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2014

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DIGEST OF UKRAINIAN NATIONAL PLATFORM

Euromaidan and Beyond. January March 2014

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CONTENT
Foreword

Key events

Ukrainian National Platform: topics in focus

Euromaidan

Civic Sector of Euromaidan

Maidan Peoples Union

Euromaydan SOS

Reanimation Reforms Package

Social initiatives at Euromaidan

Information Security

The Signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement

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EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform: developing Euromaidan

further

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Meetings and Events

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Future Events

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FOREWORD

The first 2014 digest from the Ukrainian National Platform focuses
on Euromaidan and its exciting developments. Five months of daily
struggle have shown that the Ukrainian civil society has never been
more empowered, full of ideas and ready to propose vital reforms for
Ukraine. Yet, the Ukrainian National Platform and its partners in the
Ukrainian civil society understand that the signing of the EU-Ukraine
Association Agreement is only a first step in reanimating Ukraine. Regardless of recent challenges to Ukraines international security, it is
crucial for the Ukrainian National Platform and its many members to
continue pressuring the government in order to introduce progressive
European reforms. In particular, the Ukrainian National Platform is taking Euromaidan further by initiating discussion about the EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform, which will be the channel of communication and expertise between the Ukrainian civil society and the EU. Exciting developments and real
struggle are on the way in Ukraine.
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KEY EVENTS
16 January Anti-protest laws (laws on defamation, dictatorship laws) were voted by the Parliament of Ukraine and later signed by the President Yanukovich. The voting was held with violations of
procedure (by showing hands, not counting the actual number of votes, and without previous consultations in the Verkhovna Rada). The laws targeted civil society protesters and the media by limiting
opportunities to research, monitor, and publically criticize public officials. Many CSOs became foreign
agents according to the laws. Similarly, peaceful meetings and free movement were limited by Verkhovna Rada to stop Euromaidan and Automaidan, the Euromaidan on wheels. The laws were cancelled by the parliament on 28 January when a new parliamentary majority has been formed.
Any criticism of abuses of power on the part of officials, any call for social change could be labeled
as extremism. That also includes any calls to replace the government by legal means. And any publication on the Internet, as well as the regular dissemination of information will be equated with the
work of news agencies and will require a permit. These laws could block access to blogs and to all sorts
of other things
Oleksandr Sushko, National Coordinator of the Ukrainian National Platform EaP CSF for Deutsche Welle

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19 - 25 January In reaction to dictatorship laws, clashes between protesters and the police started at Hrushevskogo street causing casualties. Kidnappings and torturing of Euromaidan activists happened during this period and later; most notoriously, Dmytro Bulatov, the leader of Automaidan, was
kidnapped on 23 January and freed in several days. The first official Euromaidan victim was Serhiy Nigoyan, an ethnic Armenian from Dnipropetrovsk, who was killed on 22 January. Along with protests in
Kiev, take-overs of regional administrations and city councils start in many Ukrainian cities. Regardless
of accusations from ex-Prime Minister Azarov, ex-General Prosecutor Pshonka and other anti-protest
public officials and media, the take-overs were mostly peaceful, and radical right-wing forces played a
minor role in the conflict.
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18 - 20 February After almost a month of peace between the protesters and the police, clashes
renewed, as the protesters marched to the Verkhovna Rada early on 18 February, where deputies were
preparing to vote for amendments to the Constitution. President Yanukovych refused to negotiate and
made several attempts to clear the Independence Square of protesters, however despite several attacks and multiple victims Euromaidan did not shake. The following three days were the bloodiest in
Euromaidans history, 82 people were killed and almost 700 injured. As before during Euromaidan,
Yanukovich regime has brought aggressive young men (titushky) to Kyiv to destabilize the situation.
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22 - 28 February President Yanukovich left Ukraine to reappear in Rostov-on-Don few days later
and to proclaim that he still was the legitimate leader of the country. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Parliament was discussing his resignation, appointing a new date for Presidential elections and debating the
new Cabinet. The same day Yanukovych left the country Yulia Tymoshenko was released from prison,
which had previously been the major obstacle to signing the Association Agreement. The Parliament
has started working actively to pass revolutionary laws, some of which were highly arguable (law on
languages could potentially destabilize the situation in the Eastern and Southern Ukraine).
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February 16 March Since the end of February, Ukraine has renewed negotiations to sign the
Association Agreement, which was expected to happen at the EU Summit in March 2014. According to
Radoslav Sikorski, the EU was ready to sign the Agreement as soon as the Ukrainian side was ready.
Meanwhile, since late February, pro-Russian forces and Russian insurgents have been overtaking the
peninsula, which was followed by a pro-Russian referendum on 16 March. As the result of the referendum, Crimea has been proclaimed a Russian territory. Since middle of March, separatist tendencies
have been developing across the South-Eastern Ukraine.
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21 March Ukraine has signed the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement in Brussels. The anti-crisis
Prime-minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has signed a political part of the Agreement on the Ukrainian side.
According to the UNP National Coordinator Olekandr Sushko, the rest of the Agreement may be signed
in June, if Ukraines Presidential elections would run successfully, or later this year.
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UKRAINIAN NATIONAL PLATFORM:

