Sergej Grabovskij, political scientist

"Visti Z Ukrainy" No 7, February 16, 1994, Kiev

The label of neo-communist state was pinned on Ukraine in world commonwealth. Absence of real economic reforms, staff of government and Supreme Soviet, new Law on Elections that preserves relics of Soviet age -- those are undoubtable facts that witness that there is a long way to a real democracy in Ukraine. If interior policy is not democratic, one can find its reflection in foreign political activities as well.

It is obvious that it was interior policy that a fact that was not noticed in Ukraine, but hardly so in the world, derives from. The fact is opening of Consulate General of Ukraine not long before the New Year in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia (and also a new cut Union republic Yugoslavia). It is significant that it is a third consulate in the country. Another two belong to Russia and China. All other ones were called back, because sanctions of Security Soviet of UN are put on Serbian aggressors in ex-Yugoslavia.

One can understand why Moscow and Peking are in Belgrade. Russia (no trust to democratic rhetoric of Andrei Kozyrev) was and remains the main defender of Serbian militarists on the international level. Russian volunteers fight in Balkans. Russian military vehicles arms Belgrade regime. So, natural is the Russian Consulate here. And the China Consulate too, because the Serbian power is considered a communist one all over the world, so it has one spirits with Peking. Ukraine is in good company! May be, the ruling party feels a great nostalgia for communicating its 'class brothers' (certainly nomenclature one) and have decided to create an interest club in Balkans. Or somebody in the highest power echelons prepares to run away (sorry, to emigrate) to friendly Serbia and he puts there a pillow now to fall safe when they in Kiev will kick his ... ?

The last assumption can be argued like that: the action of opening the Consulate was carried out nearly in the same time with elections to the Serbian parliament where the socialist party of Slobodan Molishevich, the president of the country, has got a majority. So, the Belgrade regime has demonstrated its stability, while Ukraine has demonstrated its factual solidity with it. It only remains to say that during the very days when the Consulate General was opened the Serbian troops in Bosnia have intensified shelling of Sarajevo, where the Ukrainian battalion of UN peace-making forces is situated...

What was the urgent necessity (from official point of view) to open the Consulate General of Ukraine in Belgrade? The Ministry of foreign affairs considers that we have economic interests in the Danube river basin that suffers now from sanctions of Security Soviet of UN. Ukrainian steamships are stopped near Yugoslavian banks by different political groups; groups of unknown rob the cargo, people suffer. Then, there are many Ukrainians in ex-Yugoslavia, and there is a real threat against their health and life during military acts. So, the necessity of protection of economic interests of Ukraine, of its citizens and of Yugoslavian Ukrainians, as diplomatists think, was the reason of opening of consulate in Belgrade.

However, official explanations may convince only a very naive man. Don't Ukrainian diplomatists see that they can not prove now that Ukraine does not violate sanctions against Serbia? Who will believe now to refutations of numerous informations in European mass media that Danube convoys of steamships with forbidden cargo start from Ukrainian ports (even if that refutations are true!)? The fact of Ukrainian solidity with communist Serbian power can not be refuted.

What the refutations however? A year ago an influential businessman and politician Victor Urchukin has stressed after his visit to Belgrade: sanctions against Serbia are dictated by United States that rush for a world reigning, while we need mutual advantageous connections with new Yugoslavia. Is not this idea coming to life?

The main thing in that problem, the thing that stirs up a great surprise, is not the position of executive power (its neo-communist character is probably no doubt for everyone), but the silence of Ukrainian democratic parties. A month has gone since the moment of opening of the Consulate General in Belgrade, and only the Kiev Assembly of the Transnational all-Europe radical party has condemned that action. It is too astonishing that nobody but transnational radicals pays attention to the fact, that Ukrainian national interests suffer and an image of Ukraine is rising strong, the image of the dangerous neo-communist creature in the East Europe, and the image of those so called democrats, the image of narrow-minded nationalists.