THE refusal at the last minute by the Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovich, to sign up to a ‘partnership’ deal with the EU has led immediately to a coup attempt by the imperialist nations determined to seize control of the Ukraine and exploit both its strategic importance and its use as a base from which to attack Russia.
When one looks at the deal actually on offer from the EU for partnership it soon becomes apparent that the promised economic salvation for the struggling Ukrainian economy is just an illusion, in fact, it is clear that the EU has no intention of supporting the country’s industry but, on the contrary, plans to completely smash it up.
In return for a loan, the EU and IMF were demanding that the Ukraine impose EU ‘standards of business regulations, governance and human rights’. The Ukraine would be subjected to the most drastic and draconian ‘austerity measures’ policed by the EU, ECB and IMF (Troika).
These measures include dramatic cuts in public spending, wage freezes and price increases.
What stopped Yanukovich from accepting this deal though was fear of the powerful Ukrainian working class that would have undoubtedly risen up and brought his government down.
Now imperialism is intent on organising a coup to bring him down, using right-wing forces and directly intervening in an attempt to recreate the Orange Revolution of 2004.
They have mobilised their pro-imperialist allies to call mass demonstrations in Kiev, demonstrations that have been addressed by a Polish MEP and deputy speaker of the EU parliament, Jacek Protasiewicz, who pledged the full support of the EU for a coup, proving that the EU is directly involved in organising the coup.
The opposition – composed of the far-right ‘Svoboda’ (Freedom) Party, ‘Batkivshchyna’ (Motherland), the party of ‘gas princess’ Yuliya Tymoshenko, who made millions out of gas privatisation and is currently in prison on corruption charges, and UDAR, led by former boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, along with groups of extreme right-wing nationalist thugs – called a mass demonstration of 500,000 in the city of Kiev over the weekend.
These ‘demonstrators’ have now dwindled to 5,000 surrounding the parliament and demanding the resignation of Yanukovich.
These forces, bused in from outside Kiev are, according to eyewitnesses, trained, armed and disciplined, not spontaneous demonstrators but organised counter-revolutionaries.
The manoeuvrings by imperialism to bring the Ukraine under capitalist domination is driven by the strategy of encircling Russia with hostile nations.
The drive is to push the armed forces of Nato right up to the borders of Russia in preparation for an attempt to militarily re-impose capitalism on the vast Russian state which, despite all attempts by the Stalinist bureaucracy, still remains a degenerated workers state and, as such, outside the domination of capitalism.
Crucially, Ukraine occupies a vital strategic position in the world.
Its Black Sea port is the home of the Russian fleet and acts as the gateway to the Middle East and its oil wealth.
As well as being the key to the Black Sea, Ukraine is the gateway to the vast oil and gas reserves of the Caucasus.
What emerges clearly from this situation is the determination of the imperialists to seize Ukraine for their own ends, and the complete inability of the Stalinist leadership to deal with the situation.
By entering into negotiations with the EU in the first place they willingly opened the door to the imperialists to make their move, now they are seeking some form of compromise with the right-wing opposition.
At the same time, they are terrified of the Ukrainian working class, whose massive resistance has thwarted all attempts to capitulate to imperialism and restore capitalism in the Ukraine.
The Ukrainian working class will rise up again to smash this counter-revolutionary coup attempt, after which they must go forward to carry out the political revolution against the Stalinist leadership in the Ukraine and all the other states of the Soviet Union, as part of the world socialist revolution.
