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RFE/RL Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report Vol. 3, No. 35, 18 September 2001

A Survey of Developments in Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine by the Regional Specialists of RFE/RL's Newsline Team

UKRAINE

ETHNIC RUSSIANS OPPOSE KYIV'S LANGUAGE POLICY. The closure of Russian-language schools in Ukraine over the last decade has prompted ethnic Russian groups there to protest what they see as a policy designed to promote the assimilation of ethnic Russians into the Ukrainian nation.

Three ethnic Russian groups in Ukraine -- the Russian Movement of Ukraine, the Russian-Ukrainian Union, and For A Single Rus -- have announced plans to picket the Ukrainian Education Ministry because of what they say is Kyiv's policy of "liquidating Russian-language education in Ukraine and [promoting] the assimilation of Russians and Russian-language citizens."

According to a press release issued by the Russian Movement of Ukraine, the Ukrainian government over the last decade has changed the language of instruction in 1,300 schools from Russian to Ukrainian. As a result, the press release said, only 10 percent of the schools in the country are now conducted in Russian even though "not less than half of the population considers Russian to be its native language."

The Russian Movement said that this shift is taking place despite the wishes of parents and that written appeals to the education authorities have not produced any results. The group said that it will now engage in picketing government offices and other forms of protest in order to attract attention to this issue.

In most of the post-Soviet communist countries, questions concerning the language of instruction are among the most sensitive and contentious of all public issues. On the one hand, anything that touches the lives of children and their futures is something adults are likely to take seriously. And on the other hand, the debates taking place now reflect the continuing shadow of Soviet-era policies. But nowhere are these discussions more difficult than in Ukraine.

During the Soviet period, Moscow allowed union republics to have schools in their own national languages but promoted the use of Russian as the language of instruction both where there were sizable numbers of ethnic Russians and where parents could be persuaded that learning the language of what was called "interethnic communication" would give their children a better chance in their future professional lives.

In Ukraine, both of these groups were numerous. By 1989, the date of the last Soviet census, ethnic Russians constituted more than 20 percent of the population of Ukraine. And many Ukrainians, whose language is closely related to Russian, accepted happily or not that having their children go to Russian-language schools was careerenhancing.

UKRAINE

'VIRTUAL POLITICS.' The scandal surrounding the murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, along with the tapes which revealed possible involvement by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, "has exposed -- or confirmed -- a whole culture of virtual politics, where a public world of gesture and imagemaking masks an alternative reality of private intrigue and complicity," asserts an article in the "East European Constitutional Review." ("East European Constitutional Review," Spring/Summer 2001)

'BLACKMAIL AS A TOOL OF STATE DOMINATION.' The taped conversations of Ukrainian President Kuchma and his cronies reveal "widespread and systematic use of blackmail by the organs of the state as a way to establish political control," according to an article in the "East European Constitutional Review. ("East European Constitutional Review, Spring/Summer 2001)

INTERIOR MINISTER WARNS OPPOSITION OVER ANNIVERSARY OF JOURNALIST'S MURDER. Yuriy Smyrnov told Interfax on 5 September that police will react with "tough measures" if the opposition resorts to "provocation" during its actions on 15- 16 September to mark the first anniversary of the disappearance of independent journalist Heorhiy Gongadze. "I do not want another 60 of our employees to suffer for nothing," Smyrnov added, referring to scuffles between riot police and demonstrators on 9 March. The anti-presidential National Salvation Forum intends to hold a march commemorating Gongadze in Kyiv on 15 September. The following day, Ukrainian journalists plan to gather in Kyiv and set up a Journalistic Ethics Commission in order to react to defamatory media campaigning in the upcoming parliamentary elections. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 6 September)

WIFE APPEALS FOR INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION INTO JOURNALIST'S DEATH... Myroslava Gongadze, the wife of slain journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, has appealed for an international investigation into the death of her husband, Interfax reported on 12 September. "As long as such an independent investigation is not ordered and carried out, and the charges against you are not refuted, I will consider you to be guilty of the destruction of my husband," Myroslava Gongadze said in an open letter to Ukrainian President Kuchma. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 13 September)

