If Europe had used sanctions timely we could have avoided bloodshed, Oleksii Haran says

The expert drew attention to the fact that the action in support of European integration in Kyiv had been solely peaceful from the very start. ‘Despite disappearance of activists, abduction and tortures, the Maidan protest had remained peaceful for two months’, Haran said.

He reminded that Ukrainians had been addressing the West during those two months requesting sanctions against the then leaders of the country. ‘And we were hearing words of support for two months but nothing was done to implement targeted sanctions’, the professor pointed out.

‘Sanctions were only introduced after over a hundred people had been killed in one day in the European capital’s center’, he reminded. Haran also suggested that if the West had started behaving more actively earlier, then ‘we would have managed to keep the Kyiv events bloodless’.

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.