Is Poland about to upset the Svoboda Party?

Well it appears that the power of the Party of Regions knows no territorial limits.

So powerful is it that it can apparently influence the parliaments of neighbouring countries over historically controversial  issues.

I am referring to the proposal currently passing through the Polish Sejm which seeks to declare the Organsiation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and the SS Galicia Division criminal organisations that committed genocide against ethnic Poles during World War II.

The Svoboda Party seems to believe that the Party of Regions is behind this move within the Polish parliament.

Naturally the PoR will revel in this as much as Svoboda will rile against it – after all, how often do you get to see your nationalist political opponents heroes cast as genocidal war criminals by an EU State?

But does anybody actually believe the Svoboda spin that the PoR are powerful enough to sway the Polish Sejm over such an issue – a long held emotive issue for the Polish at that?

No, I don’t either.

From Peacekeeping to Peacemaking? – Ukraine

As is well known to regular readers of this blog, when it comes to UN commitments, Ukraine is somewhat stalwart in its support and engagement – Quite rightly too when we consider Ukraine was a founding member of the United Nations.

As such it has not and does not shy away from supplying troops and equipment for UN peacekeeping missions.  Ukrainian troops are deployed today in various nations under the auspices of the UN in various parts of the world.

It therefore seems quite reasonable, in light of significant reforms within the Ukrainian defence department – in particular the end to military conscription this year which will lead to a fully contract military half the size of the current numbers – that Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania will form a joint military brigade for peacekeeping missions.  The Ukrainian contingent will comprise of 545 military personnel plus equipment.

Jolly good – but…..

At the same time this announcement was made, the UN announced it was putting together a peacemaking entity for engagement within the Central African Republic.

There is a significant difference between the parameters of peacekeeping, peace building and peacemaking.

If the UN is about to actively enter the far more proactive and assertive realm of peacemaking  - which is nothing short of proactive intervention at a political and diplomatic level, how long before that peacemaking has the inevitable mission creep that will move troops involved in peacekeeping into a far more interventionist peacemaking role?

Thus far Ukrainian military casualties and overt military action in UN peacekeeping roles in the past decade amount to the recent use of a Mi 24 helicopter firing upon compounds in Cote D’Ivoire a few years ago, and a peace-keeper being killed in rioting in Kosovo in 2008.  (Not withstanding accidental deaths due to traffic accidents etc.)

How long before the UN rules of engagement change from those currently in existence for peacekeeping, to rules far more suited to the interventionist role of peacemaking?

How quickly will this new brigade see its UN role change?

Review – New Europe, Old Problems – New Eastern Europe, Summer Edition 2012

Occasionally I get asked to review matters relating to Eastern Europe (normally specific to Ukraine) or write about them (sometimes for money) for specific clients on specific subjects.  It is always a pleasure to do both and be involved with Ukraine and its neighbourhood in any guise.

Anyway, some weeks ago, Adam Reichardt, Managing Editor of New Eastern Europe magazine asked if I would review the summer edition of New Eastern Europe, “New Europe, Old Problems” which hits the news stands in printed form today.  Without further ado, here are my thoughts on the latest quarterly:

Review – Summer Edition 2012 – New Eastern Europe “New Europe, Old Problems”

The New Eastern Europe train leaves the station with the summer edition “New Europe, Old Problems” and the editors selecting a number of articles from around the former Soviet Union reminding the reader of how, if not the numerous reasons why, these nations remain so very different from the former Warsaw Pact nations today.

Our journey in this quarterly publication begins with a very dour commentary from the BBC’s John Sweeney on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city located not far from the Russian border. It should be noted it is not the impression one suspects numerous Euro2012 football fans will have of Kharkiv in their brief time there, and having spent time there myself prior to the Euro2012 facade many times, neither is it the impression I have after spending the past 10 years living in Ukraine. Where we would agree is John Sweeney’s statement “another time, another world” as we must be in different ones despite the fact it is the same Kharkiv we know.

Next is with Grzegorz Gromadzki and the Russian power system. A well trodden path indeed it must be said, and very difficult to say anything new that has not been said many times before over the past few months. Nevertheless the article attempts to make comparisons with Brezhnev’s USSR and equate that economic stagnancy with today’s Russian political stagnancy and democratic legitimacy gap felt by numerous Russians.