TOPICS IN FOCUS

Euromaidan
The UNP EaP CSF turned its primary attention to Euromaidan which gave hope to unite and reform
Ukraine. The revolutionary events have proved that the Ukrainian civil society has developed into an
authoritative force, as Ukraine has witnessed an unprecedented rise in civic activism and awareness.
The UNP members took part in various initiatives within Euromaidan doing everything from routine
daily work to support lives of protesters to proposing reforms to the new government. Notwithstanding, along with the actual hands-on activism on Euromaidan, the activists of the Ukrainian National
Platform EaP CSF actively worked to attract attention of the EU and the world to the Ukrainian events.
Information campaigning has become the UNPs daily struggle. Read full report here (in English).

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Civic Sector of Euromaidan
Civic Sector of Euromaidan, which was partially coordinated
by Andriy Kohut in Kyiv and Yana Borenko in Lviv, coordinator and
member of WG 4 of the UNP EaP CSF respectively, has worked as a
coordinating, self-help and communication facility for Euromaidan
activists. Civic Sector is a grassroots movement, which started on
November 30, 2013 after beatings of the peaceful protestors at the
Independence Square in Kyiv. It is a wide non-partisan civic movement whose primary goal is to peacefully change the political system
in Ukraine, not just the names of politicians in power. Daily support
to protesters, public performances and information war has been its
primary duties for 5 months of protests. Civic Centre of Euromaidan
has been delivering digests on Ukraine in English since late December, which can be found at Civic Centres site. Additionally, the initiative updates its blog in English daily
to keep the international community informed about the crisis in Ukraine. Moreover, its Facebook page
aggregates the most up-to-date information on the Ukrainian events and a vast media-archive about
the Euromaidan.

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Maidan Peoples Union
Maidan Peoples Union started as an effort to coordinate the
Ukrainian civil society and Euromaidan in late December 2013 and
mostly dissolved in late January 2014. This initiative united different public figures from people of art to politicians (many of whom
are now in power O. Turchynov and A. Yatseniuk to name a few).
The Union shared five primary goals: drafting a new Constitution,
signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, ensuring free and
fair elections to the Parliament and local government, guaranteeing mass human rights movement and protecting protesters. The
National Coordinator of the UNP EaP CSF Oleksandr Sushko became
one of the civil society members to the Maidans Peoples Union.
Though the initiative to legally formalize the status of the Union was not supported, and the initiative did not last long, it has demonstrated that Euromaidan was diverse and impossible to formalize;
Euromaidan should not be used as a platform for political self-PR, and the civil societys core strength
is self-management.


