Firm as to where it’s going, must work hard to get there – Ukraine four years after Maidan as seen by experts
Kyiv, November 20, 2017. Ahead of the 4th anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity a Ukrainian think-tank asked experts what the victories and the defeats of the Maidan are as well as what’s Ukraine’s progress in achieving the Revolution’s goals.
Fifteen out of the 62 experts that were interviewed in course of the survey are convinced that the Maidan revolution has definitely won. Over a half of the interviewed – 32 experts are of the opinion that the Maidan has won rather than lost. Main goals that have been achieved thanks to the Maidan are retaking the course towards the European integration, signing of the Association Agreement with the EU as well as the defeat of the Yanukovych regime. Next steps that need to be made in order to achieve the Revolution’s goals is hold a true fight against corruption, reform, focus on the economic development as well as hold the next parliamentary elections based on the new rules. Eleven experts consider the possibility of the third Maidan revolution in the nearest time being quite realistic while 33 fellow colleagues say it’s quite unlikely. These are the results of an open survey held among the experts ahead of the 4th anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity, presented by Iryna Bekeshkina, Director of the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation during the discussion at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
Ukrainian diplomat Volodymyr Ohryzko emphasized that the overall summary of the Maidan Revolution is positive – Ukraine is moving towards becoming a full-fledged subject of international law, the state has turned towards the European and Euro-Atlantic integration. According to Ohryzko, Ukraine has also figured out who are its partners and foes. “Where we have not succeeded? We keep having our cake and eating it: with the corrupt oligarch, clan-based system on the one hand and a pro-European on the other. It is not going to work like that. We will have to choose one of them. I am sure that our choice will definitely be pro-European,” Ohryzko emphasized.
Among all the ongoing reforms in the country, the decentralization reform comes as one of the most successful, Ihor Koliushko, Chairman of the Board at the Center for Political and Legal Reforms, is convinced. “It is different exactly because it was being prepared for a long time and, mainly, not in the the officials’ offices only. The reform was being drafted for several years, hundreds of discussions were held across the country. Despite the fact that the skeptical approach was dominating during these discussions for quite a while, in 2015 when the first steps to introduce the decentralization elements were made, people did believe what the experts had been talking about before. Instead of being imposed by authorities the reform very quickly became what the people themselves were fighting for in different communities,” Koliushko said.
