Ukrainians find help abroad in their struggles (updated)

Ukrainians from around 46 cities in 22 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland and others already expressed their support to Ukraine.

When
Ukraine’s parliament failed to adopt the number of European integration bills
on Nov. 21, Sonia Voytiv, a 23-year-old Ukrainian who studies in Swedish Lund, was
desperate. She organized a rally in support
of Ukraine’s EuroMaidan in her city.

“When I
found out Ukraine’s not going to sign the association agreement, I contacted some of
my friends and we came up with idea to organize the meeting in support of
Ukrainians,” Voytiv says. “The bigger rally was supposed to be in Stockholm, but I
decided to do my best and show my attitude to these events.”

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Voytiv said
they will keep an eye on events before the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on Nov. 28-28 and she’s ready to go to
Kyiv’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) if the political association and free trade back is not signed.

“We won’t stop and will try to gather people here,
in Sweden, for other actions. We are fed up of feeling powerless. And I’m sure
Ukrainians don’t want another kick in the teeth from Ukraine’s authorities,” Voytiv
adds.  

The Stockholm
event, which was organized by Ukrainian Women’s Association in Scandinavia on
Nov. 23, was aimed to commemorate the millions of people who starved to death
in Ukraine during 1932-33. In addition, organizers decided to hold an action
demanding a European future for Ukraine. The protesters were calling on Ukraine’s
parliament and President Viktor Yanukovych to sign the EU deal. Yanukovych and his government abruptly pulled out of talks to reach the deal on Nov. 21.

Meanwhile, Ukrainians in Germany organized several mass rallies. Demonstrators gathered in Munich, Berlin and Frankfurt
am Main to stand up for Ukraine. Stuttgart will also have its pro-Ukraine rally Nov. 28.

Konstantyn Kharchenko, a 22-year-old Ukrainian who participated in Frankfurt’s rally, believe the EuroMaidan actions are popular in Europe.

“I saw many of my Ukrainian friends in Germany and other countries start gathering for protests. Soon I found out one of the rallies is scheduled in
Frankfurt and decided to go there. It’s the latest rally I took part in since the language law protests near Ukrainian House in Kyiv in 2012,” Kharchenko
reminds.

Ukrainians
in the Frankfurt community, which organized the event, got permission from
local government to organize the meeting on Nov. 24. Around 120 Ukrainians and
Germans came to support Ukrainian community. 

“Such
events are interesting, because you can feel the unity among the compatriots. гIt feels almost like during Khreshatyk events,” Kharchenko adds.

Another
Ukrainian pro-European action was held in Vienna. The campaign, designed by
local Ukrainian youth community, gathered hundreds of people on Nov. 24. Yana Brovdiy, Ukrainian 23-year old International relations student, was
among of the activists.

“I was surprised to see so many Ukrainians who stand up for democratic values,” Brovdiy says, pointing out that activists came without any party symbols. “The atmosphere was unique, so I almost forger that I’m not on Maidan, but in the center of Vienna,” Brovdiy adds.

While Ukrainians abroad gathered in support of Ukraine’s closer ties with EU, some Europeans remain rather sceptical about the situatuion in Ukraine. 

David Kainrath, a self-employed analyst from Vienna, believes Ukrainians need to be critical about their choice.

“Our media are full of the pictures of mass protests in Ukraine
over the association agreement. Here in Austria there were some
small protests,” Kainrath says.

“For us it’s kind of strange. Why would Ukrainians
become so emotional about the EU? Don’t they see what happened to
Greece or Spain? Maybe the EU is better than we think if people in
Ukraine want to fight for it so hard,” Kainrath adds.

Dessislava Gergova, a native bulgarian who studies in German’s Stuttgart, believes “Ukraine, Russia and the EU will yet come together for a
constructive conversation.”

“I would like to see
Ukraine in the European Union. It’s the
right decision to say ‘yes’ to the EU, but not at any price,” Gergova says. “Besides, why
should treatment of Tymoshenko in Germany one of the conditions of
the agreement? I don’t understand this pressure from the EU and they should not interfere in that case,” Gergova adds.

Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be reached at goncharova@kyivpost.com.