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NEW EA STERN EUROPE IS A COLL ABOR ATIVE PROJECT BETWEEN THREE POLISH PARTNERS The City of Gdańsk www.gdansk.pl
A city with over a thousand years of history, Gdańsk has been a melting pot of cultures and ethnic groups. The air of tolerance and wealth built on trade has enabled culture, science, and the Arts to flourish in the city for centuries. Today, Gdańsk remains a key meeting place and major tourist attraction in Poland. While the city boasts historic sites of enchanting beauty, it also has a major historic and social importance. In addition to its 1000-year history, the city is the place where the Second World War broke out as well as the birthplace of Solidarność, the Solidarity movement, which led to the fall of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe.
The European Solidarity Centre www.ecs.gda.pl The European Solidarity Centre is a multifunctional institution combining scientific, cultural and educational activities with a modern museum and archive, which documents freedom movements in the modern history of Poland and Europe. The Centre was established in Gdańsk on November 8th 2007. Its new building was opened in 2014 on the anniversary of the August Accords signed in Gdańsk between the worker’s union “Solidarność” and communist authorities in 1980. The Centre is meant to be an agora, a space for people and ideas that build and develop a civic society, a meeting place for people who hold the world’s future dear. The mission of the Centre is to commemorate, maintain and popularise the heritage and message of the Solidarity movement and the anti-communist democratic opposition in Poland and throughout the world. Through its activities the Centre wants to inspire new cultural, civic, trade union, local government, national and European initiatives with a universal dimension.
The Jan Nowak-Jeziorański College of Eastern Europe www.kew.org.pl The College of Eastern Europe is a non-profit, non-governmental foundation founded on February 9th 2001 by Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, a former head of the Polish section of Radio Free Europe and a democratic activist. The foundation deals with cooperation between the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. The aims if its charters are to carry out educational, cultural and publishing activities, and to develop programmes which enhance the transformation in the countries of Eastern Europe. The organisation has its headquarters in Wrocław, Poland, a city in western Poland, perfectly situated in the centre of Europe and with a deep understanding of both Western and Eastern Europe.
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ear Reader, Do many people think of political prisoners in Europe today? Or have politicians in countries that still uphold this despicable practice managed to deflect western criticism in exchange for business transactions and promises of stability? In rocky times, the latter is especially tempting. No matter what the exchange deal is, it is clear that silencing dissent and oppressing individuals based on political views is something we cannot ignore. That is why this issue of New Eastern Europe aims to show the plight of the political prisoners whose voices we barely hear. Our contributors include former prisoners themselves, Andrei Sannikov and Rasul Jafarov, as well as other authors who illustrate the alarming increase in oppressions in the post-Soviet space. Reading them should help us understand the dire situation of today’s freedom fighters and encourage greater solidarity towards their cause. As Sannikov writes, “political prisoners are jailed for their beliefs and principles. They fight for freedom, not just of their countries, but for all of us.” Continued attention also needs to be paid to Ukraine, where changes are being implemented even if some elements of the landscape remain the same. Yulia Tymoshenko is hungry for power again and appears willing to do whatever it takes to make a comeback. Our author, Ukrainian journalist Roman Romanyuk, explains why Tymoshenko’s ratings are on the rise. As the situation with Crimea becomes more tense, the position of its Tatar population is only getting worse. It is presented in Igor Semyvolos’s text. Finally, while the western media talk about the possibility of war in Ukraine’s eastern parts, our reporters, Paweł Pieniążek and Wojciech Koźmic, show that in the two self-proclaimed republics, the war has never stopped. We close this issue with a special section on Kraków and Lviv – two UNESCO Cities of Literature. Our authors here highlight the numerous connections between these two cultural capitals and the flourishing literary life that characterises them today. We invite you to taste them yourself. As always we welcome your feedback. Contact us at editors@neweasterneurope.eu and stay in touch with us online at www.neweasterneurope.eu as well as via Facebook and Twitter. The Editors
Contents Opinion & Analysis 7
Existence without life Andrei Sannikov One thing that has to be remembered about political prisoners is that their fate directly and proportionally depends on support inside a country, international attention, solidarity and action. For political prisoners, it is extremely important to know that they are not forgotten and that their sacrifice is being recognised, both in their countries and around the world.
