Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-01-13-Speech-4-015"
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"en.20050113.3.4-015"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Parliament played a political role in Ukraine. Whether we can be proud of our involvement will become apparent from future events, yet what does the future hold?
First and foremost, Ukrainians are aware that the European Union lent its support to Mr Yushchenko. The handshakes with Mr Yushchenko before cameras on Independence Square and the orange orgy in this House, to which the media devoted much space, made it quite plain to Ukrainians that we were not neutral. If it were merely democracy that had been at stake, MEPs would not have got dressed up in orange. Once Mr Yushchenko takes office as the new president, any criticism of him will also be directed at the European Union as the force that helped him to victory.
Questions will also soon start to be asked, and in fact have already been asked, pertaining to the sources of funding for the Orange Revolution. Thirty-three thousand of Mr Yushchenko’s representatives in district electoral committees were provided with satellite phones, yet who paid for them? Tents and food were supplied to the demonstrators in Kiev, yet who paid for them? We have been told that President Yanukovych brought his supporters in from Donbas on buses, almost certainly paid for with state funds, but who paid for Mr Yushchenko’s supporters to get to Kiev, and on what form of transport? Ukraine is a poor country, and all this must have been funded by someone. Russia, the USA and the European Union are all accusing each other of interfering in the affairs of others. As it becomes increasingly apparent that Mr Yushchenko is unable to fulfil all the expectations held of him, more and more criticism will be directed at the European Parliament, as it was the most visible external force that became involved on Mr Yushchenko’s behalf.
Questions will also be asked regarding the external bodies that profited most from Mr Yushchenko’s election. Ukraine is currently a poor country, but it has the potential to become a rich one. Who will try to get their hands on this wealth? Who will exploit it, and how much will the Ukrainian people profit from this? It is time for us to realise that there is still a long way to go until the political situation in Ukraine is stabilised, and the use of force is still a possibility.
It is to be hoped that the methods of dialogue and mediation will become established as standard features of political life. Yet are we in a position to guarantee this? If the situation were to culminate in the use of force, what would we do then? I hope the people of Ukraine will find answers to their problems in a peaceful fashion, and I hope the changes that have taken place there will yield positive results. If they do not, the European Parliament will share in the blame. I thank you."@en1
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