Jean-Paul VEZIANT: “Above all, Ukraine is strikingly diverse”
Today’s guest of our column “Ukraine through the Eyes of Foreigners” is Jean-Paul VEZIANT, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Ukraine. As we do with all ambassadors to Ukraine, foreign politicians, and experts, we asked him the following two questions:
1. What is your strongest impression of Ukraine?
2. List three reasons to love Ukraine.
1. I have spent almost two years in your country. On my way here, before crossing the border, I consciously left behind all my recollections and concepts relating to Ukraine, all those images of scenic steppes once crossed by Mazepa astride his brisk horse. Mentally I wanted to start from scratch, without any stereotypes, so as to develop a fresh appetite for consuming this country, which would be an entirely new experience. I wanted to perceive it from the inside. At a certain moment my past knowledge would return: the baptism of Rus’, the economic might of the Donbas, the extraordinary human wealth of the Crimea, between the Tatar khanate and the Russian imperial family palace, Russia’s oppressive domination, the painful Soviet period...
The first thing that comes to my mind about your country is its contours, all those expanses I would describe as boundless — and not just from the geographical point of view. Ukraine is physically large. Above all, it has a rich diversity. This diversity is present in a number of manifestations: geographical, human, cultural, linguistic, religious, and character, if I may put it this way. It reminds me of the diversity of my country, where the Latin, Mediterranean character of a resident of Marseilles coexists with the reserved character of Flanders, a thousand kilometers to the north of France... Isn’t the distance between Chernihiv and Vilkhova the same, in terms of kilometers and mentality? By the way, this causes certain difficulties in my case, as well as a great deal of interest. Perceiving your country, with all its riches and nuances, is easier said than done; you have to deserve the honor. A resident of Odesa believes that he belongs to some special realm; he is proud of Babel, Ilf, and Petrov, and no one in your country will call this uniqueness into question. My personal impression is that Ukraine, unlike any other country, can be opened only from inside.
I am amazed by Ukraine’s dynamics and the ardent desire for changes that I observe in numerous spheres, in young people and not so young ones. Ukraine is a new country; at the same time — and there is nothing paradoxical about this whatsoever — it possesses age-old traditions and history. As these two realities — the past and the present — meet, they beget continuous tempestuous tensions born of pride in the past and a desire to step into a globalized world, on a par with others, particularly to join the European Union. Precisely because of this, Ukraine is now in the process of asserting the strategic guidelines of its progress. Incidentally, you can sense during the numerous, at times heated, debates that are taking place in this society, this country, that the ability to hold debates, this resourcefulness and rich imagination are only few of the definitive characteristics of Ukraine and Ukrainians.
2. As a Frenchman, I am keenly sensitive to certain features of your country. In the first place, it is your aspiration for freedom, something Voltaire noted back in the 18th century and which is reflected in your history, your immeasurably rich and expansive nature and in your Cossack traditions. Here one encounters things that are sensed but are difficult to formulate clearly. The current election campaign is further evidence. [The Ukrainian-language version of this article was written on Sept. 29 — Ed.]
Another reason that comes to mind is the degree of “meridianality” germane to Ukraine and Ukrainians, which is an echo of our Latin past. I am saying this not for ethnocentric reasons, nor from a superficial approach. Your people have a taste for lengthy discussions; they possess elegance, a certain freedom of action, sense of humor, and an ability to improvise, something you don’t find everywhere — not in some of your neighbors anyway.
Duc de Richelieu in Odesa, Marquis de la Traverse in Mykolaiv, and many other Frenchmen, Germans, Italians, Greeks, and Russians contributed their work to the development of the boundary lines that currently mark Ukraine — the boundaries of the Russian empire, of course, which they all served because Ukraine no longer existed. Foreigners in the Russian tsar’s service, like his local subjects, appeared to be doing this, believing that this closeness of foreign universes, their being open to the outside worlds would help their initiatives come to fruition in the territories they conquered with fire and sword. The Turkish, Russian, Polish, and Austro-Hungarian legacies made their respective contributions to the evolution of Ukrainian national identity, which is rooted in your own national heritage.
Our history tells us about Charlemagne, the “Emperor with the Flowery Beard,” who lived in 800 in Aix-la-Chapelle (today: Aachen, Germany). Your history tells us about the baptism of Rus’ by Prince Volodymyr in 988. These 188 years do not separate us but bring us closer together.
How can we forget about the ties that have long existed between our two countries, from Anna of Kyiv, the wife of our king Henri I, to Duc de Richelieu, the governor of Odesa. There are many other examples showing that the destinies of our countries have much in common. Do I have to remind you that tens of thousands of Frenchmen are of Ukrainian parentage? From Dnipropetrovsk to Chernivtsi to Artemivske to Odesa via Ternopil there are countless family histories that are in equal degree Ukrainian and French. Since the times of emigration after the October Revolution to the destruction of the Jews during the Second World War how many residents of France have linked their family histories to certain place names in Ukraine? Ukraine is no stranger to my country, and the Orange Revolution helped a great deal to increase knowledge about your country and build respect for it.
I think you mentioned three reasons to love Ukraine. I seem to have formulated only two. Well, what can you do? Let’s leave it at two reasons, which are enough for a Frenchman to love Ukraine. I link the third reason with the next few days: this third answer is connected to my conviction that on the day after the early elections your political forces, the leaders of your state will find wisdom in themselves; wisdom that is dictated by the traditions I just mentioned and the expectations of Ukrainians to build a future together with them in order to move forward for the sake of your country’s flourishment.
