Arseniy Yatsenyuk During KSF Discussion: The Lack of Ideology of the Current Government Leads to the Loss of Guidelines for the Country

"The country is losing its ground. After all, the political elite must always take responsibility for decision-making. Not everyone will applaud this decision. Because politics is not about applause. It is about responsibility," Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum, Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2014-16 stated during the KSF discussion on July 3.

"In 2014, we clearly knew where we were going. And led the people. We said: we are going to our European family. We have signed an Association Agreement with the European Union. We have abandoned the Eurasian Customs Union, the Eurasian Economic Union, or any union that Putin has preached. We have returned to our civilized European family," he emphasized.

There is no other way than to go to European civilization, he stressed. However, in recent months, changes have begun to take place in the public consciousness - Kremlin propaganda has begun to "change our national code."

The main reason for this, is the lack of ideology in the current Ukrainian government: "What are they for and against what? For all the good and against all the bad? That means - for nothing. This means only to assert this lack of guidelines for a great European nation," he emphasized.

Sociological polls also testify to the fanning of anti-Western sentiment in Ukraine. If earlier the level of support for the European Union and NATO was constantly growing, today at best it is kept at the same level: "All this Russian propaganda machine actually destroys the desire of Ukrainians to join NATO and the EU through daily mass Goebbels lies and propaganda," Arseniy Yatsenyuk underlined.

"It is unfortunate that 30% of Ukrainians want to go back to the Soviet Union. And 28% of Ukrainians say that Stalin is a great leader. And this is in those territories that suffered the most from the Bolsheviks," he said.

"My hope is, first of all, Ukrainian youth. This is a new Ukraine with a new young Ukrainian society. Young society cannot be infected with this post-Soviet virus," Arseniy Yatsenyuk emphasized.

He stressed that the formation of the Ukrainian political nation has not been completed: “I hope it will be formed. A political nation based on the Ukrainian state with our common past and our common future. No country in the world is monolithic in terms of perception of historical processes. This is normal, this is a discussion. But fundamental things cannot divide, they have to unite the country."

Participants of the discussion:

- Borys Gudziak, Metropolitan and Archeparch of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia;
- Lilia Hrynevych, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine in 2016-2019;
- Mykola Kniazhytskyi, Member of the Parliament of Ukraine;
- Orysia Lutsevych, Manager of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House;
- Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum and the Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2014-2016;
- Danylo Lubkivsky, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine in 2014.