He describes an August meeting in which he and others were invited to meet with the president about proposed changes to Ukraine’s Constitution.
“He clearly was not interested in hearing any opinions other than his own,” Wynnyckyj wrote. “When pressed to explain his position, Poroshenko stated outright: ‘Someday you will all realize that I am the best president Ukraine has ever had, and the best of all possible presidents for the present day.’ … I hesitate to paraphrase the classic idiom ‘power corrupts,’ but at the time I had no doubt that ‘high office swells heads.’”
Poroshenko also recently seemed to belittle the role of volunteers in holding back the invading Russian army and Russian-backed soldiers in eastern Ukraine. Many people, in fact, believe that it is volunteer helpers and volunteer soldiers who gave the moribund Defense Ministry time to get its act together.
“We would have won anyway, but it would have been harder,” Poroshenko is quoted as saying before quickly backtracking in the face of public outrage.
“We should not be surprised that as commander-in-chief of an army that stopped Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he sees himself as a ‘victorious Generalissimo,’” Wynnyckyj wrote.
Return to authoritarianism?
Then he recounted rumors that U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden, in his visit to Kyiv on Dec. 7-8, expressed concern about the possibility of a return to authoritarianism in Ukraine.
In a telephone conversation, Wynnyckyj said that he was merely expressing the observations that not only he, but others close to Poroshenko are making. It appears the president, like many chief executives in many nations, has surrounded himself with yes men who have let him become “overly self-important.”
Wynnyckyj said he hasn’t given up on Poroshenko yet, but thinks that Ukraine may need pre-term parliamentary elections to reset the balance of power in the nation. He also, like many, including myself, recalls a much more approachable and down-to-earth Poroshenko before he reached the presidency.
Wynnyckyj said that he “had a lot of respect” for Poroshenko during the EuroMaidan Revolution that drove Poroshenko’s predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych, from power on Feb. 21, 2014.
“There are not a lot of billionaires who walk around on the Maidan without bodyguards. He did that on a regular basis,” Wynnyckyj said.
Revolution will continue
The kicker to Wynnyckyj’s op-ed was this: “But as I listened to the U.S. vice president’s speech (before parliament in Kyiv), I could not help wondering whether it was possible for the individuals in his audience on Dec. 8, those same people who during the past two years had distanced themselves (mentally in the first instance) from their own electorate, and who had convinced themselves of their own exceptionalism, whether it was possible for these people to create institutions that would ensure an environment of dignity in Ukraine. I hope and pray that I’m wrong, but I doubt it. Until such time as Ukraine’s politicians begin to listen to their own people, the revolution will continue…”
He’s right, of course, about the shortcomings of Ukraine’s politicians and government officials. But they are not alone in their arrogance.
Trading for access
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reportedly bans press accreditations to Des Moines Register journalists at Iowa campaign rallies because he doesn’t like the newspaper’s coverage. That’s the classic access game played by politicians and government officials alike — do as we say and you can talk to us; don’t and you will be out.
Unfortunately, some journalists will go to any length to ensure their access to top politicians. Politico White House chief correspondent Michael Allen groveled to get an interview with Chelsea Clinton, promising a “no-risk” and no-surprises interview. He also agreed to work out the questions in advance with her.
Such ethical breaches would not be tolerated by the Kyiv Post, which zealously guards its editorial independence. We’ve lost some interviews as a result, including with Arseniy Yatsenyuk before he became prime minister. His people wanted the questions in advance. Other politicians go further by demanding word-for-word, pre-publication approval of the article in exchange for the interview. We say no.
To date, the Kyiv Post hasn’t scored an interview with either Poroshenko or Yatsenyuk in their current positions. We’re told that we’re on the list. We’re also told, alternatively and contradictorily, that we’re not important enough or that our coverage is too critical.
Throwing weight around
The American government has also overstepped in Ukraine, in ways large and small. Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Victoria Nuland’s infamous “fuck the EU” curses and her hard lobbying for Yatsenyuk as prime minister could be considered examples of “ugly Americanism.” On the petty side, some at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine lately appear to be doling out or denying access to events based on whether they like a particular journalist or not. No wonder too many in the world think my fellow Americans are arrogant.
Like politicians, journalists can suffer from arrogance too — although even the most powerful in the profession don’t have the power to blow up the world, arrest people or command armies the way that presidents and dictators do.
We try to check our arrogance by being responsive to readers, subscribers, advertisers, each other — and our own consciences.
In a June 6, 2010, editorial headlined “Never surrender” as Yanukovych was amassing dictatorial powers, we wrote: “There is a push to get on the presidential bandwagon or get run over by it…Those who labor to bring people the truth, without fear or favor, should take heart and band together. In doing so, they will have friends among Kyiv Post journalists. Never surrender your conscience, never bow to pressure to alter what you reasonably and fairly believe to be the truth.”
Besides Yanukovych’s dictatorial excesses, this newspaper has survived lawsuits, attempts at censorship, hostile attempts to purchase us, multiple economic crises, a bloody revolution and a shooting war. By comparison, coping with arrogant politicians, ambassadors, CEOs, press officers and PR flaks is a walk in the park.
