Paul
Goble
Staunton, May 13 – The supporters of
incumbent Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko are calling on the Verkhovna
Rada to adopt an appeal to the UN, PACE, Parliamentary Assembly of NATO, as
well as other national parliaments to come to the defense of minority nations
in Russia against increasing Moscow oppression of them.
The draft resolution singles out as
at particular risk the peoples of the North Caucasus, Idel-Ural, and Siberia
and says that the central Russian government has been stepping up its
oppression of them since 2014 when it invaded Ukraine, seized Crimea, and began
the war in the Donbass (solydarnist.org/?p=212567).
In part, this action reflects increasing
activism by emigres from these regions who have been forced out of their
homelands by Russian abuses; and in part, it is the product of Kyiv’s decision
to raise ethnic questions in Russia because Moscow constantly does so with
respect to Ukraine (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2018/12/kyiv-to-focus-attention-on-moscows.html).
But what makes this appeal,
scheduled to be voted on this week, so important is that it represents a marker
of where Ukrainian policy is and a challenge to the incoming administration of
Vladimir Zelensky. On the one hand, he may want to avoid such sharp statements;
but on the other, he may see this is a useful political tool against Russian
aggression.
The reaction of Zelensky, deputies loyal
to him, and candidates in the upcoming Verkhovna Rada elections will thus say a
lot not only about where Kyiv is heading but also about the possibilities of
the minority nations inside Russia in the coming months to gain attention and
outside support.
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