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Far from an expert on this situation but I have nothing against Vitali's stance of fighting against overt Russian influence in his country and the corruption that goes on in politics. It appears a sincere enough cause, one that he has supported for a long time.
I do agree that there's no sense in ignoring the fact that a large country such as Russia is your neighbour, Finland's history can tell that, there's no point in even trying to do so but standing up for your own cause, language and history is warranted. A country that does as Russia pleases, yet is not Russia which will forever be Russia's primary cause (and they have plenty enough problems managing themselves as it is), does not receive enough benefits to make up for the fact that the contacts to the Western world can suffer.
Total neglicence of the Russian influence isn't going to end well either. They've shown their way of dealing with "troublemakers" in the past. In Finland's case it has always been about finding a balance between the two "worlds", the East and the West, extremism on either side has never been found to have a place in this country. Perhaps in recent times the balance has shifted towards the West as Russia's influence weakened.
In Vitali's case it would appear that he is somewhat in over his head when it comes to politics but he might be able to rally support from the people by putting himself in the line like this, even if it does not appear very wise. If he does ever become a successful politician, I hope he has the foresight to see the case for both sides and eventually become a figurehead for peace and prosperity, not riots.
The youth can waste their time in arguing which side is more correct but in the end it should be about making Ukraine the best possible place there is for the people to live in.
I do agree that there's no sense in ignoring the fact that a large country such as Russia is your neighbour, Finland's history can tell that, there's no point in even trying to do so but standing up for your own cause, language and history is warranted. A country that does as Russia pleases, yet is not Russia which will forever be Russia's primary cause (and they have plenty enough problems managing themselves as it is), does not receive enough benefits to make up for the fact that the contacts to the Western world can suffer.
Total neglicence of the Russian influence isn't going to end well either. They've shown their way of dealing with "troublemakers" in the past. In Finland's case it has always been about finding a balance between the two "worlds", the East and the West, extremism on either side has never been found to have a place in this country. Perhaps in recent times the balance has shifted towards the West as Russia's influence weakened.
In Vitali's case it would appear that he is somewhat in over his head when it comes to politics but he might be able to rally support from the people by putting himself in the line like this, even if it does not appear very wise. If he does ever become a successful politician, I hope he has the foresight to see the case for both sides and eventually become a figurehead for peace and prosperity, not riots.
The youth can waste their time in arguing which side is more correct but in the end it should be about making Ukraine the best possible place there is for the people to live in.
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