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myth busting èç ôåéñáóêà. (ïèøó áîëüøå äëÿ ïðàêòèêè, ò.ê. àíãëèéñêèé êàê-òî çíàþ òîëüêî â îäíó ñòîðîíó, à â äðóãóþ íå î÷åíü).
Apparently, tomorrow Petro Poroshenko will be officially declared president elect. Predictably, swarms of Rusian and pro-Russian trolls (and their media, too) let all hells lose bashing the candy king. Certainly Poroshenko’s not perfect (who is?) but most accusations are simply nonsense.
1. Poroshenko is a fascist. Perhaps the most ridiculous of all claims, its absurdity is self-evident – but not to the trolls. After all, they blabbered for months about how the protesters in Kiev were fascists and the new government was controlled by the Nazi of the Right Sector party who’s leader, Dmytro Yarosh, has long became a bogeyman for Russians. The outcome of May elections should have become an epic fail for these trolls as two right-wing contenders (Yarosh and Oleh Tyahnybok, leader of Svoboda party who relinquished the chief bogeyman’s mantle to the former) together collected less votes then Vadim Rabinovitch, a proverbial Jew (2,25%). Meanwhile, Poroshenko’s overwhelming victory showed the real attitude of Ukrainians who voted not for some extremist but for a moderate politician. In fact, Russians or pro-Russians tried to break into the Election Commission’s computer system and plant there rigged figures showing Yarosh’s victory, and their TV even showed the fake diagram (you can watch it here: http://youtu.be/W9RF2s3Kvzo). When that failed, the trolls, unfazed, simply switched to bashing Poroshenko. Now, Poroshenko’s “sin” is that he demands severe measures against the terrorists in Donbass but who wouldn’t in his place? Actually it is only expected from a good head of state.
2. Poroshenko is a Jew and his father’s true surname was Waltzman. That’s an interesting one, coming from people who style themselves as “anti-fascists” but in fact there’s nothing new here: they searched and found Jewish roots of such politicians as Yulia Tymoshenko, PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk and even Oleh Tyahnybok. SO WHAT?? Does it bother anyone except the trolls? (And technically Poroshenko can’t even qualify as a Jew because it is passed via female bloodline but stupid trolls ignore this.) On the contrary, ethnic diversity of the new Ukrainian government where we have a Russian, an Armenian and a Jew speaks volumes against its allegations of fascism.
3. Poroshenko is an American puppet. Sure enough, someone had to say it. For Russian imperials, any leader from their former empire who doesn’t bow to Moscow is by default an enemy… and their arch-enemy’s lackey. Again, nothing new here: in various periods of history they kept vigil against the schemes of Poland, the Pope, the International Capitalism, and the World Anti-Doping Agency. But to claim that the Americans installed Poroshenko into power one must assume that it was the U.S. who made former President Yanukivich cancel the signing of the EU treaty, then violently disperse the protesters, then adopt reactionary laws and finally pack his valuables and flee to Russia. That’s a bit far-fetched, it seems.
Overall the American’s part in what has happened is grossly overstated. To be sure, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and U.S. Ambassador in Kiev Jeoffrey Pyatt discussed Arseniy Yatsenyuk in February as the future PM but it was hardly a secret that he’d been the most likely candidate (whether under would-be President Vitali Klitchko or under Yanukovitch who proposed him the office in January). And in what terms they discussed him? “Yats is the guy. He’s got the economic experience, the governing experience. He’s the guy you know. … Yats will need all the help he can get to stave off collapse in the ex-Soviet state. He has warned there is an urgent need for unpopular cutting of subsidies and social payments before Ukraine can improve.” Kill me but I fail to see what’s wrong with Nuland’s words.
Now, there’s no denying that the U.S. had invested billions in various NGOs and democracy development programs. But to say that it was the Americans who toppled Yanukovich means to say that it was the Americans who filled the Maidan, manned the barricades at -20ºC and died under snipers’ fire. And, returnig to Poroshenko, it was the Americans who came to polling stations throughout Ukraine and voted for him.
4. Poroshenko wants to postpone the signing of the free trade agreement with the EU. Originally broken by the Wall Street Journal, this news has since become the source of great joy for many a troll. After all, it was Yanukovich’s refusal to sign the EU treaty that sparkled protests back in November. Actually, later the same day (May 28) Mr. Poroshenko’s spokesman said something quite different: that the new president wants to sign the agreement as quickly as possible, perhaps even before June 27 (when similar treaties with Georgia & Moldova are scheduled to be signed). But even is the WSJ’s info is true, their sources say about several weeks delay, not indefinite postponement as the trolls put it. And if it is signed sooner than later, they’ll sure as hell claim that Poroshenko bowed to Americans’ pressure.
5. And, finally: Ukrainians have changed one oligarch for another. That was the first reaction when it became clear that Yarosh was not winning. So, you stupid Khokhols had been jumping at the square all winter only to get another billionaire at helm. Again, SO WHAT? We were voting for man not for his money. And, come to that, for the first time in many years we were voting FOR something not against. And this is what matters.