21 березня 2015 року словенське видання "Primorske novice" опублікувало інтерв’ю Посла України в Словенії М.М. Кириченка, в якому було висвітлено сучасну ситуацію в Україні та на її сході в контексті виконання Мінських домовленостей.

Повний текст інтерв’ю англійською мовою.

Question: We could read in media few days ago, that USA will send extent military help to Ukraine. At the same time, European Union is talking about ceasefire between pro Russia separatists and Ukrainian forces. Does Ukrainian government believes in that ceasefire?

Answer: First of all I would like to note the following.

Ukraine is fully committed to the Minsk Agreements and considers their implementation as the only possible way of peaceful settlement of the conflict in the East of Ukraine.

The key element and starting point of the Minsk Agreements is immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and its strict implementation by all the parties of the conflict.

I this respect I would like to stress that Ukraine steadily adheres to the undertaken commitments – we ceased fire.

Unfortunately this is not true of the Russian-backed separatists. Pro-Russian militants continue the shelling the positions of Ukrainian Army and civilian objects and even try to initiate the offensive.

Since the ceasefire was declared in February 15, pro-Russian militants have attacked Ukrainian positions more than 800 times. Ukrainian Armed Forces have lost 65 servicemen and almost 400 servicemen were wounded.

Concerning US military support, it has nothing to do with the declared ceasefire. Ukraine needs military assistance in the form of modern weapons not for war, but as a way to ensure its defense and security, and to act as a deterrent.

We are conducting now two parallel processes: the first process – we are strictly carrying out the requirements of the Minsk Memorandum. The second process - we are strictly and resolutely building up the combat potential and increasing the defense capacity of our Armed Forces.

Russia is not going to withdraw its troops and heavy weaponry from the territory of Ukraine. It continues diligently to deny its direct involvement in the conflict, but for the world community it is an indisputable fact.

I think that in the current situation when Russia demonstrates by its actions that it does not intend to comply with the Minsk Agreements, the international community has no choice but to force Russia to peace. Urgent and consolidated measures of the whole civilized world are needed to stop Putin, to curb Russian’s imperial ambitions that are unacceptable in the 21-st century.

Question: The numbers are shocking. In eleven months more that thousands of Ukrainian soldiers died, six thousand people died, million people had to leave their homes. What other consequences has country suffered because of the war?

Answer: Of course there is nothing more valuable than a human life. Yes, since the beginning of the conflict 1543 of Ukrainian servicemen were killed. The total number of victims of the conflict has reached almost 6.000. Besides, 1.1 million of Ukrainians in Donbas lost their homes and are now considered to be internally displaced persons. Approximately 25% of the country’s industrial potential has been suspended and another 10 % was completely destroyed. Right now expenditures for Ukraine’s defense sector amount to more than 4 billion USD per year. According to the IMF, in the next years Ukraine will need 41 billion USD to stabilize the situation.

Question: Slovenian media is full of news from Ukraine. Does media coverage in Slovenia depict the real situation in your country?

Answer: I would prefer to see more objective information on the actual situation in Ukraine and concerning Ukraine in Slovenia’s media.

Unfortunately, Russian propaganda continues to exert a major influence in many EU countries, and Slovenia is no exception in this regard.

Question: Minister for foreign affairs Karel Erjavec had an idea that Slovenia could play intermediate between European Union and Russia. What did you think about that proposal?

Answer: Ukraine is open to all proposals that can lead to peaceful settlement of the conflict in the East of Ukraine and welcome all of them. In this regard, we are grateful to Slovenia for supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, for its unambiguous refusal to recognize as lawful the annexation of Crimea by Russia. We are also grateful to Slovenia for its assistance to Ukraine in the rehabilitation of Ukrainian children, whose parents were killed in the counter-terrorists operation in the East of Ukraine, and for the rehabilitation of Ukrainian servicemen who were wounded in the operation (in particular one soldier has completed the rehabilitation, another one is undergoing the process right now, and we expect that another one will shortly arrive to Slovenia). At the same time, we would be very grateful to Slovenia if it could be more active in condemning Russia’s   aggression against Ukraine, and voice it’s support more openly for the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners that are currently held in Russian prisons. This of course, related to Nadiya Savchenko, the Ukrainian pilot, who has been imprisoned by Russia without any legal cause.

Question: According to top US diplomat for Europe, the situation on Crimea can be described as “reign of terror”.  After all, also Putin admitted that annexation was not completely consequence of public will. Is it possible that Ukraine gets back Crimea without war with Russia?

Answer: I don’t know which American diplomat you are talking about, but this is a completely accurate assessment. The human right situation in Crimea is truly appalling.  Crimean Tatar activists who advocate for the right of their people are persecuted and arrested.