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Euromaydan SOS
Euromaydan SOS is a civic hotline that was
initiated by members of WG 1 of the UNP EaP CSF
sub-group Human rights and other concerned civil
society and human rights activists. Initiative group
Euromaydan SOS was created as a response to the
illegal actions of the authorities to disperse peaceful
demonstration at night from 29 to 30 of November
2013 at the Independence Square. The main purpose
of Initiative group Euromaydan SOS is to provide operative and legal assistance to Euromaydan victims
not only in Kyiv but also in Ukrainian regions. The
Initiative group collects and analyzes information to protect peaceful protesters and to provide temporary assessments of the situation. Initiative group Euromaydan SOS is acting as an intermediary
between Euromaydan participants, provides legal assistance and lawyers whom are working as volunteers. The protesters could receive medical assistance, self-protection guidance, legal assistance and
other help from the volunteers, who communicated actively via Facebook and the initiatives Internet
site. Notwithstanding, Euromaydan SOS was active in searching for missing people and establishing
the exact number of Euromaidan victims.
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Reanimation Reforms Package
Reanimation Reforms Package is a legislative initiative which
united about 150 experts from various civil society organizations,
think tanks and business in February 2014. This group of experts has
an ambition to bring the energy of Euromaidan into policy making
by drafting and proposing laws for the newly elected Ukrainian government. Due to this, the Reanimation Reforms Package is called by
Euromaidan activists an expert hundred (similarly to the heavenly
hundred, the freedom fighters killed at Euromaidan). the experts
work on crucial legal reforms in 13 spheres: judicial and prosecution
reform, law enforcement, anti-corruption measures, electoral law,
administrative reform, decentralization and regional development,

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tax reform, deregulation, educational reform, pensions and social security, health policy, land reform
and media freedom. So far, the Reanimation Reforms Package has proposed five laws that were supported by the Ukrainian Parliament. In addition, platforms of reforms were formed by groups of
peoples deputies in the Ukrainian Parliament and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The UNP WG
1 member Maksym Latsyba (the Ukrainian Centre for Independent Political Research) is the leading
expert in administrative reform and one of the leading experts in the Reanimation Reforms Package.
More about the initiative on Facebook and on the Internet (in Ukrainian)
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Social initiatives at Euromaidan
Euromaidan events have brought empowerment for wide range of social groups in Ukraine. Everyone, form veterans of Afghan war to Greek Catholic priests, was open to help his neighbour in need.
Yet, social security and social policy should become daily work for both activists and the government,
and Euromaidan should live in every city and region of Ukraine. The Headquarters of Social Reform,
which was established by WG 4 and WG 5 of the UNP EaP CSF, has prepared Euromaidans social
manifesto which called for strategic action in drafting sustainable social reform:
1. To include the social component into EuroMaidans political demands.
2. To end the system of controlled poverty and to develop a European social policy.
3. To develop an action plan which would include reform of legislative framework, effective policy
management, and denationalization and decentralization of social sphere.
Read full Euromaidans social manifesto here.
The theses of the Euromaidan social manifesto have been further developed at the meeting of the
WG5 of the UNP EaP CSF and the Headquarters of Social Reform on 14 February 2014. Most importantly, the experts discussed how not to loose the energy of Euromaidan in developing social reforms,
how to involve active non-partisan citizens to daily work for social security and how to properly control
the governments efforts to draft social policies. As the result of this discussion, the coordinator of WG5
Rostyslav Dzundza and the NGO Bureau for Social and Political Developments has initiated the creation of a working group at the Ministry of social policies. The working group will monitor the work of
the Ministry, in particular, tender and employment practices, which have not been publically accessed
during the previous regimes work.
By the end of March, a number of non-governmental organisations such as the Ukrainian Insurance Federation, ICF Caritas Ukraine, ACF Coalition of HIV-service organizations Ukrainian Trade
Union Alliance, Bureau of Social and Political Development etc. was preparing detailed proposals
for different areas of social reforms to present them to policy-makers as a joint social reform package.

