Ukrainian Choice – Right of the People Украинский выбор — право народа Український вибір — право народу | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Viktor Medvedchuk |
| Founder | Viktor Medvedchuk |
| Founded | 4 April 2012 (2012-04-04) |
| Dissolved | March 2022 (2022-03) (de facto) |
| Split from | Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) |
| Headquarters | Vasylkivska 23-B,Kyiv |
| Ideology | Conservatism[1] Federalism[2] Euroscepticism[3] Russophilia[1] |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| National affiliation | Opposition Platform — For Life (2018–22) |
| Colours | Light blue Purple Magenta |
| Website | |
| vybor.ua | |
Ukrainian Choice, officially since 2016[4] named[5]Ukrainian Choice – Right of the People (Ukrainian:Український вибір — Право народу;Russian:Украинский выбор — право народа), is anNGO inUkraine.[6][7] It was initiated by and is led by the business tycoonViktor Medvedchuk. In Ukraine it is considered apro-Russian organisation.[5]
After the beginning of the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine some of the organisation leaders were detained by theSBU on charges of preparing acoup d'état and collaborating with Russian special services.[8] Medvedchuk himself is living in exile in Russia since September 2022 after being handed over to Russia in a prisoner exchange.[9]
The organization was founded in April 2012. It opposesUkraine–European Union relations andNATO membership of Ukraine and would prefer Ukraine to join theEurasian Economic Union instead. The group also wants "decentralization of power followed by the transition to a federal structure, while maintaining the territorial integrity and unity of Ukraine".[10] The organization argued that the European Union seeks to colonize Ukrainian economy, writing: "So far, the economy of the European Union can only be saved by economic expansion to the East. And Ukraine is one of the tasty “dishes” in the eastern economic “menu”."[11]
Ukrainian Choice also emphasizes Slavic Orthodox values: in July 2013, it organized a conference on the topic "Orthodox-Slavic values – the basics of the civilizational choice of Ukraine", whereVladimir Putin held a speech.[12] (Putin is thegodfather of Medvedchuk's 2004 born daughter Darina).[13] The party promotes religious conservatism such as traditional values on sexual issues, and warns that integration with the West and the European Union would compromise Christianity in Ukraine.[14]
A religious issue that Ukrainian Choice campaigned most actively on was opposition to LGBT; Medvedchuk argued: "The protection of sexual minorities implies monitoring of the situation in the ‘warded’ country, so that they are not infringed in promotion, including in government and business. On the contrary, with the advent of such powerful patronage, a career springboard, more people will enroll in the ranks of gays and lesbians for sure. It is somehow similar to indicative planning, taxation privileges on the development of a certain kind of activity. And, naturally, the growing LGBT community will become loyal supporters of [their] patrons, a new cohort to promote their interests. Any objective resistance to the propaganda and career promotion of homosexuals will be exhibited as a violation of the rights of the ward, requiring the intervention of foreign patrons.”[15]
The organization stated that direct democracy and federalization of Ukraine were its main aims. It had a network of about 300 groups composed of religious organizations associated with theRussian Orthodox Church and Cossack Units. Ukrainian Choice also promoted Rusyn minority interests. The NGO strongly campaigned against the Ukrainian membership in the EU, warning of risks like job losses, living cost increase, and enforcing socially liberal reforms in Ukraine at expense of the religious and traditionalist communities in Ukraine.[16] The organization also called for a separate, equal status of the Russian language in Ukraine.[17]
According toThe New York Times the group aimed at stopping former presidentViktor Yanukovych from signing Ukraine'sAssociation Agreement with theEuropean Union.[12] In a leaked June 2013 Russian-ordered consultation document, whose contents have been corroborated by a former security source in Ukraine, the Russian government wanted Ukrainian Choice to influence public opinion.[10] At the time Medvedchuk and the organization had marginal popular support in Ukraine.[18]
In the fall of 2013, Ukrainian Choice ran an aggressiveanti-gay ad campaign warning against "decayed values" in theWestern world.[12] Some of the ads claimed that association with the European Union would mean the legalization ofsame-sex marriage.[6] At the time, Medvedchuk described the European Union as the "modern heir to theThird Reich."[12] Another slogan of the organisation at the time was "the European path of development – is the path to the destruction ofUkraine's independence.[19]
Duringannexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in March 2014, the organization organized blockage of Ukrainian military logistics.[20]
After the beginning of the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine some Ukrainian Choice leaders were detained by theSBU on charges of preparing acoup d'état and collaborating with Russian special services.[8]
Ukrainian Choice leaderViktor Medvedchuk himself is living in exile inRussia since September 2022 after being handed over to Russia in a prisoner exchange.[9]
In October 2022 theKyiv District Administrative Court opened proceedings on a lawsuit by theMinistry of Justice banning, but a date of consideration of this case was not set.[21]
A former coordinator of the organisation inMykolaiv Oblast was employed byRussian occupation officials and became a spokesperson of theSouth Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant in September 2023.[19]
In April 2023 Medvedchuk created the "Second Ukraine" movement that operates fromRussia.[22]
Formerpresident of UkraineLeonid Kravchuk stated in 2012 that "TheUkrainian Choice is not a Ukrainian choice, but a choice of Russia in Ukraine".[23]
Dmitry Alekseev, a Russian political technologist and director general of Russia's National Political Agency, said in December 2013 that Russia was trying to "forge"pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, so it was funding Viktor Medvedchuk's Ukrainian Choice project, as previously funded byNatalia Vitrenko'sProgressive Socialist Party of Ukraine.[24]
On February 26, 2014, deputies of theZakarpattia Oblast Council banned the activities of Viktor Medvedchuk's "Ukrainian Choice" inthe region.[25]
"Ukrainian Choice" is also accused ofanti-Semitism for articles on the organization's website, which accusesJews ofallegedly owning all power in Ukraine.[26][27]
In March 2021 theSecurity Service of Ukraine (SBU) searched "Ukrainian Choice" offices across Ukraine as part of their investigation theses that the organisation helped to organize theCrimean referendum during the2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.[4] The SBU also claimed that the organisation continued to coordinate the activities of its members in theAutonomous Republic of Crimea "despite attempts to publicly distance themselves from the illegal actions of their colleagues on the peninsula."[4] "Ukrainian Choice" officially liquidated itsCrimean branch in 2017.[4]
Two politically oriented movements for whom support of the conservative morals was a part of a wider pro-Russian ideology of Ukrainian Choice (Ukrayinskyi Vybir) and People's Council (Narodnyi Sobor).
Ukrainian Choice was founded in 2012 by the former lawyer Viktor Medvedchuk. The formal aim of the organization was the development of direct democracy in Ukraine. Later, the organization advocated for federalization of Ukraine and economic cooperation with Russia.
In autumn 2013, Ukrainian Choice sponsored public advertising campaign against association with the EU in big Ukrainian cities, particularly in Kyiv, Odesa, and Sumy (Dolod, 2013; "Medvedchuk Pugaiet Odessu Odnopolymi Brakami [Medvedchuk Scares Odessa With Same-sex Marriages]," 2013; Ukrainska Pravda, 2013).