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The Reaction to the EU Referendum result and the lesson from Ukraine: Respect Democracy!

The last day or two has made it clear to me what had happened in the Ukraine.  I did not really understand it until yesterday,  of course, I knew the history but why war?

The lesson from the events in the Ukraine is now blindingly obvious.  

In the current British EU Referendum the Leave campaign won but now the Remain supporters are demanding a new vote.  This is like demanding a new vote if a Parliamentary election went against your wishes. It is deeply against the very nature of a democratic society.  We should all be shocked that a centuries old Parliamentary Democracy should now forget the very basis of that institution: loyal opposition.

It is time for Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum to stand up and be counted.  They must openly state that the referendum cannot be re-run until after a general election in which a party includes this idea in its manifesto.  The People have voted and if we don't like it we must be patient.

No Maidan protests, no coups, Keep Calm and Carry On.  
 
As we have seen in the Ukraine, the EU is not a guardian of democracy but pursues its own interests whatever the body count.

A Brief History of Ukraine and the EU (also see Wikipedia Article

In the Ukraine the Government and Verkhovna Rada (Parliament ) adopted an Association Agreement with the EU that was the first, major, step towards EU membership in 2013.  The EU pressed home its advantage and made the release of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko from prison an essential part of the agreement.  The Russian population of Ukraine was also beginning to object to joining the EU. The Parliament refused to sign the agreement and proposed that the Association Agreement should be replaced by a three way trade commission including Russia.  The EU rejected trilateral talks and asked President Yanukovich to commit to sign the Association Agreement, which he refused to do. However, despite this refusal, the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych stated "an alternative for reforms in Ukraine and an alternative for European integration do not exist...We are walking along this path and are not changing direction".  However, Yanukovitch could not get acceptance from the Ukraine's Russian minority, and hence also from Russia for the deal.  Unfortunately, before the situation could be resolved by negotiation the pro-EU faction mounted the Maidan protests. These were fully backed by the EU and USA:

President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso stated that the EU will not tolerate "a veto of a third country" in their negotiations on closer integration with Ukraine. He also stated "We are embarked on a long journey, helping Ukraine to become, as others, what we call now, 'new member states'. But we have to set aside short-term political calculations."

The Maidan protests led to a coup in which the democratically elected Ukrainian government was replaced by a pro-EU government and the Ukrainian Civil War began. The Ukrainian government has now signed the EU Association Agreement. Since the coup the Ukraine has been embroiled in a Civil War that has caused tens of thousands of deaths and misery for all.


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