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Information Security
The Ukrainian National Platform has turned the attention of the new government of Ukraine to the problems
of international security. In particular, the UNP was concerned with strong full-scale information campaign against
Ukraine that the Russian Federation has been leading
since November 2013, where it aimed to discredit democratic changes and peaceful protests at Euromaidan. The
situation has become even more threatening when Russian
troops started entering the Southern and Eastern regions of
Ukraine, which was followed by separatist messages and
further anti-Ukrainian propaganda. The UNP has called the
new government of Ukraine to create a special unit on information security within the National Security and Defence
Council of Ukraine. Besides, the UNP proposed to involve PR-agencies, NGOs and other public agents to
draft a comprehensive information campaign to counteract the Russian propaganda. Read full statement here.
A number of experts within the civil society have formed the Ukrainian Information Front which
is aimed to provide objective expert opinion on the issues which are employed by the Russian propaganda in the Eastern Partnership states and other post-soviet territories. The UIF is coordinated by
Hennadiy Maksak, the coordinator of WG 2 at the UNP EaP CSF. At the moment, the expert group is
working mostly on the Crimean crisis and anti-Ukrainian propaganda. The first issue of the UIFs digest
can be found here (in Russian).

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The Signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement
The Ukrainian National Platform has presented its principal position on the Association Agreement
prior to the signing. Dividing this international legal document into political and economic components and signing the political part separately was considered by the UNP to be technically impossible, yet due to strong political will on both the Ukrainian and the European sides, the political part has
been signed on 21 March 2014. The UNP welcomed the introduction of trade preferences to Ukraine
and expressed hope that the Association Agreement would be guarantee support to the reforms that
are vital for the future development of Ukraine.
Read full statement here.

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The Signing of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement
The UNP EaP CSF has taken up leadership in creating the EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform that has
been proposed in Articles 469 and 470 of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. In particular, article
469 of the Association Agreement establishes a Civil Society Platform to manage bilateral consultations between the Ukrainian civil society and the European side, the European Economic and Social
Committee (EESC). However, the Agreement does not suggest any precise formula to determine structure and composition of the Platform. Moreover, it passes to the Platform the responsibilities to define
its own agenda and rules of procedure. Read full statement here.
In perspective, the Civil Society Platform will be the forum to meet and exchange views on the
implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement to the EU and its civil society partners in
Ukraine. The Platform should become a powerful mechanism for the Ukrainian civil society and the
first mechanism of this kind proposed solely to a civil society of a state. The UNP has proposed its own
conception of the Platform which was presented to the EaP CSF in April. To read the Concept Note, follow the link.

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MEETINGS AND EVENTS

11 January The National Coordinator of the UNP EaP CSF has attended the first All-Ukrainian
Forum of Euromaidans in Ukraine. The meeting has gathered representatives from major centres of
protest and was planned as a coordinating and team-building event. The resulting resolution has
called Euromaidans to coordination, joint information and fundraising campaigning. Considering that
Kharkiv used to be a pro-Yanukovytch territory in January, the visitors of the Forum were pursued and
blocked in a church, where they managed to protect themselves from the police, Antimaidan protesters and mobsters.
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25 January During his visit to revolutionary Ukraine, European Parliament Commissioner Stephan Fle held a meeting with the representatives of the Ukrainian National Platform EaP CSF, where
he conveyed the deep concerns of the EU about the latest developments and underlined the need to
end the cycle of violence, to fight against impunity of perpetrators of human rights violations and to
continue an inclusive national dialogue to find a way out of the crisis that threatens to further destabilise the country.
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29 January Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy has met with the representatives of civil society during her visit to Kiev. The members of
the UNP have informed the High Representative that negotiations with the regime were held to waste
time, the civil society was not invited as a negotiator, violence continued in Kyiv and the regions, and
the government may have been preparing a violent scenario against protesters. According to Andriy
Kohut, the WG4 coordinator, the UNP members have proposed to bring a regular EU mission on human rights to Ukraine, to limit entrance to the EU and to introduce economic sanctions against human
rights violators (especially, oligarchs). Catherine Ashton received a symbolic present from the UNP an
orange helmet, such as the protesters used to wear at Euromaidan.
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8 February The leading experts within the UNP EaP CSF took part in the Civil Society Forum Solidarity, Self-Organization, Self-Defence, which was initiated by the International Renaissance Foundation. A wide range of civil society representatives, among which were Oleksandr Sushko, Rostyslav
Dzundza and Viktor Taran (WG1), discussed strategies for protecting rights (legal, medical, informational, civil, etc.) in the current situation in Ukraine. A civic action plan Maidan of Reforms that was
formulated during the Forum later grew into Reanimation reforms package initiative. See press-release here.
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12-13 February European Parliament Commissioner Stephan Fle has held his second revolutionary visit to Ukraine, where he called for inclusive negotiations to resolve the deep crisis. Only sustainable internal reforms could guarantee Ukraine further financial and political assistance from the EU.
The essential precondition to Ukraines way out of political deadlock is forming an effective technical
government.
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19 February Rostyslav Dzundza, the Coordinator of the WG5 UNP EaP CSF has been unanimously
elected the coordinator of the Social and Labour Policies Working Group and the member of the EaP
CSF Steering Committee. The support of the EaP Steering Committee is crucially important for Euromaidan, as first steps for wide social reforms were initiated by the civil society.

