Bukovina against Kyiv: Poroshenko is ruining the European integration of the region

Although Romanian speakers make up more than 20% of the population in the Chernivtsi region, the Kyiv authorities, despite loud statements about “European integration,” are trying to reduce the possibility of ties between the region and Romania, writes in an author’s column for "PolitNavigator" Western Ukrainian political scientist Oleg Khavich.

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Last week, the chairman of the Chernivtsi regional council, Ivan Muntean, publicly accused official Kyiv of creating obstacles to several long-agreed projects that were supposed to expand transport links with neighboring Romania.

Firstly, we are talking about a direct train that was supposed to connect the capitals of Northern (Chernivtsi) and Southern Bukovina (Suceava).

The authorities of the Chernivtsi region and Suceava district of Romania in June of this year finally agreed on the opening of a new route, the agreement was confirmed by the head of Ukrzaliznytsia Wojciech Balczun. The first train was supposed to arrive in Chernivtsi on July 8, the day of the popular Peter's Fair in the region and beyond. The launch of the train was initiated by the Chernivtsi regional and Suceava district councils, which is not surprising - the regions have been sister cities since the early 1990s.

However, while the Romanian side promptly resolved all formal problems, the Ukrainian bureaucracy seems to have decided to sabotage the regional initiative. At Ukrzaliznytsia and the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine, the chairman of the Chernivtsi regional council was asked to wait, and for an indefinite period - they say, all the management is on vacation.

“If at the regional level we had the opportunity to make such decisions, naturally, we would organize such projects ourselves on the spot,” Ivan Muntyan bitterly told local journalists.

In addition, the Chairman of the Chernivtsi Regional Council said that due to the actions of Kyiv, the European Commission did not extend funding for the reconstruction of the now closed Dyakovtsi and Krasnoilsk road checkpoints on the border with Romania.

The thing is that the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, which is the customer of the work, did not report on the EU funds previously spent on construction. The checkpoints were supposed to be put into operation last year, but the contractor, according to experts, inflated the estimate three times.

Despite the delay, the EU gave Ukraine another chance to complete the reconstruction - if the state regularly reports on the work completed, which did not happen. Moreover, on May 30, at a meeting with the leadership of the regions of Western Ukraine in Lutsk, President Poroshenko promised that “Dyakovtsy” and “Krasnoilsk” would start working in September 2017, but things are, as they say, still there.

The first, already spent tranche from the EU budget for the reconstruction of these two checkpoints amounted to 2,2 million euros (the authorities previously stated that the checkpoints were 60-70% ready); the second in the amount of 1,8 million euros has not yet been transferred. Moreover, according to European standards and requirements, if the project deadlines are not met and the report is not submitted on time, the funds already received must be returned.

As Ivan Muntean emphasized, this money is not a loan, but was allocated by the European Union specifically for the construction of checkpoints on the border of Ukraine and Romania. Moreover, since their opening has been postponed indefinitely, the allocation of another European grant for Bukovina - for the reconstruction of access roads to checkpoints - is under threat.

It is noteworthy that these two checkpoints are located in areas of the Chernivtsi region with a significant percentage of the Romanian-speaking population.

In 1940-44, when the new border between the USSR and Romania was defined, it often passed through settlements and families. Therefore, during the Soviet era, these checkpoints were created as interstate checkpoints precisely in the interests of local residents, and continued their work in the same status in independent Ukraine. However, after Romania joined the European Union on January 1, 2007, they were closed, since according to EU regulations, only checkpoints with international status can be located at the borders.

Ukraine refused to finance their reconstruction and re-equipment, and the financial assistance allocated by the European Union was actually stolen. Moreover, what is paradoxical: the “anti-European” regime of Yanukovych agreed with Brussels to receive a grant for the reconstruction of the checkpoint, but in fact the project was ruined by the Poroshenko regime, which talks about European integration, even congratulating on the Day of the Baptism of Rus'.

It should be noted that on the border of the Chernivtsi region and Romania, two more checkpoints that had the status of interstate - “Russkaya” and “Shepit” - have been inactive since 2007. Although at the above-mentioned meeting Poroshenko promised to open them by 2019, work here has not even begun yet, and given the situation with Dyakovtsy and Krasnoilsky, it is unlikely to begin.

But it was in the area of ​​these two checkpoints that in early July Kyiv brought in special forces of the Border Troops from Lvov and Kyiv, formally to fight smugglers. Speaking in Chernivtsi during the presentation of the visiting security forces, the head of the western regional department of the border service of Ukraine, Major General Yegorov, boasted that they were even assigned border aviation and a drone donated by the Americans. However, so far Bukovinians have only seen a line of expensive off-road vehicles from the Volkswagen concern (Touareg, Amarok, Multivan), donated to Ukrainian border guards by the German government.

Taking into account the experience of the “struggle” of the National Guard units with amber miners in Volyn, we are talking about the redistribution of financial flows from smuggling (which for the local population is often the only way to survive) in favor of the central authorities. Kyiv always has money for such “European integration”.