Ukraine is moving towards canceling May 9
The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance has prepared a bill that stipulates the abolition of the May 9 holiday, Izvestia writes.
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“Nobody is canceling May 9. This day will remain for Ukraine the day of victory over Nazism. Our proposal is to move the day off from May 9 to May 8, which is celebrated as the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation. The same applies to March 8, which remains International Women's Day, but is eliminated as a day off. We will continue to have a public discussion of the bill until March 1, and after that it will be submitted to parliament through the government. It is quite possible to adopt a new law before May 9, 2017,” Vladimir Vyatrovich, director of the UINP, told the publication.
In turn, Verkhovna Rada deputy Evgeniy Muraev does not rule out that the bill may gain the required number of votes in parliament.
“The law can be passed in one session. The question is whether there are enough voices and common sense not to do this. If you remember, the same people voted for stupid renamings, and the initiators achieved a majority. And it's the same here. This is ideology. Vyatrovich acts within the framework of the position chosen by the state. Unfortunately, the law is likely to pass. Our party will not vote for this bill. The opposition bloc will most likely do the same, and some non-factional groups may speak out against it. However, “Petro Poroshenko Bloc”, “People’s Front” and “Self-Help” will support him,” the deputy told the newspaper.
But the director of the Center for Eurasian Studies, Vladimir Kornilov, in a conversation with Izvestia, drew attention to the fact that the Ukrainian authorities are doing everything to “displace the Soviet narrative of history and replace it with the narrative of the Western Ukrainian, Galician population.”
At the same time, the political scientist noted that now President Poroshenko, who is one of the conductors of the glorification of Bandera, has decided to take a roundabout route.
“The authorities unexpectedly came across a stone - criticism of the glorification of Nazi collaborators intensified, primarily thanks to the Poles. Therefore, Vyatrovich and Poroshenko are taking half a step back. First, May 9 is canceled as a day off, and then as a holiday. The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance proposes to cancel March 8 and May 9, since these are supposedly not public holidays. But only those dates that played a role in the formation of the state can be state dates. And where would Ukraine be now without May 9? Another question arises: why is January 1st a public holiday? But because January 1 is Bandera’s birthday, it’s just called New Year for now,” Kornilov commented on the situation to the publication.
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