The presence of personalities like Ghandi and Mandela means that such people are in demand

Sviatoslav VAKARCHUK visited Den/The Day yesterday. Knowing his love of books, we started by presenting him with a copy of a book entitled The Power of the Soft Sign. Vakarchuk was happy to receive it.

This man is one of those who keep giving a fresh impetus to important process underway within the Ukrai-nian society. He is the founder of the Man of the Future Foundation which is aimed at forming a community of concerned intellectuals (it includes projects known as “Nationwide Education” and “Books Make True Individuals”), a member of International Management Institute’s supervisory board. The leader of the rock band Okean Elzy believes that Ukraine should be helped to implement the European values.

Says Vakarchuk: “History is a gradual process that depends on [the will of] the majority. The presence of personalities like Ghandi and Mandela means that such people are in demand. I think Ukraine lacks this demand for a true leader. For someone like Havel to appear on the Ukrainian political horizon this country would need a society like the one they have in the Czech and Slovak republics. I mean people who have experienced the Prague Spring.”

Read an interview in the folowing issues.