The situation requires firm and efficient coordination of the actions of the whole civilized world in protection of the right of Crimean Tatar and liberation of annexed Crimea.

The illegal referendum in Crimea which was held at gunpoint of Russian soldiers and its further illegal annexation by the Russian Federation pose a serious threat to the existing European and World order.

I want to say that Crimea was, is and will be Ukrainian. We will never reconcile with the annexation and occupation of Crimea. We see this as a temporary phenomenon.

At the same time we are well aware that a quick solution to this problem would be hard to find. But nevertheless we will find all the possible ways to protect our citizens in Crimea regardless of their nationality or religion.

Question: How do you see the Ukrainian future? If ceasefire will last, Kiev will have to organize elections and referendum in Eastern part of state until the end of 2015. Can you predict the results?

Answer: I’m not a fortune teller, and I wouldn’t want to take responsibility for predicting Ukraine’s future, but I am confident in one thing – the European future of our country.

Eventually, Ukraine will join the EU. However I am not a dreamer and I clearly realize that this is a hard task that requires a lot of time and effort. But we can do it.

The Minsk Agreements give hope that the hot phase of the events in Donbas will transform into the phase of political resolution. Broadening of powers of the Ukrainian regions will take place solely under the constitutional amendments on decentralization. I’m confident that Ukraine will remain unitary state. According to the latest opinion pull 80% of population firmly stand for the unitary Ukraine.

Question: Do you believe that the county will be the same after the war?

Answer: I can tell you with certainty that our country is already different from the way it was a year ago, before the Revolution of Dignity. The Revolution of Dignity, the first anniversary of which we commemorated recently, has already changed our country and our people. A year ago Ukrainians realized that they deserve better lives and fought to make a final choice in favor of Ukraine’s European path of development. Right now we are fighting for the same thing, upholding European values, and our right to live in a free and democratic state in the friendly family of European nations. War made us understand who is our friend, and who is our foe. But at some point war will end, and peace will be reestablished. However, right now is the time to implement the necessary reforms so that we can speed up the day when we will join the EU. We are committed to this path.

 

Question: Today we are in Štanjel because of nicer themes. Karst region and Ukraine are connected with special bond. What can Shevchenko teach Slovenians? When we are talking about Shevchenko we have to mention that, he remain important symbol of independence of Ukraine. Are his work nowadays even more important that they were 150 years ago?

 

Answer: Today the representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora in Slovenia and Slovenian friends have gathered in the wonderful town of Štanjel to commemorate the 201st anniversary of the birth of a great Ukrainian poet, painter and visionary Taras Shevchenko.

Shevchenko is a crucial figure not only in Ukrainian, but also in world literature, and has earned his rightful place in eternity. The confirmation of this is the translation of Shevchenko’s collection of poems «Kobzar» into almost every language in the world. In Slovenian «Kobzar» exists thanks to a Slovenian writer Jože Abram, who translated the collection into Slovenian. This is how Štanjel, where Jože Abram was born and where his bronze bust as well as bronze bust of Shevchenko were installed, became a symbol of the unity of the Slovenian and Ukrainian people, which are united by the European values, which Shevchenko appealed to in the 19^th century.

Shevchenko made an immeasurable contribution to Ukrainian culture and the formation of a Ukrainian national dignity and national consciousness. If you read Shevchenko’s «Kobzar» you understand that words of Taras about loving your Motherland, about unity, brotherly kindness and concord are actual not only for Ukrainians but for Slovenians as well.

Though Taras lived only 47 years, he produced poetry and artwork that is cherished around the world and his dedication to the Ukrainian cause will remain close to our hearts forever. His was a voice that spoke loudly and forcefully for self-determination and freedom, and today, as the people of Ukraine bravery battle to protect their country from invasion the words of Taras Shevchenko continue to inspire us.

Question: We know that Slovenia is very small comparing to Ukraine, but still how do you see the connections between two countries?

Answer: Slovenia is a very beautiful country with a very friendly people. Diplomatic relations between Ukraine and the Republic of Slovenia were established on March 10, 1992. Thus the history of official ties between our countries spans for more than two decades. During this time our people managed to build friendly relations based on mutual confidence and respect. And the size of the country is irrelevant, the main factor in this case is the mutual desire to develop and deepen our contacts, and we have that already. I’m sure that the establishment of peace in our country and efficient implementation of reforms would facilitate the inflow of Slovenian investments in Ukraine. I would like to see a dynamic increase of Ukraine’s export volume to Slovenia and continuous increase of exports of Slovenia to Ukraine.

As the Ambassador to the Republic of Slovenia I will continue to concentrate my efforts at further development of friendly and mutually beneficial relations between our countries. There is significant untapped potential in relations between Ukraine and Slovenia that could be greatly beneficial to both of our countries. Both Ukraine and Slovenia should make use of this opportunity. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Primorske novice,