"Oda to joy": Ukrainian version

Euromaidan in Kyiv: students and “political” united

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Up to 100 thousand people took to the streets of Kyiv, after President Yanukovych said that Ukraine would not sign an association agreement with the European Union. November 24, 2013
Before the departure of Viktor Yanukovych in Vilnius in Kyiv, two iconic events took place. Firstly, two Maidans-“student” and “political”-united into a single “Euromaidan” without political symbols. Secondly, a phonogram appeared in Ukrainian social networks, where the words of the anthem of Ukraine are successfully fitted to the music of the EU anthem-Beethoven “Odu to Joy”.

European Square opposite the Cabinet of Ministers. Kyiv, November 25, 2013	Among those who went out into the streets with the requirements to sign an agreement with the EU there were many students. Kyiv, November 27, 2013

And in anticipation of Yanukovych’s non -signing Association Agreement with the EU, citizens of Ukraine were engaged in the collection of signatures under the petition on the White House website, which prescribed a demand for the US administration to apply strict sanctions to the Ukrainian leadership. The next morning, on November 29, shortly before the Vilnius hour, “h”, 75 thousand out of 100 thousand people needed to start considering the issue have already been put their signatures. Although if the signatures could be collected directly on Ukrainian Maidan, and not on the English -speaking resource, the White House would have received several million of them for a long time.

Student rally for European integration at the monument to Taras Shevchenko. Lviv, November 25, 2013

Did Yanukovych understand, returning from Vilnius that he was flying to another Ukraine - a country where he was waiting for the heated Maidans in all major cities? Did he calculate in this situation his chances of winning the 2015 election?

The post -shaped alignment for Yanukovych is much more complicated than before the summit. Today, faces with him are students who headed protest promotions throughout the country, not hiding that they are ready to move from European integration requirements for political: from the resignation of Prime Minister Azarov to early elections of the president and parliament. Many in Ukraine still remember: in the distant 1990s, it was precisely the release of students to the current Maidan of Nezalevniy (this action was then called the “Revolution on granite”) led to the resignation of the government of the then Prime Minister Masol. But this happened back in the time of the USSR with its much more powerful repressive device. Today, students no longer only felt their strength and significance - they are ready to go from the western regions to Kyiv, preserving well -organized rear at home, where local authorities support them. Therefore, some analysts do not exclude the option that the center of confrontation can move from Kyiv to Lviv. In addition, behind each student are parents who, if the force against their children, will surely join the protests.

Supporters of the Party of Regions gathered in Kyiv to express support to President Viktor Yanukovych. November 29, 2013
But Viktor Yanukovych cannot one hundred percent count on power structures. The faithful forces of the special forces may not be enough, and the rest of the security forces simply will not want to beat their fellow citizens, which there are many indirect evidence on social networks. However, Yanukovych cannot fully count on special forces: on the night of November 26 to 27, a thousand fighters of the Berkut special forces could not (did not want to?) To recapture the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), from where the Euromaidan headquarters were carried out ...

The rally in Kyiv ended in clashes with the police. November 24, 2013
On November 29, at the arrival of Yanukovych from Vilnius, the authorities hastily organized a rally on the European Square in Kyiv “in support of the pro -European course of the president”. From the eastern regions of the country, thousands of state employees were voluntarily conducive and arranged a live broadcast on the first national television channel. With speeches of pro -government deputies, directors of factories and popes. True, not a single EU flag was observed in the square - unlike the flags of the Party of Regions, Russian Tricolors and State Flags of Ukraine.

Youth in the forefront of the movement for European integration. Kyiv, 24 November 2013

Some posters spoke for themselves. Kyiv, November 27, 2013

Photo: AFP, RIA Novosti, Ap Photo, Reuters