The West blamed for the Ukraine crisis

A conservative commentator lambasts the United States and Europe for being unable to make up their minds on what to do about Ukraine. He thinks this is the cause of the political instability and the ensuing nationalist drive there.

On Válasz, Bálint Ablonczy accuses the leading western powers of incompetence and inconsistency in their relations with Ukraine. If they really want Ukraine to join the western world, they should have taken effective steps to protect it against Russian intrusion and should have devoted billions of dollars yearly for perhaps a decade to sanitize what he calls ‘the real post-communist mafia state’. (This remark is a hint at former liberal Cabinet Minister Bálint Magyar’s similar definition of the current Hungarian government structure – a description also used by George Soros in his reaction to the government’s national consultation campaign, but found mistaken by Ablonczy.) In the absence of real and consistent support, Ablonczy explains, the only fruit western opening yielded to ordinary Ukrainians was higher gas prices and austerity. It is no wonder, he continues that angry demonstrations are frequent in Kiev. President Poroshenko’s administration reacts by ‘whipping up’ nationalist passions. This is why measures like the public education act which severely curbs education in minority languages (including Hungarian) have been adopted. Ablonczy also sees nationalism as an efficient way of diverting attention from the corrupt nature of the Ukrainian regime.

Tags: corruption, EU, nationalism, Ukraine, US