Whilst still in Russia, Cold War diplomacy and espionage is the subject of Kelly Hignett’s piece. A reminder of the positions, interests and needs of the UK vis a vis Russia as sovereign states, despite the quite significant trade and business ties.

Following on, the subject of Russia Today, the Russian media outlet designed specifically to reach the foreign audience with English and Spanish language programmes and a considered piece of writing by Marcin Maczka. who takes us through the history, politics and current engagements of the largest Kremlin propaganda machine since the Cold War ended. Or is it just an alternative point of view made by undeniably well qualified RT employees?

Pussy Riot and the Orthodox Church come under Jacek Borkowicz gaze as the New Eastern Europe train remains in Russia for the time being. Naturally an emotive subject depending on the conservative or liberal mindedness of the reader. Regardless of personal positions, is the jailing for those involved somewhat overzealous? Read the article.

From Moscow we travel to Minsk – naturally – where Katerina Barushka leads us thoughtfully through the issues surrounding the 2011 attacks, subsequent arrests, trial and ultimately execution of what is a more than dubious functioning of the legal system with dire consequence.

Staying with Belarus, Pawel Kowal decries the EU’s policy or lack of policy towards Lukashenko. He should know. He is an MEP in the European Parliament.

Yegor Vasylyev returns us to Ukraine with an article charting the rise, fall, and rise once more of President Viktor Yanukovych, the implementation of the power vertical and subsequent installation of family and close friends in key positions as is the familiar modus operandi for those patriarchs who have few people around them they can trust. Vasylyev employs fact, myth and conjecture to work his way through the opaque and murky history of the Ukrainian political class and Viktor Yukanovych in particular. That is not a criticism by any means, there is no other way.

Staying with Ukraine, Natalia Snaidanko tackles the topical issue of language in Ukraine, noting quite rightly that there is no reasoned adult debate over the issue but rather is it a line upon which the politicians of East and West Ukraine stand either side of. Maybe wisely, she stays away from the politics of using Russian in courts and schools (or not) and looks at the literary gains by encouraging writing and publishing in both languages.

In a rare trip into the EU within “New Europe, old problems”Adam Bodnar and Irmina Pacho take a necessarily critical eye to the unresolved issue of US “black prisons” in Poland and the lack of accountability for the decisions made.

From Poland to Slovakia and our next stop in Eastern Europe where Pavol Szalai sheds light on the shenanigans of Slovak politics, social media and “gorilla files.” Terribly interesting article on a nation that draws so little international media attention.

Back to Poland and Basil Kerski debating the role and influence of Poland within the German, Russian relationship. An interesting article as it hardly acknowledges Poland’s ever more forceful and influential voice within the EU, instead concentrating on how, if at all, to influence bilateral relations between Germany and Russia to Polish benefit, or to the least detriment, directly.

That brings us to a selection of interviews including with Timothy Garton-Ash. A man who should need little introduction for anybody with an interest in Eastern Europe, it is, as always, simply a “must read”. Also in this section is an interview with Tad Taube on Jewish heritage and Poland,

Onward to the “Reports” section and here we find Russian protests have more journalists and police attending than protestors, according to the author Malgorzata Nocun. An interesting dynamic for an article entitled “We won’t disappear”. Read on to discover why, despite dwindling numbers, that headline may well stand the test of time. Also in this section, Wojciech Gorecki explores the oil-money funded construction boom in Baku.

Brian R Banks takes a fairly detailed look at the life and legacy of Bruno Schulz in the “History” section before the penultimate stop for New Eastern Europe at “People, Inspiration and Ideas” where Mayhill Flower casts an empirical eye over cross border culture, Ludwika Wlodek describes the life and times of Helene Carrere d’Encausse, former MEP and prophet of Soviet doom, and Slawomira Walczewska tackles the issue of feminism in Poland, prior to the latest book reviews relating to the region wrapping things up in time honoured fashion.

All in all, a number of well chosen articles, interviews and biographical pieces giving food for thought and well worth the cover price, so if you see it, buy it.  You won’t be disappointed.

Poland and Ukraine scrap Long Term Visa fees

Sometime during the autumn, giving time for the bureaucrats to do what bureaucrats do within the nations of Poland and Ukraine, the fees for long term Visas for citizens of both nations visiting the other will be abolished.

