Archivo etiqueta «Ucrania»
By Yuliya Tymoshenko, twice Prime Minister of Ukraine and the leader of Ukraine’s political opposition (Project Syndicate, 23/12/11):
It has been said that there are no atheists in a foxhole. Here, after my show trial and four and a half months in a cell, I have discovered that there are no atheists in prison, either.
When, despite unbearable pain, you are interrogated – including in your cell – for dozens of hours without a break, and an authoritarian regime’s entire system of coercion, including its media, is trying to discredit and destroy you once and for all, prayer becomes … Seguir leyendo
Por Tatiana Zhurzhenko, científica social de la Universidad de Viena. Su libro más reciente es Borderlands into Bordered Lands: The Geopolitics of Identity in Post-Soviet Ukraine. Traducción de Kena Nequiz (Project Syndicate, 08/12/11):
Hace siete años la Revolución Naranja de Ucrania alimentó la esperanza de que el país estuviera avanzando hacia una verdadera democracia. Desde entonces, las libertades democráticas se han restringido, la ex primer ministro y líder de la revolución, Yulia Tymoshenko, ha sido encarcelada y el régimen del presidente, Viktor Yanukovych, se ha aislado de la escena internacional. Ucrania se está deshaciendo.
Actualmente, un pequeño grupo de … Seguir leyendo
By Roman Popadiuk, the first U.S. ambassador to Ukraine (THE WASHINGTON TIMES, 01/12/11):
Dec. 1 marked the 20th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence referendum. More than 90 percent of Ukraine’s population voted that day in 1991 to affirm the parliament’s independence declaration, thus cementing the dissolution of the Soviet state and the rise of a free and independent Ukraine. With the Soviet hold lifted, Ukraine was viewed by many as a state with great economic potential and one with potentially great social and political vibrancy.
Ukraine, however, has fallen short. A common view now is that … Seguir leyendo
By Andrey Kurkov, the author of Death and the Penguin and The Milkman in the Night. This essay was translated by Steven Seymour from the Russian (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 04/11/11):
The Chernobyl disaster of 1986 brought great joy to my family.
The Soviet Union relocated hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians from the contaminated area to new houses in other parts of the countryside. Ukrainians are shrewd. Many families that had lost one home tricked the government into giving them two houses as compensation, and then sold them off at ridiculously low prices. And so that was how … Seguir leyendo
By Steven Pifer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 1998 to 2000 (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 29/10/11):
In the Russian language, Ukraine has two meanings: one, the country of 43 million people that lies on the north coast of the Black Sea, and two, “on the border” or “borderland.” For most of the past 20 years, Kiev’s foreign policy aimed, and largely managed, to fix on Europe’s geopolitical map the first meaning rather than the second. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich is now undoing that.
Ukraine became independent in 1991. In … Seguir leyendo
Por Timothy Garton Ash, catedrático de Estudios Europeos en la Universidad de Oxford e investigador titular en la Hoover Institution de la Universidad de Stanford. Traducción de María Luisa Rodríguez Tapia (EL PAÍS, 24/10/11):
Esta semana, en una exhibición de firmeza muy de agradecer, los líderes de la Unión Europea revocaron la invitación al presidente ucranio Víktor Yanukóvich, que debía asistir a varias reuniones importantes en Bruselas el jueves. De no haberlo hecho, habrían dado una imagen patética e insuficiente después de la condena escandalosa y casi digna de Putin de la rival política de Yanukóvich, Yulia Timoshenko, a … Seguir leyendo
Por Denis MacShane, diputado laborista británico y excomisario europeo (EL PAÍS, 14/10/11):
Un proceso con fines propagandísticos que avergüenza a Europa acaba de tener lugar en Kiev. El presidente democráticamente elegido, Víktor Yanukóvich, ha permitido que la ex primera ministra Yulia Timoshenko fuera a juicio por decisiones tomadas durante su ejercicio del cargo. El pasado martes, Timoshenko fue sentenciada a siete años de cárcel tras protagonizar uno de los abusos más absurdos del sistema judicial en un país que dice ser una democracia y que está llamando a las puertas de Europa.
