SUPPORT APPEAL BY ACTIVISTS OF THE REVOLUTION OF DIGNITY
May 11, 2020
Dear Member of Parliament:
We support the Appeal by the Participants of the Revolution of Dignity issued on May 6, 2020 in Kyiv and attached herewith. The Appeal depicts a rapidly deteriorating situation in Ukraine, brought on by Russia’s war and the military occupation of Crimea and areas of the Donbas, and hybrid aggression throughout the country. What is more, policies of the new Ukrainian government, led by President Zelensky, have brought the country to the brink of crisis and economic collapse, having failed to achieve an agreement with the IMF.
The Appeal states that the authorities have resorted to the persecution of war veterans and civic advocates. Community advocates who also were active during the Maidan Revolution of Dignity are subject to harassment and intimidation, with many arrested and behind bars. The number of fabricated cases against the leaders and participants of the Revolution of Dignity is expanding. With the tacit consent of the authorities, Russian agents and their surrogates operate freely throughout the country. Progress towards the realization of Ukraine’s course for membership in the European Union and NATO is virtually zero.
Among the signatories to the Appeal are Dr. Serhiy Kvit, immediate past Minister of Education of Ukraine, and former MP Andrew Levus, Chair of the Sub-committee on State Security in the Ukrainian Parliament. Both are prominent members of the Capitulation Resistance Movement (CRM), https://www.facebook.com/rok.org.ua/, the leading coalition of patriotic civic organizations and initiator of the Appeal.
The LUC/LUCW recently shared with our Members of Parliament Dr. Kvit’s commentary “What is the Capitulation Resistance Movement and Why Does It Matter” and Mr. Levus’s analysis of military and security reform “President Zelensky Veers Off Course on the Path to NATO.” Also, Dr. Kvit and Mr. Levus were guests of the LUC/LUCW in Canada, where they met with government officials and Ukrainian communities in December 2019 and February 2020, respectively.
Our two Leagues are sharing these documents to keep our government and fellow Canadians informed on the rapidly changing situation in Ukraine. Ukrainians are fighting the coronavirus. At the same time, their government is sliding into economic and social disarray. Russia and its surrogates are aiding and abetting in an on-going effort to reverse the achievements of the Revolution of Dignity, especially national unity, human rights and civil liberties, and Ukraine’s constitutional provisions on joining the European Union and NATO.
Canada should further engage with and support Ukrainians’ fight to stop Russia’s hybrid efforts to reimpose its will over their country. We should help Ukraine to regain its footing and return to the course of safeguarding democratic freedoms, social justice, and Ukraine’s European choice as irreversible achievements by the Revolution of Dignity.
Respectfully,
Roman Medyk Halyna Vynnyk
President President
League of Ukrainian Canadians League of Ukrainian Canadian Women