...AS DOES REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS. In a 13 September statement, the Paris-based media watchdog Reporters without Borders (RSF) noted that "though thirteen journalists have been assassinated in Ukraine in the last five years, the Georgy Gongadze case marked a crucial turn. The murder of this young journalist, who denounced the regime's offences, served as a wake-up call to civil society in the country and led to the awareness abroad of the seriousness of the threats to individual liberties in Ukraine." The RSF statement also observed that, "The disclosure of senior state officials' likely involvement in the journalist's disappearance has shaken President Leonid Kuchma's rule for months [and] the Ukrainian state apparatus, the courts and police, have aggressively impeded the search for the truth. The Public Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of the Interior have raised their opposition to any serious investigation into the events surrounding the journalist's disappearance and murder." The RSF, joins with Heorhiy Gongadze's wife and mother in calling for the creation of an international commission of inquiry into the journalist's disappearance and murder. The independent commission of inquiry should include Ukrainian judicial and police authorities, international and Ukrainian experts, representatives from organizations responsible for monitoring Ukraine's efforts to respect its international commitments (Council of Europe, OSCE, United Nations Commission on Human Rights), representatives from Ukrainian and international human rights organizations, representatives of the Gongadze family, and the members of the Ukrainian parliament's commission of inquiry. (Reporters without Borders, 13 September)

GONGADZE'S MOTHER SEEKS TO INDICT PRESIDENT FOR ABDUCTION, MURDER. Lesya Gongadze has appealed to Prosecutor-General Mykhaylo Potebenko to officially charge President Kuchma, presidential administration chief Volodymyr Lytvyn, and former Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko with the abduction and killing of her son, independent journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, Interfax reported on 11 September. Lesya Gongadze reminded Potebenko that although the ProsecutorGeneral' s Office has had "enough time and possibilities" to disprove the allegations of former presidential bodyguard Mykola Melnychenko that Kuchma, Lytvyn, and Kravchenko are implicated in the killing of the journalist, it has thus far failed to do so. ("RFE/RL Newsline," 11 September)

MEDIA BULLETIN. The European Institute for Media released its August issue of its online bulletin on media developments in Ukraine in the "Ukrainian Media Bulletin." The bulletin contains information on media news, media and government, media law, media conferences, and new media technology. To receive the bulletin in Ukrainian contact Svetlana Selyutina at eim@carrier.kiev.ua (European Institute for the Media, 7 September)

END NOTE: UKRAINE PONDERS LANGUAGE POLICY AND NATIONAL INTEGRATION
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ETHNIC RUSSIAN COMMUNITY IN CRIMEA FEELS NEGLECTED. The ethnic Russian community in Crimea feels neglected by everyone, the Ukrainian authorities, Moscow, Russian businessmen, and the international community, according to an article in "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 18 September. Its members believe that the reunification of Russia and Ukraine would not be a bad thing, and one of the community's leaders observed to the Moscow paper that "if tomorrow Ukraine and Russia declare that they are again together, then in Crimea you wouldn't find even 2 percent of the population that would protest against such unification." PG

UKRAINE PONDERS LANGUAGE POLICY AND NATIONAL INTEGRATION

The closure of Russian-language schools in Ukraine over the last decade has prompted ethnic Russian groups there to protest what they see as a policy designed to promote the assimilation of ethnic Russians into the Ukrainian nation.

Three ethnic Russian groups in Ukraine -- the Russian Movement of Ukraine, the Russian-Ukrainian Union, and For a Single Rus -- picketed the Ukrainian Education Ministry last week because of what they say is Kyiv's policy of "liquidating Russian-language education in Ukraine and [promoting] the assimilation of Russians and Russianlanguage citizens."

According to a press release issued by the Russian Movement of Ukraine earlier this month, the Ukrainian government over the last decade has changed the language of instruction in 1,300 schools from Russian to Ukrainian. As a result, the press release said, only 10 percent of the schools in the country are now conducted in Russian even though "not less than half of the population considers Russian to be its native language."

