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On Friday, a conference 3 Revolutions of Ukraine took place in the College of Europe in Natolin. Three honorary guests took part in the opening panel: former French President Francois Hollande, former Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The central theme was Ukraine – its relations with the European Union, conflict with Russia and the role of the church in Ukrainian society in this special period.
After the official welcoming of guests by the vice-rector of the College of Europe, Ewa Ośniecka-Tamecka, the former French president took the floor. He recalled his memories of the beginnings of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and the work on the Minsk agreements. He spoke about cooperation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Ukrainian authorities in the person of President Petro Poroshenko. He also mentioned the hardships of negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin: – When we were flying to Minsk, we did not know whether we would come back with a signed agreement, but we knew that we would have a sleepless night. For Putin, making night talks was not a problem; it was only in his interest to gain time and push through his solutions – he said. He noticed that the Russian leader evidently missed the truth saying that he was not in contact with pro-Russian separatists in the east of Ukraine.
According to Hollande, the policy of Western sanctions brings results – the proof is the fact that the Russians are very interested in abolishing them. – However, conducting such a policy is also painful for us, as France has learned. As the president, I made the decision that the sale of the French Mistrals to Russia would not come to fruition. It cost France a billion euros – said the former president of France.
The next speaker was the former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. He started with saying that the cause of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict was the will of Ukrainians to live “in dignity, in a sovereign and independent state, in particular from Putin’s Russia.” He said that the goal of Russian President Vladimir Putin is to weaken European unity, and therefore “the stronger Putin, the weaker the free world” – said Yatsenyuk.
He also directly referred to the controversial project of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which, running along the bottom of the Baltic Sea, will directly connect Russia with Germany, bypassing Ukraine: – How can a project that is openly anti-Ukrainian, anti-Polish and anti-European in general be supported? This will give Gazprom full power in the European gas market, and this will certainly be used for political purposes – he warned. He gave an example of Gazprom’s recent failure to comply with the arbitration award in Stockholm, which resulted in a serious gas crisis in Ukraine.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church spoke after him. In his speech, he drew attention to the spiritual and social dimension of the country’s most recent history. He said that the church supports social changes aimed at joining Ukraine to the free world. – Yes, there is a temptation to treat our Church in an instrumental way, but there is also a dialogue about social and moral matters with Ukrainian politicians, many of whom are good Christians – said the priest.
