“At the time of gaining independence, Ukraine already had most of the formal attributes and institutions of statehood. However, it did not follow the path of filling them with new content and optimizing functionality, but the simplest path of extensive development. This led to the fact that the country was stuck for decades in the post-Soviet reality, in which the elite perceived independence only as an opportunity to get rich without control, and”, — write on: ua.news
At the time of gaining independence, Ukraine already had most of the formal attributes and institutions of statehood.
However, it did not follow the path of filling them with new content and optimizing functionality, but the simplest path of extensive development. This led to the fact that the country was stuck for decades in the post-Soviet reality, in which the elite perceived independence only as an opportunity to get rich without control, and the interests of the population were forced to focus on solving the problems of immediate survival.
In such a situation, the declaration of multi-vector or European and Euro-Atlantic integration, Slavic unity and common economic space or Baltic-Black Sea cooperation, priority development of relations with Russia or the USA — all this was a fiction. Behind this always hid the same desire to preserve the situation, which is beneficial to the key political players.
At the same time, the struggle between the West and Russia for influence over Ukraine was one of the factors in preserving the post-Soviet stagnation. The division of the country into “pro-Western” and “pro-Russian” camps blocked the formation of its own national agenda and a common model for the future. A party-political system was never formed. And this led to an open conflict during the first and second Maidan.
European choice was the slogan of the Revolution of Dignity, but it was not its main demand. The main demand was democratization and modernization of the country. Unfortunately, this remained the slogan, and the political elite was more concerned with painting bridges and fences, tearing down monuments, and changing street signs. There was a desire to allegedly “live in a new way”, but not to change anything in essence. The system remained as it was. Unfortunately, the main result of the Maidan is actually that it did not win – its stage and the politicians who stood on it won. What the people demanded remained slogans.
However, Russian armed aggression determined the geopolitical vector of Ukraine’s development. The process of modernization according to the Western model has begun. But this modernization has a non-systemic character. Some reforms are not carried out due to resistance from elites, some are unacceptable to society. Some of the reforms that gave positive results in Eastern European countries do not apply to Ukrainian realities. Another part is half-hearted.
For a quarter of a century, changing ideological signs, Ukraine bought time for modernization according to the Western, European model. However, recent events and political trends in European countries give reason to say that the old European model is experiencing a systemic crisis. She is also changing.
Ukraine is trying to build a European yesterday. But sooner or later, this “yesterday” will lead to not the happiest “today”.
Andriy Zolotaryov
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