Normally Supreme Court, Constitution, President, and National Security wouldn't make you think of an Eastern European country, especially one like Ukraine that has long associations with Russian Communism. But Ukraine's new independent government is just that. Even though Russia and Ukraine have been in a relationship since the 18th century.
Ukraine first declared independence in 1918, and was renamed the Soviet Republic. However, Ukraine soon became under Russia's rule once again. Only was complete sovereignty reached under the leadership of President Leonid Kravchuk, on August 24, 1991. Since the Soviet Union had just collapsed itself, they deserve most of the credit. A slow reformation began at this point to create a Ukraine Republic.
Republic governments hardly ever come as a smooth transition. 1998 brought a financial crisis, and President Leonid Kuchma was forced to retire in 2004 due to violent protests against his government corruption and murder accusations. So naturally his place would have to be filed after holding an election. Ukraine gives you about fifteen political parties to choose from, such as: the Republican, Ukraine People's Party, Social Democratic, The Communist Party of Ukraine, Progressive Socialist, and It's Time! Party.
This election set a new level of dirty campaign tactics. The candidate for Our Ukraine-People's Self Defense Party, Viktor Yanukovich, almost saw the end of his career indefinitely while being hospitalized for dioxin poisoning. The Orange Revolution resulted from the rumors of a fraudulent runoff election. Yanukovich's opponent, Viktor Yushchenko from the Party of Regions, and his supporters sent Kiev, and other large cities into a sea of orange, which was Tushchenko's campaign color.
This protest sparked an election rerun and much needed reformation. Many campaign issues during this time lead to reformation of the countries election laws. Campaign survivor, President Viktor Yushchenko was elected in 2005 with Viktor Yanukovich as Prime Minister. Although accused of favoritism, Yushchenko has committed to eliminating corruption with the Ukraine government and business world.
To fully grasp this one hundred year transition and it's perspective in politics and history, we must turn to the voice of the people that feel the effects of this change in society. Hungarian native, Katalin Kovachs, Ukraine's neighbor to the west, moved around to several different areas of Ukraine in 1997. Kati brings a new perspective to this change in Ukraine by viewing it all as an outsider to the country.
When Kati lived in Kiev, she visited the historic site of the Orthodox Church, on the riverbank. A smaller version of Mother Russia stands there, a statue of a woman holding a sword in the air, which has been nicknamed by locals as The Found Mother or even Big Mama.Russia placed this here as a gift, and hoped it to have similar significance at America's Statue of Liberty. Most people, however, do not see it that way. Kati said in her own words that the Ukrainians hate it because it was built by Communists, and it has desecrated their church there.
Russia has still left a permeated influence throughout Ukraine. Kati was surprised to find she needed to speak Russian in most of the places she lived. However, she did speak Ukrainian in the North Eastern region. Within the country, language is still shared between Russian and Ukrainian. The Black Sea stretches across the Southern coast of Ukraine. Russia's Navy has seen this a particularly superior place to harbor their largest fleet of ships. This of course makes it a little hazardous for swimming.
The natives of Ukraine during all this change have grown a distrust for their government officials. In Kati's association with many of the people, they unanimously agree that they have been wronged. In Kati's words, they believed in communism, but they were tricked. They believed that after communism their life will be better, but they were tricked again. There was no money, no jobs, no opportunities for a better life, so their hope died.
The crisis with Ukraine's economy only worsened the despair felt by the people. Even those lucky enough to have jobs were experiencing extreme set backs. Kati had a firsthand view of these problems. She described that many people faithfully went to work daily with a promise of payment at the end of the year, and even then it was only a sack of potatoes.
The people have learned to help each other by growing gardens of their own and raising animals, mostly cows to trade amongst themselves to keep each other alive. Kati having the opportunity to meet in many of these people's homes ultimately found hopelessness. She saw that many people are kind of burned out.
Ukraine's future rests on building hope to a people in a country that has seen too many failed governments, flags, and unkept promises. Independence has always come at a costly price. Since they have only enjoyed their freedom for 16 years, maybe only time will heal this nation into a whole country with leaders of vision to seek for a better Ukraine.
