#39_1-8

WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
DAY AFTER DAY No.39 JUNE 21, 2018 3
By Natalia PUSHKARUK, The Day
OnJune 18-19, Sofia hosted
the international scholarly
conference “Bulgaria and Ukraine
in the History of Europe”ontheoccasionofthe100th
anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic
relations between the UNR and
Bulgaria.
Julian REVALSKI, President of the
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, who took
part in the opening ceremony, emphasized
that the institution he heads is proud
of cooperating with Ukrainian academics
and civic activists, the website of the General
Directorate for Servicing Foreign
Representatives reports. Meanwhile,
Mykola BALTAZHY, Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine
to Bulgaria, who also participated in the
ceremony, welcomed the Ukrainian “special
academic mission” and noted: “It is
very important that the best academics
from various countries are working on the
1917-24 events.” Daniel VACHKOV, Director
of the Institute of Historical Studies
of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,
pointed out that “although Ukraine and
Bulgaria maintain very active relations,
they need to be further developed, which
requires fresh historical research.”
Besides, as the conference was being
opened, the Ukrainian Institute of History
and the Bulgarian Institute of Historical
Studies signed an agreement on scholarly
research.
Here follows the text of The Day’s interview
with Ambassador Baltazhy.
● “THE EVENT AROUSED KEEN
INTEREST AMONG
SCIENTIFIC CIRCLES AND
THE PUBLIC”
Mr. Ambassador, how did the idea of
this conference come up?
“This conference is part of the comprehensive
program of academic events
within the framework of the project ‘Day of
Ukraine in Europe’ on the occasion of an anniversary
of the establishment of diplomatic
relations between Ukraine and Bulgaria, Romania,
and Greece, and the centenary of the
Ukrainian diplomatic service. The conference
had long been in the making on the initiative
of the Academic Society for the
History of Diplomacy and International Relations
with support from and in partnership
with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Ukraine’s Embassy in Bulgaria, the General
Directorate for Servicing Foreign Representations,anumberof
regional authorities,
Ukrainian universities, and archives. The
main Bulgarian partner is the Institute of
Historical Studies of the Bulgarian Academy
of Sciences, and the sponsor is the Ministry
of Education and Science.
“The event aroused keen interest
among academic circles and the public. Suffice
it to say that the President of the Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences, Julian Revalski,
welcomed the participants. The event
is interesting by both the theme and the list
of participants which includes 20 Ukrainian
high-ranking academics and former
diplomats.
“The first day saw welcoming speeches,
plenary reports, and stormy panel discussions.
The conference is also receiving
Bulgarian media coverage.
“Besides, this conference is part of the
embassy’s package of events on the occasion
of the centenary of the establishment
of diplomatic relations between the
UNR and the Kingdom of Bulgaria. In particular,
a similar conference was held in
February at Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. And this debate attracted a wide
circle of academics and experts. It is deeply
symbolic that it coincided in time with the
Bulgarian vote in the EU Council, which
clearly reflects its name and European
context. I think the conference is an important
event which should be viewed
through the prism of friendly Ukrainian-
Bulgarian relations.”
● “IT WAS AGREED TO FORM A
UKRAINIAN-BULGARIAN
COMMISSION ON
HISTORICAL RESEARCH”
To what extent is it important to
spotlight the themes of Ukrainian history
in Bulgaria and Bulgarian history in
Ukraine?
Ukraine’s“specialacademic
mission” in Sofia
Ukrainian Ambassador to Bulgaria Mykola
BALTAZHY: “We should not only study each
other’s history, but also exchange experience”
“There are a lot of maxims, such as
‘whoever does not know his past does not
deserve a future’ and ‘whoever does not
know his history will have to re-live it
again,’ and they are all still topical. But this
conference is very important, as far as finding
the truth about little-known events of
those years is concerned, for there are
very many attempts to falsify historical
events and facts. Against the backdrop of
a hybrid war on the part of Russia, the research
of history without dogmas and
stereotypes, an independent analysis and
expert examination are the main instruments
of defense from propaganda and manipulations
that pose a real threat to
democracy and security.
