Kyiv, May 15th, 2014 – the Army General Mykola Malomuzh spoke about the situation in the east of Ukraine and his vision of the crisis at a press briefing at Ukrainian crisis media center.
Mr. Malomuzh said that he had just returned from the eastern regions of Ukraine, where he met with representatives of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, Zaporozhye, Odessa, Kharkiv regions. They held discussions with representatives of NGOs, the military, intelligence agencies and representatives of self-defense.
“An extremely high percentage – 90-95%, especially in the south, are the people who speak in support of independent Ukraine. If we talk about Donetsk and Lugansk regions about 85% of population supports independence of the country, prevention of its imbalance and even more the loss of the territories,”- he said. Those who are influenced by information flows of Russian Federation, some representatives of special services, separatist groups who advocate the idea of federalism – are a very small percentage. 3-4% of the population is in favor of joining Russia. The general added that the people in those areas worry the most about their safety and lives of their families, the future prospects of cities, villages and regions.
According to Mykola Malomuzh all these processes are initiated by the Russian special services representatives, criminals, representatives of pro Russian organizations and members of shady business.
Analyzing why this situation happened, the general said that from the very beginning, since the Crimean events, the reason was the authorities inefficiency. “Formation of the government in times of crisis by quota attributes was a big mistake. As a result of this the state power lost its balance”- he said. According to Mykola Malomuzh corruption schemes occurred, and sometimes even the desire to distract people from economic and social problems. In addition attempts to dialogue with representatives of the southern and eastern regions were ineffective, there were no prevention of terrorists and extremist’s actions, actions of special services were unprofessional, rotation of personnel and appointment of professionals was not effective.
Speaking on the national unity round table held on May 14, Mykola Malomuzh expressed confidence that the event should have been conducted not in Kiev but, for instance, in Donetsk. In addition, it should have been done in a different format. “Front representatives are not necessary at such round tables, majority of those present are not the people who will decide the issues. They are honest, normal, but they are not perceived by the representatives of the regions where there is a problem, “- he said. According to Mykola Malomuzh it’s necessary to conduct a dialogue aimed at harmonization and roundtables should include representatives of all parties in Ukraine as well as of the other countries. He stressed that the firm position of confrontation have failed and will bring no results, and the best thing that can be done now – to agree on a comprehensive ceasefire.
Among the important steps to be taken, the general called for the Parliament to adopt a ruling which would declare that everything happening on the streets without force unless people suffer – happens under the Constitution. In addition, Mykola Malomuzh said that the security of citizens is of primary importance. He stressed that this should be taken care of by the law enforcement officers who have the confidence of people locally and are familiar with the situation.
Also, Mr. Malomuzh stated it was necessary to grant amnesty to the citizens who had been detained in this confrontation, but did not commit serious crimes and dismiss at the various levels the heads of MIA, SSU and National Guard that showed to be ineffective.
Nicholas Malomuzh concluded that namely the power renewal will give prospective of situation stabilization in the country and will open up the prospect of future development. He stressed the need to create a comfortable investment environment, not obsessed with the East-West confrontation, but concentrated on the Ukrainians.
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