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5-7 March The National Coordinator of the UNP EaP CSF Oleksandr Sushko and other UNP members (Internews Ukraine, DiXi Group, Europe Without Barriers, Ukrainian Independent Centre for Political Research) have joined the newly formed expert hundred, the Ukrainian Think Tanks Liaison Office
in Brussels, on its first meeting. Under the support of the European Endowment for Democracy and
the International Renaissance Foundation, the leading Ukrainian think tanks have gathered to discuss
the agenda of reforms and civic empowerment in Ukraine. See full report on the Ukrainian Think Tanks
Liaison Office in Brussels.
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22 March As Russian Federations military campaign in Crimea evolved, the Secretary-General

of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has held consultations with the representatives of the Ukrainian
civil society. Mr. Ban Ki-moon complained that it was difficult to confront Russia in the Crimean crisis,
because this country has the right to veto the UNs decision. It is time to reform the UN. See full report
here.
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FUTURE EVENTS
16 April The WG1 UNP EaP CSF and its coordinator Volodymyr Kupriy will run a round table Reform of Civil Service: Action Plan in the Context of the European Integration of Ukraine, where the most
crucial and burning issues in reforming civil service will be discussed.

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17 April The WG1 UNP EaP CSF Internews Ukraine will present the results of the public media
freedom monitoring which was conducted in Eastern Partnership Countries. The researchers expect
not only to present their findings for 2013, but also reflect on how the media have contributed to Euromaidan.

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18 April The Steering Committee of the UNP EaP CSF will invite experts and civil society activists to
the first public discussion Models of civic participation in the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The guests will discuss the establishment of the EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform
according to the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The UNP EaP CSF will present its conception of
the Platform which is based on the current UNP and its institutions.
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24-25 April The UNP EaP CSF will invite journalists and opinion-makers to a media-seminar,
where the core progress and problems economics, politics, environment, visa freedom, human rights
etc. - in Ukraines European integration will be discussed. The event is managed by the WG1 member
Laboratory of the Legislative Initiatives.
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12-13 May The Steering Committee of the UNP EaP CSF will discuss the creation of the EUUkraine Civil Society Platform with the President of the European Economic and Social Committee
Henri Malosse.
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20-22 June The UNP will arrange the EU Integration School, where the leading UNP experts will
ruin preconceptions, describe mechanisms and build trust in Ukraines integration to the EU. The EUUkraine Association Agreement will be the core of the School agenda.
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For further details, visit the UNP EaP CSF page (in Ukrainian) or contact the UNP EaP CSF communication manager Ganna
Grebennikova at ann.grebenn@gmail.com.

https://readymag.com/kis/csf/

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