Ukraine first declared independence in 1918, and was renamed the Soviet Republic. However, Ukraine soon became under Russia's rule once again. Only was complete sovereignty reached under the leadership of President Leonid Kravchuk, on August 24, 1991. Since the Soviet Union had just collapsed itself, they deserve most of the credit. A slow reformation began at this point to create a Ukraine Republic.
Republic governments hardly ever come as a smooth transition. 1998 brought a financial crisis, and President Leonid Kuchma was forced to retire in 2004 due to violent protests against his government corruption and murder accusations. So naturally his place would have to be filed after holding an election. Ukraine gives you about fifteen political parties to choose from, such as: the Republican, Ukraine People's Party, Social Democratic, The Communist Party of Ukraine, Progressive Socialist, and It's Time! Party.
This election set a new level of dirty campaign tactics. The candidate for Our Ukraine-People's Self Defense Party, Viktor Yanukovich, almost saw the end of his career indefinitely while being hospitalized for dioxin poisoning. The Orange Revolution resulted from the rumors of a fraudulent runoff election. Yanukovich's opponent, Viktor Yushchenko from the Party of Regions, and his supporters sent Kiev, and other large cities into a sea of orange, which was Tushchenko's campaign color.
This protest sparked an election rerun and much needed reformation. Many campaign issues during this time lead to reformation of the countries election laws. Campaign survivor, President Viktor Yushchenko was elected in 2005 with Viktor Yanukovich as Prime Minister. Although accused of favoritism, Yushchenko has committed to eliminating corruption with the Ukraine government and business world.
To fully grasp this one hundred year transition and it's perspective in politics and history, we must turn to the voice of the people that feel the effects of this change in society. Hungarian native, Katalin Kovachs, Ukraine's neighbor to the west, moved around to several different areas of Ukraine in 1997. Kati brings a new perspective to this change in Ukraine by viewing it all as an outsider to the country.
When Kati lived in Kiev, she visited the historic site of the Orthodox Church, on the riverbank. A smaller version of Mother Russia stands there, a statue of a woman holding a sword in the air, which has been nicknamed by locals as The Found Mother or even Big Mama.Russia placed this here as a gift, and hoped it to have similar significance at America's Statue of Liberty. Most people, however, do not see it that way. Kati said in her own words that the Ukrainians hate it because it was built by Communists, and it has desecrated their church there.
Russia has still left a permeated influence throughout Ukraine. Kati was surprised to find she needed to speak Russian in most of the places she lived. However, she did speak Ukrainian in the North Eastern region. Within the country, language is still shared between Russian and Ukrainian. The Black Sea stretches across the Southern coast of Ukraine. Russia's Navy has seen this a particularly superior place to harbor their largest fleet of ships. This of course makes it a little hazardous for swimming.
The natives of Ukraine during all this change have grown a distrust for their government officials. In Kati's association with many of the people, they unanimously agree that they have been wronged. In Kati's words, they believed in communism, but they were tricked. They believed that after communism their life will be better, but they were tricked again. There was no money, no jobs, no opportunities for a better life, so their hope died.
The crisis with Ukraine's economy only worsened the despair felt by the people. Even those lucky enough to have jobs were experiencing extreme set backs. Kati had a firsthand view of these problems. She described that many people faithfully went to work daily with a promise of payment at the end of the year, and even then it was only a sack of potatoes.
The people have learned to help each other by growing gardens of their own and raising animals, mostly cows to trade amongst themselves to keep each other alive. Kati having the opportunity to meet in many of these people's homes ultimately found hopelessness. She saw that many people are kind of burned out.
Ukraine's future rests on building hope to a people in a country that has seen too many failed governments, flags, and unkept promises. Independence has always come at a costly price. Since they have only enjoyed their freedom for 16 years, maybe only time will heal this nation into a whole country with leaders of vision to seek for a better Ukraine.
About the Author:
Haylee Landford has been writing as a guest author for Land For Sale. Be sure to check here for information about Land being sold in your area.
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