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Ukraine's every city seems to far from indifferent about the events in the capital city, where protesters support the European integration. The mass rallies grew into the opposition's major confrontations with the authorities, which had used force to
disperse the protesters.
The first reaction, traditionally, came from the country's western regions, where rallies featuring many participants continue for the second week now. The Lvov, Ivano-Frankovsk, Chernigov and Rovno regions, which support the capital city's opposition, declared a general mobilisation and send their representatives over to Kiev. At that very time, the country's eastern regions, which traditionally support President Viktor Yanukovich and the trend for cooperation with Russia, demand from the president
bringing the situation in the country back to order.
Eastern Ukraine also had rallies with many participants, but those were organised against the European integration. The south and the east also had organised supporters of the capital's protesters, but the number of participants there was much less. On Saturday, a motor rally supported Ukraine's European trend and the demands of the opposition in Kiev. The motor rally featured about 30 vehicles, which carried the state flag and flags of opposing Batkivshchyna, Svoboda and UDAR.
Meanwhile, the Donetsk regional branch of the ruling Party of Regions announced organisation of a "coordinating body for a dialogue with political parties, trade unions and civil organisations - the headquarters for stabilisation of the political situation." "The headquarters should become a public platform for discussing the situation in the country and ways to settle it," deputy head of Donetsk's branch of the Party of
Regions Igor Chichasov said.
Kiev's protests did not find support in the Crimea. A Saturday rally in Simferopol, supporting the European integration, which organisers claimed to have gathered most people, featured about a hundred participants, the police say. Similar protests took place in Feodosiya, Kerch and Djankoi.
While in Kiev, western, southern and eastern regions the adherence to certain political forces is clear, in the centre the situation is not that transparent. For example, the situation in the central part's city of Cherkassy. The local legislators announced they could not agree with protesters either in Kiev or in the region, while the municipal authorities, on the contrary, supported the Kiev opposition and their allies organised a tent town in the Shevchenko Boulevard. Several days later, next to it appeared another tent town - in support of the European integration.
Attitudes to the current events, which are seen in the country's regions, prove Ukraine faces the risks of the territorial disintegration, Ukraine's political analyst Vladimir Fesenko says. "The risks of the territorial disintegration, the confrontations between the East and the West, do exist, no doubt. And escalation of the territorial-political confrontation is a road to the country's disunity," he says.
He calls as dangerous the heating of the separatist moods in Ukraine's certain regions, and first of all in the Crimea. He says major businesses are to have their say. "Sometimes were are exaggerating their role in the politics, but now their interests are at risk, as practically all of them have assets both in the East and in the West, and the threat of a
political crisis is a direct threat for their property rights," Fesenko said.
Despite the diverse attitudes to the situation, all regions have sent over their representatives to Kiev, which is seen clearly from the posters in the Independence Square /Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Ukrainian/. At the same time, practically all the regions have condemned the use of force against participants in the protest rally in the capital city.
These days, the police is reinforced throughout the country, and the interior ministry reports daily the rallies both in Kiev and in the regions continue calmly.
Official Kiev will have to do a lot to slow down the decentralisation processes, emerging lately. Clearly, one thought is obvious: further confrontation between the authorities and the opposition adds to the risks of the country's territorial disintegration.
Tass
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