#47_1-8

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No.47 SEPTEMBER 20, 2018
DAY AFTER DAY
WWW.DAY.KIEV.UA
What the Book Forum-2018 will
be like, and what are the plans
of the Ukrainian Book Institute
By Maria CHADIUK, The Day
Lviv became a magnet for all book
lovers, as the international Book
Forum started here on September 18.
Traditionally, this is not only an
event where the most interesting
books are launched (including this
newspaper’s Ave...), but also a platform for
the exchange of ideas and discussions of
important social issues. Den/The Day met
with president of the Publishers’ Forum
Oleksandra Koval to find out what
meanings were to be actualized at this
year’s Forum. Also, we wanted to determine
the priority issues in the literary sphere and
learn which of them Koval planned to
resolve as director of the Ukrainian Book
Institute, the latter being an institution
which many are hopeful about, but
sometimes not fully aware of all the
difficulties facing its head. Therefore, the
following interview is also an attempt to
analyze the situation and find ways to
effectively solve the emerging problems.
● FREEDOM AS
(IR)RESPONSIBILITY
The focus theme of this year’s Forum
is the Freedom Market. The choice of the
theme is due, among other things, to the anniversary
of the 1968 revolution wave.
What meanings you would like to actualize
and what you would like to highlight
with the Forum’s events?
“We proceeded from the 1968 revolution
wave to remind us of freedom in general.
But when we began to ponder this topic,
it became clear that with the recent
spread of social networks, fake news, posttruth
and all these negative phenomena
(which are associated with the allegedly positive
technology developments) the very attitude
to many very basic values had
changed. And even such a value as freedom
has become negotiable. It probably has always
been one, but now it is especially noticeable
and clear. We would like intellectuals
to express their views on this and our
society to reflect on the fragile time we live
in: it may turn out that anything can actually
be bought and sold, while it seems to us
that some things remain fundamental, and
no one dares to touch them. So it seems to
me that these should be some very interesting
discussions.”
Is this connected with the fact that after
the Revolution of Dignity, there has
been a deeper understanding emerging
that we, as citizens, have to assume more
responsibility, and we are capable of it, and
so, we are actually freer and enjoy more
freedom?
“It is good to see such an interpretation,
because most people usually think that freedom
is complete anarchy. ‘My freedom’
seems to mean ‘I do what I want, for example,
I want to park on the sidewalk, although
it inconveniences everyone else.’
However, freedom is responsibility.
“Incidentally, the Forum will host an
interesting book launch of the 1st December
Initiative Group, the intellectuals brought
together by His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar.
They are publishing a book which is called
just that – Freedom and Responsibility.
Overall, there will be many books dedicated
to freedom there. By the way, the Forum
will also launch a book by our splendid
Photo by Artem SLIPACHUK, The Day
Oleksandra Koval speaks about “climate creation”
philosopher Myroslav Popovych, entitled A
Philosophy of Freedom. I have even noticed
(and I think that it is not only me): once you
start to think about something extremely
necessary to you, it immediately appears before
you and leads you further and further.
I am very excited about this.”
● “THE PEOPLE OF CULTURE
SHOULD SUPPORT EACH
OTHER”
The Night of Poetry and Music is one
of the most successful events of the festival.
Could you tell us how this idea came about?
What is the secret to its success?
“I do not know the secrets of how
something becomes popular. Obviously,
people always love poetry, and if it is combined
with music, then they enjoy it even
more. I came up with this format a long time
ago, back in 1997. This night then lasted two
hours, from 9 to 11 p.m. It has been held under
its current title since 1999. All in all, we
will host the 20th Night of Poetry and Music
this year.”
And to what extent, in your opinion, is
such a combination of several art forms a
promising idea?
“From the very beginning, when the
Forum was just being created (not as a onetime
event, but as an event to be repeated),
we aimed to get different art forms combined.
We wanted the musicians to communicate
with poets, artists with architects
and so on, to create new valuable things. We
did not really succeed then. I know that now
the interaction between artists from different
fields has improved. There is visual
poetry, there is music of architecture, and
so on. And all this is experimental in character
and very interesting. I believe that it
will become more common at some point, because
the people of culture should support
each other. In addition, the Ukrainians
like something new: for instance, not just
books, but books and fashion. The Forum,
in turn, is totally open to all. When it
comes to artists, we have created the
Ukrainian Visual Book cluster, which is
very successfully run by Pavlo Hudimov.
We tried to create a music cluster as well,
but failed at it, however, I have not lost
hope. We have creative industries and urbanism
represented, that is, we are already
involving architects in it.”
● A YEAR AND A HALF OF
COMFORTABLE SITUATION
FOR PUBLISHERS
This, moreover, is a way to look at a
certain art form from a new perspective.
