Although President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker has advised Ukraine not to hope for EU and NATO membership in the coming 20 to 25 years, Ukrainian officials are choosing to be positive. 144 claims that the EU representatives had made against this country were fulfilled, which means in the eye of Poroshenko that visa-free regime is just in Ukraine’s pocket. But a visa waiver program is only a small step towards becoming a full member of the European family of nations. All this way promises to be long and thorny. Ukrainian authorities are ready to overcome obstacles; they have no dread of any difficulties and do not stop talking about it, watching word with action. A striking example of this is mutual relations between Ukraine and Poland.
Essentially, Warsaw has never hidden its desire for having lands of Western Ukraine back under its control. But now that Kiev tries with all persistence and insistence to win the impenetrable stronghold of NATO and EU, reclamation claims of Polish authorities are increasingly being heard and beginning to resemble unvarnished demands.
‘If Ukraine wants to enter the European Union, then most certainly, Law adoption on Restitution will be one of the conditions for it’, says a member of the Polish political party KORWiN Lilija Moshechkova. ‘Without Lviv, the city which has always been loyal to Poland, no Polish people’, concretizes Senator from the ruling party Law and Justice Jan Zharin. Not very long ago, we were, to say the least, perplexed by this. But now it is the most natural, normal thing, which is phlegmatically received by Poroshenko’s team. Does that mean the country’s top executives have gone with it and are ready to make concessions?
On October 20, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Declaration of Memory and Solidarity with a majority of votes, in which it stated that the USSR together with Hitlerite Germany was responsible for the outbreak of World War II. The main value of this document, initiated by Chairman of Verkhovna Rada Andriy Parubiy is condemnation of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and decisions of the 1945 Yalta Conference. Thus, in fact, the deputies acknowledged that Ukraine had received the country’s western regions illegally, which means that now Poland has the reason to require the redrawing of national borders. The deputies could be accused of stupidity and unwillingness to have just a quick look at what they voted for, except for one thing – the Declaration of Hope.
Prophet Moses had been wandering with his people in the desert for 40 years so that generation of mental slaves could die off. We don’t have that load of time. And just because of it we are awaiting not only words of encouragement, but certain steps by our European friends. Since Maidan, it has become clear that Ukrainians are ready to accept any sacrifice to strive for real unity with Europe. Would Europe be willing to give a helping hand to Ukraine and accept us into common European home in exchange for our renunciation of Communist inheritance?
There is no doubt that the country’s leadership has decided to settle the western lands upon Poland. But it is not clear whether this giving would be greatly appreciated by all EU members, and as a result of it, Ukraine will become a full member of the European family of nations.
Obviously, this will not be enough for NATO membership. The Alliance will require ‘more blood’ to complete this ritual; it will demand to ‘solve the Crimean and the South-East problem’. And what is left of Ukraine after settling all territorial claims on this country, maybe, that will enter the NATO, in the end.