Erstellt am: 28. 11. 2014 - 17:35 Uhr
"Where do they think Putin is going to stop?"
Ukraine has just marked the first anniversary of the beginning of the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine - a three month mass movement, based around Kiev's Maidan square, that deposed the former regime of Viktor Yanukovych.
100 people died in the pro-western protests that started on November 21 last year, when students were the first to start protesting against Yanukovych’s decision not to sign the Association Agreement for closer ties with the EU. One week later, the protestors were violently beaten by the police. As the weeks progressed the violence got worse until protesters were shot by snipers as they protested on Maidan.
By then Euromaidan - originally a twitter hashtag used to help co-ordinate the protests - developed into a strong political movement.
APA/EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO
Yelyzaveta Schepetylnykova was elected to the Presidium of the EuroMaidan Council as a student representative. She now represents Ukrainian students on the board of the European Students’ Union. I met her this week in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Chris Cummins: What do you think the movement you helped initiate has achieved?
Yelyzaveta Schepetylnykova: We have obviously reached some of the goals of the Euromaidan but there is a lot more work still to be done. The departure of the regime of Viktor Yanukovych has obviously been the biggest achievement but we have also managed to organise democratic elections, both for the presidency and the parliament, and we have returned the country to the constitution of 2004.
On the other hand there has been no trial of the people who kidnapped, tortured or even killed protestors who were on the Maidan. No decision has been made to hold anyone responsible. <<
Chris Cummins: So no justice and you have been left with a country that is divided. There is war in the east which is costing many lives and people are getting poorer. Has the cost been too high?
The cost has been very high. But we all believe the principle that Maidan continues. When we were standing there we didn’t want to change a few faces. We wanted to change the system. We wanted to change the rules of the game and you cannot change the rules of the game after just three months of protest or, as we are seeing now, while you are dealing with a war.
Our resources are being taken away by the war. But with the new parliament we have new reforms and these should show whether we have achieved the aspirations we had.
There probably won’t be much progress until there is stability. The European Parliament nominated you for a prestigious award but do you think the EU should or could have done more for you after people laid down their lives, some with the European Union flag in their hands?
It’s very important that we continue what we are doing. The EU should help Ukraine get out of this terrible war and develop into a sustainable state. I think what really helps would be the EU putting further pressure on Russia to stop their aggression on Ukrainian territory and supporting Ukraine economically and helping us reform. If that succeeds it will be a win-win situation both for Ukraine and the EU.
When you see high-ranking politicians in the EU saying that although they sympathise with Ukraine they can’t risk business relations with Russia, how does that make you feel?
It makes me ask: where do they think Putin is going to stop? No-one has shown him that there is any cost to breaking up the borders of a sovereign state. If people don’t feel they should risk their business relationships because of the influence in the east of Ukraine, it means that they don’t care what should happen with other countries neighbouring Russia that used to be part of the Soviet Union. Like Georgia for example. I’m pretty sure some politicians in the Baltic States might want to reflect on this issue.
Chris Cummins
Many Ukrainians held up European Union flags during the Euromaidan protests. There seems no medium-term possibility for Ukraine to join the EU. How do people feel about that?
We often say it is not about the status. We want to join the European Union but we don’t necessarily have to. It is going to be a 100% victory if we build a Europe inside Ukraine. That means building the standards of life and developing the attitudes of our people. Then we will have had success.