Vitayu!

I found these two articles (to be read in tandem) quite interesting (N.B., that doesn’t mean I agree with them, esp. not with Herr Wagner’s).

“Why Ukraine has no place in the EU”

“Hijacking Galicia”

Both articles, esp. the latter, ought to provoke some thought on similarities to Latvia, however…

Vysu lobu,
/P

Richard Wagner should stick to composing operas ;-).

His article is horse manure. Galicia was a prinicipality in the days of Kievan Rus’, with its own prince and all; it was not invented by Austria in connection with the partitions of Poland. It became more distinctive after the demise of Kievan Rus’ in that from early on, and considerably before the Union of Kreva, it was ruled by Poland rather than Lithuania. RW seems unaware of anything earlier than the partitions.

In any case, his article is typical of the “Greater Rus’” theory. The trouble with this theory is that most of its adherents don’t really believe it; for them it is just a useful Trojan horse for Great-Russian chauvinism and imperialism, because while they talk about a unity and brotherhood of all eastern Slavs on the basis of a common cultural heritage, they really have nothing but contempt for any expression of that heritage other than the one generated along the St Petersburg - Moscow axis. Check out “Vara” (previously Stan) Drezhlo’s “Voices from Russia” site for a blatant example. You may well find Ukrainians reading Dostoevsky, but you will not find many “Greater Rus’” ideologists reading Shevchenko.

There is a much smaller group of sincere believers in “Greater Rus’,” whom I admire and whose cause I would approve if it had any chance of prevailing against the chauvinists. RW’s diatribe is simply a cover for total russification of Ukraine, the inevitable telos of his prescriptions. Margolina’s perspective is much sounder. She is realistic about the self-destructive tendencies of the Orange folks (Timoshenko the half-Latvian babe vs Yushchenko the victim of KGB [excuse me, FSB] poisoning) but realizes that it is no excuse for reducing Ukraine to a vassal of Moscow.

Stephen

Thanks for the response, Stephen! The discussion re the same articles was more extensive here.

Vysu lobu,
/P