Nothing could better demonstrate the division between President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych than the two leaders’ reaction to US plans to deploy a missile defense system in Central Europe. Yushchenko has taken a neutral position, in line with Brussels, while Yanukovych has supported the position of Moscow.
It’s no news that Yanukovych leans towards Kremlin interests when it comes to geopolitics, while Yushchenko has plotted a Western course for his country. But for anyone looking from the outside in, figuring out which man is in charge has become irritatingly confusing.
Take, for example, Hanna Severinsen, a rapporteur for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which is still monitoring Ukraine as a member. She was in Kyiv this week, where she expressed hope that Kyiv would work out its constitutional problems and finally decide “who is taking care of what.”Europe is also divided over the missile issue, its constitution and relations with Russia, but EU polemics are based on the sometimes very different interests of nations who comprise it. In contrast, divisions in Ukraine seem to be largely about personal ambitions. If Yanukovych and Yushchenko cannot agree on something that is ultimately beyond their control, then how can they solve problems within their grasp? The Constitutional Court has got to decide who’s in charge of what and fast.
