Maidan - Editorials

Maidan Alliance: “Third Rome” Becomes Fourth Reich

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:58:36 -0400

Russian government led by Putin and Medvedev have recently started the military operation against Georgia apparently aimed at destruction of Georgia as independent state and focused at demonstration of its winning brutal military force to global community. This military operation had become possible because Russian government had felt its total impunity thanks to passive and apathetic reaction of European and world politicians that are unable to consolidate efforts to stop the aggressor.

Raising awareness about Holodomor - Appeal to the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:38:44 -0500

We are asking people in Ukraine, Russia and all countries of the world to help us raise awareness about Holodomor 1932-1933 in Ukraine. There is no question of presenting grievances against today’s Russia, nor of settling scores. It is a question of justice, of willingness to try to understand the past and to do all in our power to ensure that such a crime never happens again. Please help us by adding your voice to ours.

So what does the European Court of Human Rights mean for Ukraine?

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 06:15:50 -0400

Ukrainians turn to Strasbourg because the courts in Ukraine all too often let them down. They seek justice at the European Court because Ukrainian politicians erode their confidence in their own justice system. It is surely therefore not surprising that so many Ukrainians have emphatically registered their opposition to Serhiy Holovaty, or any other Ukrainian politician, becoming Judge of this most important court.

“Maidan” Alliance: the police must remain with the people

Thu, 24 May 2007 19:10:21 -0400

The actions of the police which were directly controlled by the Minister during the conflict in the Prosecutor General’s office almost led to a confrontation between armed members of different enforcement agencies. The law enforcement agencies must examine these actions, however regardless of the results of their enquiry we would stress the inadmissibility of such provocative behaviour from the heads of enforcement bodies.

The Monitoring must go on

Mon, 21 May 2007 18:51:34 -0400

On 8 February 2005, civic society marked Nina Karpachova’s election to the post by launching a monitoring campaign aimed at making the work of the Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Secretariat more transparent and effective. The need for such scrutiny, given woefully inadequate work and heavily politicized behaviour, was – and remains – clear to all

The Right to the Truth: past, present and future

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:45:30 -0400

The first phase of a project on ensuring the public’s right of access to information about the activities of the authorities carried out by the “Maidan” Alliance and the Civic Information and Methodology Centre “Vsesvit” [“Universe”] identified disturbing, if sometimes also absurd, discrepancies in how various State bodies interpreted the same norms of the Constitution and laws

Why early elections are our democratic right

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 17:48:53 -0400

Those who, like us, support the President fully in calling new elections believe that their democratic voice, and with it, their rights, have been seriously jeopardized since the ruling coalition came to power. The recent attempts through venal means to gain a constitutional majority, enabling the coalition to overcome any Presidential veto and even change the Constitution make a mockery of democracy and seriously distort the electoral results from the 2006 parliamentary elections.

Yevhen Zakharov - Political reform in Ukraine and European democratic standards

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 15:45:11 -0500

The “virus of rebellion”, the thirst for freedom, the will to freely determine their own fate were so intense specifically among Ukrainians. It was they who inspired people to rise up albeit in the face of inevitable death.
This was what inspired the Shestydesyatnyky, [the Sixties Activists] who went to the camps for the right to call things by their own names, it was this that inspired people during the autumn of 2004.
I would advise Ukrainian politicians to remember this.
Secondly, all modern history demonstrates that a political regime which violates human rights and the rule of law ever more overtly is sooner or later doomed.

Oleksandr Severyn, “Maidan” Alliance Address to the Ukraine – 2007 Conference in the European Parliament

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:12:43 -0500

There is no more immediate task in Ukraine than that on which we are working – the creation of a powerful machine for independent civic assessment of the work of the authorities, for appealing against decisions which run counter to the law, human rights and public interest, for the lobbying of these interests.
The revolution in Ukrainian lies ahead and this revolution won’t be orange. It will be the struggle of the people for the return of their state. This revolution will be blue and yellow, the colours of the Ukrainian flag. And it is a pleasure to think that these are also the colours of United Europe. We are one in our freedom!

Ukraine’S Strategic Security – On A Crossroad Between Democracy And Neutrality

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:48:10 -0500

Over the past 15 years Ukraine has certainly become a much freer nation than many of its former Soviet neighbors. Yet, as this year’s events have demonstrated, the point of no return in the transition toward a sustainable democracy has not been passed. Elements of authoritarian culture are still preserved inside a number of institutions, notably, the security sector. There are powerful forces in the region working to undo the nascent democracy. The latter’s very institutional structure is as yet too incomplete to be immune from these challenges.

About the “Maidan” Alliance of Civic Activists

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 14:50:30 -0400

The “Maidan” Alliance is an informal association of individuals and civic organizations who are seeking to coordinate their efforts on fully developing civic society in Ukraine, as well as a state structure based on law and answerable to the public.

Vаldіs Bіrkаvs: “Ukraine is too big for small dreams”

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:44:07 -0500

Internet-conference with Prof. Valdis Birkavs – politician, who brought Latvia into EU and NАТО. Mr. Birkavs was Latvia’s Prime Minister in 1993-94, and then was Minister of Foreign Affairs in the period of the biggest important external political changes.

Cartoons on Belarus' President Lukashenka Printed Across Europe

Tue, 02 May 2006 14:13:47 -0400

Maidan International welcomes Central European newspapers' solidarity with Belarusian civic activists. Central European newspapers line up with Belarusian cartoonists to show solidarity with the people, who were, and still are, abused by the brutal regime of Belarus' president Aleksander Lukashenko.

Mykhailo Svystovych: Presentation at a Meeting with the PACE Co-Rapporteurs Hanne Severinsen and Renate Wohlwend

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 16:38:19 -0400

The biggest change seen in Ukraine over the year following the Orange Revolution is the move from illusions to disillusionment. The overwhelming majority of promises made to the people on Maidan by political leaders have not been kept. Obviously in one year it would be impossible to achieve all that was planned. However, unfortunately, the further into the past the Revolution recedes, the further we move from the keeping of these promises. There have even been negative developments in comparison with the first months after the Revolution. I would not say that the country is slipping back into Kuchmism, and most likely there will be no repeat of what it was like then. The situation is more reminiscent of a return to the days of the Presidency under Kravchuk in 1994.

Natalka Zubar: In the beginning was the word. (part II)

Wed, 14 Dec 2005 06:12:37 -0500

This was how we effectively arrived at the principle of a collective leader, with the lack of formal leaders in the sense of people who know everything, can do everything and give everybody orders. The role of the leader is assumed by the collective. Any person who has the necessary experience and the will can become the coordinator of a current project.