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A new generation of Russian political prisoners Janek Lasocki Russians who are currently behind bars for political reasons are a good representation of the country that Vladimir Putin’s Russia has become. They are being punished for exercising their fundamental freedoms, for exposing the web of corruption on which the state is built and for threatening local oligarchs loyal to the Kremlin. Often, they are imprisoned for all three.
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Azerbaijan’s very own Ivan Denisovichs Arzu Geybullayeva
Central Asia’s opposition: Go directly to jail, do not pass go Peter Leonard Five nations in Central Asia emerged from the rubble of the Soviet Union, only to enjoy the briefest of flirtations with political diversity. Throughout the 25 years since Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan gained independence, jailing political opponents has become a commonplace.
Beyond control Interview with Irina Borogan
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Why Russia does not retrench Stanislav Secrieru A revisionist but economically declining power may opt for retrenchment to replenish its domestic sources of power. This is not the path that crisis-stricken Russia is pursuing abroad as there is a strong belief among the Russian elite that regardless of economic difficulties, the country should behave like a great power.
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Tymoshenko still hungry for power Roman Romanyuk Since Ukraine’s last parliamentary election in 2014, the status of Yulia Tymoshenko in the Ukrainian parliament has changed substantially. She has become a staunch critic of President Poroshenko and as a result, has seen a steady increase in support for her party.
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Time for fresh ideas in Ukraine’s democratisation efforts Nicholas Ross Smith
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Helpless in their own homeland Igor Semyvolos
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Resetting Georgia-NATO relations Eugene Kogan
I chose not to be afraid A conversation with Rasul Jafarov
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Interviews 88
A post-modern construct deprived of ideology A conversation with Olga Sedakova
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Is there a Transnistrian identity? Interview with Nikolay Babilunga
Reports
Eastern Café
100 A shell-shocked city: two years on Wojciech Koźmic
140 An indictment rather than a biography Luboš Veselý
In a tiny asphalt alley, located not far from the airport in Donetsk, it is easy to spot traces of the explosions from the infamous Grad shelling. The houses located along the street near the airport have either been destroyed or severely damaged. There are virtually no people in the area.
109 A zone of limited freedom Paweł Pieniążek The last time I came to Luhansk was in October 2014. It was a month after the Ukrainian offensive had been halted for the first time. Two years later, I returned to find that the Luhansk of 2014 no longer exists.
147 A test of otherness Roman Kabachiy 152 In the mythical land of Armenia, the suffering is far from over Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska 156 On disappearance and deconstruction Zbigniew Rokita 160 Good night Ukraine, good morning Europe Felix Ackermann
Kraków-Lviv Special Section
History & Memory
164 Lviv Orientalis Adam Balcer
115 How much Königsberg is in Kaliningrad? Paulina Siegień
177 Lviv means literature Andriy Lyubka
123 Making sense of what was left behind A walk with Professor Jonathan Webber through the exhibit Traces of Memory. A Contemporary Look at the Jewish Past in Poland
People, Ideas, Inspiration 133 Where does an article end and a story begin? Hektor Haarkötter
184 Literature as a legalised weapon Natalka Sniadanko 190 The writing in the (city) walls Kinga Gajda 198 The cradle of literary Poland Interview with Robert Piaskowski
203 Books are life An interview with Oleksandra Koval
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER The Jan Nowak-Jeziorański College of Eastern Europe in Wrocław office@kew.org.pl, www.kew.org.pl
Zamek Wojnowice ul. Zamkowa 2, 55-330 Wojnowice, Poland CO-EDITOR European Solidarity Centre ecs@ecs.gda.pl, www.ecs.gda.pl
EDITORIAL BOARD Leonidas Donskis, Yaroslav Hrytsak, Paweł Kowal, Ivan Krastev, Georges Mink, Zdzisław Najder, Cornelius Ochmann, Mykola Riabchuk, Eugeniusz Smolar, Lilia Shevtsova, Roman Szporluk, Jan Zielonka EDITORIAL TEAM Adam Reichardt, Editor-in-Chief Iwona Reichardt, Deputy Editor, Lead Translator Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska, Editor Igor Lyubashenko, Contributing Editor Stuart Feltis, Editorial Intern Zofia Fenikowska, Editorial Researcher COPYEDITING Jan Ryland
