During her blitz July 2 visit to Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton disappointed many journalists and civic activists, including participants in hushed-up meetings with her.
A select group of activists discussed possible threats to democracy and press freedoms with Clinton behind closed doors, hoping she would take a stance against alleged rollback in these areas, four months into the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych.
“We appreciate the president’s recent statements in support of media freedom and we will work with the Ukrainian government to continue safeguarding these critical liberties.”
– Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State.
During her stopover to Ukraine on a tour into Russia’s backyard that also included visits to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, Clinton treaded lightly in publicly appearances. She reaffirmed U.S. support for Ukraine, while cautiously raising concern over alleged abuses in press freedoms and democracy.
“We appreciate the president’s recent statements in support of media freedom and we will work with the Ukrainian government to continue safeguarding these critical liberties,” said Clinton after meeting with Yanukovych.
Behind closed doors, Clinton’s staff pushed an old message that the U.S. is willing to support Ukrainians in their fight for democracy if people are ready to stand up for their rights. Clinton urged the small group of journalists and civic activists that she met with to stand up for the nation’s freedoms. She argued that the U.S. could only help more if broad domestic support existed for their concerns.
Still, civil society representatives expected much harsher criticism of Yanukovych from Clinton.
“We expected tougher statements on media freedoms and democratic values in Ukraine.”
– Natalia Ligachova, chief editor of Telekritika, Ukraine’s main media watchdog.
“We expected tougher statements on media freedoms and democratic values in Ukraine,” said Natalia Ligachova, one of the journalist-activists who met with the U.S. Secretary of State late on July 2. Ligachova heads Telekritika, Ukraine’s main media watchdog.
Analysts say that Clinton was trying to find a difficult balance in Kyiv, sending a clear signal to the authorities about the need to respect democratic values without seeming to lecture the president and alienate him.
According to Ligachova, the U.S. delegation is well informed about the media freedom and democracy situation in Ukraine.
“They even knew the details about the incident when [the president’s] administration staff tried to get the video of Yanukovych struggling with a wreath off the air,” she said, referring to a May 17 incident when strong winds blew a commemorative wreath on top of the president.
Alyona Getmanchuk, director of the Kyiv-based Institute of World Policy, also met with Clinton and the U.S. delegation.
“I got the sense that they are still wondering whether what is happening in Ukraine is really the beginning of a democracy rollback,” she said.
Members of the U.S. delegation asked the civic society representatives whether a Russian-style scenario of a clampdown on freedoms would at all be possible in Ukraine.
Since Yanukovych can’t boast the same high approval rating as Russia’s Vladimir Putin had in his early presidency, it would be harder for him to disregard the civil society, the civic activists said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Yuriy Onyshkiv can be reached at onyshkiv@kyivpost.com
