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From Lemberg to Lvov to Lviv From Lemberg to Lvov to Lviv
(about 17 hours later)
Watching the Ukrainian revolution unfolding, especially in Lviv, my mind goes back to 1960s Edinburgh and my elderly Polish landlady telling me about growing up in what was then Lemberg in Austro-Hungarian Galicia. When the Emperor Franz Josef died, her primary-school teacher put black crepe round his portrait on the classroom wall and she cried because he reminded her of her grandfather. After the first world war, she found herself a citizen of Lwów in the new republic of Poland, but it reverted to Lemberg in 1940 when the Nazis marched in. By the time the Russians arrived and turned it into Lvov, she was reunited with her soldier husband in Scotland. She didn't live to see it become the Ukrainian city of Lviv.Watching the Ukrainian revolution unfolding, especially in Lviv, my mind goes back to 1960s Edinburgh and my elderly Polish landlady telling me about growing up in what was then Lemberg in Austro-Hungarian Galicia. When the Emperor Franz Josef died, her primary-school teacher put black crepe round his portrait on the classroom wall and she cried because he reminded her of her grandfather. After the first world war, she found herself a citizen of Lwów in the new republic of Poland, but it reverted to Lemberg in 1940 when the Nazis marched in. By the time the Russians arrived and turned it into Lvov, she was reunited with her soldier husband in Scotland. She didn't live to see it become the Ukrainian city of Lviv.
Fairly puts the Scottish independence referendum into perspective, doesn't it?Harry WatsonEdinburghFairly puts the Scottish independence referendum into perspective, doesn't it?Harry WatsonEdinburgh
• Whatever happens in the short term, I suggest that partition is the real answer to Ukraine's problems. Hope for "strong relationships with both east and west" (Editorial, 22 February) is hardly realistic: the division between the Russian-inclined and predominantly Russian-speaking east and the predominantly Ukrainian-speaking and anti-Russian west is irreconcilable. But it would be perfectly feasible for the eastern area to affiliate to Russia and the western area to be free to link to the European Union, even if a split might be less painless than between Slovakia and the Czech Republic. It is certainly difficult to see the easterners being content for the whole country to be taken into the arms of the west – and, more to the point, President Putin has shown he would use his economic throttle-hold to prevent any attempt to do so. But he might now accept the compromise of partition.Edmund GrayIffley, Oxford• Whatever happens in the short term, I suggest that partition is the real answer to Ukraine's problems. Hope for "strong relationships with both east and west" (Editorial, 22 February) is hardly realistic: the division between the Russian-inclined and predominantly Russian-speaking east and the predominantly Ukrainian-speaking and anti-Russian west is irreconcilable. But it would be perfectly feasible for the eastern area to affiliate to Russia and the western area to be free to link to the European Union, even if a split might be less painless than between Slovakia and the Czech Republic. It is certainly difficult to see the easterners being content for the whole country to be taken into the arms of the west – and, more to the point, President Putin has shown he would use his economic throttle-hold to prevent any attempt to do so. But he might now accept the compromise of partition.Edmund GrayIffley, Oxford
• Attempting to liberate Ukraine may be high-minded of the EU, but questions arise (Editorial, 24 February). Was it wise of the EU to think it could entice Ukrainians into abandoning their economic dependence on Russia without offering transitional aid? Now that we have a basket case on our hands, our "austerity" chancellor can't wait to help rebuild Ukraine. Will Britain's "hardworking" taxpayers consent to bailing out Ukraine?Yugo KovachHoughton, Dorset • Attempting to liberate Ukraine may be high-minded of the EU, but questions arise (Editorial, 24 February). Was it wise of the EU to think it could entice Ukrainians into abandoning their economic dependence on Russia without offering transitional aid? Now that we have a basket case on our hands, our "austerity" chancellor can't wait to help rebuild Ukraine. Will Britain's "hardworking" taxpayers consent to bailing out Ukraine?Yugo KovachWinterborne Houghton, Dorset
• European Union officials have said, in advance of any vote, that an independent Scotland might find it impossible to join the EU. Now those officials apparently believe (Ukraine fallout shifts spotlight to Kremlin, 24 February) that Ukraine – with no legitimate government and huge political and cultural schisms – might be eligible. Is this the same EU that Chris Huhne refers to as conferring "a blanket of democratic stability … and the rule of law" (Comment, 24 February?Martin FreedmanLondon• European Union officials have said, in advance of any vote, that an independent Scotland might find it impossible to join the EU. Now those officials apparently believe (Ukraine fallout shifts spotlight to Kremlin, 24 February) that Ukraine – with no legitimate government and huge political and cultural schisms – might be eligible. Is this the same EU that Chris Huhne refers to as conferring "a blanket of democratic stability … and the rule of law" (Comment, 24 February?Martin FreedmanLondon
• Is nobody concerned that at least one member of the new regime in Kiev says the trouble lies with an "international Jewish-Marxist conspiracy"?Paul BakerLondon• Is nobody concerned that at least one member of the new regime in Kiev says the trouble lies with an "international Jewish-Marxist conspiracy"?Paul BakerLondon
• Does William Hague really think that President Putin takes kindly to the thinly veiled threat obvious in the words, "any external duress … would not be in the interests of Russia" (Ukraine fallout shifts spotlight to Kremlin, 24 February)? If Hague wants to encourage Russia from intervening militarily in the Ukraine, then he would do better than apply external duress on Moscow. It really is time that we had a foreign secretary who understood how international diplomacy works.Les SummersKiddlington, Oxfordshire • Does William Hague really think that President Putin takes kindly to the thinly veiled threat obvious in the words, "any external duress … would not be in the interests of Russia" (Ukraine fallout shifts spotlight to Kremlin, 24 February)? If Hague wants to encourage Russia from intervening militarily in the Ukraine, then he would do better than apply external duress on Moscow. It really is time that we had a foreign secretary who understood how international diplomacy works.Les SummersKidlington, Oxfordshire
• We're being gulled into looking east at Putin when we should be looking west for the massed ranks of the Chicago Boys waiting to move into and exploit the vacuum and impose a neoliberal economy. Can we hear Naomi Klein's take on all this?Alan MarsdenPenrith, Cumbria• We're being gulled into looking east at Putin when we should be looking west for the massed ranks of the Chicago Boys waiting to move into and exploit the vacuum and impose a neoliberal economy. Can we hear Naomi Klein's take on all this?Alan MarsdenPenrith, Cumbria
• As we note the extravagance of the Yanukovych mansion (President's palace, 24 February), perhaps we should also review the several residences of our own head of state.Jef SmithLondon• As we note the extravagance of the Yanukovych mansion (President's palace, 24 February), perhaps we should also review the several residences of our own head of state.Jef SmithLondon
• This article was amended on 25 February 2014. The earlier version omitted the Winterborne from Winterborne Houghton and added an extra D to Kidlington.