“Among those who stood at the origins
of Ukrainian-Bulgarian relations in the early
20th century were such figures as Professor
Oleksandr Shulhin, the UNR’s first
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador
to the Kingdom of Bulgaria, and Professor
Ivan Shishmanov, a well-known
representative of the then Bulgarian intellectual
elite, the son-in-law of Mykhailo
Drahomanov. These prominent diplomats
and civic activists enjoyed high prestige
in their countries which maintained
high-level bilateral relations.
“The conference made an in-depth
analysis of historical documents. The
Ukrainian academics cited unique archival
documents in their reports. They also
staged a superb exhibition about the stormy
events of the 1917-21 Ukrainian Revolution
in the Grand Hall of the Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences. What also aroused
keen interest was a documentary film on
signing the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty,
which in fact meant international recognition
of the UNR’s independence.
“Even after the UNR had ceased to exist,
Ukraine had very good relations with
Bulgaria in all fields. Besides, it is of
paramount importance that the two friendly
countries established relations not in
1918 – they date back to the olden times of
Kyivan Rus’ and the First Bulgarian Kingdom
or even to the period when the ancient
Ruthenian and ancient Bulgarian ethnicities
were being formed.
On the danger of provocations...
Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day
KYIV. JUNE 19, 2018
By Ivan KAPSAMUN,
Valentyn TORBA, The Day
While the parliament was
considering a number of
issues on its agenda on
June 19, tumultuous events
took place near the central
entrance of the Verkhovna Rada building.
That location hosted protests by miners,
Chornobyl victims, and veterans of the
Soviet war in Afghanistan. The protest
would have most likely stayed littlenoticed
had its participants not broken
through and reached the walls of the
building in Konstytutsii Square. There
was a clash between protesters and lawenforcement
personnel. According to
Andrii Kryshchenko, the Kyiv head of the
National Police, three law-enforcement
officers had suffered light injuries at the
hands of the protesters. He also said that
the police had detained a protester who
attacked a law-enforcement officer.
“We did not know almost till the
last moment that Chornobyl victims and
anti-terrorist operation (ATO) veterans
would join the protest as well. It was the
police who informed us about it, as
they tried to prevent any incidents,”
chairman of the Confederation of Free
Trade Unions of Ukraine Mykhailo
Volynets commented for The Day. “To
make our speeches heard, we took turns
using the Afghanistan veterans’ sound
equipment. The ATO veterans, like the
Afghanistan veterans, demanded reinstatement
of their benefits they had had
unfairly taken away. Secondly, they demanded
fairly calculated pensions. The
government has been promising it for
a long time. In turn, the miners have
wage arrears going back to 2015. This
problem could have been solved had the
parliament voted to include on the
agenda Mykhailo Bondar’s bill on the allocation
of funds for wages, technical
equipment and capital investment in
the coal industry. We need it because at
this time, a huge amount of coal is
purchased abroad. The tempo of coal
imports is increasing. Last year, our
foreign coal purchases stood at 52 billion
hryvnias.”
“There was also an exchange of opinions
about the current stage of bilateral
Ukrainian-Bulgarian relations. We can
see a fruitful development of the political
dialog, sectoral and interregional cooperation,
and city twinning. From the very
outset, Bulgaria has been supporting territorial
integrity of Ukraine, sanctions
against Russia, systemic reforms, the European
and Euro-Atlantic integration of
our state. It made strenuous efforts to
grant Ukraine a visa waiver. We cooperate
very well within the framework of international
organizations. This was also the
object of a two-day discussion. Therefore,
it is beyond any doubt that the conference
is of not only purely academic, but also of
practical importance.
“In addition, in the course of the conference,
the Ukrainian Institute of History
and the Bulgarian Institute of Historical
Studies signed an agreement on cooperation
and resolved to form a Ukrainian-Bulgarian
commission for historical research.”