But you have repeatedly mentioned in interviews
that the impetus for creating the
Forum was a crisis that prompted a search
for new forms of cooperation. How, in
your opinion, has the situation in the literary
sphere changed after the Revolution
of Dignity and the beginning of the war in
the east of Ukraine?
“There are two possible responses to
each crisis situation – you either freeze or
start to run quickly. And in our case, the
second option was chosen, so we have had
a major recovery. Obviously, this is due to
the Revolution of Dignity and the Maidan,
but one has also to take into account
the ban on the import of Russian literature
to Ukraine. This gave our publishers a year
and a half of a very comfortable situation,
since bookstores now had room for our
products. Meanwhile, consumers, prompted
by a wave of enthusiasm and patriotism,
began to read Ukrainian, even those who
did not do it before.
Continued on page 8 ➤
By Mykola SIRUK, The Day
Inna Steinbuka, European Studies
masters’ program director at the
University of Latvia, recently visited
Ukraine. Ms. Steinbuka has the huge
experience of holding top EU offices
and directly participated in preparations
for Latvia’s entry into Euro-Atlantic
institutions. We began our conversation
with the history of relations with Ukraine
and the way she, a mathematical economist,
became a European Commission official.
“The history of relations with Ukraine
carries me back to the Soviet era. I started
my career in research and worked at the
Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Economics.
I maintained very good contacts in
various republics, including Ukraine, for
example, with Professor Valerii Heiets.
Like Prof. Heiets, I focused on economic
modeling and forecasting. As a mathematical
economist, I dealt with mathematical
models. I visited Kyiv many times.
Those were, as a rule, business trips and
conferences, but very warm memories
about people, hospitality, and, naturally,
an amazingly beautiful city have remained
etched on my mind since then.
“After a long pause, I came to Kyiv
in a new capacity, when I worked at the
European Commission as a department
director at Eurostat. This was in 2006-07.
My impressions were different, we discussed
the problems of Ukraine-EU rapprochement,
but people had not changed
and remained as hospitable as before.”
● “I APPLIED, QUITE
SUCCESSFULLY, FOR FOUR
OFFICES AND BEGAN TO
WORK AT THE EUROPEAN
COMMISSION”
Ms. Steinbuka, how come you became
later a European Commission official?
“At the very beginning of Latvia’s independence,
I transferred from the Academy
of Sciences to the Ministry of Finance,
and then represented Latvia in the
IMF. That was my first experience of
working at an international organization.
In May 2014 I took part in a competition,
announced in 10 countries, for the office
of a top-level executive. I applied, quite successfully,
for four offices and finally began
to work at the European Commission. On
the other hand, I did not represent Latvia
in the EC – I just won the competition as
citizen with a certain qualification. The
competition for one of the four positions
was at least 70 and 250 at most.
“I began to work at the EC in November
2005. I was a department director at Luxemburg-based
Eurostat for six years. Then
I moved to Latvia and held a quasi-diplomatic
office. I headed the European Union’s
representation in Latvia. It was mandatory
for us, representation members, to know
the Latvian language and, of course, to be
citizens of an EU member state.
“I have excellent command of the Latvian
language, but I did not use it professionally
in the Soviet era. I dealt with
econometrics at the time. It was a narrow
specialization, and this kind of specialists
could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
So there was no use publishing articles in
Latvian. And I defended my PhD and
higher doctorate dissertations in Saint
Petersburg and Moscow, respectively.
This is why all of my publications were in
the Russian language.
“My mother was born in Latvia, finished
a Latvian high school, and knew the
Latvian language perfectly. I went to a
Russian school, and, although I studied the
Latvian language as part of the school curriculum
and sometimes spoke it to mother,
my knowledge of it left much to be desired
in the early 1990s. But I have made
progress and no longer used Russian since
the 1990s in my work.”
● “I CONTRIBUTED
TO LATVIA’S ADMISSION
TO THE EU”
I read in your resume that you were
awarded an Order of Three Stars,
Latvia’s highest award, for economic
and financial achievements. Could you
explain more in detail what for? Is it perhaps
about your contribution to Latvia’s
admission to the EU?
“I formed a fiscal policy department at
the Ministry of Finance, managed Latvia’s
“MydreamwastotraveltoParis”
Inna Steinbuka: the story of a Soviet-era Latvian mathematical
economist who became a top European Commission official
first Regulator of Community Services,
and contributed to Latvia’s admission to
the EU. I’d like to emphasize that I am a Euro-optimist.
“I have always wanted Latvia and me
to be part of Europe. It was my dream. I
must have been ‘blacklisted’ and was
banned from traveling abroad in the Soviet
era. My dream was to travel to Paris.
And this dream was perhaps not only
mine. This city was associated in me with
the heroes of Hemingway and Remarque,
and it seemed to me that traveling to Paris
was the same as traveling to the Moon.
