It is now some 16 years since The Ukraine became once more an independent country. Worldwide many are not even aware of the fact and believe it to be part of Russia. How is it enjoying its freedom, its independence? It seems to be struggling and is faced with huge problems. Firstly I should admit that my only qualification in looking at the situation within The Ukraine is that number 1 I am not Ukrainian and so have the perspective of impartiality and 2.
I see a great nation of huge potential that seems to lack meaningful leadership. Why? As a European, The Ukraine first came to my attention through its beautiful women, I do not apologise, I was single and with an internet connection it did not take long to discover this, but slowly I came to both admire and love the country. Something is wrong! There seems to be a complete lack of progress. It does not take very long to realise that this was once an important country, the magnificent Architecture in the centre of the bigger cities bears testimony to this fact. Kyiv the capital is a wonderful suprise, it is a truly beautiful city and actually all the major cities of this country have their own attractions. As I say, my only qualification in writing this article is that I am not Ukrainian and through the eyes of a European the situation in this country seems to be frustratingly hopeless.
Four years ago there was a sense of optimism following the Orange revolution. Why the Orange revolution failed is not totally clear, but it is obvious that ultimately it failed. It is difficult to see any effective leadership, or sense of direction from the current government or any previous government since then.
A long time. This is a country with huge potential; many highly educated young people, a country of high moral values, rich in culture and history. Did you know that the world famous Cossack dance is from The Ukraine and not Russia? Russia clearly invested heavily in The Ukraine during the days of the empire and left behind them a good basic infrastructure and many fine examples of Soviet Architecture, unfortunately it is some 16 years since the collapse of that system and so much of this investment has been neglected, that now the task of renewal, or upkeep is huge The country is being run, is functioning from the bottom up. It is the functionaries, the beauracrats that are keeping this country going, albeit on a very basic level, but without this we are talking complete chaos, complete social breakdown. Contributing to the problems seems to be that during the 70+ years that this country shared as part of the Soviet Empire there was much integration of Russian people into The Ukraine.
This was for many years both the garden and the holiday resort of Russia. This country is dual language. This need not be any problem at all (the languages are very similar), but seems to have become so.
As an outsider it is very difficult to grasp, or understand, but since the "Orange revolution" there seem to have been a very small group of politicians competing for power. The different politicians tend to be either pro Russia, or pro the West, but according the daily lives of these people, nothing much improves, or changes. Nothing changes, very little improves and the impression, is of a political elite so busy with self survival, or inter rivalry that the country is being largely neglected A small example, there is a bridge halfway down the country that spans the Dnieper river a huge river that runs from Russia and spills into The Black Sea. This bridge has been closed for 1 year! As with most of the infrastructure this bridge is a legacy from the Soviet times and most probably has seen little, or no investment since that period. This is a very important bridge, running through the centre of this country and the detour is 100,s of kilometres. It is difficult to understand the priority of the leadership that something so fundamental does not seem to be of great importance.
What is high on the list of any military stategy in crippling and overcoming the economy and communication of a country? What will they first attack and seek to destroy? These guys do it to themselves? Frustratingly through the eyes of an outsider it is difficult to see why things are so bad? Two language country? No problem. So we have those Ukrainians that are pro Russia and those that are pro Europe? Why should this be such a huge problem? Is not democracy a freedom of choice? A respect of differences? To the president of this country Victor Yushchenko and the current Prime Minister Julia Tymoshenko, I say look at your country, look at your people, they are suffering and why? You have so much potential, you can and should be an important country, of huge intellectual, cultural and artistic influence. It is not so easy to understand why this great country is in such a sorry state?.
The Ukraine was and should still be a very important country. Its capital Kyiv was possibly one of the first major cultural capitals of Europe. Seemingly due to a lack of any polical concensus the country stagnates. This is not only of great hardship to the people of this great country, it is also the worlds loss, as this country has much to contribute. http://www.confidentialmatchmakers.com
