Maidan 2004: the start of the road
On Nov. 22 Ukraine marked the third anniversary the Orange Revolution. When this article was being sent to bed, some 150 persons had gathered on the Maidan, most of them journalists. There was a colorful group of old women wearing orange scarves, who were dancing on the square (apparently determined to match the reputation of Baba Paraska). Kyiv residents were largely indifferent to the event, and were walking by the Maidan.
In contrast, the members of the youth organization Our Ukraine spread a huge 1,300 m? flag of Ukraine across St. Sophia Square. After a short while the young people folded it up and left.
In his message President Yushchenko said: “I firmly believe in our success. Ukraine will not turn from its path of democracy...Our fears have vanished; our dignity is capable of getting the better of humiliation; the younger generation of our nation is growing, a generation of free individuals.”
Yulia Tymoshenko placed her message on the Ukrainska Pravda Web site. “There is no turning back,” she is convinced, “...no decrees, roundtables, or memoranda can cancel the grandeur of our revolution, the grandeur of the People of Ukraine.”
She thinks there is something symbolic about a new parliament being called to order on almost every anniversary of the revolution: “This is a parliament in which the forces that stood their ground on the Maidan have once again gained the majority,” stresses the politician, adding, “Those who support the so-called broad coalition say it is insignificant. ‘Oh my, what a big problem,’ I tell them ironically. There is a single- vote majority effectively operating in Denmark. We have three votes. What problems? If there is nothing rotten in the state of Denmark, contrary to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, why do we have to be the way Les Poderviansky describes us?”
The Orange forces won this parliamentary election, even if by a slim margin. This is probably the main result of the Maidan. All our disappointments notwithstanding, there is a stable majority in the country, people who want Ukraine to become a sovereign European country, an independent player in this geopolitical game, without a northern neighbor breathing down its neck.
Starting in 2004, we embarked on another sophisticated stage of the self-identification process. We are struggling to rethink our history and find our place in the world. We are trying to transform from Little Russians into proud Ukrainians. We are at the start of the road, we are making mistakes, but we are sure to win in the end. After what happened in 2004, we know we can actually influence our country’s choice. Our choice is not a formality. We have certain people in power today; others will be in power tomorrow. What kind of people we have in high-ranking offices depends only on us. We have this right after it was given to us by the Maidan — or rather, after we seized this right.
