Something is happening in Kiev

It may have gone under reported in the news but for the past two weeks a revolution, or at least a massive uprising, is happening in Kiev, the Capital of Ukraine. Their president, Victor Yanukovych, refused to sign accords that would have created closer economic ties between the Ukrainian Republic and the European Union in favor of keeping a closer relationship with Russia. You might ask yourselves is every country in Europe supposed to join the EU sooner or later? Or what is wrong with a president not wanting his country to enter in an organization that has proven how perilous it is in the past year? Well the answer is the people.

Democracies are in definition that the government will do what the people want, since they hold all the power. And the Ukrainian people want their country to join Europe. Since the President refused to sign the accords, Thousands of people from all around the country have been protesting in from of City Hall in Kiev, the presidential palace and their legislative assembly. And who could blame them? They are sick of being dragged in the everlasting circle of corruption and oligarchs that seems to come from Russia. Ukraine has been a client state of Russia for many years and it has not brought more prosperity, so the Ukrainian people are willing to try Europe and see if they can improve their way of live like they neighbors, Poland who got from under Russian influence and is now much more successful.

The Ukrainian people are also sick of this president's administration with its corruption and scandals. Let's not forget that the Orange revolution of 2004 let by Yulia Tymoshenko, happened to basically stop him from being elected president. He did get elected in 2010, and in his term, he made sure to arrest Tymoshenko in the same year, under false charges. In 2011, she was found guilty and was sentenced to 7 years in prison, a trial was clearly seen as politically motivated. She is still incarcerated, she has been maltreated, and is currently on a hunger strike. With his behavior in the presidency,Yanukovych has proved that he is nothing but a Putin clone and a wannabe dictator. I hope that this uprising will wake him up to the reality that the Ukrainian people are ready for democracy and are willing to fight for it. Say what you want about the EU, but their member countries are required to show some democratic credentials, making it impossible for dictators-lite likeYanukovych , to function and remain in power. And the EU has a better record on human rights  and democracy than Russia.

I wish all the luck to the protesters in Kiev, democracies don't start easily and often, the people must fight to get what is rightfully theirs, the right to have a voice in the direction of their country. Their goals is just and noble, and two men, Putin and Yanukovych, should not get to decide otherwise just because it doesn't align with their greed for power. The people of Ukraine want economic prosperity, a strong democracy and all those goals are aligned with Europe.Yanukovych listen to your people!