us know! That’d definitely be neat to see what kind of celebrations are planned.