“Any demands, including those of purely
social nature, become a priori political at
this juncture,” an MP asserted
● “KYIVAN RUS’ AND THE
FIRST BULGARIAN
KINGDOM WERE BOOSTING
THEIR MIGHT ALMOST
SIMULTANEOUSLY IN THE
9TH-10TH CENTURIES”
The newspaper Den also took part in
researching Ukraine’s relations with her
“southern Orthodox and Slavic sister”
Bulgaria in the publication My Sister
Sofia. Den’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna
notes in the preface to this book that
“the history of Ukraine and Bulgaria is like
a history of two sisters separated in early
childhood.” And what similarities in the
two countries’ history do you see?
“Ukrainians and Bulgarians are very
close peoples. If you make a comparative
analysis our states’ historical development,
you will see, for example, that Kyivan
Rus’ and the First Bulgarian Kingdom
were boosting their might almost simultaneously
in the 9th-10th centuries. But,
undoubtedly, two great events played a special
role in the interrelations between the
two peoples – the creation of the Slavic
script and the adoption of Christianity.
“Later, Ukraine lost its statehood
for several centuries, while Bulgaria was
part of the Ottoman Empire for almost
five centuries. We should also take into
account that our peoples have always
helped each other – the most illustrious
example of this was participation of
Ukrainian volunteers, medics, in the liberation
of Bulgaria from the Ottoman
yoke. There are also many examples of
Bulgarians helping the Ukrainian people
in their liberation struggle – even in the
era of Zaporozhian Sich.”
“When people began marching to the
parliament building, head of the State Security
Department Valerii Heletei approached
me and said that his people
would fight to the death in case of an assault
on the building,” Volynets continued.
“I explained that nobody was going
to carry out an assault. If we wanted just
to enter the parliament building, it would
be no problem at all. The scuffles took
place only after the riot police appeared.
Then Iryna Herashchenko, the first vicespeaker
of parliament, emerged from the
building, and she obviously did not understand
the miners’ issues. She said she
would visit affected regions and figure out
why there were arrears. I think that she
ought to be more prepared.”
Herashchenko, meanwhile, explained
to the media that she had invited an initiative
group selected by the protesters to
enter negotiations. She added that following
a meeting between members of the
initiative group and leaders of the largest
parliamentary factions and individual
MPs, their demands would be discussed at
a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee
on Veterans, Combatants, ATO
Soldiers, and People with Disabilities.
“We have to work out a plan outlining
what can be done right now, what can be
included into the budget for 2019, and
what cannot be done, and we must honestly
say that,” Herashchenko stated as
quoted by ukrinform.ua.
“I have a lot of acquaintances among
the organizations that joined these
protests,” MP Viktor Chumak commented
for The Day. “They sent me
their demands, and these demands have
nothing to do whatsoever with the powers
of the Verkhovna Rada. They all belong
to the cabinet’s responsibilities: benefits,
monetization, and so on. Their demands
are addressed primarily to leaders
of the nation. Who are these national
leaders? What do they have to do with
the parliament? Therefore, all this
protest, which took place outside the
Verkhovna Rada building, had no direct
relation to it. Social benefits are set by
the Cabinet of Ministers. I have not
found out who was the main driver of
this event, but it seems to me that it was
directed against serving Prime Minister
Volodymyr Hroisman. This is a warning
to him, even though it was made public
not outside the cabinet offices, but
rather outside the parliament building.
With whom is Hroisman now in conflict?
One person only, and his name is Petro
Poroshenko. Hroisman is friends with
numerous parties and factions, as well
as MPs elected in single-member constituencies.
Meanwhile, Poroshenko is
greatly dissatisfied with Hroisman’s
work. Therefore, it seems to me that the
source of the protests should be sought
in Bankova Street [where the Presidential
Administration is housed. – Ed.].
Any demands, including those of purely
social nature, are a priori political at
this juncture.”
Any Ukrainian citizen enjoys the
right to protest and to defend their social
rights. It is another matter under
what conditions all this is happening.
Firstly, we must not forget that we
have a war to deal with, although
this is not a valid reason for the government
to engage in speculations
and ignore problems. Secondly, with
the presidential election approaching,
any social or economic issues can
be used by politicians to their own
ends. Therefore, citizens need to be
particularly attentive and responsible
given this reality.