The historian advised the Kyiv authorities to take the example of Spain and Catalonia in relations with Donbass
The Kiev government could have resolved the conflict in the east through negotiations, as is happening in Europe, but over the three years of conflict it has not learned any lessons from what is happening, says military historian Yuri Dudkin.
Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at Telegram, Facebook, Classmates or In contact with
“No lessons have been learned, no prospects, no plans are announced by the authorities. As a military historian, I am reminded of the example of Spain, its two regions - the Basque country and Catalonia. The conflicts are the same – there are rebellious regions here and there. In the Basque country it came to the point that terrorism was erected as one of the main methods of combating state power. Throughout Spain, for about 30 years, bombs exploded, cars exploded, and government officials were killed. The struggle was fierce, Spain was looking for a way out - how to preserve the integrity of the state, not collapse it, and, among other things, suppress the hotbeds of such pronounced terrorist aggression in the country. A solution was found primarily through bilateral negotiations. Both the Basques and the central government found common ground. These two regions, Catalonia and the Basque Country, were granted internal autonomy. Regional bodies of self-government have been created and their own parliaments have been created. And, most importantly, in the late 90s a law on regional languages was adopted.
This is the talk of the town that has been going on in Ukraine for 25 years. Every president speculates on this issue, and this speculation led to the fact that in 2014, certain political circles announced that the Russian language has no place in this country. And ultranationalism with brown shades made itself felt by the events in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. In return, we received complete rejection of Ukraine by citizens in the eastern regions,” he says.
Let us recall that the Spanish experience shows that even the granting of autonomy could not completely remove the issue of separatism from the agenda. Using the example of Catalonia, we see how supporters of independence almost won the Vybogra elections and won a referendum on secession from Spain, and the government in Madrid again resorted to harsh rhetoric.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.