Week’s milestones. Asymmetrical Poroshenko, provident Groysman, and irregular opposition

Although the Parliament has gone into a non-session mode ahead of July’s pre-vacational spurt, the issue of a possible vote for the law on local elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas is stubbornly making its way through the information space. The main cantors of this song of panic are traditionally vigilant members of the Samopomich faction. Poroshenko did not engage in discussions with his suspicious critics, instead choosing to visit the so-called "Bridge Republic," the stronghold of the Ukrainian forces in the immediate vicinity of the contact line with the pro-Russian militants. Not only did he treat the Ukrainian troops with strawberries and cherries, he also presented honorary awards to outstanding soldiers and signed a decree on demobilization of troops from the fifth draft wave. The move was quite convincing, but until mid-July, or rather, a diligently pushed date of July 14, many citizens will remain in suspense.

Meanwhile, SBU head Vasyl Hrytsak summed up quite thoroughly his first year in office. In particular, he told about a special raid on neutralization of separatists in Odesa. The story turned out to be not just interesting, but also packed with important, "food for thought" information for those keen on analyzing things.

Ukraine continues to fight with Russia by all means available, and it has long been a fact that not only the fortifications and firepower are crucial in this confrontation. For example, political zigzagging of Nadia Savchenko, who had become a symbol of refuting Russia, can be misleading to many and allow the opponents of independent Ukraine to achieve their goals.

Ukrainian PM Volodymyr Groysman after his visit to the United States tried to convey its results to the Ukrainian citizens with the relevant proximity to the Ukrainian realities. Prime minister’s readiness to strongly support the businesses is based not only on his life experiences but also on realizing that only small and medium businesses today are able to ensure economic growth and move the oligarchs away from the important levers. It is rather a rhetorical question whether the deputies can share Groysman’s optimism, since most of them live only for today.

Skillful populists have studied well the features of the national character, and, if necessary, they leap in stunning somersaults from the camp of the government’s implacable critics into the camp of those persecuted by the authorities. The accidental discovery of the immodest cottage house of Oleh Lyashko would cause a politician of his level real headache in most European countries, especially following a statement that he rents this huge mansion for a ridiculous UAH 5,000 [nearly $200] a month. However, many Ukrainians continue to trust an eloquent radical.

However, the newly-emerged opposition forces can’t make old school politicians act more reasonably. At the end of last week, it became clear that the attempt of some BPP deputies, the Odesa governor, a number of progressively-minded officials and a couple of ex-deputies prosecutor general, who disagree with the presidential line, to create a united political project will not work out. This means, the progressive community will once again have to choose the objects of sympathies from among the old faces, while the Ministry of Justice will have to revise the number of positions in the list of the registered political forces. The right-liberal idea in the Ukrainian realities, unfortunately, sounds somewhat utopian to gain control of the mass consciousness. At the same time, becoming the sources of these ideas can even attract the negative attitudes initially channeled elsewhere.

Yevgeny Magda