The Russian Movement said that this shift is taking place against the wishes of parents, and that written appeals to the education authorities have not produced any results. The group said that it will now engage in picketing government offices and other forms of protest in order to attract attention to this issue.

In most of the post-Soviet countries, questions concerning the language of instruction are among the most sensitive and contentious of all public issues. On the one hand, anything that touches the lives of children and their futures is something adults are likely to take seriously. And on the other hand, the debates taking place now reflect the continuing shadow of Soviet-era policies. But nowhere are these discussions more difficult than in Ukraine.

During the Soviet period, Moscow allowed union republics to have schools in their own national languages but promoted the use of Russian as the language of instruction both where there were sizeable numbers of ethnic Russians and where parents could be persuaded that learning the language of what was called "interethnic communication" would give their children a better chance in their future professional lives.

In Ukraine, both these groups were numerous. By 1989, the date of the last Soviet census, ethnic Russians constituted more than 20 percent of the population of Ukraine. And many Ukrainians whose language is closely related to Russian accepted happily or not that having their children go to Russian-language schools was careerenhancing.

END NOTE: UKRAINE PONDERS LANGUAGE POLICY AND NATIONAL INTEGRATION
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KYIV SAYS U.S. RETALIATORY ACTION MUST BE 'PURPOSEFUL, WELLFOUNDED.' Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Serhiy Borodenkov on 18 September said the U.S. response to the 11 September terrorist attacks should be "purposeful and wellfounded," Interfax reported. Borodenkov noted that a possible military action by the U.S. should avoid causing civilian casualties or religious confrontation. Simultaneously, Borodenkov stressed that those standing behind the attacks "must be dealt their due punishment," AP reported. Earlier the same day, the ministry advised Ukrainian citizens to leave Afghanistan and the regions of Pakistan close to the Afghan border and refrain from traveling to these areas for fear of U.S. retaliatory strikes. JM

SMIRNOV CANCELS MEETING WITH MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT. Transdniester leader Igor Smirnov on 18 September canceled his meeting with Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin that was scheduled for 19 September, Flux reported. Earlier on 18 September, a Tiraspol press release called on the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the OSCE to help defuse the situation created after Chisinau on 1 September introduced new customs seals. Smirnov has said Moldova thus created an "economic blockade" over Transdniester. The press release said Transdniester companies lost $9 million as a result of their inability to conduct cross-border trade. OSCE Chisinau mission chief William Hill said Tiraspol and Chisinau leaders should meet and negotiate, otherwise the conflict could deepen. Smirnov previously canceled a 30 August informal meeting with Voronin that was intended to discuss the status of the Transdniester region. ZsM

UKRAINE PONDERS LANGUAGE POLICY AND NATIONAL INTEGRATION

During the Soviet period, Moscow allowed union republics to have schools in their own national languages but promoted the use of Russian as the language of instruction both where there were sizeable numbers of ethnic Russians and where parents could be persuaded that learning the language of what was called "interethnic communication" would give their children a better chance in their future professional lives.

But with the end of the Soviet Union, many Ukrainians, like their counterparts in other post-Soviet republics, decided that they could and should promote their national language as part of their general effort at nation and state building. Indeed, many of them felt that changing over to Ukrainian was almost a patriotic duty.

Such attitudes became even more widespread as Ukrainians recognized that the Russian Federation, where millions of Ukrainians live (the exact number is a matter of dispute) did not in the past and has yet to provide any Ukrainian-language schools for its citizens. And many Ukrainians were upset that international bodies that regularly urged Ukraine to keep Russian-language schools never demanded that Russia open Ukrainian-language ones.

Kyiv's gradual shift in the language of instruction from Russian to Ukrainian in many schools is widely popular among Ukrainians. But not surprisingly, it is generating a backlash among ethnic Russians and among those Ukrainians who grew up speaking Russian. As a result, Ukraine now finds itself caught between Ukrainians who want their children to speak Ukrainian and ethnic Russians and ethnic Ukrainians who want their children to speak Russian.

The picketing is unlikely to change anyone's mind. But it will certainly call attention to a political issue that is far from resolved, one that may ultimately be more important than economics or geopolitics in determining Ukraine's future.