Protesters in Ukraine Camp Out Over an Old Issue: Corruption
- 7 years ago
Protesters in Ukraine Camp Out Over an Old Issue: Corruption
On Tuesday, speaking at a conference on economic development, he said
that Russia wanted to destabilize Ukraine and "finds good-for-nothing politicians who not only support this, but agree to organize it." He added that "they will achieve nothing." On a recent day, Kiev residents strolled by the tent camp to evaluate the latest rendition of this Ukrainian protest tradition, sample some pickles and bacon from the field kitchen, and talk politics.
"The right for peaceful protest does not mean preparations for a forceful coup, started by a small group." Mr. Poroshenko derided the camp as a movement
that serves Russia’s interests, the ultimate insult in Ukrainian politics.
For a country already plagued by economic collapse, a war with Russian-backed separatists and, over the past year or so, a string of assassinations
and attempted assassinations in the capital, the several hundred protesters and their tents add another unpredictable element to Ukrainian politics.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Yuri Lutsenko, has warned of a looming coup organized, he said, by a former president
of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, a onetime ally of Mr. Poroshenko who is now a main backer of the tent camp.
But frustration with foot-dragging on anticorruption measures by President Petro O.
Poroshenko, who came to power after the 2014 uprising, goes beyond the new camp.
On Tuesday, speaking at a conference on economic development, he said
that Russia wanted to destabilize Ukraine and "finds good-for-nothing politicians who not only support this, but agree to organize it." He added that "they will achieve nothing." On a recent day, Kiev residents strolled by the tent camp to evaluate the latest rendition of this Ukrainian protest tradition, sample some pickles and bacon from the field kitchen, and talk politics.
"The right for peaceful protest does not mean preparations for a forceful coup, started by a small group." Mr. Poroshenko derided the camp as a movement
that serves Russia’s interests, the ultimate insult in Ukrainian politics.
For a country already plagued by economic collapse, a war with Russian-backed separatists and, over the past year or so, a string of assassinations
and attempted assassinations in the capital, the several hundred protesters and their tents add another unpredictable element to Ukrainian politics.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Yuri Lutsenko, has warned of a looming coup organized, he said, by a former president
of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, a onetime ally of Mr. Poroshenko who is now a main backer of the tent camp.
But frustration with foot-dragging on anticorruption measures by President Petro O.
Poroshenko, who came to power after the 2014 uprising, goes beyond the new camp.