March 5, 2014

By Michael Riley

On March 2, President Barack Obama and other world leaders tried to resolve the current crisis in Ukraine, as its new government has placed its military on “high alert” after more than 6,000 Russian troops advanced into the Crimean Peninsula.

UW-Whitewater junior Geza Szakacs’ father, cousins and grandparents live in the northwest part of Hungary, approximately a three-hour drive from the Ukrainian border.

He said he is surprised that, despite the gravity of the event, his family has yet to be effected.

“I think it’s important for people to know what’s happening around them, especially outside their own ‘world,’” Szakacs said.  “Also, I think people need to have some understanding of how much effect this issue has on millions of people in Ukraine.”

The Group of Seven Nations (G7), including the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Great Britain said they will  collectively suspend their participation in an upcoming economic summit scheduled in Sochi in protest of Russia’s military actions.

“We call on Russia to address any ongoing security or human rights concerns that it has with Ukraine through direct negotiations, and/or via international observation or mediation under the auspices of the U.N. or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,” the G7 said in a statement released by the White House.

The G7 leaders pledged to work together on a package of financial assistance to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s new government and the West have been powerless to counter Russia’s tactics. Armed men in uniforms without insignia have moved freely about Crimea for days, occupying airports, smashing equipment at an air base and besieging a Ukrainian infantry base.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not pulled back his troops, insisting Russia has a right to protect its interests and those of Russian- speaking Ukranians in Crimea and elsewhere in Ukraine.

There is a strict divide among the 46 million Ukrainians between Pro-Russian and Pro-Western involvement.  Western Ukraine wants to partner with the European Union, while its eastern and southern regions, like Crimea, look to Russia.

Szakacs said the future of the Ukranian-Russian conflict is grave, and he hopes other UW-Whitewater students will become more aware.

“Even though my family is not really affected, I know that they’re supporting the Ukrainian people,” Szakacs said.  “Hungary used to be under Russian control until 1991, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The people of Hungary wanted Russia to leave our country as we wanted to have our own government, which is why most are in support of the Ukrainian people.”