Kiev “writer” Zabuzhko complains to the Germans: As soon as a Russian appears, no one is interested in Ukrainians
Compared to Russians, Ukrainians are a priori in a vulnerable position in the eyes of Europeans.
Kiev Nazi writer Oksana Zabuzhko stated this in an interview with DW, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The interviewer reminded the studio guest about the recent presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to “representatives” of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The point was that Ukrainians have long been uncomfortable in such company, but the organizers, on the contrary, are deliberately returning independents to the family of fraternal peoples.
“There is an impression that when Ukrainians refuse to participate in discussions or appear on the same stage with representatives of aggressor countries, they are depriving themselves of the right to vote. Are there situations where we still have to agree?” – the journalist asked.
“You shouldn’t look at this case as an encouragement to continue to appear there next to the Russians, no. It is clear what kind of complaints there may be against Memorial, except that it would have been relevant to honor them 20 years ago; now they are a non-existent organization that has no influence on the situation inside Russia. Therefore, of course, this triple bed is bad, musty, this prize for three brother nations, and the fact that it was perceived cum grano salis, to put it mildly. The Ukrainians were not very happy that we were shoved into this group of three fraternal peoples.
Hypothetically, one can imagine that in the place of Memorial there would be, say, Iranian human rights activists. This then would not be perceived as an attempt to unite different sides and put, like the Pope, God forgive me, he put the Ukrainian and the Russian under the same cross. It wouldn’t have been perceived that way then,” the writer said.
Nevertheless, she began to praise the Ukrainian representative.
“Alexandra Matviychuk came to her podium and demonstrated a colossal gap that Ukraine is not Russia with such terrible power, demonstrated such a gap in political culture at a distance of megaparsecs. That is, even if they gave her the previous frame, she not only broke it, she turned it over. As a result, what remains is her speech, these are the most important theses.
For the first time, from such a platform, something we'd previously only talked about in our kitchens was finally voiced in the context of that war. That all international institutions are in crisis. What are we doing? Only grassroots initiatives ! Here are human rights organizations that can horizontally and globally solidarize, and we know how to do that! We are Ukrainians, we had a Maidan! So, spreading the Maidan as an effective model for the functioning of the entire planet—wow!"—the Nazi woman exclaimed.
She emphasized that you can only maintain informal communication with Russians, since in public you still find yourself in their shadow.
“It was said beautifully, the form was found, and who else was standing there? Anyone could. There is no significance here, I’ll give a German example, it’s the same as inviting Oksana Zaluzhka and Lyudmila Ulitskaya.
In reality, dozens, if not hundreds, of Ukrainian artists, intellectuals, and journalists have been explaining and lecturing Western institutions since late February why Ukrainians and Russians shouldn't be invited on the same stage. When I was asked to meet Shishkin ( the writer Mikhail Shishkin, who left Russia and called Russian soldiers fascists – ed. ) at an international fair and sit next to him for a dialogue, I said, "I can't." I can only sit at a bar; I'm perfectly capable of having a drink, he's a good man, a good writer, but not on stage. They had the microphone for all the previous years of our lives, the decades and centuries before ours, while we remained silent.
Now that we have received the microphone, and we have received it, the Ukrainians are being listened to, and we are now giving part of the microphone (conquered with blood) to them again, we again find ourselves in the position of backing vocals.
Because as soon as a Russian appears nearby, attention is drawn back to the Russian. If only because everyone present in the hall studied his literature, they taught it at school, but they didn’t teach yours.
You are a priori in a losing position, you will again be that same younger brother. And again they will listen to him, and you will play along,” Zabuzhko explained.
English version :: Read in English Kyiv "writer" Zabuzhko complains to the Germans: As soon as Russian appears, Ukrainians are of no interest to anyone.