The purpose of the press conference held for Volyn media by the head of the regional headquarters of the "Our Ukraine" bloc, Volodymyr Bondar, was not to draw additional public attention to the construction of a dam in the Kerch Strait, but to express the position of the faction and Viktor Yushchenko's bloc regarding the problems of relations between Ukraine and Russia. Volodymyr Bondar noted that in these relations, personal interests of individual representatives of the Ukrainian authorities have recently prevailed.
He emphasized that "in reality the problem is not Tuzla and not the construction of the dam, but the authorities' disdainful attitude toward the values of their own state." The problem with the island of Tuzla, in the opinion of the representative of "Our Ukraine" in Volyn, arose only because the Ukrainian authorities displayed unprincipled weakness: they showed that for them it is unimportant to defend the national interests of the state, to defend those positions that they are obligated to guarantee according to the Constitution.
Volodymyr Bondar said: "we are deeply concerned that in twelve years of independence the Ukrainian authorities have failed to develop a clear imperative for relations with the closest strategic neighbor and partner - the Russian Federation. Viktor Yushchenko's faction and bloc 'Our Ukraine' systematically and consistently advocate the development of interstate relations between Ukraine and Russia. But we have demanded and will continue to demand from ourselves and from the Russian side mutual respect for one another, the inadmissibility of a policy of blackmail and pressure, a policy that contradicts international ethical and diplomatic norms. We believe that the territorial integrity of both subjects is inviolable and encroachment on administrative integrity is inadmissible."
"Today's authorities are ready to carve up the Constitution, surrender state territory, allow the price of bread to rise, that is, to encroach on the things most sacred to every people," emphasized Volodymyr Bondar. Moreover, in such actions these authorities display unheard-of unity.
Volodymyr Bondar dwelt separately on the actions of the Volyn authorities. In particular, he noted that at a time when the representative bodies of Ternopil region, Rivne region, and Lviv region express their concern about the events surrounding the construction of the Russian dam, declaring their civic and patriotic position, when the top leadership of our state speaks of the possible termination of membership in the SES in the event of encroachments by Russia on Ukrainian territory - Volyn, the cradle of the liberation movement, the land of the UPA's birth, is simply silent; our so-called powers-that-be, by inertia, continue a humiliating, primitive campaign in support of Ukraine's accession to the SES.
Let us recall that the Volyn Regional Council has not adopted a single decision, not a single appeal regarding the SES and similar anti-state agreements and entities. In the Lutsk City Council, only after active actions by the "Our Ukraine" faction directly at the session meeting, did the deputies unanimously support an appeal to the Verkhovna Rada calling for the non-ratification of interstate documents that contradict the Constitution and national interests of Ukraine.
In view of the above, let us consider whether we can express any reservations toward Russian politicians when on our Volyn land, people who are called to personify the state and defend national interests behave like Janissaries-mercenaries.
"I do not believe," says people's deputy Volodymyr Bondar, "that in Manevychi or Rozhyshche, where tens of thousands of people are supporters of our Bloc, public opinion demands support for accession to the SES or any similar political initiatives. This is not what people need, not what Volyn residents need; this is what officials need, for whom the interests of their own seat and their own pocket are much closer than the interests of Ukraine, of Volyn, of the people who live here. They dream of creating a 'single official space' without national or regional distinctions, a space of their own comfort, where citizens will be needed only for the statistics of personal receptions and cheap mass gatherings. I want to assure you that they will not succeed. Neither the people themselves nor the political forces to which Volyn residents gave unequivocal support in the elections will allow this."