That agreement was reached between Poland and Ukraine on 13th June, and thus Poland joins Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia in such agreements with Ukraine.

There is a but though.  There is a limit to the length of the long term visas to which this gratis system applies.  The fees are exempted for those visas longer than 3 months but no longer than 1 year.  No different to the existing agreements with Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia.

For all EU members, there is no requirement for a visa to enter Ukraine for less than 90 days (within a 180 day period) anyway.  As yet not the same for Ukrainians going the other way due to Ukraine’s inability to pass the required laws on biometric passports and the storage of personal data held therein, frustrating the roadmap to visa-free travel with the EU and delaying the second phase of a few years worth of assessment once phase one, the legal phase, has been implemented.

The 2015 goal for visa-free with the EU, set by the Ukrainian government, looks likely to be 2017 due to its own inability to legislate for biometrics and data storage rather than any issues created by the EU.  Needless to say, the legislative issue could be easily overcome if it were not for the business interests of those seeking to produce the biometric passports and their friends in the RADA lobbying on their behalf. – Typical – However quite what the EU will look like by then is also open to interpretation with the European Parliament at loggerheads with the European Council over the reintroduction of border checks and the slow erosion of the Schengen visa system.

Anyway whilst the grand visa-free plan is locked within internal Ukrainian business conflict rather than political rejection, side-deals with immediate neighbours, designed to at the very least make matters a little easier and far less costly, seem to be continuing apace.

Some progress is better than none, and to be fair, even when visa-free is eventually sorted out between the EU and Ukraine, that only applies to travel and remaining within the EU for less than 90 days in 180 period.   This deal with Poland, just as with Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia, is for those who need to remain more than 90 days and simply removes the fees from the visa application process for those from either nation in the bilateral agreements.

No bad thing for business people in the region, as long term visas aren’t particularly cheap (and require a lot of administrative preparation).

Checks and imbalances – Structural immunity and civil reactions

I have written many times about politicians, judges and their ilk from the former Communist nations managing one way or another to avoid what the public and external actors feel they richly deserve by way of justice.  There is also the alternative case of the public and external actors feeling that some get what they do not deserve if a nation does something about it.

Then there are the cases where the public feel these people get what they deserve but the external actors don’t like it.

As I have previously written, I anticipate Ms Tymoshenko being out of jail by Christmas at the latest.  Not that her incarceration necessarily means she was guilty or that her release necessarily means she is innocent.  In fact there are few internally of Ukraine who claim she was innocent outside her own political party and I have yet to read a statement from any European politician stating she was innocent either.

There are a number within Ukraine who doubt the motivation behind her incarceration and quite rightly.  The politicians and courts should be held to public scrutiny.  There are those who agree with her incarceration and believe she broke the law under which she was charged but do not like the manner and judicial system by way of transparency under which she was found guilty.  They do still believe she was guilty even if they don’t like the process.  The EU does not like the possibility of political motivation or the process but none have claimed she is innocent.

That however does not stop the coercive pressure for her release.  For the EU, guilty or not, it is important she takes part in the elections next year as she is the closest thing to an opposition figure that will  provide any semblance of an interesting democratic vote.  For them, even if she gets a spanking at the polls, she must take part.  During the entire circus that was her trial and as of today, her political support seems unchanged at 13% of the national vote.  Unpopular as the current powers are, they remain quite some distance ahead.

As I have previously pointed out in the above link though, the EU is still publicly and repeatedly moaning about Bulgaria and Romania dragging their feet prosecuting past political office holders and politicians.  On the other hand it has serious concerns over the state of Hungary and its plans to prosecute 3 past Prime Ministers.  As yet I have not read any serious comments over Iceland charging their ex-Prime Minister for quite  literally doing nothing.  That is despite Iceland moving towards EU Membership.

We now have the case of a Romanian judge under investigation in Romania as per the broad EU pressure on it to deal with corruption, only to find that the search and seizure of evidence against her cannot be used as the home she shares with her husband has diplomatic protection as he sits on the bench at the Strasbourg and holds diplomatic immunity.  Ergo, Romania goes after a corrupt judge at the top of the Romanian justice system to find she is fire-proof because of her husband’s position and Europe backs him.

Luckily they have Poland, the poster child of the EU when it comes to Eastern Europe.  Or do we?

