Editor’s Note: This feature separates Ukraine’s friends from its enemies. The Order of Yaroslav the Wise has been given since 1995 for distinguished service to the nation. It is named after the Kyivan Rus leader from 1019-1054, when the medieval empire reached its zenith. The Order of Lenin was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union, whose demise Russian President Vladimir Putin mourns. It is named after Vladimir Lenin, whose corpse still rots on the Kremlin’s Red Square, more than 100 years after the October Revolution he led.
Ukraine’s Friend of the Week — Maria Golubeva, Latvia’s interior minister
Following the surge in migrants flocking to Europe via Belarus, Latvia’s Interior Minister Maria Golubeva declared a state of emergency at the country’s border on Aug. 11.
Other European countries, including Lithuania and Poland, are also rushing to strengthen their borders as the number of migrants from Iraq, Iran, Syria and Africa entering the EU shot up in recent months.
European authorities said that Belarusian self-proclaimed president Aleksandr Lukashenko is using migrants to take revenge for new economic sanctions imposed by Brussels on Belarus after it forced down the commercial flight with a dissident journalist Roman Protasevich on board.
“We really have evidence of the involvement of Belarusian border guards in this process, this is a fact,” said Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite.
Lukashenko doesn’t even bother to deny it. He announced on July 22 that Belarus would no longer ‘protect’ the EU from undocumented immigrants freely passing through the Belarusian border.
«You have unleashed a hybrid war against us and now you demand that we protect you as we did before,» Lukashenko said.
Ukraine also condemned Belarus’ geopolitical battle against the EU. On Aug. 12, it sent humanitarian aid – mostly barbed wire – to neighboring Lithuania to help the country to protect its shared border with Belarus.
“I do not remember that we have provided humanitarian aid in the form of barbed wire, but the reality requires this form of friendly help,” said Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Latvia also plans to purchase barbed wire and build a fence on its border with Belarus to prevent illegal migrants from entering the country.
“It is an extraordinary measure adopted by the government after careful consideration only because we are being targeted with hostile action of Belarus,” Golubeva said.
So Golubeva is our country’s friend of the week — for taking actions against a shared enemy who treats Ukraine as a threat.
Ukraine’s Foe of the Week — Georgiy Muradov, Russia’s permanent representative in Crimea
As Ukraine’s inaugural summit of the Crimean Platform is approaching, Russia strengthens its rebuke against it.
Russia’s permanent representative in Crimea Georgiy Muradov said on Aug. 11 that this summit is part of some anti-Russian and anti-Crimean provocation organized by Ukraine.
“The main goal of the summit is to destabilize the situation (in Crimea), and Russia has to be prepared for it,” Muradov said.
Scheduled for Aug. 23, the summit, however, aims to bring global attention back to the issue of Russian-occupied Crimea, security in the Azov-Black Sea region and the protection of human rights.
Previously, many European countries have condemned human rights violations in Crimea, as well as the ongoing militarization of the Crimean Peninsula and the illegal granting of Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens in the occupied territories.
As of Aug. 13, the representatives of 40 countries have agreed to participate in the summit, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. “This is a cool number,” Kuleba said.
According to him, Russia tried to convince other countries not to participate at the Crimean Platform. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called it a “sabbath,” where “the West will continue to foster neo-Nazi and racist attitudes” in Ukraine.
“They take this initiative very seriously,” according to Kuleba. “While in Ukraine we see it as a kind of formality, Russia actually considers the Crimean Platform a serious threat and opposes it.”
Muradov doesn’t deny it: “They launch this summit to act, not to discuss theoretical issues,” he said.
So Muradov is our country’s foe of the week — for igniting fear and anger on behalf of his master in the Kremlin.
