Viktor Yelenskyy's appointment ends "Era of Ruin" for state ethnopolitics 

Now, this "Era of Ruin" has come to an end!

Thank God, we can now welcome the Cabinet of Ministers' decision to appoint Viktor Yelenskyy, renowned Ukrainian religious scholar and an authoritative and internationally recognized expert, professor, as the head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience! This is an entirely reasonable and the best possible appointment at this juncture.

"Since February 2020, when Olena Bohdan was appointed to head the Service for Religions and National Communities, initiated and created by the efforts of the Department of Religions and Nationalities, the body, responsible for relations between the State and both  religious and ethno-national communities, has experienced the same Ruin that reigned in Ukrainian political history during the period 1670-80."

It is not by chance that I used this term known to everyone who has at least a passing acquaintance with Ukrainian history - Ruin, which reflects the decline of Ukrainian statehood and the loss of the real independence after Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, who assured Ukrainian independence, and the arrival of Ivan Mazepa, who rejuvenated it.

Since February 2020, when Olena Bohdan was appointed to head the Service for Religions and National Communities, initiated and created by the efforts of the Department of Religions and Nationalities, the body, responsible for relations between the State and both  religious and ethno-national communities, has experienced the same Ruin that reigned in Ukrainian political history during 1670-80."

In these three years, this body lost almost everything:

• none of the almost 30 specialists who performed relevant duties in the body wanted to work for it;
• none of the expert councils (in the field of state-religious relations and ethnopolitics), which together held more than 60 meetings in just the previous few years, did any impactful work;
• the system and mechanisms for interaction with regional structures responsible for relevant issues were destroyed (in 2015-2019, several dozen regional and centralized meetings and exchanges of experience were held);
• the premises that had been the home of the state body for religious affairs for more than 25 years were lost;
• not only was no conceptually new idea initiated, but also the implementation (with a corresponding pseudo-justification) of the legislation adopted in previous years, neither canceled, nor questioned by anyone, was deliberately slowed down in an act approaching deliberate sabotage, indicating an actual criminal offense;
• unprofessionalism, the inability to comprehensively understand and comprehend the phenomena and trends of the current moment, the replacement by scholastic abstractions of very specific tasks that needed very urgent answers;
• inability to fill even half of the vacant positions needed for the bodybto perform its essential functions;
• according to the comprehensive assessment of its work, which was officially submitted to the relevant structures of the Cabinet of Ministers, in the first year of its operation (2020), the level of fulfillment of the assigned tasks was 18 (!!!!!!)%.  In the following years, this level increased to 40%, but never even came close to a satisfactory, if not adequate, level.

And I share all this without any further details and specifics: I don't want to write an epic dedicated to the Ruin.

Realizing that the dramatic confusions have been corrected, I only want to focus on the positives that the future holds. Thanks to the latest decisions, which seemed unlikely back when this body was established in summer 2019, the issues resolved include its completely independent status, direct subordination to the Cabinet of Ministers with the possibility of coordinating all other state structures that directly or indirectly touch on relevant areas, ie relations with religious and ethno-national communities.

So, we have a reset.

Unfortunately, Viktor Yelenskyy will have to start almost from scratch. But with great opportunities and carrying an extraordinary balance of trust.

 P.S.  Many people have asked me for the past three years why I am silent, why I do not intervene in the course of events.  I think the answer is clear: so that there are no accusations that my position and "subjective" attitude prevent the body from fully performing its inherent functions.  So, when we can stop helplessly sighing, observing the Ruin, and start projecting positive models for the future, I take my vow of silence back: the consequences of the Ruin must be overcome as soon as possible.  A victorious future awaits Ukraine, including the activities of the state body in the sphere of relations with religious and ethno-national communities.

 Source

About the author:  Andriy Yurash, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Vatican.

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