Content with the notation (CC) is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. All attempts are made to give proper and appropriate attribution to the author and source. Circulating texts without the Editors’ permit is strictly forbidden. The Editors bear no responsibility for the content of advertisements. Copyright © by the Jan Nowak-Jeziorański College of Eastern Europe in Wrocław (Kolegium Europy Wschodniej im. Jana Nowaka-Jeziorańskiego we Wrocławiu), 2016 New Eastern Europe is funded in part by a grant from the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture
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Existence without life A ND R E I S A NN I K O V
One thing that has to be remembered about political prisoners is that their fate directly and proportionally depends on support inside a country, international attention, solidarity and action. For political prisoners, it is extremely important to know that they are not forgotten and that their sacrifice is being recognised, both in their countries and around the world. On December 8th 1986 at 23:50, in the hospital of a watch factory in the town of Chistopol, Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Anatoly Marchenko, a Soviet prisoner of conscience, died at the age of 48. He was transferred to this hospital from prison after his health deteriorated dramatically as a result of a hunger strike that he declared in August of the same year and continued for several months. He wrote in his letter, which was published 12 years after his death: “Since August 4th I have been on a hunger strike, demanding a stop to the torture of political prisoners in the Soviet Union and their release.� He was buried unnamed under number 646. Five days after Marchenko’s tragic death, Mikhail Gorbachev, the Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, ended the political exile of Andrei Sakharov and soon after all Soviet political prisoners were released. That ended the history of political imprisonment in the Soviet Union which was followed by the end of the state itself. Through his tragic death, Marchenko heralded an era of freedom on the territory of the former Soviet Union.
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Opinion & Analysisâ€
Existence without life, Andrei Sannikov Strange and tragic
However, that freedom was very short-lived. After the collapse of the Soviet Union 25 years ago, the regimes of the former Soviet republics, now independent states, soon reverted to the repressive practices of the past. Over the years, these practices were perfected and became some of the most After the collapse effective tools used by autocratic and dictatorial reof the Soviet Union, gimes in order to maintain their power indefinitely. Belarus events were developing in a very strange the regimes in andIntragic way. In the beginning, of all the former the former Soviet Soviet republics, Belarus was the only parliamentary republics quickly state. Moreover, it was at the forefront of establishing internationally recognised democracy. It was the reverted to the an first post-Soviet state to apply for membership in the repressive practices Council of Europe, as it was understood that this was of the past, which a necessary step to being recognised as a democracy it is the only European state that is not a membecame effective (today, ber of the Council). Belarus was also one of the first tools for the regimes to recognise and adopt the Optional Protocol to the to maintain their International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights, power indefinitely. a taboo in the Soviet Union since it empowered individuals to defend human rights against their own state. During this short period of liberalisation and recognition of international standards in the area of human rights protection, Belarus made a huge contribution to international security in both nuclear and conventional terms. It is yet further proof that only a democratic country can be a real contributor to security, regardless of whether it is based on hard or soft power. The dangers posed by power-hungry Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who became the first president of Belarus, were underestimated, both inside the country and internationally. He ushered in a new era of ruthless, greedy, internationally irresponsible and unpredictable rulers in the three founding members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a divorce mechanism established to avoid bloodshed on the territory of the former Soviet Union. The leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, Stanislav Shushkevich, Boris Yeltsin and Leonid Kravchuk, who dissolved the totalitarian state were long gone from power and their successors were busy reversing the process of democratisation in the former Soviet republics. One exception has been Ukraine, which made a second and more serious attempt to break away from the past and stop the authoritarian tendencies in its politics. It is now trying to build its democratic and independent future.