Two years after the bloody Maidan ‘revolution’ Ukraine is sliding back into chaos again, Paul Lendvai wrote in Monday’s issue of Der Standard.
Over 70 percent of Ukrainians have do not trust the people who rule them. The situation is reminiscent of the disappointment the Ukrainians felt after the so-called “Orange Revolution” when President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko managed to squander the people’s trust in a matter of just a few short months.
Twelve years on, the people are blaming President Petro Poroshenko and Premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk for dragging their feet on the much-promised economic and judicial reforms, Paul Lendval wrote.
With sporadic firefights still flaring up in the eastern Donbass region, Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko said that the country’s economy had slowed down by 20 percent as a result of the “illegal occupation.”
However, it is the handful of billionaires and politicians on their payroll who are responsible for the ongoing political chaos in Kiev, the author wrote, adding that President Petro Poroshenko was part and parcel of the oligarchic system now existing in Ukraine and had no desire to change the status quo.
“The reform-minded people, the civil society and independent media desperately need EU support in their fight against corruption,” Paul Lendvai wrote in conclusion.
“They are faulting Putin for everything that is happening in Ukraine, apparently to shift the blame from the West, which is responsible for the twists and turns of the past two years. But, luckily enough, we have Putin who is responsible for everything, even the assassination of President Kennedy,” one reader commented after reading Paul Lendvai’s article.
“How come you took so long to figure it all out, Herr Lendvai? Is it because of your professional duties, or emotional pressure, or, maybe you just lost your mind? Unlike journalists, it took us, ordinary folks, mere days, maximum weeks, surely not two years, to realize this!” wrote another.
“Lost their trust after two years?! What did you expect from these bloodthirsty gangsters who surged to power with a couple of time-serving tycoons in tow? This is absolutely irresponsible behavior! Something to laugh at if it hadn’t been for the 10,000 dead in eastern Ukraine,” one more reader added.