Poland went after a corrupt ex Prime Minister and has again been cut off at the knees by Europe.

This Polish case has implications for Ukraine who have opened investigations into Ms Tymoshenko for her opaque dealings when head of the monopoly gas supplier and intermediary, United Energy Systems in the 1990′s.  The Russian Department of Defence claims to be owed $405 million which Ms Tymoshenko flatly denied until recently, when she then changed her position and stated there was a debt but not to the amount stated.

Intermingled in this cesspit of opaque gas deals and ultimately costing the Ukrainian people $ billions, is ex-Prime Minister Lazerenko who was jailed for laundering gas money in the US and is to be released in January 2012.

You have a sovereign nation in Russia claiming theft/fraud, an ex-Prime Minister jailed in the US for laundering opaque gas proceeds from UES whilst under Ms Tymoshenko’s directorship and I read with incredulity a female German MEP stating no Ukrainian politician is an angel and the matter should be left with the sleeping dogs.

She is right that no Ukrainian politician is an angel.  Nobody who survived in a position of power through the 1990′s can possibly be an angel.  It was a dirty, murky, nefarious time and make no mistake, but is she seriously advocating drawing a line under past deeds for politicians past and present in Ukraine?  What about justice?  Defrauding and stealing from the people of Ukraine is OK if you are a politician past or present as long as it occurred prior to some arbitrary time-line in the sand?

I would remind this German MEP of a statement by Golda Meir – “One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present.”

At what point could Ukraine go after her (or any other Ukrainian politician who has held public office) for such crimes?  When she is as old and as infirm as Jacques Chirac and no longer matters on the political scene.  Is France setting the precedent?  Only then can the law have its turn?  Should Italy prosecute Berlusconi only when he retires from office or should they wait for a while afterwards and prosecute him posthumously?

Both Romania and Poland have had their legs licked out from under them when prosecuting past political leaders by European Courts in the past few weeks.  If the Polish case is anything to go by, should Ms Tymoshenko ever face trial and be convicted over the $405 million owing to Russia, she will win an appeal at the ECtHR as the same reasoning that the judge is not independent of the State will surely apply in Ukraine.

Now I know I am not even scratching the surface of the incidents in Ukraine, Bulgaria, Hungary, Iceland,  Romania or Poland.  I am not getting into the technicalities, rules of procedure, motivations, laws or individual national legal systems for good reason.  That good reason is the hoy polloy never do.

The great unwashed of which I am a fully paid up member, see only corrupt politicians and those at the top of the structures of state getting away with crimes and nefarious acts that have ultimately cost them money all the time, and when something is done, they see the EU supra-structures kicking the legs out from under the national system one way or another.

The human rights of the collective sacrificed at the alter of the human rights of the individual?  The law and justice sacrificed at the alter of political expediency?  National sovereignty sacrificed at the alter of the supra-structure?  National economics sacrificed at the alter of the markets?

Is it any wonder that the masses are getting rather miffed across the continent?

Toxic towns – Remember Kalush?

Well dear readers, do you remember me writing about Kalush almost two years ago?

It was indeed when I was writing in a somewhat more “folksy” style which reading it now, I am certainly not that good at. Fortunately I have an audience who seem to be very forgiving and far more interested in content rather than form.

Anyway, Kalush and the toxic man-made nightmare so ably raised to public attention by then-President Yushenko during his last week in office, has not been forgotten. At least it has not been forgotten as far the the citizens of Kalush are concerned or indeed President Yushenko’s successor or the new administration.

20.9 tonnes of hexachlorobenzene have actually been removed a few days ago and by now will have been moved by road to a disposal site in Poland. A total of 7500 tonnes of this monstrous material is due to be removed this year, all headed for Poland. Last year a total of 8500 tonnes made its way to the UK for disposal.

By the end of the year, the Ukrainian Environment Minister expects 60% of the hexachlorobenzene at Kalush to have been removed from Ukraine and by the end of next year, the entire 22,800 tonnes will have been disposed of outside Ukrainian borders.

Now I could question the cost effectiveness of external disposal as opposed to constructing a specialist facility to dispose of it within Ukraine, but certainly as far as Kalush is concerned, there is a finite amount of this toxic nasty to deal with and really given the inaction of dealing with it prior to and since independence, the fact it is being dealt with should be welcomed.

