Anti-Europe agitator Thierry Baudet,
for instance, does not hesitate to claim that the EU has forced Ukraine to give
up free trade with Russia as a condition for the signing of the treaty. The
Association Agreement as a customs union is incompatible with membership of
other customs unions but Ukraine was never a member of Putin’s Eurasian Customs
Union. It is a complete lie to say the Association Agreement is incompatible
with free trade agreements. In any case it was Russia that first launched a
trade war with Ukraine before he EuroMaidan Revolution in summer 2013 and then unilaterally
abrogated its free trade with Ukraine in January.
It is also shocking to see how
Ukraine is portrayed in a demeaning and at times racist manner by the opponents
of the treaty. Consistently the country is dismissed as thoroughly corrupt and
ruled by a bunch of ‘fascists,’ ‘anti-Semites’ and ultra-nationalists. As if
the country would be unworthy of an association agreement with the EU.
Corruption is certainly a big
problem, but not necessarily of a different order than in many EU member states
in southern and eastern Europe. The treaty would actually allow Ukraine to
tackle this scourge. But, corruption is a two-way process and while the EU
criticizes this scourge many EU members such as Cyprus, Austria, France, and
Britain gladly welcome corrupt money from Ukraine and Russia.
It is categorically untrue that the
current government consists of disguised ‘neo-Nazis’ which is merely repeating
Putinist propaganda. It is based on a coalition of centrist, liberal and
Christian Democratic parties. The nationalist right in Ukraine received 6% of
the vote in the 2014 elections which is a lot lower than in EU members
Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Hungary and Poland.
The Jewish population of Ukraine,
one of the oldest in Europe, is Russian speaking and has strongly supported the
Euromaidan and Ukraine’s self defense against Russian aggression. Indeed,
Jewish monitoring organisations in Kyiv report that the highest levels of
xenophobia are to be found in Russian occupied Crimea where Islamophobia
against the Tatar population is on a level last seen in the Soviet Union. With
less than ten anti-Semitic attacks in Ukraine last year this represents one of
the lowest in Europe and far lower than the hundreds recorded in Germany,
France and other EU members. If the Ukrainian government were so anti-Semitic,
why would Israel then be willing to sign a free-trade agreement with Ukraine?
The no campaign repeats Russian
disinformation about a divided Ukraine where half of the population is opposed
to the treaty. Again, this is not true as there is majority support for EU
integration throughout Ukraine. More
importantly, the no campaign ignores the important factor that Ukraine’s
Russian speakers are loyal Ukrainian patriots and two thirds of Ukraine’s
soldiers in the Donbas are Russian speakers.
Why should this be viewed as an unusual
anomaly repeatedly raised by the no campaign? After all, English speakers can
be patriots of Scotland and Ireland and Dutch and German speakers can be loyal
patriots of Belgium and Austria respectively.
Support for joining Putin’s
Eurasian Union has slumped to under ten percent which is far lower than the
number of Britons who seek to support the UK’s exit from the EU in the upcoming
June campaign. But, Ukrainians have little difficulty in choosing between an
authoritarian and violent mafia state dominated by Putin or an imperfect but democratic
Ukraine. Putin thought he could easily win all Russian-speaking territories for
himself when he launched the rebellion against the regime in Kiev two years
ago. He miscalculated. The Russian-speaking cities with Jewish minorities in
eastern and southern Ukraine rallied in support of the Euromaidan government.
Let the no campaign admit frankly
that the only reason for using this association agreement to hold a referendum
on is their determination to turn the public opinion on the EU in the
Netherlands. Too bad they have stooped to finding occasion arguments, based on prejudice
and half-truths, which further undermine the position of a weak country that
has become a victim of Russian aggression. It is unbecoming of politicians to
lower themselves to the level of racist stereotyping and caricatures of eastern
Europe worthy of only cheap tabloids and the gutter press.
Jan Germen Janmaat is a reader in comparative social science at UCL Institute of Education in London and Taras Kuzio is an author.