Todos los políticos recién llegados al poder … Seguir leyendo
By Alyona Getmanchuk, director of the World Policy Institute in Kiev. Translated by the IHT (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 12/10/11):
A Ukrainian court’s conviction of Yulia Tymoshenko on charges of abusing her powers when she signed natural-gas contracts with Russia in 2009, when she was the prime minister, is not necessarily proof that she actually committed a crime.
Nobody, except perhaps President Viktor Yanukovich and his inner circle, really believes in the independence of the Ukrainian judiciary. In fact, this case can be viewed as a new chapter in Ukrainian politics — criminal prosecution for political motives.
Yanukovich had … Seguir leyendo
By Alan Riley, a professor of law at City Law School, City University, Grays Inn, London (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 05/11/10):
From Western capitals it’s far too easy to see the prosecution of the Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko as another example of post-Soviet repression. In reality, there are some serious questions surrounding her behavior in office over and above the usual corrupt practices of the region. Rather than directly challenging the prosecution, Washington and Brussels should insist on a greater commitment to rule-of-law standards in Kiev. Given that the European Union is in the process of negotiating a … Seguir leyendo
By Tom Gross, the former Jerusalem correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph (THE GUARDIAN, 02/09/11):
It seems parts of Europe are less tolerant now than they were in the 16th century. Last week I watched as bulldozers began to demolish the adjacent remnants of what was once one of Europe’s most beautiful synagogue complexes, the 16th-century Golden Rose in Lviv. Most of the rest of the synagogue was burned down, with Jews inside, by the Nazis in 1941.
During the war, 42 other synagogues were destroyed in Lviv, which from the middle ages to the 20th century was known by … Seguir leyendo
By Carl Bildt, Foreign Minister of Sweden (Project Syndicate, 08/08/11):
There is little doubt that the embarrassing spectacle of the trial of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko – and her recent arrest on contempt charges during the proceedings – is causing great damage to her country. And there is little doubt that how Ukraine develops will be of great importance for Europe’s future.
Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004 ignited the hope of a new wave of democratic reforms in the countries to the east of the European Union – a period of so-called “color” revolutions. Soon, however, those … Seguir leyendo
F. Stephen Larrabee holds the Distinguished Chair in European Security at the Rand Corporation. Taras Kuzio is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University (Project Syndicate, 30/06/11):
The recent start of the trial in Kyiv of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, one of the leaders of Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, on charges of abuse of power raises grave concerns about President Viktor Yankovych’s commitment to democracy and the rule of law. In reality, it is his regime, not Tymoshenko, that is on trial, along with the European … Seguir leyendo
By Anders Aslund, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (THE WASHINGTON POST, 02/05/11):
In February 2010, Viktor Yanukovych was freely and fairly elected president of Ukraine. It was not too surprising: The Ukrainian economy had contracted by 15 percent in 2009, and near political stalemate reigned in this fragile democracy. One year later, Yanukovych appears to be following the prescription of his political model, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, by swiftly concentrating power in his own hands and wealth among a small circle of associates.
In October, the Constitutional Court suspended the Ukrainian Constitution of 2004, returning … Seguir leyendo
By Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the United Nations (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 26/04/11):
Twenty-five years ago, the explosion at Chernobyl cast a radioactive cloud over Europe and a shadow around the world. Today, the tragedy at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant continues to unfold, raising popular fears and difficult questions.
Visiting Chernobyl a few days ago, I saw the reactor, still deadly but encased in concrete. The adjoining town of Pripyat was dead and silent — houses empty and falling into ruin, mute evidence of lives left behind, an entire world abandoned and lost to those … Seguir leyendo
Por Yuliya Tymosehnko, ex Primera Ministra de Ucrania. Traducido del inglés por Carlos Manzano (Project Syndicate, 20/04/11):
Comenzó como un día gris y lluvioso de primavera, como tantos otros en mi tierra, y acabó con pavor y luto.
Naturalmente, ninguno de nosotros supo el preciso momento en el que la catástrofe azotó en Chernóbil hace 25 años. Entonces vivíamos en un sistema que denegaba a las personas corrientes derecho alguno a conocer ni siquiera hechos y acontecimientos esenciales, por lo que se nos mantuvo en la ignorancia sobre la radiación que se filtraba desde el reactor destrozado en Chernóbil … Seguir leyendo