Yatseniuk is pulling Ukraine into Russia’s orbit, his former Lviv campaign chief says

November04200920:17

“In late 2008 and in the first 6 months of 2009, like the rest of Ukrainians, I believed that Arseny Yatseniuk could become the leader of a new generation of Ukrainians. Many thought Yatseniuk will continue the course of Pres Yushchenko,” Hanushchyn said.

“However, we must admit that Arseny Yatseniuk made an about-face from what he declared at the start of his campaign. He was so adamant proclaiming Ukraine’s European integration course, while his present agenda shows a dramatic departure from what he had said before,” Oleksandr Hanushchyn continued.

“I accepted my boss’s early declarations with all my heart. To enhance my work for Yatseniuk, I resigned as deputy head of Lviv oblast administration and headed Yatseniuk’s oblast staff,” he went on.

I regret it to say, but Yatseniuk’s original project for Ukraine as a European nation has deteriorated into a Eurasian politic-economic model which has no future, with the dominant idea of integration with Russia and other CIS states. His recipes for modernizing Ukraine are strikingly reminiscent of the old Soviet approaches, Hanushchyn noted.

In my opinion, the new course set by Arseny Yatseniuk does not tally with the national interests of Ukraine. That is why I made a decision to resign from my position as head of Arseny Yatseniuik Lviv oblast staff, Hanushchyn added.

Arseny Yatseniuk first showcased his new course on Oct. 22, Hanushchyn recounted. On Friday, all oblast chiefs of campaign staffs were summoned to Kyiv, allegedly, to discuss the new course. We were just told about its specifics. There was no discussion, Hanushchyn said. However, many Yatseniuk team members disagreed openly with the course, but their arguments were spurned, Hanushchyn recounted.

As stressed by Hanushchyn, the decision to quit was his own. He has no plans to support any of the presidential candidates or to be involved as their team member.