by New Worker correspondent
TWO
YOUNG Ukrainians, one a journalist and the other a lawyer who acted as
interpreter, addressed a packed meeting in the Marx Memorial Library last
Friday evening, the 18th November, on living conditions in Ukraine today.
They reported that the economy is in a
state of chaos, with soaring prices and rents that exceed the total income of
pensioners. Levels of poverty and absolute destitution are rising fast.
The current government that was brought to
power by an illegal coup in February 2014 is tied to the neo-liberal policies
dictated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade
Organisation (WTO).
They described its policies as “social
genocide”. “All the reforms that have been conducted in Ukraine during recent
years were aimed exclusively at the liquidation of the socialist gains and the
restoration of capitalism,” the journalist said.
They reported that the Communist Party of
Ukraine had been banned for no legitimate reason and that the party was
fighting this ban through OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe) and the European Court of Human Rights.
All communist symbols are now outlawed and
it is illegal to say anything at all positive about the Soviet years in
Ukraine.
This has led to the vandalism of war
memorials to Red Army soldiers that is unchecked by the government.
They also reported that it gave them great
hope and encouragement to learn of protests in London and other western cities
against the illegal regime in Kiev and the banning of the communist party
there.
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