“When we gained independence, I, of
course, took part, within my competence,
in the EU accession negotiations at the earliest
stage. Latvia signed the EU Association
Treaty in 1995 and joined the EU in
2004.
“I’d like to draw a parallel with
Ukraine: frankly speaking, if I had been
asked in 1993 or 1994 whether I believed
that Latvia would join the EU, I would have
said that it would not happen in my lifetime
but my children and grandchildren would
live in the EU for sure.
“But then things began to develop at
a rapid pace. Therefore, it is always important
to be at the right place in the
right time. Both the international situation
and successful domestic reforms promoted
Latvia’s accession to the EU. So I’d like
to wish Ukraine to cope with the homework
and wait for a favorable situation, when
these two factors coincide.”
● “COMBATING CORRUPTION
WAS ONE OF
THE IMPORTANT
PRECONDITIONS FOR
THE ACCESSION TO NATO”
And another award from the Ministry
of Defense…
“My participation in the Latvia-NATO
talks was confined to a purely economic expert
examination. For, if a country is going
to join NATO, it is important not only
to observe certain legislative, legal,
military, and strategic conditions and criteria.
There should be certain objective
guarantees that the country will go on developing
steadily. For steady economic
development is also, to some extent, a
guarantee of political stability.
“Besides, if a country develops steadily
and GDP grows, we can expect the
budget to be formed in a stable way, which
will allow allocating funds for maintaining
the army and for other military purposes.
In addition, one of the preconditions for the
entry was combating corruption, including
money laundering. Stable economic development
in turn contributes to the overall
reduction of corruption risks.”
Incidentally, did the Latvian government
or society show any hesitation about
joining the EU and NATO?
“Indeed, there were hesitations, especially
on the very eve of the entry. Latvia
held a referendum, and pro-Russian forces
spread vicious anti-European propaganda.
“People faced ideological pressure,
when the very idea of entry was called into
question and people were intimidated
with terrible consequences. I must say
our government was giving a lot of explanations
at the time. Public opinion leaders
and politicians came out in support of EU
membership. This positive opinion overpowered
propaganda, and the people
strongly supported the entry at the referendum.”
● “HUMANKIND HAS NOT YET
DESIGNED A BETTER
MODEL THAN THE EU”
Ms. Steinbuka, I noticed on your Twitter
page that you took part in the debate
“Are European Values Universal?” on
September 4. I wonder why such debates
emerge in Europe.
“It’s no secret that Europe has been
subjected to biting criticism lately. Criticism
can be positive. We ourselves can criticize
Europe for not doing something the
way we want. And we are doing so in an attempt
to help improve Europe. On the
other hand, there is such thing as propagandistic
criticism, disinformation, and
fake news.
“Such fundamental values of Europe
as freedom of speech, the right of man to
life and self-expression, freedom of move-
“
I’d like to wish Ukrainians not to lose optimism
and faith. In principle, independence
has its price. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian
people have paid a very high price for their independence,
and it will be very good if Ukrainians
feel – if not in the next two or three years,
then at least in the foreseeable future – that this
price was not paid in vain, that they deserve the
future they dreamed of, and that this future
must come as soon as
”
possible.
ment, democracy, democratic elections,
and rule of law are being called into question.
I am naming fundamental things
which some political forces in Europe and,
first of all, aggressive propagandists in
Russia are calling into question.
“The EU is, above all, a peacekeeping
project. My generation has not known
war. But the sensation of war was handed
down through the memory of parents.
The younger generation cannot always be
aware of the ravages of war and the EU’s
contribution to the cause of peace. Besides,
we have the experience of living in the Soviet
Union, where there was no democracy
or freedoms. And the next generation
does not know what the absence of freedoms
and the existence of borders mean in
practice, when you can’t travel freely to a
foreign country. And when they read some
crowd-pleasing or propagandistic statements,
many of them believe these.
“Alain Lamassoure said at the abovementioned
debate that the European Union
is a peace project. For there have been no
wars on the EU territory since the union’s
inception. It is important that the EU is a
peace project.”
● “EVEN A WEAK DEMOCRACY
IS MUCH BETTER THAN
A STRONG DICTATORSHIP”
But you can also see different tendencies
in Europe and even the US, when
some voters want to have a strong leader
who will address their problems. What will
you say to this?
“This shows that people doubt the efficiency
of the system and begin to seek
an alternative. Not all remember, know,
or take interest in history. Meanwhile, the
historical examples of some strong personalities
vividly show what this can
lead to – to Stalinism, Hitler, or even Ivan
the Terrible.
“For this reason, humankind can invent
nothing new. There is either a democracy
or a dictatorship – without any alternative.
In my opinion, even a weak
democracy is much better than a strong dictatorship.
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