One still wonders however, given the amount of toxic nasties of various degrees of nastiness and quantity inherited from the Soviet era in Ukraine, whether an internal specialist disposal site would not have been a more cost effective strategy. Then again, who would welcome such a specialist site in their region? Are we seeing the rise of NYMBY’s in Ukraine or given the memory and legacy of Chernobyl, a very wise decision where risk management and external disposal outweighs the costs?

Whatever, it is pleasing to see the matter is eventually been addressed with action and not words.

Sticking with Euro 2012…….and nationalism

Following on rather neatly from yesterday’s post about police strategy for the Euro 2012 football tournament, whilst diligently passing a empirical eye over nationalism in Ukraine for those who pay (bless them), I came across a report on football and those to the far-right of the ideology spectrum.

The report covers nationalism showing its face at football matches in Poland and Ukraine from 2009 to the beginning of 2011 in both nations and quite rightly was supported by UEFA during its compilation.

For those who are old enough and remember Britain in the late 1970′s and early 1980′s, it would probably read as any similar report would have read if written about the England and Wales Football League at that time.  In short, rather grim but not an epidemic.

Where it would differ in a comparison to UK football of the late 70′s/early 80′s, is the overt support offered by both Polish and Ukrainian MPs and political parties and the reluctance of  the clubs, police and relevant national league administrations to seriously address the situation.

What should also be noted is that in every stadium in both nations that are home to the fixtures in the Euro 2012 tournament, all are identified as having a regular and hard-core far-right contingent within its attendees.  When it comes to Ukraine, unsurprisingly Lviv and the Svoboda Party get repeated mentions, although only FC Kyiv Arsenal get a mention for having no obvious far-right contingent.  In fact they are mentioned for their active anti-fascist/nationalist/Nazi banners and symbolism.

Given that international sporting events, and particularly football, have historically had numerous violent clashes outside the stadiums both before and after the games in numerous countries, undoubtedly this will be a concern for the politicians on both Poland and Ukraine, not to mention Europol and the local the police at each venue.

However, all things should be kept in perspective.  Just because things can happen doesn’t mean they will when it comes to violence.  As for the symbolism, most people have no idea what they mean once you get past the obvious images such as the swastika.  If you are a Buddhist, that particular symbol has a completely different meaning to a European.

Anyway, back to doing what I am being paid for!

Euro 2012 – Policing and terrorism strategy

Well dear readers, amongst the myriad of websites I trawl through daily looking for things pertinent to Ukraine is Statewatch.

Often there is very little to do with Ukraine, however a quick perusal has led me to the EU handbook “with recommendations for international police cooperation and measures to prevent and control violence and disturbances in connection with an international dimension, in which at least one member state is involved.”

Rather relevant considering Ukraine co-hosts the Euro 2012 football tournament in less than 12 months time.

A little further digging revealed the results of an EU questionnaire relating to “police cooperation with non-EU countries in the area of sports events security“.  Needless to say, Ukraine did respond to the questionnaire.

All jolly interesting.  However, “According to some countries (BE, BG, CY, PO, PL, RO, ES, SE, HU, UA), certain general aspects regarding cooperation with non-EU countries (such as basic standards, recommendations) could be included in the “Football Handbook”, but it would not provide a legal basis for this kind of cooperation”.

So, have the huge legal issues of national sovereignty, cooperation and the necessary sharing of data relating to individuals and groups been overcome?

Ukraine, as highlighted in the national abbreviations above, quite rightly is seeking a legal framework over these issues.  A matter, somewhat made more complicated when the co-hosts happen the be the EU Member State of Poland, with the inherent herds of EU citizens heading into Ukraine and equally non-EU citizens from nations like Ukraine and Russia heading into Poland (and thus the EU), possibly under a temporarily waved Visa regime for the non-EU citizens.

Is this another occasion where the road to good intentions is paved with great big blobs of sticky legalities and where the cracks in the European continent’s pavement can lead to extremely unfortunate outcomes through bureaucratic limitations relating to the flow of information?

It will be terribly difficult to explain or justify unwarranted violence, or worse a terrorist act, due to the flow of intelligence being stuck to a nasty globule of legality on one side of a border.

Anyway, it won’t stop a practical assessment of how things are at the moment thanks to the Ukraine verses Sweden  friendly on Wednesday.