Commentary

Questioning the significance of security through NATO membership has become a tactic of Russia appeasers. The purported logic for this argumentation is twofold: nothing has disturbed Vladimir Putin more than NATO expansion; and nothing would exacerbate the current Ukraine-Russia crisis more than NATO membership for Ukraine. In any event, the appeasers suggest, NATO membership is hardly an absolute security guaranty since each NATO member country acts at its own discretion. Thus Ukraine should relinquish its NATO membership aspirations. So the argument goes. Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty provides that an armed attack against one shall be considered an attack against all and each will assist the one attacked. Detractors of this Article point out that the all for one and one for all language is followed by “such action as it deems necessary,” thereby rendering any assistance discretionary with each member...

Every November Ukrainians around the world pay homage to the millions of victims of the 1932-1933 Holodomor, a man-made genocidal famine that took place in Ukraine, imposed by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and his cronies. Eight decades later, Ukraine is again facing a Kremlin foe that is employing many of the same tactics used in Ukraine in the 1930s. As things stand, Ukraine is on the brink of all-out warfare with the Russian Federation. Up until this point, however, the war raging in Ukraine’s east has been an unofficial conflict...

Once the Kremlin seized and “annexed” Crimea in late March, it began a campaign designed at a minimum to destabilizeEastern Ukraine. While we cannot know for sure what Mr. Putin’s maximalist goal is, it includes, at least, establishing an autonomous southeasternUkrainesensitive toMoscow’s interests. The Kremlin, however, badly miscalculated. It acted as if it believed its own propaganda, pumped out byRussia’s state-dominated media, that the ethnic Russians and “cultural Russians” inUkraine’s east and south were seriously unhappy about the departure of former...

In the course of most recent reporting regarding the shoot down of Malaysian Airline Flight 17, western media reports and many even in government continue to use an inaccurate term “Ukrainian separatists” to describe the so called “rebels” in the Donetsk region. While media and government spokespersons are prone to hasty semantic deficiencies, this ill chosen characterization strikes at the heart of accuracy in media and paints an entirely erroneous picture of the situation. “Ukrainian separatists” implies that there is a substantial number of Ukrainians ethnically or as Ukrainian citizens who are participating in a revolution to separate their region from Ukraine. Nothing could be further from the truth. Revolutionaries often carry a positive connotation. Invaders and hired guns do not...

In Ukraine, President Poroshenko has moved on quashing the separatists in the East with heavy armor and fresh troops. As full-scale conflict unfolds, crucial to the outcome of the whole enterprise will be the readiness of Ukraine’s armed forces. It’s no small question. Training, logistical support, equipment, communications – all these things come together to comprise the morale of the front line soldier. Ukrainians have already proved their willingness to fight and die for their democratic revolution, and a fortiori for independence from Moscow. The question is, how ready is their military to manage the task...

The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) calls upon the global business community to support the international condemnation of Russia’s brazen aggression against Ukraine and violation of international law, including the UN Charter, by suspending business travel to Russia, particularly all participation in international conferences and public appearances, that can be perceived as an endorsement of “business as usual”...

JUNE 30, 2014 - James Bezan, Member of Parliament for Selkirk-Interlake, today issued the following statement: “I was pleased to learn that Parks Canada decided to replace the “Russian Ukraine” street sign inside The Forks National Historic Site in Winnipeg...

The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) condemns the wave of kidnappings of children by Russia-backed terrorists in the war-torn Eastern region ofUkraine. According to a report byUkraine’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, on 26 July 2014 a terrorist group kidnapped orphans requiring constant medical care from an orphanage in Luhansk and attempted to illegally transport them across the border to theRussian Federationwithout any documentation...

James Bezan, MP was pleased to attend the unveiling of the CTO Plaques in Arborg and Beausejour,MB. These Plaques are two of the "100 Plaques to Remember 100 Years - CTO Project" unveiled acrossCanadaby the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association. The CTO Project was funded with a grant from the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund to recognise the internment of Canadians 100 years ago...

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today issued the following statement on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of Ukraine’s independence: “Twenty-three years ago today, on August 24th, 1991, the Ukrainian Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, declared the country’s independence from the Soviet Union. On December 1st, 1991,Ukraine held a referendum that saw over 90 per cent of voters supporting the decision for independence. The very next day,Canada became the first Western country to recognize Ukraine’s independence as a sovereign state...