The unqualifiable behaviour of the Ukrainian government towards its opponents has been revealed and Europe is about to boycott the Euro2012.
There is no democracy in Ukraine. There is only money that deceives and corrupts. Never has kleptocracy been taken to this point of perfection. Everybody knows some MP have been bought and we know the price - public offices are granted to those close to a president, who only owes his political fortune to his mediocrity. Family and friends are increasingly wealthy. There are oligarchs in every sector: chocolate, stove pipes, steel, sweets, healthcare etc ... The country's entire economy has been confiscated to the benefit of a few. The pensions of the "cleaners of Chernobyl" have been reduced but $500,000 are still offered to an MP who joins the presidential camp. In this country, the young, the honest, who are so few in number, have no choice but to go into exile or submit to the power of money. This marvellous people does not deserve this fate. Peaceful - even in its revolutions - educated, hard working, European - it has suffered greatly because of the past! This country which is full of resources, whose agriculture could feed all of Europe, still has a heavy industrial network, certainly ageing, but which produces nearly everything cheaply and is the source of a great deal of envy. The plutocrats in Kiev fear their Russian neighbours and feign preference for the European Union - blackmailing us: either Europe or Russia? This is how, under pressure from Poland, whom we have seen demonstrate greater attachment to fundamental rights, the Union started negotiations for a free trade agreement with Ukraine. It will not be ratified. Today it is discovering, on the occasion of what should be a celebration of European football, the sad and unacceptable reality of Ukrainian politics. Tribute must be paid to the Democrats who are not resigned to it, starting with Germany, France, other member States, the Commission and MEPs.
Some wanted to undertake diplomacy with football by involving Poland and Ukraine in a grand, sporting event. What a strange idea! No one would have thought to suggest to Lithuania the organisation of a competition like this with Lukashenko's Belarus or even Italy with Khadafi's Libya! Often common sense is the safest option in diplomatic calculations. Europe cannot ignore the fact the Yulia Tymoshenko and several members of her government team are dying in prison for things they did when they were in office and it cannot support this situation. If the heads of the Ukrainian opposition are not freed we can demand that the matches planned in Ukraine take place elsewhere, in Germany for example. The Union should also sanction the Ukrainian leaders, by banning them from entering Europe and by holding them personally responsible for the fate of their opponents; and all Europeans must refuse to sit on the same bench as the Violators of Freedom. As for the footballers, if they still have a heart to kick the ball, they should know that we shall ignore them when their champions receive the trophy from the dirty, unworthy hands that reward their indifference to what has made their glory and fortune and above all our identity: FREEDOM.
Read the editorial by Jean-Dominique Giuliani in Polish.
