Last week, attention of the world mass media never seemed to leave the results of presidential elections that took place in Ukraine.

So, what has been happening there? A very narrow (about 3 percent) split in the results of elections has led to big discontent among the supporters of the opposition leader Mr. Yuschenko and to doubts as to whether the current prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, should be proclaimed the new president. Many people are especially embittered because Mr. Yuschenko has lost two rounds of elections in a row, so now there are accusations of fraud in the counting of votes.

This is — in short — what the whole thing is about. However, there are many other factors that enable certain people to talk about a “choice between freedom and slavery,” as Mr. Yanukovich has the support of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the Russian-Ukrainian economic relations have been dramatically improving in the recent years. On the other hand, Mr. Yanukovich has been in prison (twice) for assault and attempted rape. So, some people are talking now about criminals coming to power, in order to hand the country over to Russia.

However, things are not as simple as we might want to think. The recent election in the United States allows us to make certain comparisons. So please try to imagine …

Imagine that John Kerry, instead of admitting that he has lost, claims that he does not accept the results of the election. Imagine that before the election he, knowing how many people support him, says that even if the results will show that his adversary, George Bush, wins, he will never agree to it because that will be due only to “use of administrative resources,” and not the free will of the free people.

This is precisely what Mr. Yuschenko did. Shortly before the second round of elections, he officially said that should Yanukovich win, it will be only through cheating and fraud. Well, the results show that Yanukovich won.

Let us go a little further with our comparison. Imagine, that, learning that he has not won, Mr. Kerry would call everyone who supported him to march to Washington, D.C., and there block the governmental buildings, gathering a live shield around the Capitol and the White House, even knowing that police would almost certainly be compelled to clear access to the workplace for the government officials. Unimaginable? Well, this is what happened in Ukraine and what Mr. Yuschenko did.

Let us fantasize a little more, although this seems to be getting nightmarish. Imagine further that Mr. Kerry gathers a group of members of the House of Representatives and a number of senators (less than 50 percent) and proclaims himself president, giving the oath not on the Constitution, but on an old Bible. This is exactly what Mr. Yuschenko did.

I believe that Mr. Yanukovich was right when he was meekly mumbling that he would agree to step down. Only, this decision has to be made by both sides, if it is the better future for the country they are looking for and not personal power and money, as both candidates seem to be leading Ukraine into an abyss. I know that there will be many people who will see things in a different light, but I believe in everyone’s right to speak their mind and, not being a citizen of Ukraine, but rather a person who admires its beauty, its history and its great potential,

I will be extremely sorry if the people of Ukraine will not be wise enough to solve the crisis legally, with respect for everyone’s opinion, as American citizens did recently.

Alexey Konobeev

Professor

Visiting Scholar