"The Ukrainians know that Russia always liked to be the 'Big Brother,' but we have outgrown our baby clothes, and we, the Ukrainians, want to stand on our own feet."
Overall, I would say that the Ukrainians are very wary of Russians and their attempts to control the Ukraine. I know it is not the view of some people who stress that the Ukraine is gravitating toward Russia because of their similar traditions and culture. However, I think the prevailing attitude is that of mistrust. The Ukrainians know that Russia always liked to be the "Big Brother," but we have
outgrown our baby clothes, and we, the
Ukrainians, want to stand on our own feet. It is easier said than
done, but it never hurts to aim high.
The Ukraine does not want to be dragged into what Tony Barber
calls "a Russian-led security alliance." Since the early
1990s, Russia tried to tighten the screws on the Ukraine. It located
its military in Belarus, dangerously close to the Ukrainian border.
Moreover, it tried to exploit the fact that Ukraine is dependent
on Russia for its supply of oil and gas.
The third major point of vulnerability is that there are many
ethnic Russians in the Crimea and in most of the eastern
parts of the Ukraine. Those Russians were never enthusiastic about
Ukrainian
independence, and thought that Ukrainian nationalism was artificially
grown on infertile soil, and will soon perish. As you probably
know, Ukrainian nationalism is the strongest in the West, so NATO
expansion, coupled with Russian attempts to control the Ukraine
could, if conducted carelessly, jeopardize the country's unity.
Barber stresses in an article he wrote, that NATO's goal is not
to isolate Russia from the rest of Europe, and not to endanger
the Ukraine's position. On that subject, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign
Minister Hryshchenko said that it would be best for NATO to become
a "Euro-Atlantic security organization" that would include
both Russia and the Ukraine.
Katerina Callahan is a native of the Ukraine and has been here in the United States for almost two years. She has received the Presidential Scholarship and is the recipient of the Raymond J. Marion Award. Katerina is majoring in Political Science and will graduate in May 2000. Her plans are to go to law school in the fall. Her family still resides in the Ukraine.