Old Comrades in the New Government
The latest reshuffles in the top offices of key government institutions have reinforced the Family – to no one’s surprise – and highlighted an interesting trend: people with Russian background are being appointed to the government en masse.
|
|
The Party of Regions finally pushed former NBU Chairman Serhiy Arbuzov's strongly-opposed replacement with Ihor Sorkin (his former deputy) through parliament and Arbuzov himself ended up in the Cabinet of Ministers. Earlier, Yanukovych replaced SBU Chief Ihor Kalinin with Oleksandr Yakymenko, SBU First Deputy Chief and, according to the media, head of security at entities once linked to the Family.
Yet another wave of reshuffles showcased the Family's growing power through the concentration of leverage in the executive branch while its positions in parliament weaken, forcing it to turn to compromises with representatives of various interest groups. Meanwhile, Yanukovych continues to sponsor bills that would help him gain direct control over the government and push the nominal premier out of the scene.
The process reveals another interesting trend: in addition to the perfectly expected domination of Donetsk-born players in the government, the number of top officials closely linked to Russia at some stage of their careers is also increasing. The current independent Ukrainian government involves an unprecedented number of people who were born, educated, shaped professionally, served or worked in Russia or for Russia, and stay in close family, business or professional contact with Russian entities. Will these people, who barely think of themselves as separate from the Russian World, act for the benefit of a self-sufficient or Europe-oriented Ukraine? Doubtfully so, as any official – or any person – is affected by the environment that shapes his or her worldview and values. It is now premature to qualify them as the Kremlin’s agents and moreover, they may prove surprisingly persistent in resisting its influence in some issues. Yet, they seem to view Ukraine only as “yet another Russia” which makes the country vulnerable and takes away its prospects.
Related publications:
|
-
The culture of 'Muscovite Rus' came to form from two heterogeneous sources. The seed of the religious and artistic culture reached Muscovy from southeastern Europe (Byzantium, the Balkans) through Kyiv. On the other hand, the foundation of the political and legal culture came to Muscovy from 'Ulus Jöchi', better known as the Golden Horde. As a result, the Russian "spiritual culture" took the shape of a familiar European facade, behind which a non-European state infrastructure hid.
7 April,
-
German chancellor Olaf Scholz says Putin’s comments on US biological weapons seemed like an ‘implicit threat’
23 March,
-
It is us, Ukrainians, and all the citizens of this country, who must keep studying our own history. To defend our land and our country, we must know it better.
20 March,
-
86.6% of Russians tolerate and support the potential assault on the territory of the European Union, including: Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and others as evidenced by the results of the sociological survey conducted by “Active Group”
18 March,
-
Ukrainian troops with anti-tank weapons set ambushes, while their enemy slowly encircles cities to besiege them
12 March,
-
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced more than a million people to flee their homeland in just a week
3 March,
|