Since 22 Nov. 2013, for almost two months, the people of Ukraine have been standing up for their right to live in a free and democratic country. Days and nights they stay outside in bitter cold and freezing temperatures in order to bring to complete the democratic changes that were started by the Orange Revolution of 2004.
Independence for Ukraine is very young — it was born 22 years ago as a result of the breakup of the Soviet Union. Since then, the Ukrainians have been re-establishing their history and culture after Soviet and Russian oppression. For the first time in hundreds of years, the Ukrainian people are trying to rebuild their own independent state. Lack of historical experience in democratic processes, a broken economy of the post-Soviet era, travel isolation and failure to remove Soviet bureaucrats from power and government positions have resulted in a system which literally has encouraged criminal activities throughout the economy and resulted in enriching a small group of oligarchs at the expense of the state and ordinary people of Ukraine. Today, Ukrainian oligarchs are among the richest people in the world, but Ukrainian retirees are among the poorest in the world. The political system, controlled by the oligarchs, prevents the development of the middle economic class. It is very difficult for Ukrainian businesses to become competitive internationally, but they are trying very hard.
When Ukraine allowed visa-free entry on its territory for citizens of European and North American countries, the Ukrainian people had hoped to establish closer ties with the international democratic community. Unfortunately, the government of Ukraine and Ukrainian politicians have failed to enter into an association agreement with the European Union. At the same time, Ukraine found itself pressured by its Eastern neighbour — the anti-democratic Russian Federation, which has proposed a Customs Union, a solution favored by Russia now because of its ongoing economic manipulations against Ukraine.
On 16 January 2014, a group of members of Parliament illegitimately approved a series of laws that take away many basic constitutional rights and the freedom of peaceful assembly. International lawmakers and the international community at large find these new laws anti-constitutional. These laws, together with new cases of absurd prosecution of activists and journalists, have caused new unrest in the Ukrainian society.
On 19 January 2014, the Ukrainian people expressed their dissatisfaction with the new laws and the actions of both government and opposition parties. The people took to the streets and were confronted by riot police. This confrontation has already led to bloodshed on the streets. Many people have been injured. The course of current events in Ukraine can be followed at:
and on Twitter at @sitemaidan (multilingual feed) and @sitеmaidan_eng (English-only feed).
Today, the Ukrainian people are continuing to form their democratic movements — Euro-Maidans — all over the world. An example of such consolidation was the All-Ukraine Euromaidan Forum in Kharkiv, which adopted a resolution recognizing human rights as fundamentally important for further development of the Ukrainian society.
We support the people of Ukraine and the Ukrainian civil society in their aspiration to make decisions about the future of their own country. We hope for the international community’s solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
Representatives of the Euro Maidans — all over the world.
http://euromaidansnetwork.wordpress.com
http://euromaidansnetwork.wordpress.com
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