Thread: Ukrainian Corruption Memorial

Originally Posted by Hanna

You live in Ukraine, right?

What would you like to see happen?

• Do you want other Europeans to boycott Euro2012?

yes, as it doesn't any longer represent European aspirations of Ukraine, it was so under the previous administration however incapable it was, but certainly not now. this is nothing but the proverbial Potemkin Village.
how is this possible when at the same time people in towns across Donetsk region receive running water in their houses by schedule and it hardly reaches upper floors?
but if europeans come, those who have eyes will just see for themselves
https://www.facebook.com/NoEuro2012InUkraine

Originally Posted by Hanna

• Do you want Yanukovich to be banned from entering the EU?

actually no, i'd prefer European officials to remind him of the state of affairs in Ukraine every time he visits EU

Originally Posted by Hanna

• Do you think it is a good or a bad thing that these types of stories constitute 95% of the news coverage about Ukraine in Western Europe?

i welcome this trend because i don't believe it's motivated by hostility towards Ukrainian people, it's Ukraine's authorities business to make an effort to change the country's image in Europe
positive things are always taken for granted, it's the negative things which draw attention
after all mass media is after scandals, so if Ukraine can provide some scandalous stories, why avoid them? especially when Ukrainians themselves consider them just as scandalous

Originally Posted by Hanna

• Do you think that the previous president, and Yulia Tymoshenko were less corrupt than Yanukovich?

Tymoshenko was not a president but a prime minister, the president was Yushenko
I don't think she's less corrupt, plus she's a pathological liar, her activity as prime minister was a joke, however their administration declared pro-European policy and their inner policy was a lot more liberal both economically and politically.

Originally Posted by Hanna

Several other people on this forum also live in Ukraine - it would be interesting to hear their view as well as yours.

In case you are not aware, the EU position towards Ukraine changed after Yanukovich became president. For some reason unknown to me... the EU more or less liked the previous president.

There could be some underhanded reasons, but on the face of it, it's an individual who's personal history, background and associates are well known and it doesn't make you want to like him

Originally Posted by Hanna

After seeing only this type of biased coverage, I arrived in Ukraine as a tourist, frankly expecting terrible criminality and problems with poverty. I was prepared for "the worst". But what I found was a country full of extremely warm and friendly people, probably less beggars than many Western European countries and not more criminality than elsewhere. I think the picture of Ukraine presented in Western European papers is misleading.

corruption and corrupt mentality is the keynote of great many things which are going on, you need to live it to start to find out, some became so obvious and mundane that almost everybody stopped noticing them or consider corrupt and abnormal.
maybe some of them you regarded as just exotic and attributed to national specifics

Originally Posted by Hanna

I can see that you do not feel this way, since you have posted several quite negative threads about Ukraine.
I sympathise that you are frustrated by some problems in your country, but perhaps you are being a bit hard?

i could concede that it's me who i'm hard on, i need to just start not giving a shit LOL
but it makes life comfortless

Originally Posted by Hanna

It is obvious that there are big problems with corruption in Russia and Ukraine, but many people, even here on MR take a very cynical and accepting view of this, and the motivation doesn't seem to be very strong from the political leaders either. Nobody else can or want to fix the problems with corruption in these countries. The people have to push for it and the politicians have to become more angry. But I honestly don't see how biased news coverage helps anyone!
I understand Danish and that story was seriously angled. People listening to this (and a similar story every 1-2 weeks) will get a very negative opinion indeed, of the Ukraine.

they are cynical because they came to terms, i didn't
the politicians' motivation cannot be strong by definition because they subsist on corruption when they come to power

so by being angled do you mean the story is untrue?