Oleksii Haran: civil society’s recently established control over authorities needs to be maintained

‘After the Maidan’s victory, we’ve been continuously hearing the argument: what has the Heavenly 100 died for? And I think this will be always resounding like a refrain. It safeguards us from the mistakes committed after 2004 when they made the revolution and farmed everything out to politicians’, the expert said.

According to him, now we see a different situation: civil society is trying to control politicians. ‘Some part of the civil society went to work in the government right after Maidan. There is a desire to control everything the authorities are doing’, the professor pointed out.

At the same time, in his opinion, another danger arises in this situation: we start criticizing the new government ‘for everything in the world’. ‘They deserve being criticized but we should realize that we’ve faced a unique situation: instead of restoring our country smoothly, we’ve encountered the Russian aggression’. Haran believes that experts should maintain a balance of criticism in this situation. ‘Criticizing certain actions, they should at the same time try to help and avoid playing up to the destabilization plans nurtured by Vladimir Putin’, he said.

Haran also expressed confidence that the civil society would successfully control holding of the presidential election scheduled for May.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The Kyiv Security Forum agenda is designed for 2 days and offers six panels open to the media representatives. The agenda can be amended, with amendments posted on the Forum’s website.

A separate area (Press Center) will be organized for the press, with equipped workplaces and Wi-Fi Internet access as well as live broadcast of all the Forum panels. In addition, a specially equipped area in the session hall will be reserved for journalists.

The organizers are ready to help arrange individual interviews with and comments from the Forum speakers on advance notice.

The Kyiv Security Forum annual international event, initiated by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation in 2007, is a platform for debates on the most pressing security issues in Europe and the Black Sea region. The Forum’s mission is to increase security cooperation between the European Union and the Black Sea region, raise awareness about security development among key players, and promote the role of independent and non-governmental actors in setting the security agenda in Europe.

The event is supported by the Viktor Pinchuk Foundation, the NATO Information and Documentation Centre in Ukraine, and the Chatham House Royal Institute of International Relations (UK).

For information on the project visit http://ksf.openukraine.org/

The Open Ukraine Foundation is an international charitable foundation established at the initiative of Arseniy Yatsenyuk for strengthening public diplomacy and developing Ukraine’s reputation in the world. The Foundation achieves its goal by implementing the key programs: International Dialogue, Cultural Horizons, and Young Leaders. The Foundation is an organization of a broad circle of charity providers and unites around itself any people who care for Ukraine’s reputation and future.

For more details about the Foundation visit http://openukraine.org.