The Breakdown Of Soviet Union
It is interesting to know what happened after 1991. When the Soviet Union broke apart, some Ukrainians breathed a sigh of relief, they thought their country finally earned its independence from the Soviet Union. They bid adieu to Moscow, and parted as friends. And they looked towards the European Union, intending to join them. That they wanted to become an independent European country like others. But on the other hand, there were also people that harboured a lot of sympathy for the Russians.
Considering themselves to be Russians. They believed that Russians and Ukrainians are ethnically similar both are classified as Slavic, their religions are similar there aren’t major differences. They are majorly Christian. And in both countries, other religions are in minority. For these people, the events of 1991, was like a partition. It was a tragedy for them.
From the latter category of people, was Vladimir Putin. Just last week, Putin said that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a major humanitarian tragedy. In which more than 25 million ‘Russians’ were suddenly cut off from Russia and had to disperse into various independent countries.
Putin claims that Ukraine and Ukrainians, are an indispensable part of Russian history and culture. So basically, Putin considers Ukraine to be a part of Russia. But what about the people of Ukraine? What do they think? The people living in Eastern Ukraine, the area that lies beside Russia’s border, the people are mostly pro-Russia there. But if we’re to talk about the overall country, a little more than the majority of people, are in favour of joining the European Union.
In favour of continuing as an independent country. And this isn’t only for the people of Ukraine. Rather the politicians of Ukraine are also divided into 2 groups. One group is the pro-European Union. And the other is Pro-Russia. If I talk about the data, according to a survey from April 2017, 53% of the Ukrainians were in the favour of joining the European Union. And 46% Ukrainians, favour joining NATO.
NATO is an alliance between the USA and the European countries. You can think of them as being against Russia. According to the same survey, 27% of Ukrainians were against joining NATO. And the others did not have a strong opinion. So you can say that about 20-30% of people favour Russia. 1st May 2004.
It was a historic day for the European countries. It was the day when 10 new countries joined the European Union. Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. It was special because 8 out of the 10 countries are former Communist countries. Either they used to be a part of the Soviet Union, or they were under its influence.
